A Time to Try New Things

I have never been one to refuse to try something new and have a pretty good sense of adventure, but I feel like in the last 6 months or so, I have really branched out into making some real changes, trying new things, and embracing a healthier, greener lifestyle. I recently blogged about eating organic and how much I was enjoying knowing where my food was coming from, and that definitely still rings true, but it goes much deeper than that. I feel as though my perspective on life is shifting...and I think that's something old people say, so apparently since turning 30 this month, I am now "old and wise."

Earlier this year, I tried New Thing #1; I took on a 24 day cleanse/challenge through Advocare with my friend Kattie. Did I want to do it? No, not really. But did Kattie convince me that it was a great way to kick off greener eating? Yes. I definitely had some highs and lows during the 24 days. I had a ton of energy, was losing inches, and felt a lot less bogged down, sleepy, etc. However, the important part of the cleanse - specifically the first 3 days of it - that no one mentions to you (and they should put it in big bold writing on the packaging) is that you should absolutely not stray more than 50 feet from a bathroom, at any time, for any reason, for the initial 72 hours. I don't need to put into written detail why that is, because anyone reading this is aware of what happens when you ingest that much fiber into your body at any one time. Of course, as this information was not given to me, and I never would have thought that I'd be in a situation where I could not wait, but on day 3-ish of the cleanse, I was in just that! I had gone for a walk with my leasing agent in the neighborhood near our property to get out and get a bit of exercise, and I really had to go to the bathroom. And I'm not talking like, walk home to go, I mean I had to go. Right. Now. I decided this could only go one of two ways, and the second option seemed horrible, so I walked right up to the front door of the house we happened to be walking past, knocked on the door, told the guy (and his 2 little kids) that I had an emergency and needed to use his bathroom, and thankfully he let me in! I left his house in pretty much a full sprint and chalked it up to doing something new for the day. My leasing agent was mortified, and I was both embarrassed and amused. Hey, ya gotta do what you gotta do!

New Thing #2, which stemmed from the super clean eating on the cleanse was to start buying as much organic as possible - I buy strictly organic eggs and chicken, and I do my best with produce, depending on seasonality and price, and to start drinking green smoothies for breakfast. Adding what I have always thought to be salad mix (kale & spinach) to my smoothies was a foreign concept to me, but it only took a couple days for me to realize I couldn't taste the difference and I did know that the benefits were outweighing that little bit of aftertaste. I now have kale in my smoothies daily, and I add a bitof green Odwalla juice as well.

Which leads to New Thing # 3: wheatgrass shots. Yesterday after a grueling 5:30AM workout (New Thing #4, by the way), Kattie and I treated ourselves to a Jamba Juice breakfast smoothie, complete with a side of wheatgrass. Gross, was my initial reaction when Kattie suggested we take one. But its Try New Things time, so I did it. And it actually tasted ok. A little bit like grass, but also a fresh taste. And listening to the girl at Jamba, and then reading more online, the benifits of wheatgrass as part of a daily routine are enough for a body to cure a disease. So, I guess I can shoot an ounce of my lawn sometimes.

As I mentioned, Kattie and I have been getting ourselves into the early morning workout regimen this past week. Getting up at 4:45 in the morning is tough, especially knowing you're only up because you have to go work your ass off in a cycle or body pump class. But it is much harder to find an excuse to skip the gym at 5am than it is at 5pm - after work I am always tired, hungry, cranky, and 4 days out of 5, have plans for dinner or have to grocery shop or any number of things. At 5am my only excuse is that I would rather keep sleeping, and I can fight that one off. We started last Thursday with a 5:30am Cycle class. So. Fucking. Hard. Cycle is hard for many reasons - its boring because its repetitive, the music isn't loud enough, and it makes your vagina hurt to sit on a bike for 60 minutes. I swear I couldn't focus on the cycling itself or how hard I was working out because all I could think about what how sore my lady business was getting. Our next gym excursion was Tuesday night Zumba...Zumba isn't an AM class, though I wish it was, followed by our insane double duty yesterday - body pump at 5:30am, Zumba at 7:30pm. Today, I am hurting in places I didn't know I had. I had to log roll off the bed this morning because my legs literally couldn't move. It hurts to sit on the toilet, hurts to type this blog. My entire self is sore. Good sore. Can't wait for another zumba class sore.

New Thing #5 is probably the most important; I am trying to be more relaxed, less stressed, and more accepting of life as it comes at me as opposed to trying to plan everything. I am in the midst of a very crazy life change, between moving out of my apartment and into a new position at work, and I have no control over any of it. It is hard for me to not be in control. I want to have a plan. I don't want to be packing moving boxes not knowing where I am taking them next weekend. I don't want to pack up my office and not know where my next work space will be. But I am focusing on a new, more healthy, calm attitude where, you know what, it will work out. It'll be fine. My family supports me and I have several people I can stay with temporarily. I am a hard worker and a good employee, and my company values me, so I will get a position. By not letting myself freak out, I am doing my entire world a favor.