Out with the old...in with the new

Cleanse number two is finished! Can I even tell you how much easier this one was compared to the initial cleanse in October? No migranes. No wanting to tear my hair out. No complaining that it was too long or impossible. Take out the caffeine factor and things change immensely. Miss B and I did the same one as previously, two days fruits and veggies, the two days of adding in grains, three days of adding in protein, and who-la, it's over! The cleanse tea does get old and not seeing that again for 6 months will be just fine. What was accomplished? The five pound brick of cheese ingested over the holidays in the midwest is officially out of my system and it's good. And it also tapered the craving for sweets which was out of control upon return from the tundra. This time around I am also attempting to cut back a bit on the amount of dairy in my life. Small changes but still allowing good cheese here and there along with non-fat milk consumption. Let's face it. Asking me to eliminate dairy would be like asking a heroin addict to lay off "just to see what happens". Brittle bones? Not me! I've got enough calcium in this system to last a lifetime. Don't think this girlish figure was developed from eating carrots! Or whatever kind of figure it is considered. Probably won't do another cleanse until the fall but I am no longer fearing them. Good news.

The midwestern potluck is coming together. Dusted off the St. John's Lutheran cookbook to find things listed such as: pizza bubbles, rhubarb rumbles, and easy cheesy potatoes. It will be the day before the superbowl which as far as I know, not many folks in our crowd really care about. Hope we get a good turn out and that all bring a dish to pass!

This week's long run was 5 miles. We are in the process of building up again seeing as the month of December clocked in a grand total of 7.5 miles. There is a Chinese New Year race on the 29th which is a 10K. Haven't quite decided if we will register and run it or just do a 10K run that day and pretend we are in the race. No need for another t-shirt to clutter my drawer and drop $40 on race day that could be otherwise spent. Since the new year we have also been doing this weight lifting program called "8 minutes in the morning". When Miss B first brought home the book from the library I thought it was completely something else but hey, that's usually where my mind ends up anyway. It is to boost the metabolism first thing in the morning with a series of 8 minute work outs. Since taking this on 5 pounds have dropped which in turn makes running a whole lot easier. 15 pounds lighter than last year at this time. It's kind of fun--shirts that didn't fit now do. Jeans fit as they should. Feels great! Who knew.