Day 4: Difficult Day

The end of day four and the start of day five…  Today was a strange one…  6:00am.  Get up.  Walk the dog.  1 mile;  25 minutes.  Piece of cake.  And from there the battle was on.
The two things about juice fasting are:  you have to have easy access to juice and you have to have easy access to toilet facilities.  If you don’t have the first, you’ll probably cheat and fall off the wagon.  If you don’t have the latter,  you can embarrass yourself.  Access to veggie juice has been easy so far because I made up enough for 3+ days.  Access to facilities is mostly managed by just staying home and going when nature calls.
Today I had two doctor appointments:  one at 8am and one at 1:45pm.  This meant getting up earlier than usual to walk the dog and then going without a breakfast juice until after the first appointment.  The problem, of course, is the doctor’s office is 20 minutes away by car and I don’t want to risk getting stuck in traffic listening to nature’s call.  Bottom line:  a cheat.  I have a couple of Ricola cough drops for the road.  And use them.  As mentioned yesterday, if my blood sugar level dips too much, I have problems – headaches and shaking.  I also lose the ability to concentrate on normal activities – like driving.  So, I take one while waiting in the office and then a second when I get in the car to drive home.  I try to convince myself a) it’s not “really” eating;  and, 2)  they are sort of healthy.  I do this because I want to believe I’m being strict on this fast.  Okay, I’m not (convincing).  I get home and look them up.  First ingredient:  SUGAR.  Second ingredient:  Glucose syrup (aka:  sugar).  Calories:  15 per cough drop.  Still, no point in beating one’s self up too much…  I made it home and had a 24oz bottle of blend (4 heaping tablespoons of roughage mixed with fruit juice).  An hour or so of peace, and then off to the loo (repeatedly).
I made it home from the second appointment and was in between extreme fatigue and getting ready to shake.  So, I treated myself to a large glass (16oz) of Naked Juice Mighty Mango smoothie.  This is “supposed” to be “healthy”, but nothing that tastes this good can be “healthy”.  The juice is 150 calories per 8oz serving (that’s 300 calories I drank) and has the equivalent of a can of soda pop in sugar.  The only significant difference is the sugar is fructose and not HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup).  My initial reaction was perfectly normal for a sugar rush:  crash in chair in front of the TV.  And, after a 45 minute (sugar-powered) power nap, I am good to go for the rest of the evening.  Did I mention that Naked is owned by Pepsi?  Yeah, that kind of healthy…
Still, we are all human and I’m making up for it by having my veggie juice for dinner.  Note to self:  just stay home while juice / blend fasting.  Answer to self:  yeah, but sometimes life gets in the way…
And that was sooooo yummy I’m finishing the evening by drinking 30oz of ice water with 2oz of lemon concentrate.  My urologist told me years ago to drink lots of water and add a little lemon as the citric acid is supposed to help break up “some types” of kidney stones.  When I was in Saudi, my Indian co-workers insisted on pomegranate juice for curing kidney stones.  And, most lately, my co-workers at SSA (before I retired) used to tell me to drink cranberry juice (mostly those from the east coast).  So, I do a bit of all three, but mainly water with lemon, as it is the least expensive and requires the fewest trips to the store to replenish.  And, yes, my stones are still playing up.
And the news you’ve all been waiting for:  morning weigh-in 365lbs!  Somehow, I managed to drop 3lbs over a single day.  Actually, I’m cheating again…  I said I dropped only one yesterday, but it was slightly more and I was giving it a conservative rounding up.  This morning the arrow is clearly below the line, but I’m rounding up again – so it’s “really” only 2lbs to 3lbs instead of 3 to 4.  I don’t mind the inaccuracy because I’m using an analog scale and not a digital one.  Which means:  380 – 365 = 15lbs after four days of not chewing.   Minus “assumption” weight (10lbs), and I’ve lost 5 real pounds with three days to go.
It’s evening now and I’m half way through day 5, so I’ll project to finish the week between 8 and 10 real pounds down and then comes the hard part of breaking the fast with a lifestyle change which includes diet AND fitness.  The swimming (three times a week) is fun, but I’m going to have to breakdown and start a daily program of lifting weights, jogging and yoga.  Well, here’s to “eat less and move more”…  Four down, three to go!
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On This Day In:
2017	Outlasting Division
2016	Said The Man Who Trained To Fight For A Living
2015	Tripping On Treasure
2014	The Flower Of Light
2013	Eye Catching
2012	The Holstee Manifesto
2011	Three Crooners For The Shower
	The Soldier’s Faith
	Vacation, Books And Lots Of Movies

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Start By Trying

What we have to learn to do, we learn by doing.
—    Aristotle
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On This Day In:
2017	Outlasting Division
2016	Said The Man Who Trained To Fight For A Living
2015	Tripping On Treasure
2014	The Flower Of Light
2013	Eye Catching
2012	The Holstee Manifesto
2011	Three Crooners For The Shower
	The Soldier’s Faith
	Vacation, Books And Lots Of Movies

Read Full Post »