The end of day eight and the (now) most of the way through day nine… One full day completed into week 2 of juice / blend fasting.
Morning weight: 359lbs. (on Day 9)
I am down / down “2/14”. As in, 2lbs down from yesterday and 14lbs down from my fasting start weight: 373lbs (the morning of Day 1). For those who are British: I have now lost a “stone” from my starting weight!
Yesterday was a fairly uneventful day: walked the dog (30min), TV (news), blog a bit / watch YouTube / read emails, read a book, go for a swim (1hr, breast stroke), watch the first half of a movie. Basically, a nice, relaxing day. Nothing major to report. Drink my juice / blend too fast, get runs… This is both good and bad. Bad: You got the runs. Good: Another day without being constipated. Believe it or not, THAT is a BIG thing when you are fasting.
So, today is Day 9 and I woke feeling pretty well. I’m feeling slightly thinner and I’m not having any of the (my) normal aches and pains. It’s all good…
This afternoon I went to see my General Physician (GP) for my annual health check. BP: 114 / 64. HR: 67. Weight: 350lbs. BMI: 50.22. The good news is my blood test was also generally positive, with most bad numbers edging closer to good and good numbers getting better. So, it’s: “See ya’ in six months.”
Today I am finishing my last bottle of “juice / blend” so tomorrow I will need to grind up a new batch. Here’s the menu: 2 bunches of celery, 2 large cucumbers, 2 large onions, 2 bunches of spinach, 3lbs of carrots, 1 large broccoli, water (for blending) and various processed juices (for calories and taste). The processed juices vary depending on what’s on sale, but normally include V-8 Greens, V-8 Bananas / Strawberry, Apple Cider, Grapefruit, Cranberry and Pomegranate. None of these have added sugar. That’s not the same as having NO sugar. It only means there is none added. I also add 1 or 2 cans of beans (Kidney, Pinto or Black). This makes enough bottles for 6 to 8 days of fasting.
Now the first thing any health / juicer person is going to shout is: “You can’t store juice that long!!!” Yes! I know. I know. “Traditional” veggie juicing theology (protocol) mandates you MUST drink your veggie juice within an hour of juicing and certainly no longer than the same day. Well, that’s fine if you’ve got the time, energy and dedication. I could probably find the time if I had the other two assets (energy and dedication), but – to be perfectly honest – I don’t. When processes get too complicated, a somewhat lazy stiff like me blows off the process or at least a few steps. I wish I could afford to have someone else do the preparation before ever juice meal or even every day, but I can’t (afford it) and I don’t have the motivation. I’ve tried it a couple of times when I first got into juicing and, to quote Bob Dylan: “It Ain’t Me Babe. No. No. No. It Ain’t Me Babe.” So, I have to focus on what I can: bunch process the blend and drink it each day. That I CAN do.
Backing up a bit, some of you may have noticed I showed my weight this morning as 359lbs, but my doctor’s office visit was 350lbs. What’s up with that? Well, first I use an analogue scale and they use a digital scale. I don’t know if they program the scale to discount for clothing or not. When that is programmed into the digital scale they are normally set for either 3lbs, 5lbs, 7lbs or 9lbs depending on if the person is fully dressed or in shorts and either barefoot or in shoes / trainers. I didn’t see the nursing assistant punch anything in so if it is programmed it’s probably for fully dressed with work shoes – so the max: 9lbs. But, for the sake of argument, let’s say it doesn’t have an offset programmed in. What else might cause the difference? Standing!
Standing?? Yes. Standing… What is the scale standing on? Carpet or a hard surface? And, where are you standing on the scale? Surface can add / drop 5lbs from the reading. My own scale is on cement. If a scale is not my own, I try to stand in the center of the scale, as flat footed as I can get and with my weight as balanced as I can be. On my own scale (at home), I take two measurements daily (each morning): 1) knees slightly bent, feet flat, but with my weight shifted as much as possible (without falling) over my toes; and, 2) knees straight (not locked), feet flat, but with my weight shifted as much as possible (without falling) over my heels. On my scale, the variation between the two is normally 7 to 10 pounds! It has been as low as 5 pounds and as large as 12 pounds. (Sarcasm: “The beauty of using a spring based scale.”) The first is the high for the day. The second is my low for the day.
My daily record (these posts) shows the highs. My monthly “Sweat Equity” page (with daily updates) shows both weigh-ins. The temptation is to pick the lows, but because I don’t “really” know how accurate my scale is, I don’t want to pick the lows and then show up at the doctor’s office a get a rude surprise. The last time I was at the doctor’s office, his scale matched my scales low weight for that day. Today, the doctor’s scale was 2lbs below my low scale weight from this morning (and I was wearing shoes at the office but not this morning). Which means I got a pleasant surprise!
So, now having read all of this post, aren’t you glad to know there are some folks out there who are WAY crazier and OCD than you are…??
Yesterday I offered up a 20-ish minute video about the math of fat loss. Today I’ve got a reply. It’s marginally shorter (17-ish minutes) and I don’t know the presenter or what he is trying to “push / sell”, but I found it interesting, so I’m passing it along…
(Reply Video to:) The Mathematics Of Weight Loss Ruben Meerman TEDxQUT (presented by: Dr. Sten Ekberg)
If you want to succeed with long-term weight loss, it’s crucial that you embrace both reality and imperfection.
Remember, too, that your best efforts will vary. Your best when facing a challenging time in life will be different from your best when everything is hunky-dory, just as your best on your birthday, or on a vacation, or at a holiday meal will require indulgence.
The truth is there will come a point where you can’t happily live any better — where you can’t happily eat less and you can’t happily exercise more — and your weight, living with that life, is your best weight. In every other area of our lives we readily accept our best efforts as great, and we need to do that with weight and healthful living too.
— Yoni Freedhoff, MD
From Dr. Freedhoff’s article: “Don’t let the Biggest Loser study get you down! There’s hope.“
[This article was originally published on May 10, 2016, by Vox: https://www.vox.com/
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