ITF (365) – Update

So, today I am completing my 365th day of Intermediate Time Fasting (ITF), which has “really” been a mix of ITF and One-Meal-A-Day (OMAD) mixed eating and it’s time for an update:
My weight is down from 364lbs to 345lbs.
19lbs in 12 months or “roughly” 1.5lbs per month.
Had I been on a “strict” ITF – or my modified three(3) day cycle) (MITF), today would have been day:  3 of cycle:  119
As it was, this was day:  267 of ITF / MITF and day 98 of OMAD.  Now, of course, there were multiple “normal” days mixed in during the year, but by and large I tried to stick to the time guidelines / eating periods.  Surprisingly, (to me) there was very little exercise done other than my daily walking of our pet dog.  This would be between 15 minutes / .4 miles;  30 minutes / 1 mile;  and, 45minutes / 1.3 miles.  There would be some minor deviations in time or distance, but these were the overwhelmingly most common times and distances.
I would amend I was doing some body-weight exercises for about 45 to 60 minutes each day, but they did not result in significant weight loss or gain.  Although I felt much better at the end of the 60 day period.  At the start of August, I began suffering from vertigo and lower back pain, so I curtailed the exercises.  The main accomplishment was going from zero(“0”) pushups (from the floor) to 15 pushups.  I was pushing myself through a 30 day / 100 pushups a day challenge.  I started with 20 sets of five(5) inclined pushups and worked from 10 X 10 to 5 sets of 20 (inclined), with mixing in one or two sets from the floor on alternating days.
I am still dealing with the vertigo (off and on, mostly off), but my back issues seem to have cleared up.
An observant reader might ask about my food plan…  The reality is / was there was virtually NONE.  Every third day was ALL YOU CAN EAT / anything you want, within the eating 2Hr window and I did just that.  I started off with pizzas and cakes, fried chicken, chow mein and ice cream, and…  Well, you get the idea.  Almost nothing healthy every third day for almost three months.  I did tone it back after that, but I “just” toned it down to “crazy” every 6th day.  I did not stop.  My test was to see if controlling the time windows (6Hr, 4Hr and 2Hr) would work as a diet / lifestyle variable.  I would say, it does seem to have worked.  Relatively little exercise for most (10 months) of the year and a gross amount of unhealthy food every third (6th) day (but only within 2Hrs) and I still lost weight.  I can only imagine how much I would have lost had I adopted a healthier food program (at least on the third / 6th day) and added a modest exercise program to go with it.  Or alternatively, if I had just done the every other day eat / fast regime which seems to be more commonly recommended.
And that’s where I stand moving forward…  I am hoping to continue both the OMAD and a workout routine to continue to lose weight and get healthier.
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On This Day In:
2022	A Little Of What’s Been Lost
2021	I Think They Mean It
	An Endless Stream (Homeward Bound)
2020	ITF (365) – Update
	Word Up! (Sussudio)
	My Fear: A Second More Tyrannous Term
2019	Reality And Imperfection
	Day 8: One Stone
2018	Pity The Nation (Part 1)
	Day 41: Hiccup Or End Of Days?
2017	Sharp-Edged Beauty
2016	Start, Keep, Finish
2015	Lifetime Friends
2014	Acknowledgement
2013	Longevity, Tenacity and Diversity
2012	What Reagan Really Cared About
2011	Seeming Sane (Or Not)

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Day 17/18: That Didn’t Take Long

This is a long post!  (You’ve been warned…)
The end of day seventeen and the morning of day eighteen…  Elvis has left the building, folks…
Morning weight:  348lbs.  (on Day 18)
I am down / down “5/25”.  As in, 5lbs down from yesterday and 25lbs down from my fasting start weight:  373lbs (the morning of Day 1).
Yesterday morning (the early morning hours of Day 17), I didn’t sleep well.  I got out of bed a little before 3am and by dawn I’d “cheated” on my blend fast by having a two handfuls of nuts.  The rest of the day I was able to stick with my juice blend and felt pretty good in saying the cheats were aberrations and I was continuing my fast count.  Well, today the desire to chew (and taste something different) got the better of me and I had two slices of toast and two slices of pizza.  I said (in yesterday’s post) if I cheated again, I’d have to call the blend fast done, so that’s what I’m doing in this post.
The “interesting” thing is I’ve now had two five(5) pound changes in the last week.  I gained five pounds overnight a few days ago, and between yesterday and today, I’ve now lost five pounds.  It is routine to lose 5 to 7 pounds in the first day or two of a fast.  This is due to loss of stomach contact and some initial water weight loss (due to decrease of sugar and salt in the diet).  It is not common (in my experience) for this to happen after the first week without some significant change.  I have not restricted water or exercised excessively, so I have to assume there is “something” else going on in my body which is beyond my experience.  As such, and because of my prior comments about “cheating again and ending the fast”, I’m going to modify my behavior to more moderate eating habits (i.e. I’m going to start consuming / chewing food).
Below are the images from my scale to mark the end of the fast:
High end of Blend fast (348lbs) Low end of Blend fast (343lbs)
As per normal, there is a five(5) pounds variance between my “high” and “low” weights.  As explained in previous posts, the high is from me pressing my toes and the low is from pressing my heels.  When I last took my weight on a digital scale at my doctor’s office, their scale showed two(2) pounds less than my low for that day.  I wasn’t pressing forward or backwards.  And, again, I don’t know if their scale is programmed to subtract estimated clothing weight (or how much they might have subtracted).  As I’ve been using the “high” weigh-in, I feel I’m being conservative (and fair).
To summarize:  I started my “blending” fast with the parallel goals of completing one week without chewing while sticking to a plant (vegetable, fruit and legume) based liquefied diet; and, to jump-start myself on my Alternate Day Fasting (ADF) diet which I had started way back in February, but had not stuck to fairly.  I’ve ended up completing the first of the original goals and, in fact, doubling the time to two full weeks.  I said at the end of the second week, I’d like to push through for a third full week, but I was considering the process as “day-to-day” from there on.  I ended up making it through two days (Days 15 and 16), and now have cheated on two consecutive days (Days 17 and 18).  At this point, I’m calling the fast done and moving on to the second goal:  switching to the Alternate Day Fasting (ADF) or a “Modified” ADF or to a Intermittent Time Fasting lifestyle – maybe trying “One-Meal-A-Day” (OMAD).
So, which will I choose?  I don’t know…  I’m not sure I have to choose one over the others.  With the exception of having a defined protocol, I’m not sure there is any advantage to picking one of them over the others, so for the time being, I’m leaning to trying a bit of a mix and match to see which “works” for me.
Having said that, what will be my criteria:
1)  Although only specifically stated for the ADF protocol, I believe it is necessary for me to establish a longer and more consistent sleep period and schedule.  I’m therefor committing to trying to get a minimum of seven(7) hours each night.  I will set my start time for 11pm and end to 7am.
2)  A “strict” ADF or MADF has a low-calorie day and a normal-calorie day, with both tending to use windows to extend the daily fast time period.  The preference is to wait until 10am or 11am to break the fast each day and to close the window for eating (and drinking) at least three hours prior to going to bed.  For me, this would mean, no more eating or drinking (the exception being the water required to swallow my heart pills and vitamins before bed), after 8pm.  This will give me a fasting period of 15 to 16 hours each day, with eating windows of 9 to 8 hours on both the “fasting” and “normal” days.
3)  No matter which day or time period, water, black coffee, black tea and green tea are allowed —  EXCEPT during the three hours before bed, when I am only allowed enough water to take my heart medications.
4)  On “fasting” days I will try to limit myself to between 700 and 1,100 calories per day.  These numbers are fairly arbitrary:  the low end is the “recommended” fasting number for adult males doing an ADF.  The upper number is from my prior experience using the “Fat Smash Diet“.  This “high” number is not a caloric limit that many people could live with for very long.  I no longer believe dieting is simply “calories in < calories out = weight loss”.  I now believe limiting “calories in” too severely, over too long a period of time (one or two weeks), simply tells the body to lower your normal basal metabolic rate (BMR – how many calories you need to sustain life in a state of coma).  This makes it difficult to continue to lose weight and even more difficult to continue to keep the lost weight off.  It has also been shown that it is much more difficult to restore or raise the BMR to a previous level once you have lowered it than it was to lower it to start off with.  Basically, we must somehow lose weight while not lowering the BMR.  This means your body must not sense it is ever in a prolonged period of caloric deficit.  The “trick” is to lower the average caloric input over time while convincing the body you are never “really” dieting.  This is the goal of the ADF and the ITF methods.  On ADF, you eat as “normally” as you wish during your eating window.  On the ITF, you not only can eat as much as you wish, you can eat anything you wish – as long as you stay within your eating window.
5)  I must also maintain a reasonable protocol for increasing and maintaining my “calories-out” portion of the formula.  I currently walk my dog each day for 30 minutes (about 1 mile).  I also swim a couple of times a week for 60 minutes per session.  Our local pool will be closing for the winter soon, so I will need to commit to using a “gym” more frequently.  Swimming has a natural advantage over typical gym workouts.  I believe the three main ones to be:  swimming tends to be a continuous whole body workout;  swimming tends to be less damaging to the support joints (feet, ankles, knees, hips, and spine;  and, finally, water transfers heat energy significantly faster than air, which means you will burn more calories to maintain your own body temperature in water than you will do in air of equal temperature.  The combination of these advantages means I will need to go to the gym more frequently and stay (exercise) longer than I would have to by swimming.  The only advantages of the gym (that I know of) are:  you can increase your muscle mass to body weight ratio and you can increase your flexibility.  Swimming tends to make bodies long and lean, but not strong and flexible.  Weights and calisthenics will tend to increase muscle density, muscle size and flexibility (if done in conjunction with proper stretching), but not provide a long and lean appearance.  Bottom line:  go to the gym 4-5 times a week and stay for 90 minutes, including weights, stretching and cardio work in each session.
6)  My new protocol will be a rotation of fast day, eat day, OMAD day.  All three will be time restricted, but the window will vary between days:  fasting(8 hrs), eating(6 hrs) and OMAD(5 hrs).  Most fasting days will be two eggs, beans(1 can / 1.5 cups) and rice(1/2 cup), and fruits and veggies(no limit).  Most eating days will be two eggs or oatmeal, salad or fruit(no limit) for lunch, normal dinner.  Most OMAD days will be egg(1) and fruit, large dinner (all I can eat / anything I want);  if I want a “snack / desert” on my OMAD, it must be eaten 75 minutes to 1 hour before the daily eating window closes.  Water, black coffee, and black tea are any day / any time.  Fruit juice or veggie-fruit blends are only allowed on eating or OMAD days and only during the windows.
I will begin the protocol tomorrow.  I will continue to post images on my MADF page each day and my weight on my “Sweat Equity” pages, but I will not be creating a daily post specifically about this protocol.  I will try to update (via posting) a couple of times a month if I have anything interesting to say.  If I have any significant health changes as a result of the protocol, I will post about those.  And, so it goes, a “lifestyle” with the simple acknowledgement that vacations, holidays, birthdays, and exceptions will happen…  And, you just deal with them.
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On This Day In:
2022	Teaching
2021	First Ask For Courage
	Shadows And Darkness (At The Dark End Of The Street)
2020	My 2 Cents
	You Do It (The Way You Do The Things You Do)
	Must Be Why I Like Dreamin’
2019	The Opening Step
	Day 17/18: That Didn’t Take Long
2018	I’ll Trade You…
2017	Luv Me Some Meat Loaf (I Couldn’t Have Said It Better Myself)
2016	Unless Your Name Is #AmnestyDon
2015	A Tentative First Step
2014	Making People
2013	On Reading Books
2012	On America
2011	Shiver, Me Timbers!
2010	Fiduciary Breakdown

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Day 13: Pause & Resume

The end of day thirteen and the morning of day fourteen…
Morning weight: 354lbs. (on Day 14)
I am same / down “1/19”.  As in, 1lb down from yesterday and 19lbs down from my fasting start weight:  373lbs (the morning of Day 1).
Today’s answer to yesterday’s question (Pause or Plateau?) is:  Pause.  At least for today…
Day 13 was harder than expected and probably harder than it needed to be.  I watched some daytime TV and it looks like 50% of the commercials are about food and eating lunch out (dinner too).   Anyway, it’s hard to watch a couple of hours of “news” when you’re salivating over the commercials.  The bottom line:  Turn off the TV and walk away!
Last night was a strange night.  I feel like I had a terrible night of sleep because I was dreaming about eating.  LoL!!  I don’t really know where I was (home or out at a restaurant), but I was at a large round table which looked like it was loaded from a buffet.  The table was loaded with mounds of my favorite foods – and lots of foods which I would not normally consider my faves:  pork chops, corn bread, corn on the cob, BBQ ribs, shredded beef and pork, chunky mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli and spinach, fried calamari and southern style fried chicken.  It sounds funny to say, but have you ever dreamed of your eyes opening to the size of dinner plates?  I felt like my eyes popped out of my head like I was in a “Loonie Tunes” cartoon.  I guess the TV commercials struck a deep chord in my psyche for the day / night.
The good news is I woke up today (Day 14) feeling full!!!  (Take that Madison Avenue!)
In the afternoon, I spent another hour or so working on the floor project I’ve got going.  We have some chipped tiles and the wife has decided enough is enough and it’s time for me to replace them.  The first step is removal (7 tiles).  The next step is making sure the grout and mortar is removed and the replacement tiles sponge cleaned and the same with the holes.  I replaced three tiles earlier in the year and I wasn’t satisfied with either the mortar process or the grouting process, so I’m going to try something “new”.  Instead of mortar, I’m going to try some Loctite adhesive bond.  It’s supposed to work best for concrete, but it says it will bond any two clean surfaces.  Today (Day 14), I’m giving it a try in an out of the way area.  Hopefully, this will help it be less noticeable if it doesn’t work.  I’ll let you know if it does work…
As mentioned in earlier posts, I’m going to try to integrate my blending fast with the intermittent fasting (OMAD) so I delayed drinking any blend until 1pm.  I’m going to try to get through with finishing my bottle by 7pm.  After that, it’ll be strictly water or tea.  I don’t want to try drinking coffee that late in the day / evening.  That means today will be day one for that test too.
Today is Day 14, which is the last day of the first two weeks of my blend fast.  Tomorrow, week two will be done and I’ll post the images from my start day, after one week and then after week two.  I had a peek today and I don’t see much of a change yet, so I’m not expecting much tomorrow either.  The point is not just to feed my narcissism, but to create a “public” record for myself.  I’ve been told (or I should say I’ve read) this is important psychologically to create / increase personal accountability.  I’ve never agreed with the philosophy, but I’ll give it a try…  In for a penny, in for a pound.
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On This Day In:
2022	Thoughts
2021	Current Heroes (II)
	Glued To The TV – 3,000 Miles Away (Where Were You)
2020	Current Heroes
	I’m Mid-West Born, But California Raised (Good Vibrations)
	Appropriated To Her Being
2019	All In Good Time
	Day 13: Pause & Resume
	Ghrelin And Leptin
2018	Gratitude And Warmth
	Remembering Loss, Sacrifice And Service
	Making Little Ones Out Of Bigger Ones
2017	Never Forget
2016	It’s All Greek To Me (Well, Latin Actually)
2015	Truism
2014	Thank You
2013	Really
2012	Ordinary Five Minutes Longer
2011	The Wealth Of Sons (And Daughters)

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Eating Later

“Delay, Don’t Deny”  (2017©)  —  book review
Today’s book is “Delay, Don’t Deny“, written by Gin Stephens.  The book was loaned to me by my sister while we were visiting for the Labor Day BBQ at her house.  The book is sub-titled:  “Living an Intermittent Fasting Lifestyle“.   Basically, the book is a cheer-leading exercise for the “One-Meal-A-Day” (OMAD) intermittent fasting protocol which the author feels should be adopted not as a “diet”, but as a “lifestyle”.  In other words, once you start, you can’t go back.  The author’s claim goes beyond that.  She believes the benefits will be so obvious to you that you will choose to never go back (to your old eating habits / lifestyle).
The book is very short – only 155 pages.  It is written in a very friendly and easy to read style with short chapters and a few photos thrown in.  I would estimate a reader could speed through this book in a day (evening) if you were motivated to just sit still.  It took me a couple of days to get to it and then I read a couple of chapters a night before turning off the light.
In full disclosure:  I turned my sister on to Alternate Day Fasting, which is one form of intermittent fasting, so I am already a “true believer”.  I believe in fasting as a jump start to a healthier lifestyle and have done strict veggie broth fasts and veggie / fruit juice fasts of various duration’s over the last thirty-five years.  I have tried (and consider myself still on) an alternate day fasting protocol and it was working for a couple of weeks before “life” got in the way.  Besides my excuses, I feel the ADF or “modified ADF”  (MODF)- which is what I am / was trying – is a workable lifestyle for me.  Prior to reading this book, this (a MODF) is what I was planning to return to when I finish my current (12 completed days) veggie-juice / blended fast.  After reading this book, I think I will substitute the OMAD for the MADF.
So, what is a one-meal-a-day fasting lifestyle?  According to the author, you can eat anything you want and as much as you want, but only for / at one meal a day.  You have a window for eating each day.  The window may be as long as eight hours or as short as one hour.  The remaining hours in the day, you are fasting.  “Fasting” means water, black coffee or unflavored green or black tea.  No sweeteners.  No creamers.  The more common windows are:  “8/16”, “6/18” and “4/20”.  This varies from the traditional alternate day fasting in that with OMAD, you do eat EVERY day.  In the ADF, you eat no more than 500 calories (female) or 700 calories (male) on your “fasting” days and you eat whatever you want (whatever you normally eat) on the alternate eating day.  An eating window is also recommended for both the ADF and the MADF.  In fact, many proponents suggest you water fast on occasion just to super-charge the process.  The water fast is also frequently added to the “5:2” version of the ADF.  In the 5:2, you eat within an eight hour window five days a week and then water fast for two days.  You can pick the two days and they don’t have to be consecutive days – just any two out of the seven day week.  The 5:2 is briefly mentioned in the book, but the author does not favor it.
The author does not discuss sleeping, but this is a critical part of the ADF protocol.  You are expected to get 7 to 8 hours of continuous sleep each day for the ADF protocol.  This is where I definitely have a problem with ADF.  I typically can only manage six hours and almost never get over seven.  This is mostly a bad “lifetime” habit of mine.  As it’s not mentioned in the book, I guess the author doesn’t feel it’s that critical for OMAD.
The strength of this book is its approachability, both in ease of reading and in terms of the protocol.  She says:  “Try it.  You’ll like it!”  In fact, she believes you’ll like it so much, you’ll feel comfortable dropping it for special occasions (vacations, holiday weekends, Christmas, etc.) and then you’ll recognize you are out of sync with your body and want to drop back into the protocol.
The book has a particularly useful section listing the author’s favorite books (15) about alternate day fasting and intermittent fasting.  The author says these books contain all the science which she has chosen not to include in her own book.  She writes a paragraph or so on why each book is recommended.  Many of the authors of these books I was already familiar with from watching their videos on YouTube.
Final recommendation:  Very highly recommended!!  I fully intend to give this protocol a go whenever I finally come off of my current blend fast.  I will be sure to include updates in future posts.
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On This Day In:
2022	Every Morning
2021	In My Unending Story
	Say You Will (Shout)
2020	A Day With No Sun
	A Beautiful Thing (Too Much Heaven)
	A Moment To Rejoice
2019	Where And Why
	Day 12: Pause Or Plateau?
	Eating Later
2018	Here And Hope
2017	Choose
2016	All I Ever Wanted
2015	Compassionate Toward Yourself
2014	All And None
2013	Voices In The Dark
2012	Does Uncommonly Flexible = Flip-Flopping?
2011	A Modest Review Of A Modern Day Classic
	Encouragement Is The Path To Immortality

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Day 7: Week 1 – Mathematics

The end of day seven and the start of day eight…  Today is now the start of week 2 of juice / blend fasting.
Morning weight: 361lbs.  (on Day 8)
I am down / down “1/12”.  As in, 1lb down from yesterday and 12lbs down from my fasting start weight:   373lbs (the morning of Day 1).
End of Week 1: 361lbs
As I am typing this, I am past noon on Day 1 of Week 2 (Day 8).  After walking the dog, Hil and I had a brief chat about the fast.  She is supportive, but not enthusiastic about my fasting as she believes dieting and losing weight is about personal discipline, portion size, and not eating foods you like (except VERY rarely).  And DISCIPLINE.  Did I mention she believes in discipline?  She, therefore, is not a big fan of fasting because:  “What’s next?”  You come off the fast and you gain it all back…  I asked her how she felt about my continuing the juice fast.  She replied by asking how I felt.  I said good.  She said, well then go for another week.  So, it’s decided:  I’ll go day to day and “try” to make it another full week.   (Did you see how I made that “modest” change?  LoL.)
The good thing about committing to a week is you have a set goal with an end day / date.  The bad thing, of course, is that if you are a “goal setting / objective” person, you feel like a failure if you don’t hit the goal.  Since today was my original goal (“finish the jump start and move on to MADF”), I am reluctant to arbitrarily double my goal and now be only half done (half way through two weeks).  Hence the day to day goal…  Hopefully, this will also help me try to stay in the moment (or in the day).  Yesterday is done and I was successful.  How am I doing today?
The following is a TEDx video I’ve watched multiple times over the last two years.  It deals with the chemical mathematics of burning fat tissue.  Enjoy…
“The Mathematics of Weight Loss“
Presented by:  Ruben Meerman
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On This Day In:
2022	Exceed YOUR Own Expectations
2021	Losing One’s Edge
	Can I Get An Up Front Seat? (Rock And Roll Heaven)
2020	Are You Sure?
	Who Could It Be? (Believe It Or Not)
2019	Living Art
	Day 7: Week 1 – Mathematics
2018	Hey, #45: Are We Sick Of Winning, Yet?
	Day 40: Wrists
2017	Heart Vision
2016	A Labor Day / Pre-Election Hope
	Trust Me, Too
2015	Without Hope
	Things Known And Unknown
2014	A Wall Too High, A Bridge Too Far
2013	Glory = Danger
	Chicago Magic
	Feelin’ It
2012	How Did We Get Here?
2011	Labor Day Weekend Mishmash
	More, More, More

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Day 5: Getting Easier

The end of day five and the start of day six…  Two more days to complete the first week of blend fasting.
Morning weight:  364lbs.  (on Day 6)
I am down / down “1/9”.  As in, 1lbs down from yesterday and 9lbs down from my fasting start weight:  373lbs (morning of Day 1).
I feel like I’m starting to get my second wind.  I am feeling great in the mornings and try to do things and then get tired easily.  All of this is normal until the fat burning really kicks in.  I do feel like I’m already getting thinner and (like I said) feeling better / healthier.  Part of it is purely psychological as I can see the goal – of completing week one – now clearly in sight.  I will wait until I see how I feel on day seven to decide if I’m going to the modified alternate day fast (MADF) or if I stick to the juice blend for some additional time.  Last year, I did my week and then kept going for almost seven weeks (41 days).  I pretty much said:  “Let’s go for two weeks and then day to day.”  Which is what I ended up doing…
I was planning to go for a swim in the evening, but when we drove by around 6pm, the pool was still packed with families.  My local homeowners association has two BBQ’s a year:  one for Memorial Day and one for Labor Day.  The are used to mark the “official” open and closing of the pool season.  At the discretion of the association board the pool can be opened earlier and stay open longer.  Last year (2018), we opened at the start of May.  This year, almost at the start of April.  Last year, we closed after Halloween.  This year it looks like the end of September.  We are hoping to resurface the pool (after 20 years), and the Board wants the pool closed as soon as our permit clears to make sure we are able to open on time next year / season.
My point about the families being I don’t like to swim laps when it’s crowed because folks want to have fun with their kids and I’d be tying up a whole lane just for my laps.  So, no swim, but I did get in my 30 minute dog walk.  C’est la vie…
My hands, wrists, feet and ankles are consistently not bloated and my Blood Pressure is starting to consistently drop into the “good” range.  I had my first 118 / 81 in quite a while.  Not perfect, but much better than the 135+ / 85+ I’ve been registering lately.  When I’m getting 115 / 75 in my morning reading, I’ll be happy.  That’s a great number for any age, let alone 64, pushing 65 years old.  My average resting Heart Rate is now down in the 50 / 51 per minute range.  That’s down from the 55 / 65 is was for most of last month.  I’m not a fully convinced believer in the maximum heart beats in a lifetime theory, but it seems oddly consistent across species, and I think it deserves more research.  And, yes, I’m fairly OCD and measure my BP/HR two to three times a day.  I was doing it religiously for several years (and charting them over time).  I showed my Excel file and charts to my cardiologist and he said I need to chill out as this kind of compulsive behavior can result in increases to both BP and HR.  That was a couple of years ago, now.  I no longer chart the results and I mostly just do morning and before bed – and, maybe once or twice a week during the afternoon.
In some future post, I’ll try to explain what I mean by “eat less”, “move more” and “eat healthier”.  For now, I’ll just say “eat less” doesn’t necessarily mean eating fewer calories…  (more later!)
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On This Day In:
2022	True For All Arts
2021	Driving To Your Destiny
	Angels (Angel Of The Morning)
2020	It Almost Certainly Will If #45 Is Re-elected
	Sssshhhh (The Sound Of Silence)
2019	Deciding, Doing, Done
	Day 5: Getting Easier
2018	Thought Experiments
	Day 38: Going Crazy
2017	Which Did You Learn?
2016	Shape And Limit
2015	Me Either
2014	Just Business
2013	Beautiful Adventure
2012	Precedence
2011	Ya Think?

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Day 3: Still Difficult

The end of day three and the start of day four…  Starting Hump Day for the first week of blend fasting.
Morning weight:  367lbs.  (on Day 4)
I am up / down “2/6”.  As in, 2lbs up from yesterday and 6lbs down from my fasting start weight:  373lbs (morning of Day 1).
Yesterday was a difficult day.  I am still very tired – physically and sleep wise.  I was dreading going to the pool, but when I finished (1hr of treading water), I felt refreshed.  Then, and hour later, exhausted again.  The struggle is maintaining the correct blood sugar level so as not to want to go to sleep, not feel excited and not feel hungry.  It’s a fine balance.  I will be happy when I get my “fasting second wind.”
This time (this fast), I’m finding the sleeping difficult.  I got in a bad sleep habit when Hil was gone earlier in the year and the habit got reinforced with her latest trip.  I’m readjusting, but it’s slower than usual.  I’m sure this is due to the modified alternate day fasting (trying to) and the current juice / blend fast.  I remain amazed at the body’s ability to quickly adapt to changing conditions and then it’s reverse – slow adaptation to returning conditions.  It’s like the body is saying, “Yes!  I can do that!”, but then says, “Wait a minute, we just changed from that…  Why are we going back?”  Eventually, the body comes around, but then it’s even more resistant to the next change.  I think this is the problem with yo-yo dieting (which I am guilty of).
So, the elephant in the room is that I gained 2lbs since yesterday morning.  What’s up with that?  Well, as mentioned in yesterday’s review (post), I dropped 6lbs from the prior day and that was not a sustainable rate of loss.  I said it was probably a combination of stomach content and water retention (loss).  Given I didn’t eat yesterday and I did drink, this means the ratio was probably more than 50 / 50 between water (fluid) loss and stomach content.  As a gallon of water is a little over eight(8) pounds, 8.34 to be precise, a two(2) pound gain is about a quart of water (fluid) retained over what I was carrying yesterday morning.  Not a big deal if the over-all trend remains downward tomorrow and the next day.  This is why many sources recommend only weighing yourself once a week instead of daily.  So I have to remind myself:  “It’s the trend that counts, not the daily drops and bounces.”
Today, (Day 4) should be another “difficult” day as we are going to my sister’s house for a family BBQ to celebrate Labor Day.  We’re bringing the deserts, which my wife stocked up on yesterday.  Every time I opened the fridge to get some juice, cake and chocolate fudge brownies are staring me in the face…   Can I feel some luv???  Or at least a little sympathy…  LoL
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On This Day In:
2022	Why Today’s “NO” Republicans Can’t Govern
2021	Back To Paying Dues
	Keep Rollin’ (Drivin’ My Life Away)
2020	Diets And Lifestyle Changes
	Pay Attention (Don’t Blink)
	Just Not Sure, And That’s Okay
2019	The Right Questions
	Day 3: Still Difficult
2018	A Thought For Those Continuing To Support President Trump
	Day 36: Pushing On
2017	Imagining Humor
2016	So Go On And Deal With It
2015	From A Letter To A Friend
2014	Your Part (Here)
2013	Complements
2012	Sound And Light
2011	Two Politicians Visit A Farm…
2010	Labor Day And Honorable Men

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Day 1: Done

Yesterday I completed Day 1 of my Veggie-Fruits Juice / Blend fast.  It’s pretty much the same as last years effort, but this year, for the first few days anyway, I’m skipping the straight-up “juice” and going right to the “blend”.  In a nutshell, this means I’m dicing up my fruit and veggies and just blending them with water and additional fruit / veggie “juice”.  Yes, the additional stuff is processed and not terrible healthy, but it’s a sacrifice I’m making to save time and expense.
My starting weight yesterday was 373lbs and this morning I was already down 2lbs.  So, I’m at 371lbs.  That’s pretty normal as the blend tends to flush out most of the solid material from your (my) digestive tract.  From experience, I normally drop 10lbs in the first 5 to 7 days.  We’ll see…
From experience, the first three or four days are the worst part physically as I will be grumpy, tired and missing the simple act of chewing.  “My” style of fasting is not particularly restricting on calories.  Yes, processed fruit juices have a high amount of sugar (fructose) content, but absorption is slowed by the roughage of the blended veggies (onions, celery, cucumber, carrots) and fruit (apples, berries, bananas, pineapple).  I also blend in about two cups of beans.  I vary them between weeks (pinto, black and kidney).  In all, I probably have close to a gallon of “blend” per day.  It actually ends up being more than that consumed as I continually add ice to keep the drink cool.
Yesterday, I went for my normal 30 minute dog walk and an additional 60 minutes of treading water at my local swimming pool.  I’ve been trying to swim as often as possible this year, but I am only averaging about every other or every third day  (mostly third).  I seem to go on streaks and then my built up list of things to do gets too long and I have to spend a couple of days whittling the list down.  (That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it…)
The good news is that as I’m ending my second day, my fingers, hands, wrists, feet and ankles are already feeling considerably less bloated.  The flip side (the bad news) is that passing all the solids and acidic fluids leaves one with a bit of a  burning bum.  This too shall pass…  (Yes, mild poop humor.)
The key (again, from my experience) is to never get so hungry (either real hunger or empty stomach) that you start to obsess about food.  This means drinking the blend regularly (to maintain your blood-sugar level) and supplementing it with regular water (or herbal tea) which acts to keep your stomach full (physically) which tricks your mind into not being hungry.  By this means, I can increase activity and (over time) modify (decrease) caloric input to lose weight.  Weight loss always comes down to three things: 1) move more; 2) eat less; and, 3) eat better (healthier & more natural).
So, the journey begins again.  The current plan is to juice for a week and then switch to the Modified Alternate Day Fasting (MADF), which I have been unsuccessfully trying since February of this year.  Over the course of the next few days / weeks, I’ll discuss some of my views on why the MADF has not been successful for me and why I’m fairly confident this jump start will help in this next go around.  While on this path, I will try to post every day on how I’m doing.  These posts will tend to be longer than my normal (quotes) posts, so if you are not interested in my dieting process, just skip the long post and enjoy my other shorter post(s).  Stay tuned…
Oh, yeah…  Before I forget:  I am NOT a health professional NOR have I been trained in medicine or psychology.  Take EVERYTHING you read on my blog about dieting / fasting with a grain of salt and a heaping dose of skepticism.  I have read lots of books and watched hundreds of hours of YouTube & TED videos about health, sleeping, dieting, working out, etc and most of them contradict each other in detail while agreeing on generalities.  ALWAYS consult with your personal healthcare provider before engaging in any of my crazy ideas / practices or beginning any change in diet or fitness program.
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On This Day In:
2022	Be Careful What You Wish For
	Salaam Alaikum, Pakistan
2021	Why Republicans Are Unhappy
	I Guess It’s True (I’m Stone In Love With You)
2020	A Tiny And Fragile World
	Your Lyin’ Eyes (Karn Evil 9 1st Impression, Pt. 2)
2019	Day 1: Done
	#IncompetentDonald Fails On All Three
2018	I Put It Down To Bad Teachers
	Day 34: In And Out
2017	And The Future Is Now
2016	I Am
2015	Positively Aiming Higher
2014	Suspicious Minds
2013	We Are Not Alone
2012	Lawyer, n.
2011	Each Day Remember…
2010	Impossible Dreams of Camelot

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