Exhaustion & Travel Difficulties (28 Day - Day 2-4)

I’ve been pretty swamped with work the past 3 days—40 hours! But the project was shipped via FedEx and plane last night, so I’m done! It’s out of my hands. No more stressing or worrying because whatever issues there might be wrong with it, I can’t do anything about it. Finis!

I’ve felt extremely run down. Having worked that many hours in the day the last thing I want to do when I get back to my hotel is jump on the computer, so I’ve been very behind on blogging and writing. I’ve put maybe 2-3 sentences in my handwritten journal each day before going to bed. I NEED to write, though. So much to get off my chest and figure out!

While at work, I’ve not drank enough water. I am used to drinking at least 3 of my 34oz bottle…I’ve made it through 1.5 IF that each day while here. They don’t have any decaf tea, so I’ve been drinking this Organic Chai, which is a black tea and has caffeine (not helping energy wise at ALL) and really is just giving me headaches  Not sure why I keep drinking it… Every other kind of tea is black or green tea with “natural flavors”, which is definitely not natural! So, I guess next time I travel I will be prepared more and bring tea! I did bring nuts and fruit for snack items; at least I was partially ready!

Anyway, these past 3 days I’ve felt so off… I have been overly exhausted and not done the normal routine of yoga, stretching, core exercises, etc in the morning, walking in the afternoon, and some form of cardio and weights in the evening. I’ve kept to eating raw (at least to my knowledge) by having fresh (and dried berries) fruit in the morning, salads for lunch and dinner. The only things I’m unsure of are the dressings (Shallot Tarragon Vinaigrette? Cucumber Dill Vinaigrette?). The salads at Mad Greens I’ve been adding avocado, but while it looks and tastes normal in the salad, when I took a piece by itself I could tell it had been in something in order to keep it from browning. The salad place is one of those where you can build your own, adding toppings as you go down the line (like Subway), so I imagine they DO mix the avocado with something to keep its color. It just tasted so gross…and not fresh at all.

I’ve also eaten quite a lot at each mealtime, which is not needed since I’m not doing anything but sitting. My body feels wrong.

Here is some of the interesting and probably TMI tidbits I’ve noticed happening in the last 3 days: 

1. My armpits smell. SInce eating raw I could put on deodorant in the morning and even after extensive workouts and sweating I would not smell. Now, they smell without doing ANYthing.
2. I’ve had a lot more gas, which also smells horrid—sorry for the TMI, but I’ve not had this problem!
3. I’ve had no energy—I realize I’m working a lot and wearing my brain, but 5-6.5 hours of sleep has been okay for me to get up in the morning and be ready to go! I’ve not even been itching to go running.
4. I craved chocolate for the first time in a month! I knew I had fruit at home on my walk back from dinner, so I wouldn’t have, but I SO wanted to go buy a huge chocolate chip cookie. Instead I stopped at Jamba Juice and made a smoothie with fresh squeezed orange juice and 5 different fruits to curb the sweet tooth. Luckily this was all natural! Though I’m unsure if the fruit was frozen or cut that day.

I’m sure there are more things I’ve noticed, but those jump out at me. Here’s a rundown of my food intake for the past 3 days I’ve not been able to blog:

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TUESDAY

Breakfast: Plate of fresh fruit + dried blueberries and cherries (are these natural? I have no idea...)
Snack: Handful of nuts
Lunch: Mad Greens Salad with questionable avocado and Shallot Tarragon Vinaigrette
Snack: Apple
Dinner: Salad from TAG Raw Bar with questionable dressing + vegetable sushi rolls (I ordered via the phone and I’m not sure why the lady though that raw vegan meant sushi rice was okay…but I was hungry and craving it, so I ate it…granted something in this menu didn’t sit well and I had to throw some up—probably the rice!)
Snack: Orange + handful of nuts

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WEDNESDAY
Breakfast: Plate of fresh fruit + dried blueberries and cherries
Snack: Handful of nuts
Lunch: Mad Greens Salad with questionable avocado x 2 and Shallot Tarragon Vinaigrette (something didn't settle quite right with this or maybe it was just too much food, but I had to throw up not long after)
Snack: Apple
Dinner: Mashed Cucumber appetizer + Strawberry Salad from TAG Raw Bar (this was not on the menu; the chef made this specifically for me knowing I was raw vegan—it was fabulous and all raw!)
Snack: Medium 5 Berry Smoothie with fresh orange juice from Jamba Juice + handful of nuts

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THURSDAY
Breakfast: Plate of fresh fruit + dried blueberries and apricots
Snack: Banana
Lunch: Vegan Ceasar Salad (food truck, no idea what all was in the dressing exactly) with almond parmesan and coconut bacon (pan fried! ugh! it was too salty) + banana, strawberry and blueberry smoothie with chia seeds (made with water)
Snack: Apple + handful nuts
Dinner: Salad from Rioja (when I made reservations I told them I was raw vegan and not to grill the mushrooms; it was really good, but the size of a starter salad) + 5 glasses of Wine (hung out with an old friend and we wandered around getting wine. It was fun, but I didn’t need all the wine!)
Snack: Hotel Salad (this had chicken, muenster cheese, and tortilla strips that I forgot to ask to be removed, plus the red peppers were cooked and the dressing was a creamy something…however, I was so hungry and drunk that I did not care! I definitely regretted it shortly after because none of it stayed down)

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All of these things just make me realizing that even though I’m trying to stick to raw (though I guess it’s about 90% with all my question marks and let’s just not count the salad at midnight) something is definitely different and wrong.

I don’t like it.

Is this how it’s going to be when I leave on trips? Will I have this many problems? I can solve the dressing situation by asking for olive oil (though I doubt it's cold pressed) and/or slices of lemon. I can try to do better with stretching and getting walks in, even if I don’t run or do weights. Just MOVING is good. I did great the 3 days I was at my Mom’s! I ran, walked, stretched, did yoga and core training, but I also was making my own fresh foods via the menu I had preplanned and shopped for. Here in Denver I’m eating out and I don’t know what I’m getting most of the time.

After last night I will say I'm slightly disappointed in myself for giving in to so much alcohol and then not having any control or care with food during that time. I've endulged in wine twice on this trip now. I realize both times were hanging out with people I've not seen in years, but I don't NEED to drink to have fun. One would be just fine! I'm not going to beat myself up over it; it's definitely something I need to figure out as to WHY I choose to do it. Why do I feel drinking after a long, hard week and/or getting together with friends is the best way to relax and have fun? It's a silly concept. I'm much happier when I don't.

Luckily the week in Denver is essentially over. With the exception of lunch after hiking on Saturday, tomorrow afternoon is the last day of eating in Denver. I have to make my shopping list for the rest of the weekend so I can grab it on the way up to Mom’s tomorrow. I’m excited to get some movement in Saturday! Hiking! YES! We possibly might go Sunday too, if we aren’t worn out.

I’ve enjoyed my trip (or will now that the long hours and project is over). It’s been a learning experience, for sure. I appreciate that. I now know the difficulties I might face next time (though I don’t foresee such a long stay any other time).

Beginning the 28 Day Transition Phase

During the 21 Day Cleanse I stuck completely to the plan and loved it! I did partake in some celebratory wine, but the 4 glasses throughout were my only "cheat", so I'm pretty satisfied with this! I can't wait to continue this journey and play with all of the delicious recipes out there.

On a side note, I am currently in Denver, CO for the week for work, and then at my mother's in Cheyenne, WY for the weekend (where I was this past weekend). It will be a challenge living out of a hotel room and office building, but I researched and found a raw restaurant not far from here plus a Mad Greens a block from work! I think I'll do just fine. :)

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What a day! I was up at 4:45, was in the office (literally 50 ft from the hotel) by 7 and didn't leave until 8:15. I didn't get any of my morning workout or routine in, but I'm okay with this since I wanted as much extra sleep as possible knowing the day was going to be ridiculous. Here's my list of foods!

Breakfast:

Cantaloupe

Watermelon

Honey Dew

Pineapple

Orange

Grapefruit

Dried Blueberries

Dried Cherries

I had the buffet at the hotel restaurant and just did a small plate of various fruit. I plan on doing this every day! Not sure if the dried fruits are just dried without extra anything, but I'm assuming so.

Snack:

Apple

Handful of nuts (almonds, pepitos, walnuts)

I brought these with me from home knowing that I'd need snack items at work.

Lunch:

Mixed Greens + Romaine Lettuce

Avocado

Mixed Peppers

Edamame Beans

Cucumber

Scallions

Roma Tomatoes

Cucumber Dill Dressing

There are a couple different salad companies in Denver. I can't remember what this one was called, but I just made my own and added raw ingredients. This one isn't quite like Mad Greens in it doesn't have as many raw options, but it was still pretty good. I don't know about the cucumber dill dressing -- it wasn't bad at least!

Dinner:

Mixed Greens

Avocado

Green Pepper

Grape Tomatoes

Pepitos

Scallions

Carrots

Mushrooms

Shallot Tarragon Vinaigrette

THIS salad was at Mad Greens. It beat the socks off the other one! I tried a couple vinaigrettes before the Shallot Tarragon and oh my goodness this is so good! Makes me question what’s in it… I enjoyed this salad a lot. It’s not too far from work and I got there just as they were closing at 8:30, but they were happy to serve me. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to make it down to the TAG Raw Bar this week, but with these late work nights I don’t know!

In all honesty, I didn’t really need to eat this salad. I wasn’t that hungry. Either the lunch filled me up enough or I was finally drinking the water I hadn’t most of the day. It was late and I could have honestly just gone to bed after an hour or so. I wish I would have, really! Saved myself some calories! I need to work on that if I’m not hungry don’t eat thing…I get caught up in the “Oh, it’s dinner/lunch time...I should eat!” which, when I’m working out, I WILL, but days like yesterday when all I did was sit on my rear…it’s not necessary. My body doesn’t need all that food.

Snack:

Orange

Again…why did I eat you, Mr. Orange? You tasted delicious and I love having something sweet after a meal, but you were not necessary so late in the evening!

Ta-Da! (Day 21 Journal)

Day 21! The cleanse is over! I guess I kind of botched the cleanse with the toxic intake of wine yesterday, but I’m okay with that because I know that this cleanse is not just a 21 day deal for me. I plan on continuing for the foreseeable future. The only “cheat” items I partook in this entire 21 days were 4 glasses of wine. I think that’s considered a win!

I’m not able to weigh or measure myself, but I know that when I took the following after photos (Thursday, Day 18) I was down 10 pounds. I imagine it’s about the same today. I’ll do an official measurement after the 28 day transition which starts tomorrow.

I’m very satisfied with the results! You can definitely see a difference! I know that I have a long way to go, but I’ll get there. I noticed for the first time my shoulders are not square. I believe the right hangs lower due to using it to carry things for so long. I’ve had a masseuse tell me this as well and I’ve made a conscious effort to switch all shoulder carrying to the left. I’ve also swapped to a rolling bag for the work laptop (it’s a desktop laptop, so it’s quite beastly). Hopefully I can correct this over time.

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On the Move (Day 20 Food Log)

Movement:

60 min Run/Walk

Core Strengthening

Physical Therapy Exercises

Stretching

Yoga Poses

All of this together was literally 2 hours! Felt amazing, though! I got up at 4:45, however…so a nap is going to be in order before I go walk around in the sun all afternoon.

Breakfast:

1 Banana

1 Orange

Pkg Blackberries

Simple and filling! I love big bowls of fruit.

Snack:

Remainder kale and chard salad from last night

Apple

Lunch:

½ Pkg Alfalfa Sprouts

½ Romaine Bunch

1 Avocado

1 Lemon Juiced

1 Tomato

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Cracked Pepper

Sea Salt

1/8 cup toasted hemp seeds (finally done with them!)

I think my favorite dressing for salads is lemon juice. I love the tangy! I scarfed this down so that I could get ready to head to the chili cook-off. I could have definitely done 2 servings out of it.

Snack:

Glass of Wine

I drank water all day at the chili cook-off and didn’t snack one bit. After having walked all afternoon I sat down to chat with some old friends and have a glass of wine. Unfortunately it will be the first of many!

Dinner:

Bowl of Cherries

Apple

Handful of Mixed Nuts

I ate this on the road out to our reunion, trying to get some food in me since I hadn’t had anything to eat all afternoon. I knew there was going to be food, but not food I wanted to eat, so I didn’t want to offend anyone by bringing in my own food.

Evening:

Lots and lots of wine!

I had 2 big glasses of wine and had poured a 3^rd, but wound up just leaving it on the table and switching to water. It affects me way faster nowadays! I’ve been very, very tempted today of all days to eat things I know I’ll regret later. Not because of this 21 day cleanse, but because I know it will just make my body feel gross.  Once I’ve completely transitioned into a raw lifestyle and gotten used to making raw foods, I will then transition into a High Raw diet where cooked vegetables maybe a couple times a month, plus the occasional fish filet will be consumed.

Days 18 & 19

Yesterday was such a long day! I got up at the normal 5am and didn't stop until 1:45am. I had all of the items for travel laid out except clothes. After I figured out attire, playing Tetris with my baggage didn't take too long and I was slightly impressed with myself for getting everything for and extensive 10 days (5 days of business, 2 days of hiking, 3 days of leisure) into a carry-on size bag! I had hiking boots, 2 other pairs of shoes, and a Camelbak, plus 2 stacks of DVDs to return to my Mom too! The little roller bag for my laptop had my camera and peripherals, laptop, and other work items. Had to check the one bag since the laptop one is big enough to be considered the carry-on.

Anyway... I worked at home since I had a follow-up appointment and then was leaving for the airport immediately after. I work so much better at home. I am super productive! I don't know what it is about the office, but I don't want to work at all.

Wound up making my appointment earlier because I feared trying to get from the office to my friends place where I was catching a taxi to the airport. The drive is 30 min without traffic and it was going to be in the heart of rush hour. This cut into my work time, but I will be making up for it tomorrow.

Sat at the airport and did some work for about 90 min since I was early (good thing too!). The flight was supposed to be on time, but we boarded late, left late, and then had to go around a storm, so we were about 45 min late arriving in Denver. I would have had 30 min to catch my shuttle if we had been on time, but we landed when it left. You'd think I could just catch the next shuttle, but since I'm going from Denver to Cheyenne, the one after 9:05 is 11:30. That puts me into Cheyenne at 2am! Yeah, no thanks... I instead hopped a shuttle to Ft. Collins, which runs a little more often and Mom came to pick me up there. We got in and settled at about 12:45, which is 1:45 my time! I was hungry, but drank some water and flopped on the bed.

Now it's Friday and I have a long work day in front of me!

I've been snacking all morning. I don't know why. I'm on track for drinking water. I had a big green smoothie for breakfast... I'm pretty exhausted, so I wonder if I'm trying to keep myself awake by snacking... I so badly want some caffeine, just to get myself going. I'd down some water, like I normally do when I need a pick me up, but the water is shut off for maintenance right now so getting some and going to the restroom is a little hard.

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The day is essentially over and I worked about 12 hours. My eyes hurt, my back hurts, my knees hurt…I’m tired of sitting! Sadly I will be doing this Sunday so that Monday through Wednesday aren’t TOO horrible, albeit they will probably still be.

I realized that I snacked A LOT today. I didn’t drink enough water either. I chalk this up to 3 reasons:

1. Being tired – my mind thought eating would help wake me up
2. Not drinking enough water – my body wanted and needed water and thus was trying to get it out of food
3. Not working out – when I don’t work out, I crave foods…when I work out, I am hardly ever hungry

I need to remember these things and remedy them with sleep, water, and movement! I am glad to know that I’ve kept with raw foods, except the toasted hemp seed. Those kind of make me sad, but I’m almost out of them.

Tomorrow is going to be a great day! I am highly excited to get up and go running, go flying, photograph, hang out at my little town’s chili cook-off, and see people from high school. Food wise will be tough, but I’m okay with my ability to make proper choices. I’ll eat lunch or bring it with me before I go, take some fruit, and eat salad tonight.

Snick Snacky (Day 19)

Movement:

Sun Salutations

IT Band Stretching

Short night! I really wanted to go running, but I'm too tired for that, so I did some stretching to get myself going and hopefully will get back to my routine tomorrow.

Breakfast:

Green Smoothie

2 Oranges

1 Banana

1/2 Bunch Kale

Water

I originally only had 1 orange, but it needed a little more sweetness, so I added another. Either I had too much kale or the kale just tasted funky; not sure. It still tasted good, was just different or 'off' from the normal. 

Snack:

Toasted Hemp Seeds

Pear

Apple

I've never had hemp seeds and apparently I bought toasted :(  I was slightly discouraged! I kept wondering why they were so salty and crunchy and then I realized they weren't what is normally pictured. So, that stinks. They're also pretty addicting! I am making the tabouli recipe next weekend, so I bought these with me, but I guess I'll have to go find raw ones and stop snacking on these!!!

Lunch:

Cucumber Salad

Holy cow…I don’t know that I’ve ever had anything better on this menu than this! SO GOOD! I was so excited to eat this. I added some sea salt and did balsamic vinegar and olive oil to taste. Seriously…this was delicious. I wanted to save some but couldn’t stop eating it!

Snack:

Couple Grapes

Bowl of Cherries

Handful of nuts

2 Sips Chardonnay

I've been snick snacky all day. I haven't had enough water either. Worked 12 hours today and really thought I wanted a glass of wine, however the 2 sips I had gave me an INSTANT headache, so I stopped and refilled my water bottl.

Dinner:

Kale & Chard Salad

½ Bunch Kale

½ Bunch Chard

½ Red Pepper

1 Tomato

Toasted Hemp Seed

Dressing

1 Avocado

¾ Lemon Juice

Tomato seed/juice

Water

Salt/Pepper

Cayenne

I meant to let the kale, chard, and dressing sit all day, but I forgot, so I massaged it for a little while. It was a little tough and between the two leaves, there was a LOT of food. I have some of it sitting in the fridge.

On the road again... (Day 18)

Movement:

Yoga stretching

 

I didn't do quite as much as I normally do because I need to pack, but I did get some stretching in this morning. I definitely feel it in lower back having not walked yesterday.

 

 

Breakfast:

Green Smoothie

 

I kind of just threw a bunch of fruit and romaine lettuce in this. It turned out pretty good. Had a LOT of it, though! It was very filling!

 

 

Snack:

Nut Dressing Salad

 

This was the remainder of last nights salad. Still tastes great! Small portion is going over well, but it's still heavy.

 

Lunch:

Nut Dressing Salad

 

This TASTES great, but my body is not a fan of so much fat and oil in large quantities and I wound up tossing the rest out. I'll have to see if there's a better dressing that isn't so rich!

 

 

Snack:

10 dates

 

Snack:

Apple

Orange

Banana

 

 

Dinner:

Handful of Almond/Pepito/Walnut/Cashew blend

 

I put this together for hiking next and to have something to snack on throughout the week. Since I ate lunch at 11, snack at 4, I'm pretty hungry! Going through the airport and seeing all this fast food actually doesn't make me hungry, it just makes me sad. I did stop and see if there was any raw nuts at a place since this stash was in checked luggage. Sadly there wasn't. I thought about stopping for salad, but didn't want to waste the money. So, I drank water until landing in Denver and waiting for the shuttle home, which was 9:30.