Posts Tagged ‘cleanse’

  1. just ran: 5 miles full of gratitude

    April 28, 2013 by justgathering

    This morning, I ran 5 miles, which is 5 miles more than I could run in January.

    5 miles!

    6:30am and it was already 73 degrees. Hello, summer in PHX!

    For the last four months, I have been on a serious mission to rid my life—for good—of IT Band Syndrome.

    I have tried pretty much everything, and as a result, I have no idea which things (or combination of things) is actually doing the trick, but I have a hunch. The big ones:

    1. Changing my foot strike. And good news: the mid-foot strike gets easier with every run.

    2. A visit to the chiropractor. I have no idea if the adjustment had any effect, but my chiropractor did point out that I hyperextend my knees when I stand. Since I have a standing desk at work, that’s a lot of hours spent putting unnecessary pressure on my knees. Since this visit, I have been focusing on standing with a slight bend in my knees and I can definitely feel a difference.

    3. An anti-inflammatory diet.

    This last part is the part for which I have the least conclusive evidence of a direct causal relationship. The only thing I can say is that I feel better and I feel like it’s helping my injury. It makes sense, though, that if many people feel temporary ITBS relief from taking NSAIDS, then maybe eating in a way that alleviates chronic inflammation could actually help get at the root of the problem.

    Yes, I’m partially attributing my slow comeback to a whole lot of green smoothies.

    big green smoothie

    I’m in the middle of Kris Carr’s Crazy Sexy Diet cleanse, which I’ve done before. I adore this cleanse (and way of eating in general) for the way it makes me feel. I don’t have a whole lot of food vices, but I do have a coffee habit and a sugar habit, neither of which were helping with my injury. This little reset is helping me kick them, and I’m going to try to keep it up after the initial 21 days.

    Another added bonus: it’s reinvigorated my kitchen experimentation impulse. I might even get wacky enough to post some recipes again.

    And til then, my blissful, pain-free 5 mile run in the Arizona heat is enough to make giving up coffee—for a while, at least—totally worth it.

    Category eat., run. | Tags: ,,,,, | 2 Comments

  2. Crazy Sexy Cleanse Day 12: All Liquids, All Day

    March 4, 2011 by justgathering

    Happy Friday! I’m spending the day juicing.

    In Crazy Sexy Diet, Kris Carr recommends a few all liquid days during the 21-day cleanse. At the outset, I was not so into this idea. What about my ravenous hunger? I didn’t think I could make it through a green smoothie and green juice day.

    Twelve days into this cleanse, however, I feel differently. The crazy hunger for which I am known is gone, whether that’s thanks to all the extra water I’m drinking or the fact that my food cravings were probably just my sugar addiction screaming at me. Or my insane marathon training schedule. Or a combination of these. The point is, I haven’t really been hungry on this cleanse. I’m getting much more of the nutrients my body needs, so my cravings have subsided. And I feel great. So I decided to go for it. One day, all liquids.

    In preparation, I stopped by Liquiteria last night and picked up two juices. I make my own often, but theirs taste so delicious that I thought I’d incorporate them in as a treat. In addition to these juices, I made three smoothies packed full of protein and greens. So far, it’s 4 pm and I’ve had two smoothies, 1 juice, 2 cups of herbal tea, and lots of water. Status: feeling fantastic.

    Category write. | Tags: ,,,,,,, | 5 Comments

  3. Crazy Sexy Cleanse Day 7: Chickpea Tagine

    February 27, 2011 by justgathering

    Daniel and I made a quick trip to Philadelphia this weekend to see family, so I forewent juicing this morning in favor of easy-to-make oats. We snacked on nuts and dried fruit on the train, but we got home today with plenty of time to break out the slow cooker and use up some of the veggies in the fridge.

    Our inspiration for this dish came from a recipe in the Cornucopia cookbook for Moroccan Chickpea Tagine. We didn’t have all the spices or veggies called for, but our version was still pretty tasty. And it was super easy and made a ton of food — hey leftovers!

    We threw the following (no measurements) into the slow cooker for a few hours:

    • lots of chickpeas — I’m guessing about 3 cups
    • a jumbo can of stewed tomatoes
    • 2 zucchinis, cut into half moons
    • 2 carrots, diced
    • 6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
    • 1 red onion, diced
    • 3 or so cups of water
    • heavy doses of garam masala, cumin, cayenne, cinnamon, and cardamom
    • salt and pepper

    We served it up with cous cous, and it was wonderfully warming. I have to say, though, that I am looking forward to the leftovers even more because the veggies will really marinate in all those spices. This is my favorite kind of dish.

    Followed up by banana soft serve with slivered almonds, of course.

    I am liking this whole cleanse thing.

    Category write. | Tags: ,,,,,,, | 1 Comment

  4. Crazy Sexy Cleanse Day 2: A Day of Tea

    February 22, 2011 by justgathering

    I’m pretty sure I’m sick. Bad timing, because this cleanse is supposed to have me feeling fabulously wonderful, but I have faith that in a few days I’ll get all my energy back and then some.

    In the meantime, I’m sticking with it. This morning I had the same smoothie as yesterday, minus the almond butter, and the same juice as yesterday, minus the celery and plus a squeeze of lemon. Tasty.

    At work, I’ve been snacking on nuts all afternoon and drinking lots and lots of herbal tea.

    I’ve never been a big green tea fan, so since I’m off the caffeine, I’m trying to load up on flowery teas, like Tazo Passion, my favorite. I had three glasses of this over a couple hours. Yum.

    For lunch I had a highly unphotogenic bowl of swiss chard, spinach, wild rice, and tempeh with a dressing of rice vinegar, sesame oil, and tamari.

    I was going to hit up a yoga class near work tonight, but I’m really achey, so I think I’ll go explore my at-home practice and make a nourishing dinner.

    Category write. | Tags: ,,,, | No Comments