day 7

I have stuck to this juice fast for 6.5 days now. Every day I feel like quitting. The afternoons are teh hardest. I start to picture what I would go eat if I were to quit. I would kill for some things I wouldn't normally crave. Egg on rye toast. Beans and rice. Harvest nut and grain pancakes with egg substitute at IHOP. I like to believe I could stop the fast and make healthy food choices. I'm worried, however, that I would fall right back into my old habits.... donuts on the way to work, fast food for lunch, at least 60 ounces of diet pepsi each day, a large dinner and some kind of sweet snack before bed time. I know I can't continue like that so I plow on in the fast.... one day at a time.

Day 4 juice fast

As was expected, I didn't feel so great this past weekend... days 2 and 3 of my juice fast. I had a headache, felt a little foggy headed, had little energy and was quite bitchy. I am so proud of myself for sticking to it, inspite of the way I was feeling! My cravings are diminishing. I still am not that crazy about the green juice and drink it in a way that I would drink medicine. Yesterday, we had a fruit juice for breakfast, took a green juice with us into Tulsa for lunch and stopped for a green juice at whole foods to take with us to family dinner. The family had chili... we had spinach, kale, cucumber, wheat grass and apples in liquid form. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to drink the juice while the family ate chili. The chili smelled good but I didn't feel the urge to sneak a bite or steal my grandson's portion! As Joe Cross said "your mates will think your crazy." They do indeed. Friends and family, think we are nuts for not eating. I try to explain it to them but even if they don't get it, I know I'm doing something healthy for myself. All the liquid nutrients I am consuming, minus all the bad things I'm not consuming ( caffeine, asparatame, sugar, animal products, empty calories) are bound to make a difference in my life.

Juice Fast

So a couple months ago my daughter, Catt, recommended a documentary to me. It had the unlikely name of "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead." Australian, Joe Cross, suffered from an auto-immune disease as well as obesity. He decided to help his body to heal itself by drinking only fresh made juice for 60 days. To make the movie more interesting, he juiced his way across the United States, stopping in various towns and visiting with people about their diets and health. I loved the movie and have watched it more than once. It made sense to me. I am currently quite overweight and have a few health problems. My feet, knees and hips are suffering, due to the extra weight they are being forced to carry around. I have low energy levels, headaches and stomach issues. I also happen to dislike fruits and vegetables. By drinking juices I will be getting a huge amount of fruits and vegetables into my system. I will also be detoxing since I will not be putting sugar, fat, caffeine, preservatives or other yucky things into my system. Joe Cross advises that the first few days of the fast are the worst. I can expect to experience headaches, nausea, grumpiness and tiredness. I am feeling cautiously optimistic that I will be able to stick to it. I worry most about missing out on comfort food andthe socialization that comes with eating with people. Hopefully I will get through the first few days and be able to stick to it for the long haul.

baby step

I weighed myself today. I am down two pounds from last time I weighed. Not much. This is rather frustrating since, in my view, I've been doing so well food wise. I haven't been vigorously exercising but I've been moving more than i was a week ago. I just have to remind myself that it's not about weight loss as much as it is about being healthy and feeling better. And I do feel better. Last night I went to bed without taking a Lorazapam, which I normally take to help me sleep. I haven't felt as anxious or stressed so I decided to try a night without it. I fell asleep quickly and slept well. I was also able to find a state of awakeness much easier this morning than on previous mornings. I assume this is due to not taking the pill. I've added iced green tea to my day, starting today. I read that its benefits are numerous and I need all the help I can get.

Surviving the weekend

I actually did well this weekend. I got lots of natural exercise when Angela and I went canoeing for a few hours. We also spend Sunday working on the yard which had to have burned some calories! I had two beers Friday night when we went to sit on the deck at the blue rose. I also had some chips and salsa BUT as an entree we split a veggie burger. I also opted for a veggie burger at family dinner last night. I saw on a movie ( I forget which one ) that if you drink a liter or two of water first thing in the morning, before you eat, you can flush out more fat and toxins that way. So far I've done well in that endeavor. It's a little bit of a struggle sometimes, but I'm only aiming for the 1 liter mark for now. I tried tofu ice cream this weekend in the form of soemthing called "Little Cuties." It was really good. The little "ice cream" sandwiches were about half the size of a normal ice cream sandwich and made of tofu instead of dairy but they were really good. It did have sugar in it so I wont be eating them often. I'm feeling more energetic and happier. A little calmer as well. My cravings aren't strong at all right now. Yay!

Never say never

So today my head feels somewhat bettter. My head hurts some but not nearly as intensely as it has. I also had more energy today. I was not tempted to take a lunchtime nap and i came home from work and putzed around in the yard for a while before Angela and I went to Gary's for dinner. Dinner. Yeah. So Gary had manwhiches and potato salad for dinner. I have decided that this is ok. I think, in order for me to survive this transition, I have to just decide to not say NEVER or ALWAYS when thinking of my food plan. I can't say i will never eat meat or dairy or that I will ALWAYS eat a certain amount of vegetables. When I find my self starting to panic a little (and yes I do panic a little over the thought of not eating sugar) I say, " it's ok, it's not forever, it's just for right now." That helps me immensely. Today I had a whole grain waffle and sugar free syrup for breakfast, a fat free yogurt and a nectarine for lunch and lots of water. I want to pick up a set of hand weights so that my arms can sneak in a workout without my body even really noticing.

It gets worse before it gets better..

Last night I was in bed before 8:00. This was in part due to exhaustion and in part to a killer headache. I can't seem to shake the headache. No medicine will touch it. I'm having a difficult time focusing.... my mind AND my eyes. My concentration is shot. I wish I had done this in the summer when I could sleep and rest all day as my body gets rid of all the toxins. Some things I've read tell me I shouldn't stopp all the junk food at once or my withdrawal symptoms will be worse. I also read that I should find a support system. My friend Katie and I are supporting each other through similar situations. Unfortunately, Katie lives in Australia.
I am on my lunch break at work now. I ate a yogurt ( yes, it has animal product in it) and a plum, some carrots and a few whole grain crackers. I am tempted to take a nap but am not sure how I will feel when I have to wake up and get back to work. Maybe worse, maybe not. I just keep telling myself that I will feel so much better in a couple weeks. I hope this is true. Keeping my fingers crossed...