After running a marathon (see recap Part 1 and Part 2) and spending the week following those 26.2 miles eating, drinking, relaxing, and ringing in the holiday season with friends and family it is definitely time for a reset.
There has been a great deal of wine, rich foods and carbohydrate loading in my life lately.
In fact, due to the marathon I think I forgot what it felt like to enjoy a day of clean eating and a really tough workout. So, instead of spending hundreds of dollars on a multi-day cleanse from one of the many New York City cleanse boutiques, I’m saving my money and instead just getting back to basics with clean eating, reduced caffeine, more water, more sleep, and more intense total body workouts.
I kicked off the day around 7:30 with warm lemon water to aid in digestion.
At 9am I enjoyed a new version of oatmeal at my desk, thanks to inspiration from Tosca Reno. Her recipe for apple pie oatmeal was easy, delicious, and included healthy fats that kept me full all morning. It was also fun to change up the flavors since I’m so accustomed to my daily banana oatmeal. I made sure to remember my daily vitamins and supplements this morning as well. I find that taking the in the morning with breakfast gives me a little boost of energy all day long.
For lunch, I reduced the processed carbs, caffeine and cheese from my meal by focusing on nutrient rich vegetables and clean protein sources in my salad and cut out the normal side items. I found that increasing the size of my salad filled me enough that I didn’t need anything else for a couple of hours. Today’s combination (romaine, salmon, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, broccoli, peppers, egg whites, salt, pepper, dash of olive oil, and a squirt of lemon juice) was a new one and I really liked the lemon juice kick paired with the crisp vegetables!
Around 4pm I had a mid afternoon snack which was supposed to be a banana and a handful of almonds. Unfortunately, the banana didn’t fare to well during the morning commute. Instead, I munched on a pear and almonds along with 2 cups of herbal tea.
I met Melissa for Work It Circuit at Uplift Studios after work since we were both craving a workout and some quality time together.
Workit Circuit: Total Body Cardio/Strength with Bodyweight
This class offers continuous cardio-arms-legs-core circuits to confuse your muscles and get an intense total body workout. Using only your body weight, you will work each major muscle group to fatigue – then do it all again. Shoes required.
This class kicked my butt and left me panting by the half way point! Michelle is not messing around with this class and you literally don’t stop for the entire 55 minutes! At one point my marathon legs were screaming, reminding me that I ran a marathon a week ago. By the 3rd set I focused on form more than speed as I wanted to make sure not too injure anything.
I didn’t pick up dinner until 8:15 due to the class and all I knew was that I needed lots of protein and needed food quickly. Melissa and I stopped into Hale and Hearty where I was able to pick up a small soup and large spinach salad packed with protein to help quell my screaming hunger.
Even after such an indulgent week, the past 12 hours of healthier eating and drinking are already having a positive affect on my body.
Since I have a half marathon to run on Saturday and a trip to St Croix coming up in exactly a month, you may see more of these food and workout posts as I find they definitely help me stay on track and motivated.
What are your favorite ways to eat clean? Is there a snack or salad ingredient I should try? Or, do you have a favorite decaf tea you rely on when trying to reduce caffeine?
I’ve been having pumpkin chia pudding with almond butter and coconut every morning lately. The chia gets made overnight and just mix in the rest when you wake. It keeps me going, even after hard AM workouts!
Two tasty and seasonal decaf teas I’ve been drinking lately: Trader Joe’s Candy Cane Decaffeinated Green Tea and Celestial Seasonings Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride. I’d definitely recommend both of them for this time of year!
One of my favorite things to do with salads in the fall/winter is to make a big batch of plain, roasted squash (like butternut or kabocha) and then top my salads with the leftovers for the rest of the week. I heat the squash chunks up in the microwave and then toss them in my salad, warming it up–it turns a plain spinach salad into a restaurant-style warm salad. My current favorite combo is kabocha, goat cheese, edamame, and craisins, topped with balsamic vinaigrette.
That poor banana 🙁
Did you bring your SLR to work??
Hollaa chica! As I told you, I love this post. I think that it’s important to know how to hit your own “reset” button as everyone’s is different. Coming off a few days of indulgence, I like to set up some planned out meals that are healthy but still really delicious. Don’t want to shock the body with anything too much! Similarly with a workout, I usually try to ease my body back into it with something really enjoyable… a walk with coffee, a dance class, something with a friend (like you did). Basically, I try to get myself back in the groove in a gentle, enjoyable kind of way instead of being super duper strict and trying to make up for any extra calories or anything. I’ve found that that can lead to me feeling deprived and going right back to being overindulgent and not breaking the cycle, know what I mean? Lastly, I also keep it simple and use healthy takeout like you did so that something healthy is at my fingertips in minutes. Great post!
That oatmeal looks so good! I have the eat clean book and I def need to re-read it!
Are you going to St Croix with Theodora or is it just a popular place to go? A half marathon this weekend, Ashley you are hardcore!
I just bought a lot of frozen veggies and found it so easy to cook up and eat at lunch and dinner. It makes my meals so much more colorful and healthier!
Recently, I’ve been eating whatever (and as much as) I want because I have a marathon coming up! I hope to get to clean eating afterwards as well 🙂
Celestial Seasons has some really great decaf Holiday teas- Candy Cane Lane and Sugar Cookie!!! I love them!
My favorite way to eat clean is to prep on Sundays so I have no excuses during the week. I chop all my veggies that I will eat both raw and use in recipes, make quinoa or brown rice, a big pot of soup and make a dinner plan for the week. If I have a plan, I’m way more likely to stick to it!
Looks like a great day of clean-eating and working out. I enjoy posts like this. They are inspiring to read 🙂
Oooh I am so jealous of you guys doing Workit Circuit! Hope I can get back to Uplift with you sometime soon.
so true about what you need to do after you have indulged. i just posted a very similar post today. you are right it does not take too long to feel better!
I’m impressed and intrigued by the half marathon Saturday: please tell us where and why?!