Day 19: Broth

The end of day nineteen and the start of day twenty…
Morning weight:  345lbs.  No change from yesterday…
I am still down “28/35”.  As in, 28lbs down from my fasting start weight: 373lbs, and 35lbs down from my highest weight ever (two days before I started the fast): 380lbs.  The scale is bouncing between 342 and 345, so I am being conservative.
Yesterday I made a new batch of veggie juice.  I took the roughage and added water, vinegar and crushed garlic and let the mixture chill in the fridge overnight.  Today I boiled it up, strained out the roughage and ended up with about 32+ ounces of broth.  I’m not exactly sure how much I have but it’s less than a gallon.  I did have two large mugs today and barely made a dent in it.  I could smell the vinegar and the garlic while it cooked, but I sure can’t taste them.  To tell the truth, it just tastes a lot like warmed up celery and cucumber veggie juice.  Still, it’s warm and a different taste than the regular veggie juice or veggie juice with fruit juice.
Today I had my strongest urge so far to raid the cupboard.  I got through it, but it was tougher psychologically than it was physically.  I wasn’t “hungry”.  I just had an urge to chew on / taste some cashews.  My mind convinced me that if I chewed them up until there were no chunks left, I’d still be “juicing”.  I got through the urge, but only because when I looked, there were none there (in the cupboard).  So it was more lack of opportunity than self-control.  LOL
Tomorrow I start the 21st day and finish the 3rd week on Friday at noon.  I should be able to make that ok, but Friday itself will be difficult because I’m planning to go up and visit my brother for the day.  Changes in my routine almost always means stress.  And coping with stress usually means “cheating” on my diet – or, in this case, my fast.  So, we’ll see, my fast may come to a screeching end.  And, yes, this is what I mean when I say I am not just fasting.  I’m also trying to change my “relationship” with food and eating.
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On This Day In:
2017	Be Responsible
2016	Thinking About November 8th, 2016
2015	Lonely Teardrops
2014	Pleasurable Law
2013	Room For Justice
	In The Minds Of Others
2012	Extinction, n.
2011	Snap!

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Day 18: My Body Mass Index (BMI)

Please do NOT take anything I say in my posts about fasting as medical advice.  I am NOT a physician or health specialist and have NO formal training in medicine, diet or nutrition.  I do have lots of personal experience dieting (and failing) and losing weight (and finding it again).  Please consult your doctor before you start a diet, work-out plan or any significant change in your physical lifestyle.  A word to the wise should suffice…
The end of day eighteen and the start of day nineteen…
Morning weight:  345lbs.
I am now down “28/35”.  As in, 28lbs down from my fasting start weight:  373lbs, and 35lbs down from my highest weight ever (two days before I started the fast):  380lbs.  Today’s loss is a 2lb loss, down from 347lbs yesterday.  I continue to feel an average loss of 2lbs per day are unusual and that I will start hitting plateaus any day now…
The BMI for a typical adult American male is 28.6.  My BMI (Body Mass Index) estimate is:  49.5  (Morbidly Obese)
According to the CDC, which rates a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 as “normal” (Normal weight:  <= 173lbs for me) and a BMI of 25 to 29.9 as “overweight” (Over-weight:  <= 208lbs to me).  Any male adult with a BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese (“Just” obese:  <= 275lbs to me).  To put this in perspective, I have lost 35lbs (to date on this fast) and need to lose 70lbs MORE just to get down to the top of the obese range.  Since (in my experience) the greatest loss occurs at the start of the fast, it is extremely unlikely this fast (or any reasonable fast) will get me near that much weight loss.  And, in fact, that was never my intent at the start of this.  Please recall I was intending to fast for seven days to jump-start my diet / lifestyle change.  This remains my ultimate objective:  to get to a healthier weight level by changing my “relationship” with food AND decreasing my sedentary lifestyle (since I am retired and no longer an office worker).
And so I plod on – day by day.  My medium term goal (today):  21 days (noon this Friday).  If I can reach that date, evaluate how I feel and push on or break the fast.  I would love to be able to say I’ve lost 50lbs fasting, but that would probably be another two weeks beyond Friday and I don’t want to think that far ahead.   Today I juiced up another bunch of veggies and have enough to get me close to (if not through) the weekend.  And so, day to day…
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On This Day In:
2017	Open Your Eyes (And Your Heart)
2016	Privilege Too…
2015	Otherwise Obscured
2014	Fundamentals
2013	Proof – ing
2012	Deluge, n.
2011	Hail, Caesar!
	Why Were You Sent?

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