Buzz Buzz

Happy National Coffee Day! I love my daily cup of joe.

I didn't start drinking coffee daily until my junior year of college when I lived in Italy (funny story: first week I was there I didn't know the pot of coffee on the table was espresso. I was drinking a huge cup of it every morning and couldn't figure out why I was so jittery). 

During the week, I am out of bed and running within 10 minutes so I save my coffee for after my run. But if I am going to the gym, I usually gulp down some coffee on the way there.

I always have coffee before races and long runs. When I travel to races I even bring my own coffee and mini French press.

I couldn't have coffee before the Antarctica marathon because the desalination system wasn't working correctly. I just couldn't choke down coffee made with salt water!

I drink my hot coffee black, but my iced coffee with skim milk and sugar.

My favorite coffee flavored are Yankee Doodle (cinnamon and hazelnut) and Jamacian Me Crazy (hazelnut butter rum ). But it has to be the flavored beans, I don't like the flavored syrup.

Do drink coffee everyday? When do you have your coffee? How do you drink it?

Juice Til Dinner Reflections

Provided I don't go crazy and totally blow it today, I'll have made it through a week of Juice til Dinner.

I consider it a success because I drank my 4 juices a day, and stuck to my rules of
-Greatly reduce caffeine
-No sugar
-No gluten
-No dairy (except Greek yogurt)
-No meat

I did end up eating a little more food than I wanted, but I think that was because I kept up my high activity level. It was important to me to be able to continue my regular high intensity workouts through the week, so I was willing to eat more solid food than the program typically calls for. When I ate, it was generally because I was feeling dizzy and woozy, so I felt like I really needed the food. I found this schedule worked well for me: 

1/4 cup quinoa with 1/4 cup almond milk for breakfast before working out

juice 1 post workout

juice 2 11 am

miso broth with a very small amount of tofu and juice 3 at 1pm

juice 4 (and a brown rice cake with hummus if needed) at 3 pm

Dinner at 5:30 pm

Small bowl of greek yogurt with 1/4 cup toasted oats and 2 tablespoons nuts at 7 pm

My energy levels were all over the place. Wednesday I felt amazing all day and hardly even wanted dinner. Thursday afternoon I felt terrible and just wanted to sleep. But, I was overall amazed at the fact that I rarely felt hungry. 

Mostly, I feel like this was a great mental exercise. It made me very conscious of how often I want to eat for reasons other than hunger. I hope to keep using the strategies I used this week, like going for a short walk or having a cup of tea, when I want a snack. It also reminded me that I really don't need the big portions I think I do. Most importantly, it helped break my sugar habit. Yesterday I went into the grocery store and I walked right by the bakery and the ice cream section without stopping to drool. 

I know this weekend is Easter, but I am going to try very hard not to drop back into my old habits. I may also try to continue avoiding sugar, gluten, and most dairy during the week (but with solid food) because it forces me to consumer a lot more fruit, veggies, and high quality whole grains.