Reboot Diet- Day 8

As I wind down for the day, I want to give a brief update on how the diet is going. Today was pretty good all things considered. We did have some juicer problems and we will have to get a part of it repaired. We think we can limp along OK for the last 2 days of juicing. Tomorrow morning we will have to get up extra early to ensure that we can make all the juice that we both need for the whole day. Monday will be the first day that we both are taking all of our daily juices to work with us. I am hoping that the snow that is coming is enough to close work on Tuesday so our last day of juicing can be a relaxing one at home. It is still too early to tell as this storm has been a hard one to track according to the experts I follow.

I did have visions of eating food today in the afternoon and was having a weak moment. Of course my support system came to my rescue. Melissa said that we could do it. With 2 more full days, I think we can. I am looking forward to all the yummy foods that we ate during our first 5 days of the diet. Lots of vegetables, fruit, and salad.

I am keeping it short tonight as today was pretty much uneventful regarding the diet. We did our normal juicing on a relaxed schedule and my energy levels were normal. Tune in tomorrow for an update. Thanks for reading.

Reboot Diet - Day 5 + 2 otherwise known as Day 7

Well we made it though another day of this second phase of our diet. We did another full day of just juices and no solid foods. The day started out early with an early morning orange juice with lemon before heading to the pool for our normal Saturday morning 7Am workout. The juice really woke me up and I was raring to go. There was some unexpected snow and ice accumulation on the car so we ended up about 10 minutes late to the gym. But we had a great workout. I felt strong and relaxed in the pool. I did a 350 meter warm up without stopping which was the most I have ever done without stopping. My first planned triathlon is not until April so I still have plenty of time to improve my stroke.

After the swim we went home and took a short nap before making our second juice of the day. We did a green juice (green chard, spinach, arugula, Kale, 4 red apples, 2 green apples, two pears, lemon, and ginger). We took this juice to go as we had some shopping to do. We both needed new swimsuits. We also needed more fruits and veggys of course. And then we went and toured the Jewish Community Center. We are going to join so we can use the pool and do yoga classes, cycling classes, and other fitness classes.

We did another couple of smaller afternoon juices that were quite tasty. One was cucumber and pineapple which has a mild and pleasant taste. The other was beats, carrots, and ginger. Surprisingly, you can get a lot of juice out of a beat and the recipe was a great one. I can see juicing beats on a regular basis once we are off the diet.

We still had one more juice to make up for the day but we had to take it with us. We went to a party that our swimming coach was throwing. All of the athletes on her team were there. There was lots of food and drink but we stuck with our green juice. Only two people asked about it. They were the hosts of the party. And they both had the exact same reaction. They both happened to say the same thing, "Well, have fun with that."

We stayed out of the food area. Most of it was nothing I would eat anyway but had we stayed in the room, I may have started to hear the shrimp, chips, cookies, dips, and whatnot mocking me and my juice. All in all we had fun and met a few people and got invited to the weekly track workouts. I met a guy who has done 6 Ironmans who was fun to talk to about racing and training.

At most parties where there are lots of youngish people (late 20s up to early 40s) and an abundance of alcohol, there is inevitably a time in the evening where someone challenges someone else to some game, feat, or other kind of test of one's muster. While I did not get to witness it, apparently there was a "plank off" between our coach and some of her athletes. Only at a party of triathletes would something like this happen. The guy who won, held plank for 5 minutes.

As I complete my evening sitting here writing, I have a very slight hunger plus my stomach muscles are a little sore from a quick Ab Ripper X I did before the party. Plus I did plank when I got home to see if I could have contended with the guys at the party. I think I could have.

I must say I am looking forward to next Wednesday when I can eat a banana. That is all for now. Thanks for reading.

Reboot Diet: 5 +1

Today was our first day of juicing only. No solid foods. I must say it was very interesting. I was a bit rushed this morning as I had lots of juice to prepare. The first thing I had was my hot water with lemon which is a nice gentle way to ease into the morning. After juicing, I ended up with two 16 ounce bottles plus a medium size glass of a green juice (spinach, kale, cucumber, celery, carrot, apple, pear, lemon, lime, and ginger). I drank the glass of juice while getting ready for work. I also juiced almost a full 16 ounces of a citrus only juice which was three oranges and some lemon. I took that to work also. On my way to work I drank my usual water.

I had the citrus juice first and that lasted me up until about 10 AM. I then switched to water. Then I tried on the green juice. It was still good although I think I prefer it at room temperature but I have to refrigerate the juice in an opaque container to preserve the nutrients as much as possible. Fresh is best but not really possible since I have to go to work. The green juice was quite invigorating. That is the most interesting thing to me. I felt like I had drank a couple of red bulls but without all the jitters. I had lots of energy. I had a very slight feeling of hunger now and again but when I sipped my juice, that went away.

My afternoon juice was another 16 ounces of the same green juice. In fact, it tied me over until I got home. Technically the diet calls for 3 big juices in the morning and afternoon, a coconut water, and then an evening juice and then some tea later. I don't drink tea and while I did buy some coconut juice, it was so expensive so I decided to save it for tomorrow. So I was over the prescribed amount of juice because I did do another smaller cucumber and pineapple juice later after some quick shopping. That was also really delicious. And also, like the green juice, very invigorating.

The juices really gave me a lot of energy. I am tired for sure but still feeling pretty sharp. My stomach is starting to complain. But I often go to bed with it complaining a little. I have my water here to tide me over until I fall asleep. I should nod off pretty fast.

We are getting up a little before 6 AM tomorrow to do a quick juice and then go swim. It will be interesting to see how that goes. It will be the first strenuous exercise we do during this phase of the diet.

I must say I am looking forward to the morning orange juice! Speaking of looking forward to things, during the first 5 days we ate lots of salad. Twice a day. And we were starting to get tired of it. Now we can wait to have a salad again! REBOOT! I think it is working. Although I have not had any signs of detoxification yet.

I did lose 5 pounds since Sunday which has the unintended effect of revealing some of the abdominal muscles I have worked so hard on building for 90 days. The weight will probably come back when we start eating again and weight loss was really not my goal. But I am pretty sure I am down to the weight I was when I got out of college. It reminds me of what my dad used to say sometimes about his weight. He is not over weight at all but he used to say that he would have to lose about 5 to 10 pounds to get down to his "fighting" weight. I am down to 135. It will be interesting to see if this affects my training when I start training again after this diet. I am looking forward to it. I may even add a few more races into the mix. More on that later.

Day 5+1 was not bad. Not bad at all. I am feeling hungry at the moment but in the words of Dr. Larsen, a Psychology professor I had, "this too shall pass."

Thanks for reading. Comments are encouraged.

Reboot Diet- Day 5

Today was another good day in the sense that I did not dwell on food too much. I was busy at work and I had a 16 ounce to go juice that I took with me for the afternoon. The afternoon juice was tasty (carrots, celery, kale, apples, pears, lemon, lime, and ginger). Actually it was quite invigorating. I felt like I had drank a big red bull or something. It was interesting.

This evening was our last regular meal before the next cycle of the reboot diet (meal pictured above). Tomorrow we start the juicing only phase for 5 days. I had been worried about it but then after sipping my afternoon juice and feeling all that energy, I realized that as long as I prepare enough juices to take with me to work, I should be OK. Plus I learned that I can have coconut water during the juicing. Since I have never had coconut water, I think the novelty should help keep me going and provide some variety.

I do have to get up early tomorrow to start washing and cutting all my vegetables. It does not take too long to do the actual juicing but the preparation and cleanup does take a little time. I likely will be juicing for one tomorrow morning as Melissa will be working from home and can do her juices on demand.

When we decided on the date to start our Reboot diet, we worked it out so that our swim days would be eating days. There would just not be enough time in the morning to do all the necessary juicing. And I think that was a good decision. However one thing we realized was that we would be in the juicing phase of the diet when we go to a Saturday evening party. The invite says food and drink will be provided and it starts at 6PM. That should be interesting. I will have to juice up an interesting green drink to take with me. Only with Melissa's approval of course. The party is an end of the season party being thrown by our swim coach who won Ironman Canada in 2005 and there will be lots of triathletes at the party so hopefully there will be some understanding about our diet and they won't think we are-in the words of Andy Sipowicz- whack jobs.

Tune in tomorrow as I describe my first day of juicing. It should be interesting. To me anyways.

Reboot Diet: Day 4

Day 4 of the reboot diet started at 5Am with my early morning wake up. It was the first swim practice of the new year after about a 2 week layoff. I had a banana and apple before practice. The coach said, "happy new year, today we are going to do something special." Kick drills! Lots and lots of kick drills. I was exhausted by the end of practice.

Unfortunately when I have swim practice, I don't have much time afterwards to dilly dally as I have to jet off to work. I grabbed my fruit and headed for the door. Work was pretty good. I was feeling pretty awake and alive and I had some things to work on which kept me relatively busy. But I was HUNGRY! Swim practice really works up an appetite. I had another banana and orange in the morning before having another leafy green salad with lots of raw vegetables. It was very satisfying although I think I have eaten more salad in the last 4 days then I usually do it several weeks. It is a big change from the PB&J, chips, and a pickle that I used to have quite often.

When I got home from work, I did some short exercise in the form of one mile on the bike and then Ab Ripper X. Interestingly enough I felt very strong during Ab Ripper and got a nice core workout. And it only took 16 minutes. I also did some light stretching before getting to the task of making dinner. Pictured above is what we had for dinner. Leftover cauliflower mash from the night before, zucchini with onions, garlic, tomatoes, and spices (the cumin really brought home the flavor although I could have used more tomato) tossed in olive oil and then baked at 4:00 for about 20 minutes, some steamed Kale drizzled with Organic Ginger Soy, and a green salad with fresh avocado, carrots and red pepper. Melissa mixed up some oil and vinegar for the dressing which turned out very good.

After the feast and cleaning up I decided to take the advice of the Join the Reboot web site and do an Epsom Salt soak. A little King Crimson live from 1974 with the Fripp, Bruford, Wetton, and Cross lineup made for some good relaxation.

Today was another good day. I managed a vigorous swim and Ab Ripper X for exercise. My bike ride was cut short by the sun going down but it is encouraging to see that the days are already getting longer. Plus dinner was a success.

We have one more day of eating and then it is on to 5 days of juicing. It is going to be hard for me I think. I am going to have to get up early on work days to make sure I have time to make tons of juice to bring with me. I was joking with Melissa that it will be hard for me to not eat and if I cave, I might end up calling her from our favorite Thai place and saying, "I just woofed down some Drunken Noodles." I don't think that will happen but I am predicting some hunger pangs. I am so used to eating on a regular basis. It is actually a habit that I would like to break. I would like to be able to go without food every once in a while and still be able to perform. You never know what might happen and I might need that ability.

Melissa has done a fast before so I don't think she will have too much difficulty. I will have to work out some mantras to help me stay focused. I may even print out some pictures of my heroes to have at work to remind me why I am doing it all.

Now before I sign off, I want to give you a brief summary of my P90X results. The numbers don't actually convey the results. The mirror does and my 5K PR also is a testament to my advances. But people like numbers so here they are. The first numbers are from pre-P90X and the second are from after the 90 days. Also some of the measurements I will just say stayed the same.

• Body Fat 16% down to 14% (as measured by our scale-who knows how accurate it really is)
• Weight 144.5 down to 140.5
• Chest -stayed the same
• Waist -32 inches down to 30.5
• Hips - stayed the same
• Thighs and Arms-Roughly the same although they look a lot bigger so maybe our measurements were off.
• Pull Ups 6.5 to 9
• Vertical Leap - improved by 2 inches
• Push ups 18 to 28
• Toe touch - we sit on the ground straight legged and bed over and touch the toes. Before P90X, I could extend my fingers half an inch beyond my toes. Afterwards, I could extend them 6.5 inches beyond my toes.

There were a few more measurements but they are not too interesting. Not that any of this is all that interesting but I know some people who were curious about the P90X results (Rachel-http://dirtdivadynamo.blogspot.com/) so I thought I would go ahead and share.

No doubt P90X is for real and I plan to stick with the program in some fashion. I will be biking and running and swimming more but I still plan to also do some P90.

Day 5 tomorrow. Thanks for reading.

Reboot Diet: Day 3

As I reflect on Day 3 of our reboot diet, I have to summarize it by saying that today was a good day. So much better than yesterday. I think yesterday's juice was too fruity and that got me off to a rough start. Plus I was in a hurry yesterday and had to drink it down pretty fast. For those of you who have never chugged freshly squeezed apple and pear juice, it can do a number on your tummy. Specifically it can create a very gassy situation. This morning's juice seemed to sit with me better. Details in a moment.

Since I was so tired yesterday, I decided to forgo the morning exercise and get an extra 30 minutes of sleep this morning. I still woke up 30 minutes earlier than I normally do and made my hot water with lemon. I never drank coffee or tea so I never really experienced the benefits of a nice hot morning drink. Lemon is good for the liver and since I am doing a cleansing diet, it is recommended to give the liver a hand. Although I could see getting into this habit even when we are done with the reboot diet.

After my hot lemon water and my banana, I had a nice green juice with the following ingredients (remember this is for 2 people).

2 red apples

1 pear

2 green apples

2 celery stalks

2 medium carrots

about 2 cups of fresh spinach

half a lemon

very small piece of ginger

Ginger can go into any juice according to the guidelines on the reboot web site. And it does add some serious taste to any juice. But you have to be careful not to use too much or your juice may bite you. Also the lemon gives it a nice zing.

This juice has lots of variety and is quite refreshing. It was really a great way to start the day. It really got me pumped up for the day. Plus I had more time to sip and enjoy it although I still was a little hurried in getting out the door to get to work but I made it on time.

I have this trick to help me drink the proper amount of water each day. I carry a CamelBak drip-free water bottle with me no matter where I go. My commute in the car is about 20 minutes. I find that this time is ideal for sipping water. I can get a good 10 or more ounces in me before I even hit my desk. Drinking water is key not only in the reboot diet but also all the time.

I was very busy today at work which is always nice. I made it to about 10AM before having my second breakfast of a banana and an orange. I was task swapping (what most people call multi-tasking but most people really mean task swapping) which helped me keep my mind off the can of peanuts that is sitting next to my desk. I will probably resume the mid morning handful of mixed nuts once the reboot is over.

For lunch I went to Martins and got a salad from the salad bar. Today's salad was better than yesterdays. Today I included some crunchy lettuce along with my mixed greens and spinach. I don't think this whiter, crunchier lettuce has nearly as much nutrients at the darker leafy greens but the crunch gives the salad some more texture which makes it better. I also included a few pieces of cut fruit as a little dessert. It was really only a few bites of fruit but it was a nice treat. I really don't know if the fruit from the salad bar is organic or not. Also fruit is supposed to be eaten by itself and mostly in the morning. But I get so hungry in the afternoon, I usually have some more.

In fact, that is exactly what I did later in the afternoon. I was on a 2 hour support call with a vendor. While he was researching some things and poking around on our server, I had another apple. Then later another banana and finally another apple on the way home from work. For a long time now I have been in the habit of eating an apple on the way home from work. In fact, whenever I travel by car, I always make sure I have some apples. Eating apples while you drive is a great way to keep alert. The crunching and sugar from the apple are great for staying awake. In fact, I think it is way better than my old method of drinking Red Bull to stay awake.

Once I got home, Melissa and I did our P90X Post 90 Day Fit Test. That took about an hour and while it was not an intense hour, it still counts as exercise. Melissa did 75 in and outs for goodness sake. If I have time, I will report on the results of my P90X either later in this blog or tomorrow.

After P90X, we made up dinner. We had what I will call a medium salad, some leftover soup from the night before (that soup was a disaster in my book and even though I added some red pepper and garlic, I still did not get through it all), a small baked sweet potato, and the cauliflower mash recipe from the jointhereboot.com website.

It was all very good and much more satisfying than last night's meal. While I was eating, I did feel like I was getting filled up. Shortly after finishing though, I had a momentary craving for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich but it passed.

So again, today was so much better than yesterday. Some of it has to do with my mood, attitude, work schedule, as well as what we ate. I am tired but at the same time I seem to be bubbling with some energy. I feel like I am accomplishing a lot. I was able to get some laundry folded and get all my swim stuff together for tomorrow and write this blog. I am not sure if I will reach my goal of getting to bed by 10 but I still feel pretty good about today, tonight, and the future of my overall diet and training.

Tomorrow will undoubtedly be a long day. I will get up at 5AM to go to swim class. It will be the first swim of the new year and the first swim after a couple of weeks off. Likely the coach will put the hammer down on us. However it will be the first swim class that I go to where I did not do Plyometrics (jump training) the night before so maybe my fresh legs will help a bit.

I think that about wraps it up for now. Thanks for reading.

Reboot Diet- Day 1 and 2

Day 1- Sunday, January 2, 2011.

This morning was day 1 of our 15 day Reboot diet. We got up late. In fact we have been sleeping in a lot on Sundays recently and today turned out to be no different than the last several Sundays.

Our first order of business was to do some Sun Salutations which is a very short bit of yoga.

Then we had heated water with lemon and then later our morning fruit. After our morning fruit, we made a yummy green juice (spinach, celery, apple, and lemon). The green juice was invigorating. With each sip, I could feel a burst of energy.

Then we went to Whole Foods to pick up a few more fruits and vegetables and to have a big salad from the salad bar. My salad consisted of mixed greens, lots of spinach, raw cucumbers, raw yellow and green squash, some broccoli, and some carrots. It was a lot of chewing but I took my time and made a meal of it.

After we got home from the store, I decided to take a long hot bath. Hot baths are recommended during the detoxification process. Although this was only day one, a rainy Sunday afternoon is perfect for a long hot bath listening to live King Crimson. I usually mostly listen to the music but if I do let the mind wander, I usually think about what I can do to be more healthier and think about my upcoming training.

After the bath, I reheated some homemade split pea soup that I made the other night and we had our afternoon snack. We then completed our final P90X routine and did all of our post P90X measurements. We still have to do the fit test so I won't be posting my results until we get a chance to do the test.

After P90X, we had our dinner which consisted of a baked sweet potato, a raw salad with lots of leafy greens and raw vegetables. We also steamed up some kale and at that as well. We did not put anything at all on the kale just to see how that would go. It was actually not bad sans spices or oils. I think I could get used to eating it that way.

After we completed the after dinner cleanup, I must admit, I was still a little hungry. But I had a big glass of apple juice to tide me over until bed time. As we get into the diet, it is natural to feel hungry as the process of releasing toxins into the bloodstream can make one feel hungry. I don't really think I have released too many toxins yet. To be honest, today's diet was only slightly different than my normal diet. A bit more raw perhaps and more salad than usual.

It will probably be hard to sit at my desk tomorrow and not snack on peanuts, Lara bars, and yogurt like I used to. But I will bring plenty of fruit and I plan to bring a 16 ounce container of a green juice and some homemade soup for the afternoon. Lunch will be a big salad from the Martins salad bar. That will be easy enough. I have some healthy dressing that I keep at work. I don't like to use the dressings at the salad bars because I don't know what is in them. Probably HFCS and/or other sugars or sugar substitutes.

Finally, this reboot diet was inspired by the movie Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. Great little film that I highly recommend. But I also got some additional inspiration from a book Melissa gave me for Christmas. Jack LaLanne's "Live Young Forever" is his latest book. In the book he outlines several things for optimal health. One of them is juicing and exercising every day. Also he does not eat sugar, or white flour, and stays away from processed foods. The stories in the book are a true testament to the lifestyle I am striving towards. When Jack was 70 is swam 1.5 miles fighting high winds and currents. That may not sound too impressive but he was also towing 70 small boats and each boat had a person in it. Still not impressed? He did it all while handcuffed and shackled. Wow. What a role model. At least to me.

I feel like the diet we are embarking on is a great way to jump start our nutrition so that we can live a long and healthy life. It may be hard as we are used to eating certain things. But I think I can do it.

Day 2-January 3, 2011

Day 2 was a lot harder than day 1. I got up an hour early to do some light exercise and stretching and to have my hot water with lemon and eat my fruit. Then I made a morning juice of pears, apples, and lemon. It was quite tasty. While I finished getting ready for work, Melissa made me a green juice to take with me to work.

I felt pretty tired at work today and had trouble motivating. I had a mid morning snack of banana but definitely did not eat as much as I usually do while sitting at my desk. By lunch time I was darn hungry. For lunch, I had a salad from Martins with some healthy dressing. It was good but it was a lot of salad. I decided to heat up my homemade split pea soup and have that with my lunch rather than an afternoon snack. It was the highlight of my day as far as food goes.

For dinner we made some vegetable soup and stuffed squash. I have to admit, neither really did it for me. I ended up not finishing it all and left the dinner table still hungry. I had a banana and as I write this I am having some apple juice hoping that it will tide me over until I fell asleep.

Overall, I would summarize the way I feel as - tired. Of course today was the first day back to work after nearly 2 weeks off so it is not too unusual for me to feel tired under the circumstances. Also this is the first day in at least 90 days that I have not done an hour or more of exercise.

We shall see how tomorrow goes. I was craving a peanut butter and jelly sandwich earlier. I am hoping that the way I feel now does not become the trend. I am sure if I made up some fresh juice, that would liven me up but honestly, I am too tired.