the state of affairs

I haven't been running. I've been sick. hopefully I will be on the up and up soon so I can get back into the routine. I miss the routine; it has been such great running weather as of late.

{notice: rain in the valley, snow in the mountains!}

I'm running again!

finally, a non-cleanse related post! so I'm back in action. eating. running. the whole shebang.

since it was my first run after my little sabbatical, I only did about three miles. I felt pretty good though. I could feel my right hamstring in the beginning, but by the end it loosened up. everything else was fine overall.

it was a perfect day for a run. we're transitioning into my favorite running conditions: cold. I love cold running weather. {my body shuts down in any kind of heat} I love pulling on the running tights. I love layering. I love the fact that my body warms me up sufficiently. I love feeling hardcore when everyone else stays inside or just goes to the gym. winter running can be so beautiful. I'm excited for the changes. I like fall running too. especially on days like today. chilly {enough for the tights}, the sun finally peaking out after two days of rain. I love it. it's days like today that remind me why I love to run.

3 miles; liberty loop to 8th east and back

the master cleanse: post-cleanse, day three

hurrah, I'm back! yes, the old anna jo that you all know and love is back! today I ate food, real food! and it was heaven.

I started the morning out with a bowl of grape nuts trail mix crunch cereal (of the maple nut & brown sugar variety. not as good as the original since it's sans raisins). then I made a yummy salad full of fresh veggies (red leaf lettuce, cucumber, tomato, red onion, radishes, mushrooms, with a slice of lime to squeeze on top) to take to work, along with some cut up veggies (carrots, celery, and broccoli) and a strawberry yogurt. {I'm not taking the probiotic pills at this point, just hoping the yogurt does the trick. so far so good.} and for dinner tonight? fish! yes, you heard me. anna jo ate fish. willingly! it's all a apart of my new plan: enjoy fish. we went to red rock brewery up in park city and I had the almond crusted trout with rice, steamed carrots and a side salad.

I just can't believe the day of eating I've had. I no longer feel sick to my stomach. I no longer have a headache or sore shoulders. it's like I'm me again. and I'm loving it.

the master cleanse: post-cleanse, day two

well, today was a little better than yesterday. I'll give it that. I still have a headache and my upper body is sore. I still feel all yucky in my stomach. pete is convinced it's due to my lack of caloric intake. seriously, I'm consuming fewer calories now than I was on the juice diet. so he's forcing me to eat food even though I feel a little pukey inside. but I think it's exactly what I need. hopefully tomorrow my eating ability is a little more normal. I really don't want to be anorexic, but eating just isn't appealing right now. what's a girl to do?

here is a rundown of some things I ate today:
some cream of wheat (sweatened by none other than organic grade b maple syrup!), though I couldn't even eat all of it.

some vegetable broth (from the homemade vegetable stock I made this morning.) with a few saltine crackers. (which, btw, I found out are pure death. yeah, the saltines have high fructose corn syrup.)

orange juice. (I don't think it sits well with my stomach)

homemade vegetable soup (made with some of the aforementioned vegetable stock and more fresh veggies)

a {very tiny} piece of lemon cake. okay, I know what you're all thinking, you ate cake?! doesn't that go against everything you just did? well, yes. actually it does. the lemon cake had high fructose corn syrup in it too, but I ate it anyway. but our neighbors brought it over and it just looked so good and it was only a littly itsy-bitsy piece anyway. so I did it. all things in moderation.

the master cleanse: post-cleanse, day one

well, this day ranks as the worst day of the cleanse by far. I've had a headache and my back/shoulders/neck feel really sore. let's be honest, the orange juice is no lemonade beverage. how do they expect anybody to live off of this stuff for a whole day? I should've stuck with the lemon/syrup/pepper combo. at least it would've given me energy throughout the day. seriously. I want to die. oh, and did I mention I kinda feel like puking? I think it stems from my severe lack of food, coupled with the oj and that jamba juice I had (okay, so I could really only handle a couple of sips). no good. but now I'm home and eating saltines. real food! my mouth doesn't know what to do with it all! I've had, like, maybe seven crackers so far. I think it might be helping my energy levels. {"*gasp* food gives you energy!" --peter h.} now I just need to go drink some water or something, because I think I'm severely dehydrated.

so tomorrow I get to eat soup. I'm planning on making some fresh, homemade vegetable soup and I'm really quite looking forward to it.

say goodbye to the juice

and juicing equipment

and say hello to whole food!
{seriously, don't I look happy?
oh, it might be the fact that I feel like puking up my guts.
which actually wouldn't be much, I suppose.}

so hopefully I made the right decision in ending the cleanse when I did. this morning I woke up with very sore, achy legs. which is a sign of detox. and if you end the cleanse without flushing those mobilized toxins out, it's bad news bears. but I did eliminate this morning, for the last time, so hopefully that did the trick. I mean, I have been feeling crappy all day, but maybe it's unrelated. right? right. . .

the master cleanse: day eight

well, I guess this is the last night. I've actually gone back and forth in my mind for the past couple of days as to wether or not I should end at day eight or day ten. I mean, I know I can make it to day ten, but do I need to? should I?

if the stupid maple syrup weren't so expensive (I can't believe how much I've spent in maple syrup alone! and I'd have to go drop another twenty bucks tomorrow to continue with this thing) I'd probably do it. I'm sure there's more to flush out of me. but a lot of people do it for eight days and that's good enough. honestly, a lot of what's holding me back is the fear of-- well, the unkown. the fear of my body revolting anything but this stupid lemonade drink. when I start drinking orange juice tomorrow, and then vegetable broth and soups the next day is it going to make me feel sick? am I not going to have the sustained energy I've experienced with just the orange juice? am I going to crash and burn tomorrow? it freaks me out. maybe I'll just be anorexic for the rest of my life. {okay, we all know that is not happening!} oh yeah, and then there's the whole probiotic debate. I'm supposedly depleted of those in my system now, and all the literature I've read say I should take a probiotic supplement. pete tells me I should just eat our yogurts that have probiotic cultures. now my question is this: is the probiotic culture in my yogurt enough? do the pills have more, the needed amount I need to restore my body's natural probiotic levels? someone help me out here, I'm freaking out!

okay, phew! I just had to get all that out. {did I just detox or what?!}

speaking of detox, here are some symptoms I think I had:

sometimes I would have a general feeling of tiredness, or yuckiness, or coldness.

there was one day (that this was extremely noticeable) that I was having a hard time remembering things. mostly relating to speach. I was having a hard time trying to think of specific words or what I wanted to say in general. and then when I did think of the word(s) I was having an awfully hard time getting them out of my mouth.

last night my legs were a little achy. and I've had some random headaches.

so who knows. I'll let you know how I feel tomorrow--day one post-cleanse. I am still planning on drinking the tea tonight and doing the salt water flush in the morning. I feel that I've been drinking this bloody lemonade juice all day, which supposedly loosens up the toxins and built up crap, why not flush it all out of my system tomorrow. then I will be done with it. gone. out of my body and out of my life.

I only have one more day of drinking ocean. . .

the master cleanse: day seven

day seven. one week. who knew I could last this long?

so things are going well. it's still much of the same. people ask me if I feel cleansed. in all honesty, I don't feel much different. I know I have gotten rid of stuff in my body. I mean, I haven't eaten anything solid in seven days now and I'm still eliminating every day. so that tells me something. but I don't feel like a sparkling, shiny new version of myself or anything. I think I'll probably--hopefully--notice it when I ease myself back into regular foods. my energy levels should be up and I should feel clean. let's all hope and pray. {because if I don't, I'll be slightly irritated.}

in an attempt of normalcy, I like to put my juice in the cupboard. {I have to split the 32 oz up into two nalgenes--one big and one baby--so I have mixing room for the extra stuff. while I'm sippin' on the baby nalgene, the big one gets to wait in the cupboard.} it makes me feel like I'm just grabbin' something tasty to eat. we all know what a lie that is. but I try and trick myself into believing it every day anyway. so the juice has a home right next to the syrup, cayenne, sea salt and tea. they're all friends.

I'm still only taking in two nalgenes a day. but I have plenty of energy to sustain myself. the funny thing about this whole experiment, is that I haven't really craved food. at all. me. anna jo. not pining for food. sure I'd see something or smell something or even just think about something delicious and I'd think to myself, that would be nice. but that's it. I wouldn't dwell on it. because for the most part, I haven't even been that hungry. I even cooked today and was barely phased by it! {I did almost slip up when I took the eggplant out of the oven and the pepperjack cheese was gooey and deliscious. I had to catch myself, because without thinking I almost tried to take a nibble.} I watch cooking shows and read foodie blogs. I browse through recipes. nothing. it's truly amazing. cooking for peter tonight was fun because it took me out of my mundane juice life and into the fabulous world of cooking that I've missed so much. I even donned my apron. I've missed that.

the master cleanse: day six

yeah, I totally suck at drinking this little bevvy o' lemons. maybe I'm just in anorexia nervosa training or something, but I'm struggling to drink two of these things let alone three! seriously. it is now ten o'clock and I just barely finished my second nalgene of this stuff. it's partly due to the fact that when I get engrossed in something {sewing the cutest shirt ever} I totally forget about drinking. or maybe the fact that I'm just getting sick of this stuff. or possibly that my body is used to this deprived state and she just doesn't care anymore. like I've said before, who needs to eat?! obviously not me.

I can live all hyped up on sugar water.

well, anything else to report? basically it's still the same deal. I'm eliminating waste from my body. if you think about it, it's really kind of exciting. . . in that gross'ish sorta way.

oh, the liquid love

the master cleanse: day five

wow. day five. that's a long time without food.

so not much to report. it's been about the same as the previous four days. I still hate chugging the salt water, I still can't go anywhere until about 11 o'clock, I'm still drinking that bloody lemon beverage...

I do think I might be putting too much lemon juice in. can that be bad? I don't know. but whenever I'm measuring this stuff out after I've juiced up those lemons there's always a little bit left. so I dump that in too. I think I can taste it--too lemony. and it might be making me feel slightly sick throughout the day. too much citrus maybe? who knows. tomorrow I'll only put in the required amount and see if that affects anything.

I only drank two nalgenes again today. tomorrow I'll try for three, I swear.

I'm starting to look forward to real food again...

the master cleanse: day four

so I think the more of this stuff {this stuff being the lemonade beverage} you drink the better the cleansing the next morning. that's just my theory, though. unfortunately I only drank two nalgenes today. sometimes I get a little sick of the whole ordeal it is to make this stuff. what with the peeling and the juicing and the adding of the other ingredients and then the washing of the juicer and all. oy vie it all gets old.

I guess I was a little lower energy today. it seems that every other day I'm feeling fantastic, then not as fantastic. (still not terribly bad, though)

I haven't eaten any food in four days. I can't even believe it.

the master cleanse: day three

well, day three wasn't bad at all!

my salt water concoction is still pretty hard to get down. it's that last little bit that gets ya every time! but it's been working nonetheless. not like that first day--man, oh man--but now maybe we're strippin' away at some gunk? who knows! I'm just glad I'm eliminating, as it were, 'cause I hear that some people just retain this salt water sometimes, and it'll make you all bloaty and uncomfortable. like your eyes will puff up. and you just feel miserable. I hope and pray each morning that that doesn't happen to me. so far, so good.

I've had a lot more energy today. I don't know if it was the fact that I went through three nalgenes or what. I got really sleepy around three o'clock'ish, but I'm not really sure that has anything to do with my cleansing. usually at work (and I did go to work today, whoot!) I get sleepy around that time. otherwise I've felt fantastic all day. you wouldn't even think I hadn't had anything to eat for three days by just looking at me. I'm bounding with energy, just bounding.

so there ya have it. I don't feel like I've really had any symptoms of the detox. and I know that my body is harboring all sorts of toxins, so I don't know what the deal is. maybe tomorrow.

I'm off to make some tea!

the master cleanse: day two

so they say that day two is one of the hardest. it was harder than yesterday, it's true.

I had a general feeling of "blegh" all day. I had more noticeable hunger pangs, as it were. I felt pretty thirsty all morning (could it have something to do with drinking ocean?)

I don't think I'm drinking enough of my juice. I only drank two nalgenes yesterday (64 oz for anyone who's counting), which is on the lower end--I had planned on drinking somewhere along the lines of three nalgenes a day, the max. and I'm on track for drinking only two today as well. maybe that's contributing to my feelings of hunger. my energy levels felt pretty low today too. I just felt kinda yucky in my system.

overall it's not horrible yet, though. I can tough it out six more days. (lemonade diet, eight days; post-cleanse eating rehab, two days) it's just the monotony of having the same thing over and over again. I like variety in my diet. and I miss the actual, physical preparation of food. preparing and cutting up the lemons is as close as I get to that these days. at least I get to bring out the cutting board and good knife for something! I think I will actual look forward to the herbal laxative tea every night, just as a change of scene.

btw, right now I feel hungry with a slight headache.

the master cleanse: day one

I woke up a little before seven o'clock. mixed the salt and the water. chugged. let me tell you, it wasn't the most fun I've ever had in my life. but it wasn't as bad as I was expecting, either. it is hard to get that last bit down, though. that's just a lot of water in general, not to mention salt water!

but I think it's working.

I also made some batches of my lemonade drink throughout the day. it's actually not even all that bad! the cayenne pepper gives it quite a kick and it's nice and lemony. I'm juicing the lemons in our green power juicer {thanks again, grandpa!} and am still trying to figure out the best way to get the most juice out of each of these lemons.

at this rate I'll need about nine lemons per day. I'll also go through one jug of spring water per day. and I don't think this grade b maple syrup is going to last me that long (and it's kinda pricey). this cleanse might end up being slightly expensive. but hey, it's for my health.

I've been surprised by the fact that I really don't care about food. this not eating thing has been pretty easy. now tomorrow might be a completely different story. {I hear day two is especially hard.} so we'll see if I get any cravings or anything.

my energy levels are at a pretty normal level. I take my life-blood with me everywhere. anytime I'm feeling a dip, I just take a sip.

hurrah for cleansing!

{life-blood}

post script: fyi. when you go without this stuff for an hour, you start to get hungry. always remember to bring it to the young women's activity, even if you think it's going to be a short one.

the master cleanse: ten days to a happier, healthier me

so you're wondering why I would want to deprive myself of the things I really love? {food} well, a couple of years ago my friend, natalie, told me that the average person has about ten to fifteen pounds of, well, crap encrusted in her colon. I was horrified.

{now to clarify, this is not a weight loss scheme. the purpose of this cleanse is to detox my system. a lot of stuff builds up in those intestines over the years, and I'm lookin' to get rid of that.}

which takes me to the cleanse. it's called the master cleanse, also known as the lemonade diet. there's a book out there that you're supposed to read, The Master Cleanser by Stanley Burroughs (or Peter Glickmans' book, Lose Weight, Have More Energy & Be Happier in 10 Days is another good resource) but it was all checked out of the library and I didn't really feel like buying it. {hey, this cleanse is already costing me a fortune!} so I've been researching it online and feel I've got a pretty good handle on things.

basically, the lemon and cayenne mixture break up the stuff that is in your intestines and the rest of your body (toxins and such) and the salt water flush removes it all. the maple syrup is what gives you the calories to sustain life for ten days without eating anything. I like to think of this whole process as the agitator and the rinse cycle.

they say you will go through many different symptoms (cravings, aches and pains, sinus issues, et cetera) as your body is flushing out the toxins. once the toxin has been eliminated, the symptom is gone. I'm interested to test this. {I've also heard about a lot of, um, crazy things physically coming out of your body, but I will spare you the details and leave it up to your imaginations. just know that if I have anything like that in my body, I want it out right now.}

I've heard people swear by this method, so I'm excited to try it out. I'm looking forward to increased energy, less unwanted waste in my body, and a healthier diet post-cleanse. and come on, who needs to eat anyway?

the master cleanse: pre-cleanse

right now I'm preparing myself both mentally and physically for this cleanse. it is definitely an unknown adventure that I am about to embark upon. it basically consists of drinking an herbal laxative tea every night (to get the bowels moving) and then a salt water flush every morning (to really get the bowels moving!) then throughout the day I drink about three nalgenes (it's a 32 oz water bottle, folks) of this lemonade drink. (they also call the master cleanse the lemonade diet for this reason) and nothing else. no eating. no drinking other beverages. just tea, salt water, and a lovely lemonade mixture. for ten days. sounds fun, no?

here are the goods:

and now for the recipes: (just in case you were wondering just what goes into this stuff so you could try it along with me at home)

herbal laxative tea:

• follow directions on the box

salt water flush:

• 2 teaspoons uniodized sea salt
• 32 oz spring (or distilled) water

lemonade beverage: (1 nalgene's worth, which is 4 servings)

• 8 tablespoons lemon juice (I'm juicin' real lemons, nothing fake)
• 8 tablespoons organic grade B maple syrup
• 4/10 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 32 oz spring (or distilled) water
  

I hope to chronicle this adventure here (don't worry, I won't get too personal), so keep checking back. tomorrow I will let you know how I feel and perhaps go into more detail as to why I am neglecting my body of the food I so dearly love.

post backpacking trip run

I needed to stretch out the legs a bit after the little backpacking trip we went on this past weekend. {I don't remember the exact mileage of the trip. somewhere along the lines of six to eight. not too terribly impressive until you add in the vertical gain -- about two miles roundtrip. between the two days we spent about eight hours out hiking, and a lot of that was through boulder fields. not easy, to say the least.} my calves, quads, and ankles were a bit tight yesterday and today. surprisingly, though, my hamstring held up quite well through the whole ordeal. maybe I truly am on the road to recovery!

I did the liberty park perimeter loop. the dirt path was easy on the legs and added more distance. instead of going home on 6th east, I headed up to 8th east to finish out those remaining blocks.

I feel myself getting stronger. I could feel it in the hiking. I can feel it when I go running. my pace was pretty good today. right after I hopped onto the dirt path, there was a girl running on the interior sidewalk. I thought to myself, if I can just keep ahead of this girl, I will be doing awesome! (since she was running on the inside track, she had a lot less farther to go than me!) it turns out, I smoked her! so that made me feel good. though she was probably just running incredibly slow. I felt fast today.

I'm starting my cleanse tonight, so I doubt I'll have the energy for any actual physical exercise in the upcoming eight to ten days. but afterwards we should see my energy levels skyrocket! and not to mention I will just be in overall better health. this is a total experiment for me, so we'll see how it all turns out. I'll keep you updated.

~3.5 miles; liberty park perimeter loop to 8th east

run team

we were maybe going to go for a swim, maybe for a ride. we ended up going for a run.

it was the usual liberty park loop. just a quick run. we were hungry and pete hasn't even been running in a long time. it was enough.

my hamstring felt okay. I stretched and iced afterward and feel pretty good about the whole thing. I've got a plan of attack for my tight muscles: a foam roller. I'm opting for this over the stick, since you can get a better, deeper massage out of it. though I do remember the foam roller being the implement of death back in my physical therapy days. yikes. but it is needed, I feel.

3 miles; liberty park

swim | run

monday: pete and I did the labor day swim. went up to steiner for some lap swimming fun.

we didn't actually last too long because we were both deathly hungry (we went to sniagrab first to get the annual ski passes: pete's altabird and my alta silver). it seems we always hit up the pool when we're starving. we were there for about a half an hour, though. for being quick, it was pretty good.

tuesday: I was going to go hiking, but that blasted storm blew in and ruined all my plans. so instead I didn't do anything all day. oh well, we'll take it as a rest day.

wednesday: went running along 800 east. probably just under 4 miles. my right hamstring was bugging me in the beginning, but must have loosened up mid-run. I had some good time to think about training philosophies, that will most likely be shared in future posts. (if I remember what exactly it was I was thinking about.) get excited.

oh, and my runner's world came today. that's always fun and refuels the dedication to the sport. hurrah!

run

I had it all planned out last night. I would wake up early, drive my little self over to some park along the jordan river parkway trail and run about five miles or so.

when I woke up today that plan didn't seem so fun. I hate battling the morning. I sometimes [more often than not] lose. so instead of going running I slept in, leisurely ate some toast w/j (just incase I decided to go at any minute), checked my email and the blogs. I started feeling like the biggest slacker ever. I needed to run. even just a few miles. I couldn't not run. I'd regret it later.

so pete gave me the encouragement I needed to get out the door. he's good like that. I felt stupid because if I was going to go now I might as well have gone two hours before (when the air was so much cooler). but it was still only seventy degrees, so I gave it a go.

I felt tight and slow. I took yesterday as a rest day, and was sore from the ride in the shoulders all day. I felt a little sluggish in the beginning. instead of the JRPT, I just did the perimeter of Liberty. it was quick and easy. I ran up to 8th east and headed south toward home. I started feeling tired in my whole body--sleepy. I have a sneaking suspicion that when I can't breathe very well through my nose (and I also have a sneaking suspicion that I have some sort of nasal/passageway/congestion problem) it makes me tired. I need that oxygen, dangit! anyway, I fought through it and made it home.

I stretched and iced afterward.

3.5 miles; liberty, 8th east