cheat day

me again.. yea i'm still at it. since i'm kind of freestyling here [with some extensive self education] as far as my 'diet' goes, i've decided to make payday my 'cheat' day. i only get paid biweekly, so that's two days a month i can eat whatever i want. within reason of course.. the likelihood of me scarfing down a McDonalds cheeseburger on my cheat day isn't very good.

yesterday i had a banana berry smoothie with chia and coconut oil for breakfast, broccoli salad and a few pieces of brown rice vegetarian sushi at lunch, and for dinner Matt and i attended a Geocaching event which involved chicken wings. i only had a few as i could barely get anymore in my stomach, and had lemon water to drink and a few of his fries, i couldn't resist. i wasn't going to go chicken wings, but i rarely ever get the chance to eat them and was really craving some meat.

after a week of primarily plant based whole foods, it was a little bit of a shock to my digestive system. i didn't feel it till later in the evening, it was probably the wings that did me in. that being said, the gut ache still wasn't nearly as bad as i used to get them, just a little uncomfortable trying to get to sleep.

it's the weekend again, so i'm juice fasting again for my days off. i'm pleased with the success so far in regards to how i'm feeling overall, and the fact that i only 'gained back' half a pound from the six that i lost over last weekend. keeping up with a mostly plant based whole food diet i believe is helping me to maintain my weight.

i'm super excited to go to my new gym that finally opens in two weeks! i'm glad i bought in pre-opening and that i'm locked in for a year because that will encourage me to take full advantage. the price was right for my budget and it's just too awkward to get a good workout in our tiny little apartment. there's just not enough room to move around for the impact that i'm going for.

in the meantime, i'll keep up with the juicing and primarily plant based diet along with some stretches and light exercise. eventually i'd like to ease back into running, but not until i get enough weight off to have a lesser impact on my joints.

i'm feeling sort of hungry and grumbly today, which isn't all that surprising considering i ate whatever i wanted yesterday. and because of very recent previous experience, i know tomorrow will be easier. i've been considering stretching it out into a longer term juice fast, i've been reading up a lot about thirty day and sixty day juice 'cleanses' and i'm wondering if i might be able to handle it with my schedule and physical job. i may have to modify slightly to get a greater intake of calories, i know i don't feel right if i'm not getting enough.

that's about all that i have to say for today.. i am noticing that my yoga pants are loose in places they never used to be. i'm excited every time i notice a subtle change in my shape or my appearance or the way that i feel. keeps me motivated and makes me smile.

juice fast day 3 and after..

day three of the juice fast was for sure the easiest day. i felt so good about  what i was doing i wrote about it extensively, and i'm not done yet! i broke fast with simple whole foods. a banana, an apple, a couple dates and a small handful of nuts. i had a hard time finishing and i was satisfied.

my energy levels are up, which is amazing. i thought it would have slowed me down a lot more.. mind you i had the last two days of my fast off from work. when i returned, though, i brought my lunch of juice, nuts and raisins, and a small jar of homemade vegetable soup, and i was satisfied for the whole day. this surprised me as i am usually starving even by first break, my job is very physically active and i never sit down.

something else incredible happened that i forgot to note; i slept. like a baby. all. three. days. which points to what my lifelong issue may have been with sleep.. a direct link to my diet. oh and i slept lastnight too, a solid 6 hours which is unheard of for me. i usually get 3-4 hours max if any solid sleep at all. i have been this way since as early as i remember. and i remember my days of kindergarten quite well.

i lost 6 pounds over the 3 day fast and the day leading up to it. i started eating again at noon on tuesday [that tiny meal i mentioned] and ate a little more yesterday, and not a pound of that six has come back. that to me is mindblowing. i have tried a lot of different fasts and shakes and regimes and products and in all of my previous experience i have always started to gain the weight back immediately after the product/regime/fast ends. now i suppose it's not 'ended', as what i'm doing now is a complete lifestyle change. a whole new outlook on how i see food and how i treat my own body. this is not only necessary for my health and survival, but my likelihood to thrive as an individual and a member of a greater community depends on it.

juice fast day 2

alright well i had sort of a rough night yesterday. later in the evening i was starting to feel very uneasy, and contemplated cutting up a salad and breaking fast. i did break fast, but with a banana. that was specifically what i was craving, and i chewed it very thoroughly. man did it ever taste good.. and it did ease the strange feelings i was having. i decided not to let that get me down, and that i would wake up the next day and keep going. i stepped on the scale this morning and shrieked a little.. 197 pounds! i've been struggling all month to get under two hundred, hovering around 202. i hadn't seen a lower number than 199.8 in a while. i was shocked, and this was an instant motivator to keep going. [and maybe to paint my toenails haha!]

my size 14 pants are a little looser around the waist. even if most of that five pounds was water weight or waste i hadn't rid myself of yet, that's five pounds i'm no longer carrying around. i've never bothered with numbers as far as my weight is concerned, but i felt that in order to see if i was making any real progress i'd have to invest in a scale. i'm in my body all day every day and subtle change is hard to detect without some sort of measure, so there you have it. i've always been told that i 'carry it well' which i do agree [that i don't look like i weigh over 200] but the fact of the matter is, i still have to carry it around regardless of what i look like. and it's damn heavy on my smallish frame.

i do feel better than i did 24 hours ago, and as i type this i've been 48 hours without solid food. i pretty well have to visit my grocer daily to pick up the produce that i need as we only have a small bar fridge in our bachelor apartment to keep things fresh. luckily things like apples and carrots and various other roots can be kept out over the winter, and there's a freshco right across from my house so i don't have to go far. i can't wait to get at the farmer's market! and at the garden... it's gonna be a good year.

i'm particularly glad that i have today and tomorrow off work, i feel that rest is important during a fast to let my body heal. when i get more used to fasting i may try a longer one [7-10 days] but for now three [and a half] days seems like enough to 'reboot' my digestive system before reintroducing solid foods. since i work every third weekend i may make this a part of my 'ritual' to have a three day juice fast every three weeks. and perhaps even have a weekly juice fast on sunday to keep it rolling, i'll see how i feel. so far, actually not that bad.

one thing i have noticed is that i have a lot of time to think about what i'm putting into my body. as i cut and prepare veggies and fruit to go into the juicer i think about all of the good things that each piece will do for me. when the time comes to start eating regular meals again, i feel more confident that i can make better food choices and including more raw foods than before. it's like a whole new appreciation for even having access to such a variety of foods. we also have access to some pretty spiffy technology that can help to extract nutrients from foods and consume more of these nutrients than we would just simply eating them, such as juicers and high power blenders. the produce department and i have been becoming better friends than ever before. and i've always loved veggies!

another thing i've noticed is the lesser impact on the trash can and recycle bin since i started juicing. and the dish rack.. i'm saving water not having to wash so many dishes, and there's virtually zero trash from the produce i'm buying, i don't bother with the rolls of bags at the grocery store, i just wash everything well when i'm ready to use it. i bring my own bags always. if i need to weigh something 'loose' i'll grab a brown paper bag intended for the mushrooms, at least it will break down faster and it's not plastic. all of the pulp and most of the 'waste' from the produce goes into the compost pile out back. that being said, as long as i'm eating better, so is my garden.. which in turn produces better food for me to eat.. and the cycle continues. oh man am i ever excited for the garden this year... fresh kale!

juice fast day 1

alright so i'm horrible at keeping up with a blog. to be fair i've been mighty focused on psyching myself up to do what i've got to do to regain my health. for the past few weeks i put myself on an elimination diet to determine what was bothering me, the main suspect being that dang gluten. after a few days of eating gluten free i felt a million times better. until one day i wasn't thinking and ate a pancake.. yup, i learned very quickly not to do that again any time soon. the pain and bloating that came a couple hours later was unbearable.

that being said, i've been very careful since, and doing my best to consume mostly 'whole' foods. that way i don't have to worry about ingredients and what could be hidden within. i've been keeping this blog for a year so it's not like the idea of finding optimal health is a new one, but it certainly does take a special kind of motivation to really make big enough lifestyle changes that last. i've said it before and i'm saying it now.. i'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. it's time for real change.

it was my weekend in [giving me monday tuesday off] so i decided to start my juice fast now as my work days are generally lighter on the weekends. saturday after work i had made myself some juice for dinner and kept it up all day today. i've been over thirty hours with no solid food at all, only juice. that being said, i don't feel all that terrible. snackish at most, but i have managed to resist temptation. every time i feel hungry i just take some more juice, or make an herbal tea with real local honey and lemon juice, helps satisfy the munchies.

i felt that having my first full day of juice fasting at work [on a light day] was a good idea to keep my mind distracted, and practice overcoming cravings. i'd have to go through the lunch room to get to the coat room, and sit with my lunch buddy in the food court while he scarfed down his fresh subway sandwich and i could smell delicious goodness all around. i sipped slowly on my cucumber fruit and veggie juice. i resisted the urge to get a rice teriyaki bowl.

by the end of my shift the hunger was starting to get a little uncomfortable and i felt the need to get some salt into me. i bought a carton of organic chicken broth and warmed a cup or so with a pinch of cayenne powder and some himalayan salt for flavour and minerals. it was actually quite satisfying, i had a hard time finishing it. and it did make me feel a lot better. i had a small glass of fruit juice and a cup of organic herbal tea for dessert.

so far so good, i am pretty tired and i have a feeling i will sleep well tonight. i hope day two is easier, i was debating making this a 24 hour fast and starting back on raw fruits and veggies tomorrow, we shall see how i feel in the morning.