Oh Pooh!

On Tuesday I began what has become an annual January ritual for me; the colon cleanse. Be warned before you click on this link there are some images not suitable for the squeamish.

http://www.blessedherbs.com/

I am on day 4 of a 5 day liquid only fast. My "meals" consist of a packet of the "toxin absorber" mixed with apple juice (5x a day), plus some vegetable broth for lunch and chicken broth for dinner. That's it. No chewing required.

In the past, Day 3 was always the hardest, but this time Day 1 seemed to be tougher. I think it was because up until I began the cleanse, I had been overeating and over drinking so my body was like "What the F?"

I'm not going to lie. I'm hungry. But at this stage (less than 48 hours to go until I break my fast) it's just as much a mental as well as physical challenge.

And yes...there has been some interesting "stuff" coming out of me.

Why do I do it? 2 fold I guess. One is as I age I do believe that getting all the crud out of your system is a good thing. To use the analogy of a car engine, I've got years and years of motor oil all clogged up in me. Even though there is no history of colon cancer in my family, it can't hurt to be proactive. Secondly, this experience has given me a far greater appreciation for food and what I will choose to put in my body.

"So why aren't you skinny if this is your 3rd cleanse?" you ask. Great question that I don't have an answer to. Maybe I wasn't ready to make "life changes". Maybe I gave into temptation too quickly and easily. Maybe I wasn't about to turn 40. Maybe I just didn't have a plan going forward.

Well now I do.

Sunday I break my fast & I'm gonna eat like a pig. NOT...just checking to see if you are paying attention as you read. I'll be having some egg whites and oatmeal. Probably the finest in quite some time. Monday I will be begin the Men's Health Belly Off 2008 challenge. I have a friend who will be doing it with me. Although I will be modifying the meal plan, I love the workouts and am a big fan of Craig Ballantyne's Turbulence Training whose principals compose the workout.

In addition I have the growing coalition (growing in a good way) as a support group. I plan to be more active (at least weekly) in both postings and comments.

One of my fitness inspirations, Jon Benson, has a program called M-Power, where the M's stand for Mind, Meals, Muscle & Motion...in that order. Get your thinking straight and the rest seems to fall into place.

There is a saying that success leaves clues. We'll, there are tons of them on these blogs.