Day #3/ morning Day #4

I thought I was doing well when I shunned the funeral potatoes; after all, they looked quite good. We had to rush to get there on time so we didn’t have time to juice for the road, so we determined it would be ok to eat fruit or vegetables only. So we went to the store and bought nectarines and apples, cherries and bottled water. Which was ok until the funeral was over; but on the ride home we both were hungry, and grumpy. I found myself in a real fog; lots of negative thoughts about the diet were banging around inside my head. I honestly want to lose the weight, but I am afraid this diet is a bit extreme for me, let alone expensive, we’ve spent about $200.00 in this first week alone on fruits and vegetables. I believe it is healthy to juice, I am not-so-certain, however, that it is as healthy to juice fast for two months. In short, it’s really getting to me, and my resolve is wavering. I’ll stay on course for the time being, and hope this fog lifts. Oh, on a positive note; I ran twenty minutes on the elliptical yesterday and I’m down to 266.2 lbs this morning; which brings me to a grand total of 5 lbs, or2.26 kg’s (not loving metric as much this morning)!

Day #2/ Morning Day#3

Didn’t post last night, I was in bed before I remembered I hadn’t, and I often get really munchy at night if I am awake with nothing else to do…. So yesterday was tough, tough because I had the kids all day and had to cook all of their meals, and you kind of have to taste what your cooking, so I kind of cheated. I don’t want you to think I went on a feeding frenzy, I didn’t, I had a few spoonfuls and that was it, no train was derailed, I just made a choice. I think that will be the key, for me, if I can feel like I am controlling this thing, then it will be tolerable. I feel a bit bloated and have had slight headaches, but other than that I enjoy the light feeling I get when I have juice for a meal, it’s a much better feeling than when I eat too much and have to lay down in a stupor. Today should be a challenge; we are going back to the coast for a funeral. We still haven’t worked out the logistics; it’ll be interesting to see how it works out in the face of funeral potatoes.

Juice Fast Day#1

In truth, this first day wasn't so bad.... Even though breakfast food is among my favorite food groups, breakfast is a meal I generally force myself to eat, because I usually feel better for having eaten. And so consuming a juice made with nectarines, mangoes, carrots, grapefruit, apples, and honey dew melon wasn’t an exercise in torture, heck I even felt full. Lunch time rolled around and I was just starting to get hungry, so I had my really healthy juice: it was made from spinach, cucumber, broccoli, celery, granny smith apples, and half of a lemon. Again, I was quite full. A few hours later, however, I found myself fantasizing about a spoonful of peanut butter, and that was just the beginning; I was having rapid fire cravings, usually that’s when I head into the kitchen to cook, but this time the cravings just kept coming more rapidly and with an ever increasing amount of force. By the time dinner rolled around I was feeling pretty week, especially in the face of the amazing smelling the left over BBQ, potatoes, and beans from last night. I was offended that my girls didn’t finish every scrap on their plates, as I would have done if it had not been for my guilty resolve. Cold turkey is an abrupt ride for a carnivorous food addict like me; I just hope it is all worth it or that BBQ brisket will haunt me months from now.

A Juicy Introduction!!!

Ok, so I’m standing on the drop-edge of 40. The brand-new scale says I weigh 271.2 lbs, or in kinder metric speak, according to my calculations, 123.2 kg’s. ! I have hypertension, and am forced to take pills daily which medically regulate my blood pressure so I don’t end up on dialysis, or have a heart attack. I have an intimidating family medical history of diabetes and heart disease, on both sides, with my parents being the most immediate examples; my father has had two heart attacks, and a few years ago my mother was diagnosed with type II diabetes which she regulates with pills. I have made jokes about my weight for lots of years. Last year though I lost my best friend, who was much more fit than I, to an unexpected heart attack. That should have been wakeup call enough. It wasn’t. I didn’t curb my eating habits at all, or consistently exercise; in fact I made no changes at all, other than miss my best friend. I continued to joke about my weight.
The truth is my weight is something that no witty bend of language can camouflage. It’s not fun being fluffy, as I usually call it. Clothes don’t fit, I don’t feel comfortable in many situations, and it’s like life in a portable prison, a “Fat Cell”, so as to speak. Naturally I’m a big guy, I’m a big-framed, muscular, and unfortunately, I carry weight fairly well. When I went through basic training, I lost 50 lbs or 22.7 kg’s that is, I left basic training at 205 lbs/93kgs, which might have been great, but I felt sick. It wasn’t the right way to lose weight; the diet was unhealthy, I lost a lot of muscle because I stopped eating, you can only eat so many processed breaded pork sandwiches before you lose your appetite altogether…. In the subsequent years I have made up for all that I lost in the Army, and added a few/ a lot, for good measure. I LOVE FOOD! I love BBQ, pasta, breads, Coke, and butter, in great quantities. I’m a living testament to my love affair with food, in simple language, “I’m Fat!”, my weight might be acceptable if I were close to 7 ft. tall, but I’m only, roughly, 5’11” tall/short, whichever.
Yesterday I was flipping through Netflix trying to find some noise, so I could cook lunch when I ran across the movie/documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead , I came out of the kitchen to watch when I heard an acoustic version of Men at Work’s “Down Under”, by Low Mass Tone. The movie was good and arresting; Joe and I have a lot in common (except he’s a rich and successful Australian). Pretty soon, though, the whole family, the two-year old included, were all enrapt, watching the journey of these vast, and vastly different men drastically changing their lives for the good. The method: going on a 60 day “Juice Fast”. They both lost tremendous amounts of weight, and gained healthier and more productive lifestyles. Needless to say it was motivating! So, being the desperate lemming that I am, I bought a juicer last night. We, my Wife and I, have decided to do a 60 day juice fast, starting tomorrow, July 7, 2011, or 7-7-11 sounds lucky enough…. Anyway, we are holding a celebratory last meal BBQ tonight. The menu is mostly Texas food inspired: BBQ brisket, chicken for the kids, cream potatoes, pinto beans, and maybe, grilled corn on the cob. After that, it’s juice for 60 days. I know this will be a rough journey; at least, that’s what I expect. We have determined not to tell anyone, and as no one reads this, it will be a safe to post on here. I have determined to use this blog as a journal of sorts. I will write if only briefly, every day. I will be keeping track of, not only, the amount of weight that I lose, but, of the difficulties as a self-proclaimed carnivore going on a strictly vegetarian juice diet. I’m sure it’s bound to be an enlightening journey and I’m excited to see the results….