Just a Reminder That Cleanses Suck

On Tuesday I started a 10 Day Herbal Cleanse by a company called Advocare. A nursing friend, who is also a personal trainer and nutritionist, recommended it to me because of my body's stubborn resistance to losing any kind of weight. In a regular week I do 3 days of weights (~30min) and 4-5 days of cardio (45min walk/run combo). On the weekends when I work 2-12 hour shifts, I get up every hour and do exercises in the office. However, despite also cutting my calories I still haven't lost a single pound...and it's been 3 months. I know how calorie deficits work, and creating one most days a week still hasn't helped anything happen. Her thoughts were that I needed to cut out some entire food groups, at least for a set period of time, to see how my body responds.

So, for the past 3 days (and they have been some incredibly long, rough 3 days) I haven't consumed any sugar (other than fruit), grains (white or wheat), or dairy. In other words, I've been living on fruits, veggies, meat, and eggs. Despite the fact that I love all of those, these last few days have been an eye opener; I eat a lot of crap. I spend all day trying to figure out what I can eat because almost nothing we stock in this house falls under those categories. I also drink 80-100 ounces of water a day (my urologist would be proud) which means I spend approximately 30% of my waking time in the bathroom. Once the 10 days are over I can slowly add those categories back in, but the plan highly cautions against adding anything made with sugar or white flour.

I'm learning that I can survive without those things but it sucks. I love cheese. And bread, I can't stand black coffee. And I'm tired of peeing all of the time.

Whole 30 Day 1

Today began my attempt to complete "The Whole 30 Program" in hopes of getting some more energy and clearing my skin up a bit. I did have a headache most of the day (totally missed my Starbucks macchiato) but I wasn't starving by any means. I woke up late so I only had time to grab some eggs and fruit, but for lunch and dinner (hey, it's hard to pack lunch sometimes) I made myself salads with organic greens, grilled chicken, avocado, cucumbers, tomatoes, Fuji apples, and oil/vinegar dressing. I'm not a big salad person but these were pretty good!

I fully intend on getting some "before" photos, but since AB really wanted to watch "The Hunger Games" after I got off work, the picture taking will have to wait.

As for my goals while on the program:

• Get more energy
• Sleep better
• Wake up easier
• Improve my running time and distance
• Get rid of random aches and pains
• Clear up acne
• Lose a few pounds

My starting stats:

• Weight: 161.5
• Measurements: 39-32-39 (gasp)
• Sleep 7-9 hours a night but hit the snooze button 10 times and am still tired all day
• Hormonal acne on cheeks and chin
• 13+ min/mile running; max distance so far 1.7 miles
• Random aches and pains, especially in my back and knees