Happy New Year

It's hard to believe that we're now 8 years into the new millenium. I'm very optimistic for this year... 2008. All signs point to a most auspicious year and I'm ready to bask in this glory. As an added bonus for last year, I went to Miami with Carlos and spent the holidays with his life-long friends and family. We had an amazing time together... from just hanging out with friends to diving in the keys. The best time, I must admit, was our day diving at Key Largo followed by a gorgeous sunset drive down to Key West. As much as I enjoy being with friends, I find our alone time so precious.

The New Year always come with resolutions. I am happy to report that while my blog is a bit late, I have successfully achieved my first resolution... 10 days of The Master Cleanse. Also known as the Lemonade Diet, this is the liquid concoction of water, fresh lemon/lime, maple syrup and cayenne pepper. And yes, I did say 10 days. Today, Monday the 14th, marks the first day of getting back to food.

Just a few notes on my cleanse... I didn't do very well with the laxative tea (as suggested) as it caused me intense stomach pains and on a couple of occasions, I threw up, I was so sick. Nor, was I super thrilled about the morning salt rinse which I avoided altogether. I may have had better results, in terms of weight loss, if I could have done both of these on a daily basis. In any case, I maintained about 4-6 8oz servings of the lemonade drink daily and slowly inched my way towards my goal. I weighed myself at the half point as I had not intended for this to be a weight-loss program and didn't think about the importance of my weight. However, between Day 5 and the final end, I am happy to say I lost 4 pounds.

Now, I'm back to food and back to all that is hard... maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I must stay on my gluten free path which shouldn't be as hard this time around. I also want to continue losing weight which is Resolution #2. I'm allowing myself 7 days to recover from the cleanse in a healthy manner. Then, one week from today, I start South Beach Diet Phase 1 for two weeks.

There is very little in life that we have absolute control. I practice yoga but easily let it fall by the wayside when I become busy with other things in my life. I forget that yoga is also a part of my life and should never be deemed less important than anything I do. Certainly, it should be more important than 'work'!!! So, Resolution #3... practice my practice. Stay true to myself.

This is a great year coming! Happy 2008.