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?