Girls on the Run!

This morning...very early this morning especially after NTB last night....some of my Live Lean ladies and I volunteered at Girls on the Run which is a non-profit organization that organizes 10wk training sessions for 3rd-5th graders which culminates in a big 5K race. What an amazing sunrise!
Eve, Jen, Chica, Jessica and I volunteered as parking lot attendants. Admit it, you're jealous of our hot vests and flags!
It was so fun to see all the girls starting the race - so excited!
Love this organization's purpose - getting young girls active and involved in sports!

Better with Time

Last night was the third time this year I went to see NeedtoBreathe and even though they have been amazing each time, they're getting even better as time goes by. This was another visit to House of Blues. HOB is an amazing place to watch a concert and apparently to play one too as the guys kept saying how this was their favorite performance to date.
It was Johanna and Jennifer's first time - I'm pretty sure they'll go back!
These guys are such great performers - from rocking out on the guitars, to the amazing drumming, to some acoustic songs - here's Bear taking a break from the guitar to play some keyboard.
Bo got super excited for the second encore (The Outsiders) and started up on the piano.
Seriously, go see them! (Em and Andrea, I saw they're in Denver Dec 3rd!)

Cleansed!

The "infamous" cleanse is complete and I feel great! The "rules" of the cleanse were no caffeine, alcohol, glueten, salt, soy, oil (except for flax), and dairy. Plus we drank a shake of a powder packed with nutrients that helped clean us out. We were warned of adverse reactions at first with the shakes. The only side effect I noticed was the first day I was very lightheaded after I had the shake...but after that all was "good" (it tasted awful, really chalky, but drinkable).
Now, if we choose to, we're introducing the items above back into our diets and seeing how we feel. It is a good way to see we we have mild allergies to certain foods (especially dairy or gluten). I had a small cup of coffee after working out this morning and all went well...will try some gluten later.
However, I will try to keep all these foods in moderation because I feel less bloated and have a lot more energy with the primarily raw diet (this is an "I told you so" moment for Paulo who gave me the Thrive Diet book awhile ago which talks about how eating a raw diet takes a lot of stress of of your body because the foods come with their own enzymes to aid in digestion and absorption).
When the nutritionist spoke with us before the Cleanse, she advised that many people do a Cleanse at the change of each season and I think that is a great idea that I will try and stick with moving forward!

Will Run for Chocolate!

Kelly, Maggie, Jen and I ran the Hot Chocolate 15K this morning. It was a chilly morning, but sunny and little wind so a great day to run along the Lake.
The race started in South Grant Park and headed south around Lake Shore Drive and then back up on the Lake Shore path so we were enjoying great city views all the way back!
* note, picture from a previous bike ride...no shots on the course! *
The post race party was sponsored by Ghiradelli - dark chocolate fondue with pretzels, pound cake, rice krispy treats, apples, and bananas for dipping...plus hot chocolate to drink...I'm on the tail end of my cleanse and was surprisingly able to refrain from the chocolate and stick to apples and bananas.Afterwards the Kloak's treated us to a delicious brunch at the 33 Club in Old Town - great end to a great morning! Congrats Runners!

Good Luck Leslie!!!

This weekend Leslie and her mom Allen are participating in the 3 Day Walk! So I wanted to dedicate this post to wishing her luck and also celebrating my rock star friend Cara who is currently battling breast cancer (and winning I may add!).

Lots of love and luck to you all!!

(Cara is the one in the white polo and blue shorts)

Homecoming!

Okay...it wasn't my homecoming, it was Maryland's, but my long weekend in DC felt like a homecoming since I haven't been back much since I left for Copenhagen.

First up was lunch with Katie and Susan at Cafe Asia - delicious! Then back to the office to say hi to the few people I still know there.
Then I met up with Aaron at his office for a good - albeit picture-less - time of catching up. From there Katie and I were off to the District to meet Carla for drinks. We had planned on Founding Farmers...but didn't plan on how packed it was, so a good second was the bar at the Ritz.
Then it was off to Kara's for a great dinner with Kara, Chris, and Annabelle (who definitely missed me a lot while I have been gone!!).

Saturday morning Kara and I headed over to Megan's to meet Piper and visit with the adorable Ashley...as well as enjoy a magnificent breakfast!
Then we were off to College Park for the Wake/MD game. Tailgating was by far the best part of the game.
The Deacs getting destroyed by the Terps.
Then another picture-less time...a fantastic dinner at Spices with Jenny and breakfast at Whitlow's with Erin.

Then off to the 'burbs to see Amie, Alex, Sophie, Ava, Sam, Stephanie, Matt and James.
It had definitely been way too long...be back soon!!

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!