Ah, it's been a while.

I promised myself I would continue to blog. So here I am. Actually my biggest problem is that I have been using a wireless Apple keyboard on my iPad. A great combination, especially since it can be difficult to type on the itty bitty keypad on the iPad. However, a technical glitch I have encountered is this keyboard interferes with the Playstation, which the kids use to watch shows on Netflix or Hulu. I know it's probably a simple switch somewhere in a preferences file (or something like that), but I don't really remember to do this until I have two minutes to myself while the kids are watching tv. Gotta love Bluetooth technology. Or technology in general. Although in this instance it's mostly my laziness and forgetfulness that is the real issue.

Last week I had a week off. I went to visit my parents in Florida and met up with some cousins on my mom's side. It was a good, relaxing time. And I didn't gorge myself with food so I didn't morph myself into a lazy shlep by the end of the week. I swear there are times when I just eat and drink until I am more than merry and pretty soon I can barely keep my eyes open or move myself from point A to point B. Like the last time I was in Florida, more than a year ago during the holidays, I had to spend the night in Atlanta due to issues with my flight. By the time I finally arrived at my parents' house, I was so hungry that I stuffed my face with the first thing I saw on the table: egg rolls. Many, many egg rolls.

My latest endeavor is a complete revamp of my diet. I know I am a horrible eater. Yet I work out more than the average person in the hopes of chasing the fountain of youth and at the same time keep a continuous flow of endorphins in my body. Lately I have felt all the work has been for nought. I'm healthy enough, so that's a definite plus, but I feel like I want to see if there is something else I can do. So I had to look that diet in the eye and just come to terms with the fact that I can't have my chocolate cake and expect it to not show up somewhere in the form of a muffin top.

While I was away I read a pretty good book about clean eating. The whole premise is to fuel my body with clean fuel. Consume only what I need based on whatever it is I might be doing, whether it's running or strength training. I am really hoping this will take away some aches and pains, for most of them are inevitable when running 15 miles. I just need to do whatever I can to avoid added stress.

To help me along I decided to sign up for a wellness program at my cousin's yoga studio. To be honest, I was on the fence about this. This is a program she conducts with a nutritionist twice a year, and the first time she told me about this I thought she and the people enrolled in the program were insane. So when I expressed an interest in "eating clean" a few weeks ago, I think my cousin automatically put me on her mental list and made sure to contact me the day before the first meeting.

I realized that it's not as overwhelming as it sounds. For 21 days I will give up caffeine, alcohol, wheat, meat, dairy, and sugar. In addition, I am going to avoid any inflammatory foods such as soy and corn (to name a few!). We are allowed herbal tea, eggs, and natural sweeteners like brown rice sugar or Stevia.

So for 21 days I will be "cleansing" my body of any toxins or anything that might cause inflammation. There are participants who are doing this for the third time and they experienced wonderful changes in their bodies, from aches and pains going away, to just an overall feeling of renewed energy.

Ah, just what I need.

And as Day 4 comes around, I'm feeling just fine. I am still in shock that I have been able to wean myself off of coffee (though being in Florida for 7 days sort of helps that). And there are so many good options out there that aren't too expensive. My one big surprise has been brown rice pasta. Looks like whole wheat pasta in the package but it doesn't have that stiff consistency of whole wheat.

My cousin and I joked that the wellness program doesn't end until the day after Easter. So she and I will be huddled in the corner during our family Easter get together, eating a bowl of lentils. In all seriousness, I think she and I can come up with some pretty good "clean" dishes. If I can get my kids to eat what I have been cooking, that's proof that the stuff is actually good.