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.