A clean slate.

I've been reading a lot about the 'Master Cleanse' lately, and my talks with my gym-going friend (as well as mentor, motivator and inspiration...), Wayne, have only encouraged me more to try it. Another blogger, Catra (Dirt Diva), has written about her experiences on the cleanse as well. So, armed with my oh-so gung-ho attitude, I made my way off to Chapters where I bought "The Master Cleanse" and then to Dominion where i stocked up on lemons, grade B organic maple syrup and cayanne pepper.
I started off the first day fine, was well nourished by my previous days meal (probably TOO nourished... but my father brough home sushi and a fruit bowl and Oatmeal Crisp, and i REALLY need to work on my self control...) but as the day progressed, I started feeling a touch of my yearly bout of 'the bark' kicking in.
"The Bark" is what my father has dubbed my astmatic wheeze which usually takes a hold of my respiratory system in September. I guess with it being so warm this year, the symptoms decided to hold off 'till October. That said, I wasn't sure how my body would do right now being cleansed while in the midst of taking medications. Four to six puffs a day of a steroid based medication while purging my body of toxins seems counter intuitive. So I had to stop before I even started. :(
No matter... I have every intention to start cleansing as soon as the bark goes away. I'm hoping to try again for the week of the Angus Glen half marathon (aiming for 1:45... hope to have it cut to sub 1:40 in May...). I always like races to signify or mark a change. My last half marathon marked my "We are recouperated" stage, as I was as good as my worst time pre- injury*. I liked marking "365 days left" on my wipe board for my 1/2 ironman. Maybe it's a type-A personality thing... I'm always recording distances and workouts and sets, reps, calories burned, protein grams consumed. I hate math, but I like working with numbers.
As long as the result is what I like :)
So with that notion in place, I'm going to aim for Nov 4th as the beginning of my cleanse. That way, come my birthday and Christmas, I will be motivated to keep on the 'clean' path I'm resetting for myself.
I miss the days of yore, when it was SO much easier to eat clean 360 days of the year (the other 5 reserved for meals on Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, my birthday and post- main event). Getting picked on at home for eating eggwhites and tuna from a can gets annoying, but I'm happy to go back there.
As soon as I have cash to buy my OWN groceries again... i'm being reamed for changing my insurance policy. While it saves me cash over the year, I'm super tight for cash right now, so i'm relegated to eating what's in the house. And when you're burning 3000 calories a day, you tend to really NEED to eat something.
And sometimes, the only thing you have is that damn Oatmeal Crisp... *sigh*.
I need to buy some REAL oatmeal, I know.... i'll clean up my act, I promise.

* - in this case, 'post injury' refers to the stress fracture i suffered in my hip Sept 2006. I've had concussions and vertebrae fractures and plantar fascitits, but The Hip was the only one that really took me down a few notches....physically AND mentally.