Preparing to Cleanse...

Here's another update on the Live Lean program...1.5 wks in and going strong! The morning workouts are still going well, though we're not quite as animated in the morning anymore and I'm sticking with the afternoon workout. I've never been a big bath person...but Jen suggested soaking in Epson Salts, and I gotta say I am a convert.For our group session yesterday evening we had a guest speaker...a nutritionist who specializes in digestion and sub-specializes in enzymes. (She is currently working on her website, but you can sign up for news letters on her website). It was super interesting.

First - when you hear "cleanse" you may (like me) think "no food, only lemon/cayenne/maple drinks." Not the case for us...we eat. Basically the same foods we have been eating but no soy, caffeine, alcohol, gluten, oil (except flax), and limited dairy. Instead of our snacks, we will be having a cleanse shake which is a powder packed with tons of nutrients. The only thing I am bummed about is the chocolate...not because I am a choc-o-holic, but because I am running the Hot Chocolate 15K during the cleanse so no Ghiradelli at the end for me :-(
Here are some of the things I learned last night -

• Our bodies remake themselves (cells replace themselves) every 4 months. Our cells use 6 things: proteins, carbs, fats, vitamins, minerals, and enzymes. We literally are what we eat.
• So many health problems (allergies, insomnia, anxiety, depression, headaches, etc) can be drawn back to poor digestion and being deficient at a cellular level.
• Just eating the food does not mean your body is absorbing it (i.e. you can be cellulary protein deficient while still eating a lot of protein).
• Foods in their raw, organic state have the enzymes necessary to break themselves down completely (like how an apple starts getting brown after it drops from the tree...it is digesting itself). Cooking over 108 degrees kills enzymes, freezing and drying out do not. If you are removing the enzymes from what you are eating then your body has to work extra hard and use it's own enzymes to digest. Most of us can't eat a completely raw diet, but we all can do things like having a salad first (lots of enzymes) to get our digestion going before a main course.

I learned lots more great stuff...but those were the highlights. The 10 day cleanse starts Sunday...more posts to come!