Jig and Jog

I mentioned I’m doing this Detox thing, right?   So, Monday was the first day, and I was great. I started exactly on track and it was wonderful. I felt amazing, I wasn’t tired until the end of the day just before going to bed. In fact, I felt so great, I did not only the Crossfit class in the morning, but a TRX demo in the evening. This was a mistake.

I woke up Tuesday and couldn’t straighten my right arm. Seriously. So sore. Tuesday things started to go slightly awry food-wise because I spent almost the entire day away from the office. Which meant I did not follow my schedule so well.

If I’m being honest, I am not doing great at this detox thing. Truthfully, being super mindful of my food and eating is new to me.  I’ve never really paid that close attention to the types of food, nor how much of it I eat. I’ve never really had to, or at least even when I should have been, I wasn’t.  But, as I was talking to Holly, the owner of Pink Iron last Friday, I realized, while describing a typical day to her, just how much I rely on crap food to get me through the day.

I had been eating on average about 3 granola bars a day, and not like, healthy homemade granola either. I’m talkin Ralph’s brand chocolate chip granola which is mostly sugar anyway. I was also relying heavily on carbs. Example: a typical day for me would look something like this:

breakfast: bagel thin w/cream cheese or a granola bar as I ran out the door

snack: granola bar and/or fruit snacks

lunch: leftovers, typically some kind of pasta, maybe a lean protein, an apple, some kind of sweet.

snack: another granola bar and/or fruit snacks from the vending machine at work

dinner: varied but usually a protein, a starch and another veggie.

When Holly asked me how I felt during the days, I admitted I was tired upon waking, and hit a huge wall around 3pm.  When I look at this typical day, I was actually kind of surprised by how little protein I was eating. Most of my food intake has been carbs. Not that there’s anything inherently wrong with carbs. Clearly, I LOVE them.  But, when it’s nearly all you’re eating, it shouldn’t have been surprising I was sluggish. I would feel ok then have a major crash.

Day one of the detox, this is what my food looked like:

Fiber Drink & 3 catalyst

- Meal Replacement Shake

-  2 egg whites 1 whole egg, spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms

- two rice cakes with 1 tbsp. natural peanut butter

- 3 catalyst and 4 omegaplex

- ground turkey, brown rice, butternut squash

- Spark energy drink

- apple, 2 hard boiled eggs

- chicken, spinach, mushrooms

- herbal cleanse tablets

I haven’t had so much energy in a really long time.  The problem is, it’s been difficult for me to plan my meals so well.  I was sleeping in a bit, not allowing myself enough time to put together good meals for the day.  Things really fell apart on Thursday when I was at an all day work conference/retreat and dinner.  I had no idea what to expect, and didn’t plan my own snacks.  The food wasn’t terrible, but the dinner was definitely not part of my plan.  Some kind of stuffed chicken with pasta and a creamy sauce.  I ate it because I was starving and it was my only option.  Then I caved and ate the cheesecake dessert, because I hadn’t eaten any bread and felt I deserved it.

I realized then, after I felt guilty for falling off my detox wagon so soon, that I need to stop using food as a reward system.  Not that I should NEVER have sweets, but that using them as a reward sends my brain the wrong message.

I did well Friday during the day, but at dinner time I ate at Panera and got broccoli cheese soup, and chips, and then treated myself to Coldstone.  Seriously, you guys. I have a problem. lol Last night, when I picked up Travis from a friend’s house late, I made him buy me a Frosty.

I vowed this week to be better, and not allow myself to sabotage my hard work . By hard work I mean good eating, because after hurting my arm on Monday I hadn’t gone back to Crossfit. =X

This coming week, however, it’s back to the grind.  Up at 5am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for Crossfit. I am determined to allow myself to succeed at this.