What am I eating?

What am I eating?

I started drinking broth out of a carton like the organic type that you buy at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's.  The problem is that it doesn't taste so good.  I don't think that it is really designed to be had straight out of the container, heated or otherwise.  The chicken broth tasted like they took a chicken and placed it in the water to cook without any herbs or spices.  I am assuming that the idea is that this would be a base to which one could add veggies, spices, etc.

So, I went a bit crazy yesterday and cooked two crock pots full of soup.  One is a beef soup with carrots, onions, spices, and two beef bones from Von's.  I made this is my grandmother's crock pot so I knew that it would taste good.  In the other crock pot, quite large, I took half a chicken and added carrots, onions, and a bunch of red, dried chilies for some heat.  I added quite a few chilies expecting that it might be a bit too spicy but knowing that I could thin it down, I wasn't worried. It turned out no where near as hot as i expected.  I'm happy to have made these and have access to them at any time that I feel hungry.  I have just left them in the crock pots on low.

It's funny to think that this will be my only substinence for 30 days.  It seems great and delicious today but what about in a week.  I think that I'm going to have to try some unusual spices.  We spent two summers in Turkey, like the country, and they had some unique flavors there.  I have some of the spice mixes from there and will give that a go.  And I'll probably make a turkey broth as well.  Always a favorite of mine.  Also, I bought some shrimp and crab boil which is very flavorful.  I'll try a clam soup as well.

What to do with all of the "other" parts like the chicken and veggies is the real question. I think that I'm going to try to make meals for Suzy, although I do wish that David was here as I think that he would like all of the "extras" a lot.   

So far, so good.

Here's the link to the next blog post:
http://30daybrothfast.blogspot.com/2013_09_06_archive.html

End of day one

It's the end of the first day.

Today was not too difficult and amazingly I learned a great deal in one day about this particular fast, really more about broth.  The doctor recommended that I find broth with no MSG and no sugar.  Unfortunately, I found that I don't care for the flavor of these much.  So, I doctored them up with some chilies and garlic.  I also went to the store and bought some beef bones for soup broth and a chicken for chicken broth.  So right now I have two crock pots going in the kitchen.

The doctor told me that I can add carrots, garlic, etc to the make a full-on soup as long as I only drink the broth.  I'm sure that I'll find somebody who will like all the rest.  Our friend Jenny already said that she would like some.

As for hunger, yes I would get hungry but I was able to manage that by having some water or broth.  The interesting thing was that I would be totally fine and then all of a sudden, Bamm, I would be starving with a tummy growling like a lion.  It was so fast and sudden that it was shocking.  But just as quickly things would settle down with a cup of liquid.

Later in the day I found myself a little more tired than usual, and right now at 9pm, I'm pretty hungry and am off to skim off some of my freshly homemade soup broth.  Other than that, the day was pretty normal.

To my dear friends who have commented here or through text messages, or on Facebook, THANKS!! I really appreciate the support.

There's the link to tomorrow's post:
http://30daybrothfast.blogspot.com/2013/09/surprised-by-ease.html

And so it begins

Good morning world, today is day one.
179.6 pounds.
So last night I slept horribly.  I tossed and turned till I couldn't take it any more and thought, ok now I will just get up and start my day.  The only problem was that it was only 12:30 at night.  Certainly not enough sleep.

I think that I was excited, and am excited, to start the first day of this broth fast.  It's kind of funny because usually we get excited about being able to do something and in truth, I'm excited about being about to do nothing, except drinking broth.  From what I have heard, the first 4 days are the most difficult.  So I'm gearing up for this.  Although I don't want a headache, I understand that they are quite common.  In truth I get them more than I would like now.  HAHA how funny is that?  I get them "more than I want".  Who says, I wish that I could get more headaches.

Anyway, I started my day with some boxed vegetable broth.  Not bad, tastes like vegetables cooked in water.  I was told by the doctor that I can have no sugar or MSG in the broth.  This is more difficult than one might think to find prepacked.  Whole Foods came through for me.

I need to ask the doctor if I can have tea or coffee, if it should be caffeinated or not, and if I can have grain beverages like Postum or Pero.

I'm off to help a school this morning.  Feeling pretty normal, no surprise.

THANKS FOR FOLLOWING!!

MG

Here's the link to tomorrow's post : Click here

Last supper

Good night,

Well that was it, the last proper meal for a while.

We were invited to our friends Bruce and Canda for a nice dinner about a week ago.  Although they did not know that this would be my last meal when they were preparing it, I was mindful of this all day long.  Even though they were unaware, you'd swear that they had some idea, although it wouldn't have been possible for them to know.  Canda prepared an incredible meal starting with baked Brie cheese with a reduction of balsamic sauce, a lovely bottle of 2009 La Crema Pinot Noir, a delicious mixed green salad that we ate after out main course of Alaskan Halibut with an incredible sauce, baby asparagus, and roasted baby white potatoes.  All of this with "Nana's homemade berry crumble" with two scoops of ice cream.  How's that sound?  It was awesome.  A prefect last meal.

So, I lie here on a balmy summer night contemplating my morning.  What will I have for breakfast? Chicken soup broth?  It doesn't sound bad as a lunch or a snack or dinner, or even a late night snack but for breakfast?  What am I getting myself into here.  Why did I invite you to view this blog?  Because I'm going to need the encouragement and the accountability.  Not many said that they would follow this but I'm hoping for more.  Please invite your friends, especially those who are overweight to join, and follow this path on which I have chosen.  Yikes, here we go.

CLICK HERE for the next post

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Pre-start thought.

Today is the last day of normal eating for the next 30 days.

This is a blog of my story to "push the restart button" on my life especially related to my health by starting a 30 day broth fast.

A bit about me and why I'm doing this.  I'm 49 years old, I'm 5' 7" tall and of small frame but weigh 179 pounds as of today.  My legs and arms look very average but my weight is all between my neck and my waistline.  At this point I am significantly overweight, classified as diabetic, I know that I'm beginning to have some prostrate issues, I struggle with depression and migraine headaches, my cholesterol is way too high, I have been having some significant memory issues, and have a low libido, also I have sleep apnea, and my blood pressure is way too high as well. I snore so loudly that I can no longer sleep with my wife and even if I'm in the room next door, she has to sleep with ear plugs.  Related to this or not, I sleep very poorly and often wake up and can't go back to sleep. Overall I have little to no energy, and get grouchy way, way too often.  And I just look gross.

So, the popular answer is to take a pill for each of these.  I will explain more later about the medical and scientific reasons why I chose to take a 30 day broth fast.  But before you start writing to me, but I do hope that you do write, to tell me that I should only do this under the care of a doctor, please know that I am doing exactly that.  I am under the care of a doctor who is supervising this diet/fast, more about him later as well.

My hope is that this will help me to lose weight of course but more importantly to reset some of the chemical issues in my body and that I will come out of this a healthier man.

I hope that this provides helpful information to anyone who is considering doing the same.

Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of my life.

Here's the link to tomorrow's post : Click here

PLEASE SHARE ON FACEBOOK or TELL YOUR FRIENDS!!  That would be a very nice gift.