In a perfect world...

In a perfect world, I'd be free to carry out my dietary adjustments in peace.  Yesterday was the first day of my planned 5 day juice cleanse.  It had to be.  The juice is cold pressed, not pasteurized, so it wasn't recommended that it stay out unfrozen for more than a couple of days.  Over the course of the day, I realized all the juices basically had the same taste going down, that of lemon and ginger.  Those were components of every one of these juices so no surprise.  They must have been put in to mask offensive tastes, unless there's some theorized benefit to the lemon/ginger combo.  All day I felt fine.  My treadmill run felt sluggish.  But with the music cranked, I was able to at least belt out three miles.

Last night was tough, though.  Jen, I  mentioned, has suddenly decided she wants to bake every low calorie, natural treat around.  She's latched onto the slow-cooker thing as well.  The odors and sights in our kitchen were torture.  I made it through.  But it was hard.

This morning's run was a bit more difficult.  I've experimented with low-carb before and I'd not been looking forward to how this juice cleanse would affect that aspect of things.  This is a kit I ordered so the guidelines recommend refraining from all but the lightest exercises. This morning, the effect was a little more pronounced than yesterday.  In chilly 21 degree air, I only managed to keep an 11:00 pace for 3.1 miles.  Still, "it's for a good cause," I told myself.

After I made my hour-long commute to work, I sensed my first bathroom urge since the cleanse began.  Good thing, as I had a planned two-hour each way trip planned for the morning.  Only...about 45 minutes into my drive, I felt the urge again.  I made it the rest of the way but I fretted the whole time.  So I did what I needed to do on my trip, hit the bathroom again, and headed back to my office.   About 45 minutes later...another "urge."  It then occurred to me that my  juice cleanse was going to have to stop.  In two days, I have to take a weekend trip involving a 6 hour each way drive.  There is no way I want to be seeking out gas station bathrooms every hour on the drive, much less at my destination.  Sadly, I admitted defeat and stopped for some fast food, my reasoning being that I needed to get "stopped back up" pretty quick.  Sorry for the TMI but this was a detail that caught me completely off guard.  I spent hours today thinking I was going to have to pull over and dart into the forest.  That's not a great feeling.

So...the juices.  I guess I'll revert to Jen's "clean" cooking for now and either freeze the remaining juices through the weekend or just work them in with my regular meals.  I can't say how disappointed I am.  My weekend trip will probably prevent me from getting in any meaningful runs and I was hoping the fluid loss/fasting effect of the juices might keep inspiring me and that being on a strict juice regimen would keep me from indulging in the obligatory fast foods.  Oh well...