I am on rest day today of the second week of half marathon training. My 2 runs this week went pretty well but I have been tired and stiff in the morning. As such, I opted out of water aerobics this morning. I am not that exhausted but the frost on the ground and a chilly house was enough to deter me from jumping into a cold pool today.
To warm up and get my energy levels fired up this morning, I am drinking a mug of winter spice white tea. I am not a coffee nor caffiene drinker but there are certain healthy exceptions (white, red, and green teas).
To learn about the health benefits of white tea (considered the "supreme" health drink), visit these websites:
http://www.teabenefits.com/white-tea-benefits.html
http://www.whiteteacentral.com/healthbenefits.html
Another couple health rituals I starting trying are the "Whole Body Cleanse" system by Enzymatic and consumption of "Green Vibrance" by Vibrant Health.
I tried the Whole Body Cleanse system for a couple days this summer but it did not work out too well as I was deep into my distance walking training for the 31.5 mile hike in September. I discovered it was not a good idea to start it when you plan to walk many miles and be far from any bathrooms for hours at a time! hehehe
But right now is early in my training and I have decided to keep to week 1 of the schedule to ease into running several times a week so that my body can adjust. I am only running 3-4 miles a day which takes me 30-40 minutes. Therefore, right now seems like the most ideal time to try it out (2 week program). I felt I needed it because last night I bloated up like a 3-4 month pregnant person for whatever unknown reason! Could it be that I just put too much junk into my system from the holidays? Then I topped it off with almost daily consumption of 2 extra dark fine chocolate truffles, a couple pieces of carrot cake last week and then black forest cake this week because I thought I could "afford it" with my increase in weekly running?
In any case, that was not too fun blowing up like a blimp last night! I actually topped the scale over what I have been at for the last 3 years or more!. So something had to be done and something was definitely wrong. I am hoping this cleanse will get my system back on track and a fresh start with a healthy body.
For over a year now, Harley has been trying to get me to drink "the green" powder and I have refused. I like to eat vegetables but that is different than drinking a cold green vegetable. I don't know. I just felt turned off by drinking something green. (chuckle) It smells like a vegetable too which makes it even more of a challenge to change your mind about. But we discussed it last week and he mentioned that he puts juice in his to make it palatable. "Hmmn" I thought. "In that case I can give it a try."
So Monday night I bought a carton of Peach, Mango, Orange juice to try it out this morning. It still was not incredibly appealing but I was able to gulp it down. Unfortunately, I put the powder in first and then the juice (in an old washed out smoothie container) and half of the powder stuck to the bottom. I did not discover this until I had almost finished the drink. So I added about a quarter cup of water, replaced the cap, and gave it a good shake to loosen the powder and mix it up. Now the concoction was almost all water and the green powder. It was not at all flavorful but I managed to swig it down quick. I DEFINITELY will be trying out different juice combinations to produce the most pleasing cocktail. Light Strawberry Banana V8 is my favorite juice so I think I will give that a try.
Green Vibrance by Vibrant Health:
http://www.vibranthealth.org/gv.html
Why am I even considering drinking this green stuff? Well, regarding the training for the half marathon, I need the best possible energy levels and endurance I can achieve. Regarding NF2, I need to maintain the best overall health possible to ward off any ailments that compromise my system and to be ready with the greatest level of immunity for further surgeries or treatments. Really, my goal and what I would like is to hold off ny surgeries as long as possible or forever.
So who will win....me or the NF2? I will fight and even drink the "green" juice to maintain the quality of life I have been given back.
Addtional Note about the NF2:
Monday I finally consult with an allergist to see if I have an allergy to bees (I have never actually been stung!). The reason is to find out if I can undergo a trial with a supplement which was been shown to suppress NF2 tumors in mice. The supplement known as Bio 30 Propolis is made from honey bees in New Zealand.
Apparently the flowers in New Zealand are more "pure" and concentrations of the bioflavinoids are higher than those harvested throughout the rest of the world.
To read the October 2008 release of the article "NZ firm's dollar-a-day bee compound halts tumour growth in cancer trial patients", Visit
http://www.manukahealth.co.nz/main.cfm?id=4&nid=16
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