Lazy Days of Post Competition

I have been so freakin' busy but I still feel lazy. Why? Because I've had very few "focused, goal setting" workouts. Not that I haven't been active. I teach 2 to 3 Ripped classes per week. So I'm still moving. However my gym visits have been sporadic and with little planning. I guess I'm still in the lazy days of post competition. I feel a little lost. Still haven't decided what the BIG fitness goal will be. I still feel I NEED a big fitness goal. But I do have some little (medium) goals to help me along the way, hence the "busy-ness".

Courses like crazy!
I'm expanding my knowledge in fitness. And with courses come exams. One coming up next Thursday. And another course starting mid-July. Let's just say I'll be studying a lot this summer.

Teaching a ton!
Probably going to be teaching Ripped classes a lot more during the summer as some instructors will be taking vacation. I may even make some appearances at Talisman Centre! It will be lots of fun and I could use the experience. :)

Invitations and mini road trips!
I put my social life on hold during contest prep. Not anymore. Hoping to do more stuff in and around Calgary. And hopefully another trip to Banff with DF this summer!

But there's something missing. Oh yeah. MY training. Well that kind of "kicks off" in July. I've figured out what my physical goals are ... 1) lower body strength and 2) lower body size. Yes. I said SIZE. You may be asking "What is a 42 year old woman doing trying to build size on her legs?" Very good question. I still don't know if I'm going to compete. But as Trainer N8 said "You can still have physique goals ... competition or not".

So Trainer N8 will be the "Sergeant" in "Operation Leg Bomb". Gonna blow these legs up real good! Be ready for the F-bombs and other colourful expletives N8ster! It's going to be a fun experiment!

Wait a minute! Who am I kidding? It's going to be hellish! I'm going to embrace my laziness for a few more weeks.

P.S. Despite not hitting the gym as much as I think I should, I'm proud to say I'm still eating clean!

Food! Glorious food!

I'm just keepin' it real when I say ... Thank goodness I get to eat solid food! Glorious food!

It's the end of my 3-day juice cleanse. I'm sipping on my last mug of steamy soothing nut milk right now. Mmmm! But to be honest, I'm glad this juice cleanse is over.Not because it didn't taste good. The juices were quite delicious. And I'm a picky eater.
Not because it made me feel crappy. I was a little lethargic but nothing that impacted my day. I actually felt pretty good by day 3. Not because I was starving. I felt hungry from time to time but I learned to sip my juice throughout the day instead gulping it down in one sitting. That made a huge difference.

I'm glad the juice cleanse is over because I miss different flavours and textures of foods in my mouth. I miss the smell of salmon baking in my oven. I miss the feeling of licking smooth and creamy peanut butter off of a spoon. I miss the crunchy goodness of almonds. I miss the juicy-ness of a crisp Gala apple. I look forward to experiencing that again ... and again ... and again!

So how do I feel? Well my stomach is nice and flat. :) No bloating. No gas. Just good! I lost a few pounds. 5 maybe. But that's how I feel NOW. The real test for me will be when I start re-introducing solid food into my system. I have a plan from a nutritionist on how to eat post-juice cleanse. I'll start my day with a protein fruit smoothie, eat lots of fruits and veggies, and maybe have a little fish. I'll do that for 3 days before introducing other things like chicken or nuts or grains like quinoa. It will be an exercise in patience. Hmmm ... patience. Something that is challenging for me.

How did it impact me spiritually? Well it got me thinking about what I REALLY want out of life. I thought about my priorities right now. I thought a lot about how I can be more "Authentic Cara". Because "Authentic Cara" is an "Awesomer Cara"! That's right! I said "Awesomer"!

Will I do a juice cleanse again? Yes. Once maybe twice a year. But in the meantime I'm going to enjoy and be truly GRATEFUL for every morsel of food I put in my mouth. Truly GRATEFUL.

P.S. I'm going to miss the night time nut milk treat. :)

POSITIVITY IS MY PRIORITY

I do my very best to approach all that I do with positivity. It is my priority. I'm not smiling and sunshine everyday ... but it is something I work on everyday. I also do my best to surround myself with positive people doing positive things. Some may not "like" the things that I do. And that's okay. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I have friends who think the way I diet for competition is not good for me. Some may even think I do too much and need to rest and relax more. I know people who think this juice cleanse I'm doing is not the best for me either. Again, it's their opinion. I welcome opinions and different points of view. It makes me think and helps me make decisions on what is best for me. However, if those opinions come from a negative place ... laced with condescending and rude statements, I shut down. I don't want to hear it. I will even delete any comments I don't like on my FACEBOOK wall or my Twitter timeline. I'm entitled to that because it's MY wall/timeline. It's not that I don't invite differing opinions it's just that POSITIVITY IS MY PRIORITY.

And on that note, I'm feeling good on day two of my juice cleanse! The nut milk last night was yummy! The warm chai-spicy drink helped me get a deep sleep! And I woke up this morning for the first time in weeks without a bloated belly. I even tried to shut my phone off early to disconnect. That was the hardest part for me actually. Today, I'm meeting with a nutritionist to talk about post-cleanse eating. It will be important for me to re-introduce whole foods gradually. This is all a great learning experience for me! I encourage you to do your own research on cleansing, check with you doctor or health practitioner, and find out what works best for YOU!

Drink to the "Beet"! Day 1 of my Juice Cleanse

3:56am
My first of three bottles of cleansing juice brought back an old childhood memory I'd rather forget. When I opened it up and took a whiff all I could smell were beets. I'm not a huge fan of beets. Reminds me of when we were forced to eat beets my Mom had pickled. We tried to eat them fast ... struggling not to gag. Needless to say I started to think "What did I get myself into?" However, I committed to this cleanse. I have to drink it. Took a sip. Mmmm. Not bad at all. I can't even taste the beets. Can I finish the entire bottle before heading to work? Yep! All done!

So far so good! Or was it?

5:41am ... Feeling hunger pangs. :( My body is so used to eating/chewing every 2 to 3 hours. It's saying "Feed me Cara! Where's my foooooood?! Where's my breakfast?!" Sorry stomach ... You got it already. ;)

6:36am ... Discovered another challenge: Need to peeeeee ... Again! I must find the nearest bathroom every morning. This will be difficult between 5am and 9am when I'm on location for work. I never know where I'll be. I might be in the middle of a field or by a busy highway. Good thing there was one close by today. What will tomorrow bring? We'll see.

8:41am ... I hope this gets easier. I think for my second bottle "The Green Drink" ... I'm going to sip it instead of guzzling the whole thing down ... then I won't feel so hungry.

10:55am ... I think I'm figuring this out. Sip throughout the day to quell the feelings of hunger. :)

1:28pm ... Just got home from work. This is the time when I get snack attacks. All I want is almonds! Anything I can grab and shove in my mouth. That's why I don't keep "junk" in my condo. Too easy to eat it all in one sitting. Instead I drink some lemon-cranberry water ... and take a nap.

2:44pm ... Starting my purple drink now. Last of the 3 bottles for the day. Tasty. Not really feeling hungry but would like to chew on something. I can't even have gum.

6:40pm ... yep ... I feel hungry and a little lethargic. One last thing to try before I go to bed ... the nut milk made from almonds! I hope it tastes as good as it sounds.

All in all ... it was a challenging day but not agonizing. I did feel hungry a lot and the water with the lemon-cranberry concentrate helped. Day 2 is supposed to be more challenging ... and I've been told a time when you start to look at your "psychological attachment to food".

Stay tuned ...

A Challenge of the Mind ...

I've been offered a challenge by my friend Jackie Dumaine. It's not the first challenge I've had from her. (Check blog entry "ONE OF MY TOUGHEST CHALLENGES YET" from OCTOBER 3, 2010). It's not a "fitness" challenge like running a 10 K or squatting an insane amount of weight. It's a challenge of the mind, soul, and spirit. I'm not completely sure what that all means but maybe I will by the middle of the week. Curious yet?

I'm trying out a new juice cleanse called Bava Juice. (www.bavajuice.com.) My main purpose for doing this was to physically cleanse my system and start my new off-season training program/diet fresh. But I'm told by a couple of people who have done this particular cleanse that it's more than just a cleanse. It's a bit of a spiritual journey ... A time of reflection. In fact, the Bava Juice slogan is "Get Reborn".

The juice cleanse itself is only 3 days which is not very long. But here's where it gets "challenging" for me. In those 3 days I'm not really supposed to do anything. No weights. No intense cardio. In fact, Jackie told me "stay away from the gym!". Good thing I'm not teaching Get Ripped until Thursday. My boyfriend even challenged me further. Less phone. Less computer. (I'm addicted to my BlackBerry. Not sure how that's going to go.)

So what will I do instead? Take walks outside in nature. Read a good book or two. Relax. Rest.

As I write this I'm already feeling anxiety about the whole process. I've got so much "stuff" to do! No time to "rest" or "relax"! But as my friend Jackie said to me: "What is the worst that can happen ... Cara? Will the world self-destruct?" Sigh. As much as I fight it, I know I need this. So I hope you don't mind if I remove my Superwoman cape for a few days.

P.S. I will be blogging about my juice cleanse experience so stay tuned for more!