No longer unemployed and ready to detoxify!

First, the big news: I have a JOB!!! A full-fledged, full-time job. Even better, the job completely fell into my lap (thanks to the power of visualizing and networking), and they are actually going to modify the original description somewhat to take advantage of my mad writing and editing skillz. Holla!

Anyway, yipes! Has it really been almost a month since I last posted??? Well, what can I say, not only has life gotten in the way, but I also took a little tumble off the healthy eating bandwagon.

Triathlon training season has now officially been kicked off, which has given me a little kick in the pants to jump back into healthy eating. There is nothing worse than trying to move your body (let alone have it perform well) when you're loaded down with oil- and sugar-laden, processed, refined garbage.

However, despite my intent to eat healthy so that my body will perform at its best, getting back into good habits is not that easy. When I am confronted by inner rebellious teenager, I often try to find compromises: What am I WILLING to do?

In this case, I eventually decided that if I was going to eat like crap, the least I could do for myself would be to start my morning off with a glass of lemon water.

I never knew how good lemon water was for the body until I did the Two-Week Detox (well, one week, in my case). I could definitely feel a difference in the way I felt after drinking lemon water, and the more I read about lemons, the more I learned that they have some truly amazing properties.

For example:

• Lemons have an alkalizing effect on the body, helping it to stay in balance, and feel and perform well. Unhealthy processed foods, caffeine, and alcohol make your body acidic, meaning you are more susceptible to getting ill and feeling like crap.
  
• Lemons aid the liver in removing toxins (such as those from junk/fast food).
• Lemons contain Vitamin C, calcium, and magnesium.
  
• Lemons' digestive properties can help with heartburn and bloating

These days, I find that when I have been eating lots of junk food, the idea of lemon water sounds really really good to me. I take this "craving" to be my body's natural way of wanting to detoxify itself.

The recipe (if you want to call it that) is pretty simple: Squeeze half or a whole lemon into 8 or more ounces of lukewarm water, depending on your tolerance for tartness. I've found that my tolerance for more concentrated lemon juice has gotten better over time. Per the recommendation of the Two Week Wellness Solution, I drink it first thing in the morning, before eating my breakfast. That way, it gently "wakes up" my digestive system.

Please note, the lemon juice needs to be fresh—from an actual lemon, not from one of those cute little yellow squeeze bottles at the grocery store. Otherwise, you're cheating yourself out of all the good stuff.

For more fun reading about lemon water, check out this and this.

And please bear with me as I attempt to get back onto the blogging band wagon as well as the eating healthy band wagon! I will do my best!

Photo courtesy of this website.