A cleansing does the body good

There comes a time (or many times) in an adult life when you find that you may be more like the runaway train then a steady locomotive. It's not so much that you aren't enjoying life; quite the contrary. You're enjoying all aspects of life, from the things you do professionally, to the delicate balance that is your personal life - ultimately you're happy. But sometimes the groove you find yourself in, although you're happy, threatens to run you into the ground if left unchecked; the pace simply can't be maintained longterm.

Snapshot the last month for me. Most nights after work I settle in with a light, healthy dinner and a glass or two of cabernet. In addition to that daily routine I found myself eating massive amounts of sushi (not necessarily a bad thing) and consuming lots of alcohol. In the last month, assuming 30 days, I can confidently say I had been to a bar, restaurant, club and/or event at least 23 of those days; and on those days if I slept 6 hours, that was a good sleep. Needless to say my healthy eating, working out and vitamins were most likely being equalized by the lack of sleep and partying. The derailment came about 10 days ago when after a night of drinking Long Islands from about 7:00 PM to 2:30 AM and finding an after hours party courtesy of some people I met that night, I got about 3 hours of sleep. The next day I sat in bed and ordered pizza for breakfast. That night, I met a friend of mine for her friends birthday, mainly because I had cancelled on her so many times I felt compelled to go; not to mention it was close to my house so I could just go home if I was bored. Typically, I ordered a LI. But this time upon taking the initial sip, I realized I couldn't consume anymore alcohol. I sent it back and ordered a water. That's when I knew; I need to take it down a notch for a little while.

So I decided to detox for 7 days (turned out to be 8); no alcohol of anykind. I also decided to do a natural body cleanse. I can't describe how hard it is to go to bars and order water over and over, but I was proud of myself for seeing the detox through. With everything I have coming up in the next few months (travel, running races, golf), I wanted to make sure that I was as healthy as I could be. So I set out to clean out my system and to help me I chose a product, "Detox7 Dietary Supplement", made by Northwest Natural Products. I've never done a detox using a product before so I didn't know what to expect, but I assumed that I would spend a lot of time in the bathroom. That was not the case. This is not a laxative in any way. Instead, steadily through the 7 days I acquired a tolerable taste for water (I hate the taste of water) and my energy level steadily increased. During the seven days each morning you are instructed to take a fiber powder with water and then follow it up with a cup of water. An increasing number of detox caplets are required in the morning and also at night to aide in the detoxification process.

Along with the detox I maintained my healthy diet and continued to take my multivitamins in the morning and at night along with my semi-daily workouts. Breakfast consisted of a banana, a WaWa bowl of mixed fruit and a (non-high fructose corn syrup containing) fruit juice. For lunch I would have a salad and/or a wrap and for dinner a lite meal (salad or boneless skinless breast with veggies). In the end, the one thing I've taken from this is that it's ok to have fun and party, but my biggest issue was lack of sleep and water consumption; two things I have no problem going without. During my detox I shot my best round of golf ever. There must be something to this water thing...