I’ve been shopping around for a daily cleansing system. I wanted one to augment my normal diet,  clean toxins out-and take my fitness to the next level.

My focus now is off losing fat…it’s on building muscle.   Which, of course, has lead to change from complete disdain for protein shakes to a sudden fascination with them.

So, how to combine a daily cleanse with the perfect shake system?

Enter Isagenix-a nutritional cleansing and wellness system.

It combines nutritional shakes,  supplements and the daily cleansing liquid Ionix Supreme to not just provide nutrition, but to clean out toxins on a daily basis.

There’s also a 30-Day Nutritional Cleanse,  which consists of two shakes a day plus a healthy meal and snacks,  a 9-Day Nutritional Cleanse,  and-best of all-a Total Health And Wellness program that adds shakes and supplements to your daily diet.

And-I’m loving it.

It’s like my spring cleanse, only better: lots of energy, plenty of focus, and best of all,  I’m already seeing better definition in my calves and abs.

Isagenix is sold online, via direct marketing-and I like the product so much,  I’ve signed up as an independent associate of the company.

A complete list of the products is available on my website here.

Meanwhile….watch for future pics and updates.  I’m really thinking this system might have been the best fitness decision I’ve made.

Today I was a willing participant in a charity run that takes the fundraising high to a down-and-dirty low: the Mud Run.

It’s an off-road and all-terrain course through the Claireville Conservation Area near Brampton where your major goal is just one thing: to get dirty. Very, very dirty.

Two river crossings, a mucky uphill slope and the grand finale of a huge mud pit all but guarantee it.

And it was the most fun I’ve had in ages.

My mud run buddy-a fellow FITmiss girl-and I first landed a couple of soakers, progressed to some slip-and-sliding and finally took a triumphant tumble through the thigh-deep mire of the mud pit. And we laughed the entire time.

It’s the most liberating thing I’ve done in ages. Getting down in the dirt, getting close to nature, getting your clothes completely destroyed-it’s one of the most freeing things the human soul can experience.

And at 5km through hilly, uneven terrain, it was one of the best things my body could experience too.

As for those seven-year-old Sketchers, which, if you do the math, lands them back in my fat years? I think  a mad dash through a mud pit makes a fitting sendoff. Then again, after an intense dousing under a power hose. they may yet be resurrected.

After all, I’m going to need a good and worn out pair for next year’s Mud Run.

What attracted us to each other when we first met, naturally, was our mutual dedication to health and wellness. We were both really pleased to find out the other belonged to a major gym, but shock! horror! alas! We both had pledged loyalty to separate sides of Toronto’s mega-gym war!

Simply put: I’m a GoodLife girl. And he’s an Extreme boy.

For those who don’t know, GoodLife Fitness and Extreme Fitness are arguably Toronto’s hottest fitness chains. It’s tried, tested and true GoodLife on one side, and brash and sexy up-and-comer Extreme on the other.

They’re both in heavy competition for the GTA’s fitness dollars, and now, they’re in competition for our boyfriend-and-girlfriend  affections.

We’ve never been able to work out together. There’s other factors at play, of course: our schedules and our fitness goals and even our fitness levels. But, obviously, belonging to rival gyms is a big one.

One of us will eventually have to give. While I love Extreme’s facilities-besides being undeniably sexy, they also offer features that my gym doesn’t-I also love GoodLife’s people, instructors, and the fact that my home club is a mere five-minute walk from my place.

My boyfriend, though, loves Extreme for being-well-extreme, and remains unconvinced that any other gym could compare.

Sigh.

Like all couples, we’ll work it out someday. But maybe not without major fitness therapy first.

Sometimes the hardest part about weekday morning workouts isn’t “how will I wake up?” but “what can I eat that’s quick and nutritious?”

Early morning workout breakfasts need to be both packed with carbs and protein and easy on the stomach.  They need to be quick,  so you can hit the office by 9am.  It needs to provide plenty of fuel, because you haven’t eaten in eight hours or more,  but it also can’t weigh you down while you’re powering through a cardio routine.

Hit the perfect food balance used to drive me crazy.   But after five years into my new lifestyle,  I’ve developed a hit list of fast and nutritious early morning workout foods.

Whole-wheat english muffins with almond butter.  Carbs, fibre and protein all in one, and best of all, it’s portable-great for when I’m running late and literally need to dine and dash.

Muesli “breakfast” pitas.  A new discovery that I’m quickly falling in love with.  Rich and dense and full of carbs-and ALSO portable.

Trail Mix. I learned not to fear and love trail mix on my cleanse.  I usually go for a kind my bulk food store calls “harvest mix”-equal parts nuts and dried fruits.  It’s full of protein and fibre and delightfully crunchy.

And yes….

The Flor-Essence “Power Smoothie” .  Yes, the smoothie I drank throughout my cleanse that I initially loathed on principle, but grudgingly admitted I really liked it later.    Yogurt, berries,  ground flax seed,  almond milk and banana….mmmmm.   This one needs a little time to settle in the stomach,  but if taken first thing in the AM makes a great pre-workout breakfast.

That’s what’s powering me through early morning spin classes and neighbourhood jogs-and gives me great energy for the start of my day.

One of the biggest complaints plaguing 9-to-5 types is that there’s no time to “squeeze in” a workout during the weekday. The solution that’s usually offered is to lace up your sneaks before work and exercise alfresco, thus starting your day off on the right, healthy foot.

Which, of course, doesn’t work in a Toronto winter, because right until about the time you need to leave for work, it’s still very, very dark. It’s rather a dangerous exercise environment, especially if you’re a woman.

But now it’s May, it’s beautiful, and it’s bright and clear at 5:30 am. And voila: I have the whole early morning available for a jog around the neighbourhood.

I was never really able to use the “it’s too dark to work out” excuse anyways, since my gym is a five-minute walk away. But weekday mornings ARE jam-packed and every precious minute counts. So I love that my workout can begin the moment I step outside.

And hey, out in the morning air, greeting the world just as everything is waking up, feeling the new sunshine on my face…it really is the best way to begin a happy, healthy day.

And with that also comes one very important realization: food is social, food is communal, and food is at the centre of the way humans interact.

That is exactly why it can be such a challenge to stay in shape.

Case in point: when the people of Toronto were finally able to escape their concrete office towers and celebrate in the gorgeous sunshine yesterday. My friends and I, beaming ear to ear and reveling under the dazzling sky, quickly decided we had one thing left to do: seek out the patio and bask in the late spring air.

We sought the comfort of our fave spot, Kramers, and then checked out the brand spankin’ new patio at St. Louis…and then promptly settled down to daquiris, martinis, and brews.

I had meant to go to the gym and burn several hundred calories. Instead, I consumed several hundred calories.
OOPS.

Yes, the summer social season has arrived.

The thing is, I didn’t even really want any of the drinks (ever since The Cleanse, my cravings for junk have been way down). So why did I, then?

Answer: I wanted to be a part of the great rituals of summer. And somehow, it didn’t feel like I was taking part without a drink in my hand.

That’s the true reason why it can be so hard to choose the right foods: it’s not that we crave them, it’s that we crave being part of the indulgence. We crave the feeling of being just like everybody else.

Absurd, I know. I’m not like everybody else-my metabolism is awful-and I don’t want to be like everybody else. That’s something to remind myself the next time we all hit the patio and I need convincing that Perrier is enough.

And I couldn’t be happier with my place in the universe as I crossed it:  fit, healthy, and full of the recognition that I have full responsibility for the way my life and body turn out.

And I couldn’t have been happier with the celebrations and friends who helped me usher the next decade in!

First, the  private booth at C Lounge on Friday night.  I’ve always wanted to do the VIP thing.  Always.  At it was my 30th so I said HELL, I’m doing it.   Our own private booth, dancing all night long,  dinners and drinks with friends new and old….it was a magnificent night.

And, for the Big Day?  A one-day getaway with The Boy to Le Spa Scandinave At Blue Mountain.

Le Scandinave  recreates the traditional  Scandinavian bath ritual:  hot bath, cold plunge,  sauna or relaxation room, repeat.  It’s in the open air, and it’s absolutely gorgeous and abundant.  I’ve been dying to try it for more than a year.

And….I’m happy to say that I felt healthy and fit in my new Victoria’s Secret bikini.  The hard work is truly beginning to show.

I wonder if what you’re doing the very moment your time of birth arrives affects what the next stage of your life will be like.   Because as it happens,  when I turned 18  I was riding Top Gun at Canada’s Wonderland…foreshadowing of the rollercoaster 20s that were to come, perhaps?

So I’m happy to say that,  at precisely 12:21 pm on Monday, May 11, 2009,  I was sitting under a waterfall of hot spa water under a beautiful spring sky, surrounded by flowers in bloom,  completely taking care of my body and my self and knowing everything is possible for me this decade.

Everything.