THE Cleanse wrapup. Lessons learned

This will be my last post on the THE cleanse, a 2 week crash diet to make you learn of your bad eating habits and to show you that eating clean is not a bad thing, even when you are an endurance athlete. I did this for 12 of the 14 days and lost over 7 pounds.

Lesson #1: Your body has a LOT more energy than your brain thinks it does
You know those love handles you have? Do you know how much energy is stored in those suckers? A LOT! By day 8 or 9 of this diet, I had fully shed any morsel of refined carb in my body and was going solely on veggies and meat and fruit. That day I had to run for 90 mins. I woke up, and hit the pavement. No pre run fuel. No during run fuel. Either I was going off of the glycogen from previous days veggies, or I was digging deep into my fat stores. I had sustained energy during that run. No pep, but just sustained energy. I finished the run and still didn't feel hungry. I had a few other workouts where the same thing happened. I just had this slow burning energy and hunger wasn't an issue.

Lesson #2: Refined carbs wreck havoc on your blood sugar
Ever notice that when you eat some white bread that it makes you feel full, but only an hour later or so you are crashing? And that trend continues through the day? Even with some protein you still feel those violent ups and downs. I noticed that when using veggies and salad for carb sources, that those ups and downs (yeah, they still happened!) were not as violent. The height of the waves were much shallower.

Lesson #3: Protein is cool, but veggies are cooler with protein
One day I had this genius idea of eating steak and three scrambled eggs. Basically protein and some saturated fat. It didn't fill me up and gave me ZERO energy for a later workout. I had similar meals, but had loads of steamed broccoli or asparagus or green beans with it. The veggies and protein working together filled me up, kept my filled, AND provided energy for later workouts.

Lesson #4: Refined carbs are not a bad thing
I can eat a flour tortilla, some peanut butter and banana and be ready to rock ANY workout within 60 mins. Refined carbs are convenient and fit into a lifestyle where you need quick energy. Yeah, you need to watch it with the types of foods, but they work with me and I notice that I really only NEED to eat them when there is a workout coming up. I hate eating slower absorbing foods and waiting 3-4 hours for them to kick in.

Lesson #5: Refined carbs can be a bad thing
One thing I noticed while off refined carbs was that I wasn't getting sleepy during the day. I was less tired. Yes, I had zero pep during my workouts, but I had sustained energy, especially at work. I wasn't falling asleep in any meetings! The refined carbs that I normally eat I notice give me jet fuel like energy, but like jet fuel, it burns much quicker, meaning I tire out quicker after a workout is done.

Lesson #6: good fats are good things
So eating grilled lean meats and lots of steamed veggies is a really healthy thing, but the flavor just isn't there. Eating like that is also missing out on a macronutrient: FAT. Nuts, avocado, olives are forms of healthy UNsaturated fats. Those foods I noticed helped keep me full and were less gross to consume than saturated fats like bacon. Oh how I love almonds, avocado and olives!


Lesson #7: salads can fill you up
I would always eat salads as just lettuce, cucumber, some carrot, and a dressing. THAT never filled me up. I learned that by loading it with olives, avocado, peppers, chickpeas, spinach, snap peas, AND especially lean grilled meat with an olive oil and vinegar based dressings with some pepper can keep me full for a LONG time. And this isn't some small salad. This is a BIG salad! Now finding variety in these salads is the trick.

Lesson #8: Paleo is too restrictive
I get the paleo diet (no grains or dairy or beans). The diet totally makes sense but I find it too restrictive for my food pallet. I LIKE the taste of bread. I am not a pro triathlete. I am an amateur and this is my hobby. Yes, I always want to get better and leaner, but I still gotta live! Booze is not a bad thing. I LIKE the taste of alcohol. I am not going to become a monk and deny myself these wonderful things in the world. Just don't go too crazy with it, right?


Lesson #9: Water is a cool trick
Water was my saving grace. I had to drink 100 oz a day. The first few days I was running to the bathroom every 15 mins. By day 5 I wasn't sure if I was drinking enough. Sure enough I was, but not peeing as often and still felt thirsty. Truest me, it still left my body, but drinking 100 oz a day is not a hard thing and does wonders for your energy levels. It kept me balanced! Drinking water during meals, and especially after meals "finished" off my stomach. It tricked my stomach into thinking it was fuller than it really was. This helped turn down the hunger monsters and allow me to eat less.


Lesson #10: salt turns you into a sponge
Can't remember which day it was, but I was adding salt to everything. And I was drinking 100 oz of water. Let's just say I kept drinking but I wasn't peeing like I should have. I felt so bloated! The extra salt that I had made my body retain all of that water.

Foods that really got me through this diet:

• apples and peanut butter (#1 snack!)
• grapefruit and oranges (can't get enough of em!)
• berries....blueberries, blackberries, and ESPECIALLY cherries!
• almonds and peanut butter
• roasted asparagus and roasted green beans
• olives (oh how I LOVE thee!)
• avocado
• grilled sirloin steak

I would recommend this cleanse. I would say 10 days is probably enough. 14 and you are not only going crazy but also eating out with others can be a bit restrictive. I learned that I need to drink more water and to limit my refined carbs to pre workout fuel only. This will satiate my appetite for this food group. Eating grilled lean meat and roasted or steamed veggies will become my usual dinner. This does provide enough energy for the next morning, just not that night. Takes a bit longer for green beans to make it to the muscles @ glycogen.

This was a great jump start to the season.

Days 9 -11:Cleanse....another drop, but NOT in energy!

Haven't updated in a bit, but I'll be brief:
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Day 9: AM weigh-in: 143.8 (new low)

Another drop. I am down almost 7 pounds in 8 days. I am definitely noticing a body composition change in the mirror. My stomach is significantly flatter AND I have a TON more energy!

Last night I swam and felt like a normal human being with normal human being energy. Then this morning I did the same 5 miler with 10x 20 sec hill repeats as last Tuesday. Other than sore legs, energy was not an issue. I even finished the run 30 seconds faster this time.

I am starting to smell the end of this! This Saturday I have a big swim with my coach then I need to run 90 mins afterwards. Worried about fuel, I asked my coach and he responded with "eat a whole grain bagel with peanut butter."

REFINED CARBS!!!!!!!!

It was the same as him telling me to eat a bowl of ice cream. WOW! I am getting worked up about eating a freaking bagel! haha!

I had a slight low from the fruit, but by lunch I really didn't need to eat. I ate anyways, but after a chicken breast, some steamed broccoli, and some olives, I was good! Those olives......MAN! I love olives....

This is how I came to love olives: I was in Provence, and someone offered me an olive, so I ate it. I thought it was the most vile thing ever known to man! I HATED it!!! Then a year or two later I was eating at a restaurant somewhere in VT (Simon Pearce?) and I suddenly was craving olives. I have been hooked ever since. Kalamata are my favorite.

Dinner was the same steak and salad with the amazing Dijon vinaigrette from last week. Probably the easiest day yet!

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Day 10: AM Weigh-in: 143.6 (new low)

I thought I had eaten a ton of food yesterday. Guess not! I dropped a bit lower. Down almost 7 pounds! We got socked with another 12 inches of snow last night. No biggie, I was on the trainer anyways today. Just did 60 mins.
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Day 11: AM Weigh-in: 142.6 (new low)

Woke up and ran 7 miles. WHAT a difference a week makes! I had some sore legs this morning, but energy was not much of an issue. My last two runs have felt human again!

Ate a yummy dinner, then hit the pool. After 1500 yards I had ZERO motivation to continue. Just wasn't happening tonight...

The cravings are really killing me right now. Today @ work a coworker was 5 feet away from me and I caught a whiff of his hot chocolate that he was drinking. I think I freaked him out a bit when I asked him if he was drinking hot chocolate. Yes, my nose is UBER sensitive for sweets right now!!!! I can't stop eating fruit, since that is the only allowed sweets.

Day 7: Cleanse...suprise energy and halfway there

Today's workout was a 90 min steady run, or a 10 miler.

Pre run weigh in: 147 (again!)
Post run weigh in: 144.6 (new low)

I don't drink anything during my long runs in the winter since I am not thirsty. I also did the entire run on no fuel, before or during. So that 2.4 pound loss was totally through the 1000 calorie or so energy expenditure (less than 1/3 of a pound) and the rest through sweat loss, though I didn't feel like I was sweating hard. It was 30 degrees, a bit windy, and super dry and sunny, so most likely the sweat just evaporated as soon as it came into contact with the air.

So this run proves that you can run for 90 mins or more on nothing, AND on a no refined carb diet. Other than getting bored and anticipating the end of the run, I had enough energy to stretch it out to a half marathon if I had the motivation.

I also had some energy this time! I didn't feel flat, but I didn't feel peppy, I just felt "normal" for once. Last night's dinner REALLY did the trick. Here is the run:



I ate the usual breakfast, but I was out of cherries (boo!) so I polished off the blueberries (yay!). I didn't wait too long before I scarfed down an apple with all natural peanut butter with salt (yay!). But I was still hungry....I had to GET OUT of the apartment. Just thinking about food was making me hungry! Not eating any solid protien before lunch really kicks my butt. That is the #1 thing I am looking forward to after this experiment: Eating protein and lots of it @ all meals. ESPECIALLY eggs with breakfast! (cravings anyone?!?!)

Went to Whole Foods to get some groceries (including cherries!) and bought a pre-made meal of chicken and roasted vegetables, including POTATOES! I haven't eaten a starch in 7 days. Potatoes are not a grain. So I cheated a bit and ate some fucking roasted red potato cubes. I felt SO guilty!!!!!

THEY ARE YUMMY!!!!

This held me off and reclaimed my human status again. Then I was good for the rest of the day.

Dinner was chicken marinated in a really yummy Greek dressing recipe given to me by Kevin @ IronmanByThirty. Thanks Kevin! I made roasted green beans on the side.

This again totally filled me up. I survived the weekend!

Only 7 more days to go...

Day 6: Cleanse.....OoooooouuuuuuuuuuuuCH!

This morning was a total suffer fest. So I first want you to watch this:

My legs didn't hurt. My whole body was just giving me the OUCH in terms of energy. What is flatter than flat? Is there such a thing? If there was, I was it.

But first, AM weight in: 147 again.

Then I had my usual breakfast of grapefruit, cherries, blueberries, and an orange.

So I was on the trainer for 95 minutes, doing a HUGE number of intervals going from 1 min @ 150 watts to a variable time of 180 watts. Now, those numbers aren't huge. But remember how I have been complaining of being flat all week? That 180 felt a LOT harder! And the fact that I was doing it over and over and over again ranging from 4 mins to 1 min was just sapped what little energy I had to begin with. With 10 mins left, I was just waiting for the BONK. It never really showed up. That fruit breakfast did little for fuel....

I got off the trainer and was shaking so I ate an apple with peanut butter (salt added!). OMG it was heaven!

But this was merely something to calm my stomach down for a 3 mile brick run. It seriously felt like the run from my first triathlon. My legs were SO weak! Walking down the stairs was even hard!

Amazingly during the final mile and especially @ the very end, I had some energy and felt normal again (besides the usual hungry stomach).

So I am seeing a trend. I am hungry a lot during workouts, which I always thought I was out of energy, but in fact I do have energy, but I am just hungry.

Ate the leftover steak and salad for lunch. Then I took a short nap. After the nap I woke up and felt like a freaking zombie. I was HUNGRY. I mean, HUNGRY HUNGRY HUNGRY!

@ 4 I couldn't take it any more and had two hard boiled eggs, and another apple with some peanut and almond butter. I sorta felt human again...

Then we went out for Mexican. I got the steak, chicken, and shrimp fajitas. OMG I felt human again! I only ate the meat with the grilled veggies and onion with guacamole and pico de gallo. I CLEANED the plate! Tough watching my girlfriend eat fried ice cream right in front me....

Today was another hard day, diet wise, and probably as hard as Wednesday when I had similar hunger pains.

Tomorrow should be interesting...

Day 5: Cleanse....a GAIN!

Went to the pool first thing this morning and put in 2500 yards. Easy logistical workout: 500 WU, 5 x 100 on 2:00, 5 x 300 on 6:00. The 100's were slow today, coming in between 1:32 and 1:34. The 300's were slow, holding just under a 1:40 pace. I felt SO flaaaaaaaaaaaaaat. I had NO speed in me today! Frustrating too looking @ those times on the clock! The pool IS GONNA GET IT once I get some proper fuel into me!

Then it was 20 minutes of strength. Again, felt soooooo flaaaaaaat.

Then the AM weigh in: 147

a 2.2 pound gain in 24 hours? I remember thinking I wasn't drinking enough water yesterday because I was so thirsty and I wasn't peeing. Then I remembered what I drank yesterday and I think I exceeded the 100 oz goal. But I still wasn't peeing like crazy like the first 3 days. I think my diet yesterday had more salt in it (i added it to my salad dressings, veggies, the olives had it) and that made my body retain the water. Based upon what I ate yesterday, it was NOT a large amount of food.

I spread out my breakfast again. It worked and I really didn't need to eat that last orange, but I did anyways since I had to give a presentation in front of some corporate folks.

My mid morning snack was an apple and some unsalted peanut butter. Ever wonder why peanut butter is sooooo good? Yeah, the HUGE amount of salt added. This stuff tasted basically flat, but at least it was salt free. I really want to shed my body of yesterday's water bloating.

Lunch was yesterday's dinner leftovers. I bought a tiny salad just in case this wasn't enough food, but I had to force myself to finish everything. I never ate the salad.

I was like, oooookay. That wasn't much food.

Then I wasn't hungry for the rest of the day. 2nd day in a row....

@ Dinner, I could eat, but I wasn't starving. We had a salad with beats and an AMAZING balsamic vinaigrette with Dijon mustard, shallots and honey and grilled sirloin steak. Finally, some flavor!

So here is my theory as to what has happened this week so far:
- days 1-3 were my body revolting due to the lack of sugar/grains/refined food, hence the crazy blood sugar swings of up and down
- days 4-5 have been my body has adjusted, and I am no longer seeing blood sugar rises and falls as extreme now that my body is no longer dependant on the processed sugars, grains, etc. I am therefore much more steady
- I think my stomach has shrunk. I can't put down much food anymore

So tomorrow and Sunday will be the interesting days: long workouts. I have a 100 minute bike for tomorrow AM, followed by a quick run for a brick. Sunday is a 90 min run.

So I feel like I have been cheating with this diet. But I look at the type and amount of food that I am eating it isn't much! At least I don't think it is much.

SO this is what it is like to be paleo. (no grains, no dairy) Other than feeling flat during workouts, it is a totally doable diet/lifestyle. I have really had to think harder about eating different foods from my normal diet. Like eating salmon, shrimp, turkey, steak, and chicken all in one week with different vegetables and salads is new to me. Usually its one or two different meats a week, like chicken or beef.

I think if I ate a piece of chocolate right now that I would die of shock....haha!

Day 4: Cleanse. Another drop, but more energy

AM weigh in: 144.8

2 pound drop in 24 hours (down 5.4 pounds in 4 days)

I ran a slow 7 miles this morning in something like 1:04:xx. I was very worried that I would bonk at any moment. I had the energy, but definitely not the pep. I am really surprised that I was able to run that long on what felt like an empty tank. I was SO hungry the entire time! Running up hills pretty much sucked.

So because I crashed so quickly after my breakfast yesterday, I stretched it out this morning. It worked! I had the grapefruit, then went to work and ate the cherries, then waited a bit and had the orange then chugged a glass of water.

Felt pretty good after the AM snack, which was an apple and some almonds.

By the time I had my big salad @ 1:30-ish, I wasn't ravenous. Oh, and I have always loved Olives. But now I REALLY love olives! Why? Cuz they have FLAVOR! I have felt so flavor starved as well since Monday.

Hopefully Yesterday (day 3) was that hump to get over and my body is finally getting used to this diet. Has my body kicked the sugar/grain dependancy?

When I got home for dinner, I wasn't very hungry, other than for some giant green olives (so good!) and some kalamata olives. But I knew I had to get some extra food into me otherwise I might eat it (pun intended) tomorrow.

Tonight I had sauteed shrimp in olive oil with garlic and red pepper flakes. On the side was sauteed zucchini and baked asparagus.

Small portions. Wasn't very hungry!

So Jeff @ DangleTheCarrot did a review of Anti Monkey Butt Powder back in June. By that time I was mid season and my butt could take any ride/any distance/any time on the saddle. So I thought it was a neat review and stored it away into my subconscious.

Fast forward to NOW, and since I have been riding not much at all, and only on the trainer, my butt can't take sitting on the saddle for very long. Fortunately I had a little sample pack of chamois creme, but that was ok and there wasn't much of it. THEN I remembered Jeff's review! I could just run across the street to CVS and pick up a bottle. Before I left, my girlfriend told me, "Does that come in a yellow bottle? There is a bottle of that stuff that has been sitting there for almost two years under the bathroom sink."

Ooooooooohhhh, NOW I remember it. I thought it was a gag gift from Christmas two years ago! haha! So, thank you forgotten family member who got it for me. It will surely be used this winter!!!

(source)

Day 3: Cleanse....holding steady, but STARVING!

My weigh in this morning explains everything. I held steady @ 146.8 which means that the sudden drop in the first 24 hours was in fact just my body shedding that initial water volume.

This morning was spent on the trainer for 60 minutes. I broke out some chamois cream for the first time. I think it helped! I had enough energy to get through the workout, which included a lot of one leg drills. Staying in the aero position was a bit easier this time around. I don't care if my bike fitness is not at 100% in April, I just want to be able to stay in the aero position for the entire ride like I was able to do this past season.

OH! If you aren't using a fan cooling you down on the trainer, GET ONE! Riding on the trainer IS harder than riding outdoors, especially if you want to hit the same wattage #'s as riding outdoors. I notice that while I am generating less watts indoors, my heart rate is signifigantly higher than when riding outdoors, when I am pushing more watts, but at less effort. Ever wonder why? READ THIS. It explains it pretty well.

(source)

Using a fan this morning did help a lot.

The food cravings haven't really started yet, other than eggs for breakfast, which are not allowed. I can have eggs later in the day, just not for breakfast since only fruit is allowed. I am sure more cravings will show up in the next two weeks. My supervisor on Monday brought in a HUGE box of cookies to our Dept Meeting. Everyone turned into vultures and all I heard was, "MMMMMMMMM! Cookies! Jelly!" *chomp chomp chomp chomp* "MMMMMMMMM! Chocolate! Granola!" *chomp chomp chomp chomp*

I felt like a vegetarian Lion watching the pack devour a poor antelope...

By 11AM, I was RAVENOUS! I ate an apple with two tablespoons of peanut butter. I was literally licking the spoon clean to get all of the peanut butter. I basically already crashed, this didn't help much, and I crashed further.

@ 1 I ate more turkey breast, brussel sprouts, steamed broccoli, and half an avocado. FINALLY I felt like a human again. Except now I needed this to fuel a swim.

The swim was good, but I cut it short to only 1500 yards. I did 500 WU, then 10 x 100 on 2:00, and held a consistent 1:31 for the first 5, and 1:29 for the second 5. I held a STEADY pace the entire time. Just cruising! Any form of a pickup I felt would put me over the edge and send me bonking. I got back just in time to eat two clementines and down a glass of water. I think I managed to hold off a bonk.

I think a lot of the food intake and starvation feeling is mental since this is a total diet change for me. I am hoping this day #3 is the final hump and my body will adjust.

By 6:30 it was dinner @ the Cheesecake Factory. That menu is so HUGE that it is easy to find something. I got the grilled salmon with steamed broccoli and had to swap the potatoes (boo!) for some asparagus. Having to give up that bread was hard. I LOVE their bread! I killed the entire plate and was STILL hungry! After another glass of water, finally my blood sugar evened out and I was good. Watching someone eat the bowl of strawberries with whipped cream killed me. No fruit other than breakfast. GAH!


I hope tomorrow is better....today was rough.

So have you seen those balance shoes which are the new fad now? You know, those shoes that have the rounded bottom which is supposed to work those stabalizing muscles in your legs to get your butt toned, lose weight, etc etc etc. I have even seen sandals in that design!

(source)

 Well, apparently people are now suing shoemakers cuz they aren't working as advertised and will even injure you! *hangs head in disgust* REALLY?

Sorry folks, sounds like the huge marketing campaign worked; you bought the product and drinking the kool-aid didn't work. There is no magic pill to get your butt in shape! You still gotta sweat a bit....

Anyways, my rant is over.

Have a nice night!

Day 2: Cleanse....an unexpected suprise

Thank you everyone for your comments about yesterday's Day 1 Cleanse post. It really wasn't that bad at all, like most of you observed. I think I got myself all mentally worked up that I was going to starve myself. Not the case apparently! It was just getting through the morning where I was starving by noon and after that HUGE salad @ 1:30, I was good for the rest of the day.

In fact, it seems like I ate a LOT of food yesterday, which I think was the case.

And the result? This morning's weigh in:  

146.8

Surprise! Down 3.4 pounds in 24 hours. I was convinced I would have packed on a few just due to water and food intake. I officially hit the 30 pounds lost mark from January '08.

I have NO idea what that 3.4 pounds means, other than I am 3.4 pounds lighter this morning than yesterday morning. If I continue to lose 3.4 pounds each day, then I will make a big deal out of it. A Tri friend mentioned to me that single day weight loss of that magnitude is most likely water loss.

So this morning I ran 5 miles, with 10 x 20 second hill sprints included. The first couple were not that bad, then I felt as light as a feather during the middle sprints, then the last 4 or so had my lungs BURNING at the top. Overall, I felt flat, but I think that was more due to that strength workout from yesterday. My glutes are REALLY tight!

For breakfast, I had a grapefruit, handful of cherries, handful of black berries, and an orange. I LOVE cherries!

And do you know what today is? That last day of the mornings getting darker. For here on out, the mornings will only get lighter. Phew! This really helps me with running in the morning. The cold doesn't bother me, its the dark that really kills me. I HATE wearing headlamps!

For lunch it was Turkey breast with steamed green beans a salad with oil and vinegar with avocado, lettuce, chickpeas, cucumber, green pepper and cherry tomatoes. Avocado is getting tastier and tastier! This mostly held me over till 7, when I ate dinner. It didn't hold me over as well as yesterday's lunch salad.

Speaking of dinner:

Droid phone camera is WAY better!

On the plate is turkey breast, brussel sprouts, squash, spinach and onion. I had another 20 oz of water. I have been SO thirsty today! I think as of right now I am at 100 oz for the day. I'll prolly have another 20oz before tomorrow.

Tomorrow's weigh in should be interesting.

Day 1: Cleanse.....EPIC day

Woke up this morning feeling not hungry at all and full of energy. Hey, this won't be so bad, right? Weighed myself: 150.2 pounds @ 5'7"

Did 20-30-ish minutes of strength, and it was time for breakfast. I consumed 20 oz of water already throughout the strength workout.

So far, it has been a GREAT citrus season!

After the grapefruit and orange, I was pretty full. I really wasn't feeling the apple, but I knew that I needed to get it down to starve off the inevitable of feeling starved, or at least postponing it later. I downed another 10 oz of water before leaving for work.


Q: What kind of fruit do you eat that won't spike your blood sugar to the top of Mount Everest? (bananas are off limits)


I eat eggs EVERY morning. The protein and fats in them keep the hunger demons away from me better than consuming all carbs for breakfast. Unfortunately fruit is the only thing on the menu for breakfast during this cleanse.

After my 10:30 meeting ended at 11:30, I was hungry. Another apple with some Almonds was my AM snack. This tided me over for about an hour.

Another meeting @ noon, which got out @ 1, just in time, which had me not only running for the bathroom (my 4th or 5th trip this morning) but also for the cafeteria downstairs where, fortunately, on Monday's and Wednesdays the salad station is there.

Today they were making the asian salad with ginger dressing. It consisted of:

• iceberg lettuce
• snowpeas
• baby corn
• carrots
• grilled chicken
• ginger dressing
• i added half an avocado

Sorry, I wolfed the thing down before getting a photo and realizing I should have gotten a photo, so here it is post-carnage:

such a bad photo!

So last night I was watching the Nat Geo channel on lions and how they kill their pray. The way they ripped apart the flesh on a water buffalo is the same way I felt when biting into the grilled chicken. I haven't been craving bready carbs or sweets; I have been craving MEAT!!!

I felt like a normal person again after my vampiric rage on the chicken. Amazing how avocado can taste SO good!

This salad held me over for a LONG time! As in I finished the salad around 1:30, and didn't eat another apple and almonds until 6:30 to fuel for my evening swim. Q: Was it because of the amount of protein in it? There was about a chicken's breast worth in there. Fats came from the dressing and avocado.

Another part of this cleanse, is to down 100 oz of water EVERY day. How much is 100 oz of water?

A 6 pack of 16.9 oz of water comes to be 101.4 fl oz of water. Yesterday I did a "wet" run and tried to drink 100 oz of water. As a result, I had dreams last night that I was peeing for minutes on end. I seriously had water on the brain!

Drinking water while eating or on a full stomach is a lot easier than on an empty stomach when I am starving. With nothing to absorb that water, I get all sloshy. Drinking because I am not thirsty is also not fun and my stomach aches.

So my biggest worry was not having enough energy for tonight's swim. Got in and did 100 easy and my arms HURT already. It wasn't an energy issue, it was leftover soreness from this morning's quick strength routine. See, if you haven't done ANY strength in a long time, it doesn't take much to nuke the muscles that you never use.

We did 2400 yards tonight and it was a suffer fest the whole time. I just felt flat. We did do a fun drill. You need a partner for this. You swim while you pull your partner. He/She is gliding on stomach with a pull buoy holding onto your feet and trying to elevate them. Your partner is not trying to resist, just the holding onto your feet is enough resistance. It was actually a rest since it didn't work you cardiovasculary. After the drill when swimming resistance free, I felt SO HIGH in the water and fast. Its a good "contrast" drill.

Got home, had some left over turkey breast and some squash and spinach sauteed in onion.

It was quite a day! Gonna sleep well tonight.....

"THE Cleanse"

One thing that I have learned about my new coach is that he has ALL of his athletes do his "Cleanse" diet starting the first Monday or so in January to rid the body of "junk" accumulated over the holidays. When the opening line of this email is "Thank you for not deleting this email when seeing the subject line," I guess this shows that this "Cleanse" is a bit trying on the system, BUT! well worth it if you stick through it for the TWO WEEKS.

Sorry, I can't reveal the inner details of this cleanse, but I will mention that 100 oz of water need to be downed each day.

After analyzing the details of this plan, it is TOTALLY doable.....if I was a couch potato! haha!

What has me worried is doing workouts on less fuel. Well, since he is figuring out my workout plan, I have faith that all will be well with the energy factor.

Since this starts tomorrow, I guess I am going to go eat about 1 of these:

(source)

and 10 of these:

the 50 pound burger! (source)

Happy New Year!