Hey Lovelies,
A couple of weeks ago I started jogging for the first time in about five years. I started mostly out of frustration. I’m not sure how else to get exercise in with the baby. Some days she doesn’t mind my bouncing on the trampoline, but other days, she just screams at me, which results in a very short workout. So I’ve been strapping the baby into our jogging stoller and pushing her along as I jog several times a week.
I work out for energy, not for perfection. A very liberating thing I’ve learned since getting into cleansing is that sweating along with getting the lymph and circulation moving is the greatest benefit of exercise, not burning calories! The skin is a very important elimination channel so it’s important to sweat as often as you can.
I’m not a huge fan of jogging on the pavement. I find it a bit jarring and tough on the joints. I don’t think the baby would enjoy a jostling stroller ride on the ground (earth), which is more ideal for the body, so that’s out of the question. So I’ve found a happy medium, which is the track around the Millersville football field which is softer than pavement.
The first day I went, there was NO part of me that wanted to jog. I promised myself one lap. I ended up doing four! I had so much mental chatter going on as I jogged. So I started to direct it towards the task at hand.
I took it one lap at a time. When I felt tired or like I just didn’t want to jog anymore, I told myself that I could at least finish this lap. And I did! Once I completed the lap, I would see how I felt, and then continue, or walk home.
I started to really look forward to the fresh air jog and sweat and now I am averaging about two and a half miles on the track, or on the road (yes, on the pavement, with hills, which are the worst ever). A few times during my jogs I felt like I might throw up. Usually this is when I would stop but I just jogged through it this time. I asked myself, OK, if I throw up, is it really that big of a deal?
I did not throw up and the feeling passed.
So my realizations from my jogging experience are:
1. While pain is a call to change (borrowed from the lovely Natalia Rose), discomfort is only temporary, and necessary for growth and endurance on both physical and spiritual levels.
2. We can surprise ourselves with our strength. Don’t push pressure on yourself to be perfect, or run five miles, or juice fast for a month. Just start with something feasible and don’t put any limits on what you can do peacefully.
Updates on my cleanse:
Well, I haven’t been doing exactly what I promised myself. I have had sugar more than once (honey in some flourless baked treats), and have been eating much more fat than I said I would be. So I still feel as though I’m in a bit of a rut that’s hard to break out of. I often look back a few months ago when I attempted a couple of juice fasts and I feel that jumping into a fast, while more intense, is also a bit easier than making up your own guidelines around what to eat. I don’t think fasting is easy (hell no it isn’t easy!), but in terms of keeping things out of the system that may or may not be hindering you, it’s much simpler!
I know that this is an issue for a lot of us. I get emails about this every week. We aren’t sure exactly what or how to eat, if we should avoid natural sugars or indulge in them, if we should juice or blend, or if we should fast or learn more moderate ways to cleanse. While my cleanse isn’t providing me much physical change at this point, I’m learning what works for me, and what doesn’t. It’s actually become very obvious to me when a food doesn’t sit well, or certain amounts of foods don’t sit well. In that area, I am MUCH clearer than ever before.
In other words, it feels like my body is really talking to me, and I’m (finally) very eager to listen. The biggest message is that I LOVE SALAD SO MUCH OMG.
…and another message is that homemade tahini and almond butter, while so creamy, decadent, and perfect, may very well be the death of me.
The exercise bit is going great, which is awesome because it’s been years since I’ve been regularly active. I’m not only jogging, I’m also rebounding when I can (once or twice a week can get a really awesome rebounding session in which I enjoy more than any other form of exercise), dancing around my house (sometimes with the baby, and sometimes along side of her, lol), long walks with the baby in stroller or on my back, and yoga. I’m also doing some lifting/muscle work. I’m definitely jugging a lot of different things around. Things are much more complicated with a baby! But I believe that things that provide limitation or frustration just point us towards a better way. If I didn’t have my daughter determining my exercise, I would probably be doing the same thing every day and grow really tired of it, like I did with yoga. Now I feel excited because each and every day, I have no idea how I’ll be moving my body, but I know I will be moving it. Like I said, my goal isn’t perfection, my goal is energy, more joy, and getting in touch with my body.
That’s my update for this week! I’ll continue to keep you updated with the cleanse as time goes on. I plan on being super conscientious about things through July, at least. I’m going to be participating in Natalia Rose’s Extreme Green Detox starting July first, which I absolutely KNOW will be a treat. Natalia never disappoints. She’s a true trailblazer in the raw food/detox community. If you’re thinking about doing a summer cleanse unlike any other, I would check it out here.
There are some very big and exciting changes going on in my life right now that I’ll be sharing with you in a few months, so until then, my posts may be every other week instead of every week. I will surely aim for once weekly though, because I love sharing my experiences with you and connecting with you all. Once things settle, I’ll be writing more posts with recipes, and information as opposed to these more journal like posts, but I hope that you enjoy these, and I think you for reading and commenting, always. I adore you all. You’re so brilliant and thoughtful with everything you write, and it inspires me to write more!
Much Love,
Marlena
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I'm a writer, clinical nutritionist, and health food enthusiast. On this blog I share my tips, recipes, and personal thoughts. My hope is that what I share here helps you to live better by inspiring and empowering you on your journey to a healthier life. To complement the vision of this blog, my husband Enrrico and I co-founded My Digital Notebook.com, a social network to connect, inspire, and create. You can become a part of the MDN family by joining for free, today!