Halt!

Alrighty so last time we left off I was switching over from the detox cleanse onto something simpler(gentler) to maintain some clean eating.  That has led into REBOOT ~ 2 weeks of planned eating (lots of veggies and protein every meal with a smoothie to start the day).  That's all fine and dandy UNTIL you get the stomach flu!  Yep Week One of Reboot done and then yesterday started feeling nauseas and gross.  It got worse in the evening and then BAM!  throwing up more than I ever have in my whole life.  Let's just say I don't care if digestive cookies, bread, crackers and ginger ale are not on the Reboot list THAT'S ALL I CAN EAT right now:(  Super bummed ~ another reason I dislike winter!  So Reboot is put on hold right now as is the gym ~ going to see how I feel in the morning and decide the next course of action.  I get so frustrated when I get sick ~ especially when I have 2 little ones to take care of.  My husband was generous enough to stay home today and help me as walking from the bedroom to the bathroom is somewhat of a challenge.  Being sick also reminds me how lucky I am that I am rarely sick and boy when I start feeling better it is just more reason to take really good care of myself and exercise!  I haven't been sick for over a year and I can't remember a time when I was sick with stomach flu.  It's gross but I am just thinking about it as my bodies own little cleanse to rid of the bug/germs/virus that snuck in!  Oh well that's life I guess!

So while I am sitting here holding still I thought it would be a good time to talk about what I am currently doing at Excel.  So as you may or may not know Excel is all class-based.  The trainer takes you thru a session that he/she has created ~ and they are always switching it up ~ so you might do the same exercises but they are in a different order and sustained for different lengths of time depending on the trainer has created.  This is super awesome because we NEVER get bored!  Here are some the things we do:

• Box Jumps (I am able to do the box jump at the highest setting now!)
• Squats (sometimes squat press, sometimes just a weighted squat, sometimes jump squat)
• Sprints
• TRX (rows, push ups, squats, lunges) ~ if you don't know what TRX is just google it:)
• Bicep Curl with press
• Skipping
• Spin
• Farmers Carry
• Stairs (with and without sandbell)
• Bear crawl
• Ball Slam
• 2 MINUTES OF HELL (which includes burpees for 30 secs, split lunges for 30, jump squats for 30 and star jumps for 30) 

A LOT of what I do everyday uses minimal "gym" equipment so I can take these exercises and use them on my own.  It is really helpful to go to Excel and learn about form, configuration of exercises, etc. to then do it on my own if for some reason I can not get to Excel that day or if I go away.  You also learn what to focus on when doing certain exercises and the "why" which is GREAT!  I highly recommend doing some research on the exercises you are doing to make sure you are doing them properly ~ a little picture on some gym equipment isn't enough.  If you don't have access to a trainer to help you make sure you read up on it, look up videos on the web (from trusted sources), etc.  An injury from bad form is NOT worth it.  I still have so much to learn but I can look back over this last year and a bit and see what a huge difference having a trainer with me has made.  Ok I am going to eat some digestive cookies and drink my vitamin water before having a nap.  If you are reading this and are not currently sick with the flu THANK THE HEAVENS!  Now go eat a banana and go to Excel;D

The Cleanse

Over the past 10 years I have done a variety of cleanses ~ some centred on the pills you need to take, some based solely on food you eat for a certain amount of time.  I have seen some success with both kinds but for sure was not a fan of having to take numerous pills ~ just did not feel natural to me.  A cleanse that works best for me is food based (including certain foods and eliminating other foods from your diet to cleanse your system naturally).  I have just started participating in a program that one of my trainer/nutritionist is leading.  Her name is Dina and you can find her here:) https://www.facebook.com/fullcirclenutrition.  Her program she is heading right now is called "Lumpy to Lean".  Our first task is to complete a cleanse ~ more specifically the Dr. Oz 3 Day Detox Cleanse http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/dr-ozs-3-day-detox-cleanse-one-sheet.  It is based on drinking 4 specific drinks/juices/smoothies, taking vitamins+probiotic+omega, drinking green tea, drinking a lot of water and taking an epsom salt detox bath each night for 3 days.  When I first saw this I was excited as I do like smoothies and thought I could handle it.  Well I was wrong and soon discovered this cleanse is not for me.

Let me give you some background:

Since last January 2013 I have switched up my eating habits drastically ~ including what I eat, how often I eat and portion size.  I eat a lot of organic & whole foods ~ like fruits, vegetables, lean meats.  I eat on average 6 times a day.  I also eat to accommodate my activity (so if it is an Excel gym day I tend to eat more and make sure I eat pre&post workout).  I regularly drink a lot of water.  I do not drink coffee ~ sometimes I will have decaf peppermint tea at night (caffeine intake has always been SUPER low ~ actually never have had a 'cup of coffee' just fake sugary coffee like cappuccino and frappes, etc.).  Rarely eat sweets of any kind (might have a little piece of chocolate now and then).  So I went into this with a really clean slate other than a couple sweets I ate over December.
Breastfeeding disclosure:  I still also occasionally breastfeed  ~ my little guy is 17 months now so he goes a few days here and there without nursing, drinks milk and eats like a horse so it is not a big deal if we don't nurse for a while BUT if you are nursing wait until you are all done before cleansing ~ most important thing is keeping baby and mom nourished for sure!
Actually when I did my 60 Day Challenge I was breastfeeding A LOT so I couldn't cut calories or start with a cleanse like other folks could but in maintaining those calories while breastfeeding and still achieving some great results it has RE-emphasized how important it is to keep your body fuelled ~ my metabolism has completely morphed and I just feel better.

SO since I had a couple sweets over December I normally would not have had in a regular non-holiday month and since it was the start of this program I thought a little cleanse would be a great way to start.  Day 1 drinks go down ok ~ breakfast was great but lunch and dinner just did not sit right with me and I couldn't drink the whole thing (and they are huge!)  In my research the Dr. Oz detox cleanse is about 1200 calories a day (already SUPER low compared to my consistent and normal 2000ish calories) but then not being able to drink the whole drinks put me down even lower.  I experienced headache (expected it) as I sure no matter how clean you eat there is still toxins that can be present.  BUT this wasn't just a normal headache ~ it hurt to walk.  I also went through a lot of stomach cramps that evening/night ~ almost felt starving.  Had cold sweats and aches.  And just had a bad feeling about what my body was doing.  So around 4am I got up (wasn't sleeping well anyway) and had a little food and some advil to ease my stomach cramps.  I felt like my body was not ok with me holding back calories especially after doing a spin class earlier that evening.  Luckily Paul was home today so he let me sleep in a little ~ got up and had a little food again and went back down ~ got back up and had a real breakfast including the items on my breakfast drink, egg and rice cake.  I felt a TRILLION times better after getting food into me.  The drinks are so large in volume it made me feel very bloated trying to down them all but still hungry at the same time.
What's next?  Well I hate the fact that I didn't complete it as it was only 3 days long but it just did not sit right with me ~ if it was something I could trudge thru I would have but I think it was putting my body into starvation mode and not expelling toxins.  My plan is to continue eating clean tomorrow (which would have been my day 3) ~ include the items on the drink list but also including other SUPER clean items to help with my calorie count.  There is another gentle cleanse I did years ago that I loved and I incorporate a lot of the rules in my day to day clean diet.  There is also a detox tea I enjoy (really feel herbal teas help my body ~ i.e. peppermint for digestive cleansing, red raspberry leaf tea when I was trying to get labour going, etc.)

The cleanse I love is from "The Natural Makeover Diet: a 4 step program to looking and feeling your best from the inside out" written by Dr. Joey Shulman.  She makes it very clear and doable.  http://www.amazon.ca/The-Natural-Makeover-Diet-Program/dp/0470836709  In her book she talks about EIGHT ELEMENTS of the 5 Day Cleanse:
1.  Eliminate all grains
2.  Eliminate all dairy products
3.  Eliminate all red meat
4.  Eliminate all white sugar
5.  Take a minimum of three capsules of probiotics daily with food
6.  Increase consumption of phytonutrient-rich foods (i.e. asparagus, artichokes, avocados, broccoli, eggplant, celery, cauliflower, tomatoes, red onions, parsley, peppers, garlic, onions, carrots, cucumber, kale, spinach, green beans, snow peas, sweet potatoes, zucchini)
7.  Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day (can also substitute in herbal tea) ~ no juice, pop, coffee or alcohol)
8.  Consume 1 tsp. of ground flaxseeds daily
I highly recommend giving this book a read as it has A LOT of good information re: digestion, foods, recipes, the good+bad, etc.  Everything is straight forward and totally doable.

The Detox tea I love is called PUKKA detox (organic aniseed, fennel & cardamom). Here is a great write up on the benefits of this herbal tea.  https://www.doctorblossom.com/index.php/nutrition-a-recipes/kitchen-medicine/141-detox-tea

Now the big question ~ to cleanse or not to cleanse?  I think this is a hugely personal decision and cleansing can be ENORMOUSLY beneficial ~ especially if you need to make huge changes in your diet.  This can be a great kick start to getting healthy and losing weight.  I think it is also extremely important that you do your research and find out about why certain things are in your cleanse.  Don't just pop a bunch of pills because it says cleanse on the bottle.  I highly recommend you do the cleanse I mentioned above if you are interested in doing one.  Or check out the Dr. Oz one ~ I think it can be a great route for some to go (just not me haha:).  It is all about getting rid of that "internal garbage" so be prepared to go thru some rough times during cleansing.  If it is just unbearable maybe try to find a more gentle cleanse to start.  The point is to get you on a healthier road so always keep that in mind.