Renovating Kaeti

The UltraDetox extravaganza is over over over.

Seven days later, I’m feeling good and definitely more in control of my eating habits. And while I usually don’t put much stock in inches and pounds, I was curious just how much weight my body was holding onto because of inflammation so I took some measurements. After seven days, I have lost:

9 pounds overall

3 inches off my waist

3.5 inches off my hips.

All of that without resorting to one of those “TurboPump SuperMax” workout videos that are always hawked on infomercials Saturday morning (it can’t be all Meet the Press all the time, after all. A girl needs balance).

So overall, this detox thing was a smashing success. Unfortunately, because of a calf injury and resulting hip soreness, my running has been … lacking. In fact, that 10k training schedule looks something more like this now:

OK, maybe it’s not that bad, but I definitely don’t foresee that whole “10k” thing happening. I am running the Recycle Run 5K on April 20, so I haven’t given up completely. But all the chutzpah in the world isn’t going to get my injured butt ready for a 6.2 mile race in three weeks.

This is my plan for getting back on track:

• Keep doing long runs, even if “long” ends up being short.
• Cross-train to avoid imbalances.
• Amp up strength training.
• Get back into yoga classes.

Because, really folks, missing your weekend long run because you just had to sit at home and watch the Home Shopping Network is not a good excuse. Unless of course they’re selling Tahitian-print high-water pants — then who could blame you?

Welcome to my UltraBlog. Are you having an UltraDay? I know I am. This UltraMorning, I got up and to take a shot of extra-virgin olive oil and lemon juice, followed by an UltraShake — all the while smelling vaguely of baking soda and Epsom salts from my UltraBath last night.

We’re two days into UltraDetox (if you don’t know why I’m using “Ultra” incessantly, check out the previous post), and I’m feeling great alive. Further bulletins as events warrant.

In the meantime, check out the guest post over on Cranky Fitness today. It reminded me that I really need to get back into yoga. Without it, my body falls apart. Or, more accurately, constricts into impenetrable knots. It’s always good to hear that you don’t have to be a Certain Way to be an athlete. And while accepting yourself as you are right now is often one of the most difficult challenges we face, once that hurdle is conquered there’s nothing to hold you back.

Now I’m off to drink some UltraBroth.

Sometimes my body seems to (miraculously) work with me rather than against me. For example, when I’m sick I’ll often crave protein-rich foods — which totally makes sense because your body needs additional protein when you’re sick. So in those cases, I’m like, “Hey, thanks Body! I think I will eat that block of cheese!”

But then there are those other times when I get it in my mind that I absolutely must eat mass amounts of chocolate for no reason whatsoever. I’m sure Dr. Hyman (author of UltraMetabolism, one of our favorite books around the office) could offer some physiological explanation involving insulin and blood-sugar levels, but thoughts of pizza, ice cream, or so much bread you could build a warm, soft house with it tend to take precedence in my mind over analyzing why I might be craving these things.

Why is it that when we get cravings, it’s so hard to think about anything else? My friend Sara captured the situation perfectly in an email the other day:

I’ve decided donuts are my downfall food. Like, I can walk away from a cookie, and ice cream, and a chocolate bar, and Cheetos, and pizza, and tacos, and all that other stuff. A donut, however, I cannot leave. If I do, it’s all I think about. I’m like, “Oh god, why didn’t I eat that donut? I should go back and get that donut. I hope that donut is there. If anyone else ate that donut, I’ll kill them. I hope there was a second donut I didn’t see because then I could have two donuts. No, I should only eat one donut. No, I should only eat half a donut. No, a quarter of the donut. Okay, a quarter of the donut…[eats quarter of donut, walks back to desk]… god that donut was good. Who invented donuts? I love donuts. I really want another quarter of the donut. No one else will eat just a quarter of a donut and donuts get dried out really fast. And I have to walk all the way across the hall for it so I should just do it…[eats second quarter of donut, walks back to desk]…donuts are so good. I love donuts. Every kind of donut. Man, I should get those Old Home donuts that come in the little yellow boxes. Those are always so dense and sweet. I even like it when the powdered sugar gets stuck in your throat…. [eats third quarter of donut, throws last quarter away, walks back to desk]. Donuts are so good. I’m so glad I showed such will power and didn’t eat that last quarter. But that’s such a waste of food, maybe I should have just eaten it [digs last quarter out of trash, eats it]” and so on and so forth. Donuts are the bane of my existence.

It’s like she can read my mind. Seriously, who hasn’t been there? Fortunately, there are things you can do to come out on the other side — ideally, without eating enough sugar to fall into a diabetic coma. Actually, according to research published in the journal Appetite, talking about cravings instead of trying to ignore them is a much more effective way to get over them.

Moral of the story? By writing an inane blog entry about how much I want one of those cupcakes Jamie brought in for Valentine’s Day, I should be able to resist the temptation to eat 10 of them. Yeah … at least that’s how it’s supposed to work.

While I’m not sold on this whole “talk therapy” concept, the most efficient way I’ve found to undermine my unhealthy eating habits is to avoid buying any food I don’t want to eat. If you don’t buy it, you can’t eat it. Simple enough, right? And that works marvelously well— until I’m faced with the free food dilemma. It always appears when I’m hungry, it’s ridiculously unhealthy, and it’s just sitting there in the breakroom or meeting waiting for me to validate its existence. It would be untoward for me not to have just a little something. We ran an article on these “food traps” a while back that has some helpful tips.

Food is one of those things in my life that I’m still wrestling to take greater ownership of: being conscious of the food decisions I’m making, paying attention to how what I eat affects my body, and eating to nourish and energize my body. I’m thinking of doing a sort of “reboot” in this arena, starting off with a detox.

Anyone feel like joining in on a weeklong detox? We can be crabby together. And by crabby, of course I mean “awesomely fulfilled by our amazing new food choices.” In the meantime, I’ll look into a couple different programs and keep you updated about what I find.