Day 5: Energy!
July 16, 2011 § Leave a comment
Energy is one of those words that can quickly go from a utilitarian turns-the-lights-on context to New Age eye rolling territory. I don’t know what it is but when people start talking about their energy in a more spiritual sense that way, I usually feel myself turning away. I just want some of the stuff that gets you going. Today, Day 5, I woke up with energy and lots of it.
Normally I spend Saturday mornings lounging around with a cup of coffee and a good book, or from time to time, sleeping off a hangover. This morning I woke up without an alarm at 7:30 and instead of the normal routine I got up, made a delicious green smoothie and went on a hike near my house. It was a beautiful morning to be out & I especially enjoyed all the wildflowers in bloom.
I know I haven’t always been the healthiest person based on what I eat and drink. I’ve never wanted to live by depriving myself of good food and drink. What the cleanse is showing me first-hand is the effect of my habits on my day-to-day energy level. When I was working all the time in LA I would often blame the stress of the job for never feeling like I had any energy. It wasn’t the 2 cups of coffee that was my breakfast or the free sandwiches (meant to keep everyone working) and brownies I’d eat or the wine I would consume to unwind at the end of the day. Ok, I still blame the work environment a good bit, but to be fair I contributed as well.
The thing you learn in the cleanse is that when you eat and drink that way your body spends a good amount of time and energy trying to manage what you’re putting in vs giving you energy to do other things with. It needs the energy for itself at that point. It’s like when you’re running the vacuum or some other appliance that sucks energy and you notice it dims the lights because the energy is going towards the one appliance. In the case of my body it’s like I’m running the vacuum all the time and never giving my body a break to put energy elsewhere.
After 5 days on the cleanse (no caffeine, sugar, alcohol) I feel less dim. Before it wasn’t just that I mentally didn’t feel like getting out and doing anything, my body didn’t really either because it was always in recovery mode. After 5 days of giving my body a break, I woke up with an almost child-like feeling of being ready to go and get some energy out.
Does this mean I will no longer have coffee or sugar or alcohol? Um, not a chance. I am, however, seeing even after 5 days how good it can be to give your body a break, turn off the vacuum, and get your energy going again.
52 To Do 
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