7 Done, 12 Down

Caution:  This is a long post.  If you are bored about other people’s diets – stop here and come back some other day (LoL)…   You have been warned!
I am a borderline compulsive acquirer / hoarder.  Books, DVDs, CDs, clothes / shoes and now guitars (LoL!).  Way back in December, my wife was observing my closet and said I REALLY need to get rid of some of my clothes.  (She offered to help.)  I have a large number of items which were bought for work (shirts, pants, ties, etc.) which I don’t have a need for – and many of which haven’t fit for some time.  This is because I have been yo-yoing in weight for soooo many years.
Anyway, I told her I’d begin going through my stuff and getting rid of things – mainly items I’ve been keeping because they are slightly damaged and I could then wear them for dirty work around the house before tossing them.  Well, I accumulated them faster than I’ve worked, so I’ve now got a stack buried in the back of my closet…
Since that conversation, I’ve tossed several pairs of shoes and about a half dozen old shirts (which has surprised and pleased the wife!).  Because they are too worn or damaged, the items have not been suitable for donating to charity.
As an addendum, I said anything I can’t fit into by my next birthday (end of March), she can toss or donate.  She was very pleased by this offer…  (She is not the hoarder I am.)
So, on the Monday after Christmas I started my latest “juice / blend” fast and scaled up my workouts to start losing some pounds.  My weigh-in was 374lbs.  Today / this morning, my weigh-in was 362lbs.  Basically, at the end of seven days of not chewing, I’m down 12lbs.
Juicing / Blending:
First off, this is NOT a traditional / “strict” juicing “fast” as defined by Joe Cross or any number of doctors.  Over the last eight to ten years, I’ve been on multiple strict vegetable juice fasts.  They all worked for rapid weight loss.  None of them were useful as lifestyle options.  For the last five years (or so), I’ve been trying alternate day fasting and intermittent timed fasting.  My success with these fasts have been much more limited.  Mostly because I’ve not been strict enough (portion control) in my eating periods.
So, what am I doing?  One 16oz fruit blend in the morning and the same for lunch.  I then have a much larger (34 to 64ozs) vegetable blend for dinner.  I also have a couple of mugs of tea (green or herbal) during the day.  Occasionally, I will have a bottle of warm water with a couple of tablespoons of lemon concentrate in the evening.  Whenever I do this, I keep a smaller bottle to swish in my mouth after drinking from the larger bottle.  This reduces acidic exposure for my teeth.
The “typical” vegetable blend is:  spinach, broccoli, cucumber, onion, celery, bananas, carrot juice and enough fruit juice to make the roughage into what I affectionately call “swamp juice”.  Yes, I do have a “real” juicer machine.  Yes, I have used it in the past.  Yes, it is much better at making “juice”.  The problem I have is / are two-fold:  1)  I think tossing the roughage is a terrible waste of nutrients, and, 2)  juicing on its own does not produce enough body waste (“poop”) – in me, anyway.  This second “problem” means I would have to relieve myself with either a oral laxative or a suppository – neither of which are thrilling options.
Technically then, I’m NOT “juicing” at all.  I’m just not chewing.  Does this matter?  If you want to do a strict juice / health fast, I believe it does.  If you are not that bothered (like me), then the answer is “nope, not in the least”.  The weight loss is not as quick my way, but I’m also okay with that.
My longest strict “juice” fast was 30 days and I lost 30 to 40 lbs.  I’ve done this type (length) of fast four times in my life and it is cleansing.  It’s just not sustainable and I’m not convinced it’s healthy (due to yo-yoing).  I’ve also done much shorter (7, 10, 14 and 20 days) juice fasts – mostly in the last ten years.  My longest fast was alternating juice with blend days and I went forty-two days and lost 72lbs.  This fast was documented on my blog a few years back.
I haven’t decided how long this session will go, but I seriously doubt I’ll be doing it until the end of March.  At the moment, I’m thinking ten days and then switch to alternating days with stricter portion control on my eating days.  But, I’ll just have to see how it goes…
I case you’re interested – I am feeling terrific in myself, but I tire quickly (after 3 – 5 minutes of “light / continuous” exertion).
Workouts:
There are two universal dieting platitudes:  you can’t spot lose; and, you can’t outwork a bad diet…  I don’t believe the first.  I firmly believe the second.
A couple of months ago (12 Oct 2021), I began working out daily with the idea of of completing a “30-day / 100 push-up per day challenge” and then building a complete body workout which I could continue more or less indefinitely.
I started with presses.  I did 100 presses with 40lbs on a standard 20lbs bar (60lbs total).  I had a number of bad weather days, so I began doing inclined push-ups instead.  In a standard (from the floor) pushup, you are lifting about 60% of your body weight; an inclined push-up at two-feet is about 40% of your body weight.  In my case, this would be 220lbs and 145lbs respectively.  Obviously, there is a BIG difference between 40lbs and 145lbs (let alone 220lbs), so instead of a single set of 100, I did 10 sets of 10 repetitions.  I am now doing 5 sets of 20 repetitions.  I am hoping to move from inclined to floor, but I will have to drop back to 10 (or maybe even 5) reps – so many more sets.
After a while, I added pull-downs (straight, curls and inclined).  Initially with 40lbs and then I upped the weight to 43lbs.  I do 100 pull-downs (via cables), then 50 curls, then 100 inclined pull-downs, and I finish with a second set of 50 curls.  This is a total of 300 pull-down motions (reps).  The number of reps was chosen to provide equivalence between 100 push-ups (at 145lbs) and 300 pull-downs (at 43lbs).  At some point, I hope to be able to do a hanging pull-up, but that’s way in the future (LoL).
As of the start of the juicing, I’ve added “Niko Niko” (smile) pace jogging and crunches.  Niko Niko is what I used to call “slogging”:  slow, ass jogging, but the Japanese name sounds so much nicer (LoL).  Once around my block is .4 miles.  I do three laps: 1.25 miles (according to my FitBit).
For the crunches, I do five sets of sixty for 300 hundred reps in total.  Because I have lower back (a pinched nerve) issues, I do them balancing on a fitball rather than from the floor.
I also spend about 5 – 10 minutes on my inversion stand after completing my workout.  If my back is hurting, I’ll do a shorter hang mixed in-between the sets of crunches.
So, (at long last) that’s it for now…  Thanks to any readers who’ve made it this far.  I will be posting about this at least through the end of March, but (mercifully for you and me) it won’t be every day as I’ve done in the past.  If anyone has any questions, please add a comment to one of the posts and I’ll try to answer as best I can…
Please remember:  I am NOT a doctor and nothing on this blog should be taken as medical advice.  Consult with your personal doctor before beginning ANY diet or exercise program.
“Live long and prosper!“
.
On This Day In:
2021	More New Year’s Exercises
	7 Done, 12 Down
2021	Another Public Service Message
	Greetin’ The Sun
2020	From The Mountains To The Shores
2019	Watering The Trees And Seeds
	1221
2018	Take Care Of Me…
2017	Make Some Difference
2016	Still 99%
2015	Adolescent Opinion
2014	In A Big World
2013	Vacancy For God
2012	Sweat Equity
	Try It… You’ll Like It
2011	Still Incomplete
2010	Happy New Year – 2010

Advertisement