Day 7b --- on the road

Day 7b ---  on the road

Today is the beginning of day seven. I am on the road for most of the entire day. I will be driving out to the beautiful town of Ridgecrest California. If you have never been there, don't worry you will be fine without going there. But knowing that I'm going to be gone for probably eight hours, I needed to go well prepared.

So before I left, I drank a large mug of broth and packed up three stainless steel coffee mugs that work like a thermos. I pre-warmed each of these with plenty of hot water. Then I got the broth fully boiling and poured it in. I find that this is very effective in keeping the soup pot. Sometimes it is really too effective. Yesterday I brought A stainless steel thermos to church. My thought was that after the service while everyone is having snacks, which is very common at our church, I could at least drink my broth. I poured a cup and could see it steaming significantly. It was delicious for sure. But it was very hot. Since I'm on a roll with this I might as well say that the plastic cups do not do a very good job at all of keeping anything warm for any extended period of time. The cops that have stainless steel on the inside or outside and plastic on the opposite side are not very impressive either. The very best ones are lined with stainless steel on both the inside in the outside. This makes an enormous difference in keeping the beverages hot.

Anyway, enough about that. I am feeling quite well. I have been a bit grouchy but I am not sure that all of it is directly related to the fast.  I hate to make a prediction before 10 AM about what my day is going to be like. But in judging from what it was like yesterday and how I feel right now, I'm expecting smooth sailing.

Tomorrow will be my official seven day weigh-in. I'm excited to see how much weight I've lost in seven days. Until then, I send you my best.

Mike

Day 5b & 6b. --- it's the weekend. For good or for bad

Day 5b & 6b. ---  it's the weekend. For good or for bad

Well day five and six Kane and as you can imagine I was dreading these two days. Last time I was completely miserable. I was lying on my couch covered in a blanket and shivering. I was fighting a horrible headache for at least a couple of days. I even got a cold sore on my lip. It could not of gotten much worse. But really, two days? That really wouldn't be so bad. I think most of us would go through two days of illness to lose a significant amount of weight. 

But this time it was completely different. I had no ill feelings. I had no headache. I really wasn't even that lethargic. I felt The same as I did on day 25, or so, last time. A mild hunger from time to time always satisfied with some broth or water.  Quite honestly, this really isn't that difficult. I have had friends and others contact me to say that what I am doing is so amazing and that it must take incredible willpower. I'm not sure that is so. Quite honestly, I think it is much much harder to try to cut back on foods and exercise like crazy every day for four months and months to lose 30 pounds. I'm just taking the easy route. 

My wife Suzy has always talked with me about the importance of making little things a celebration. I remember she read a book that talked about how to take dreary and dull tasks and make them fun and special.  The first example I remember her using was with regard to paying the bills. I remember she said that she has a special pan that she likes. She only uses it when she writes the bills hence making the task a little bit more enjoyable. She will recommend that when we have to talk about business items that we go to a beautiful hotel and sit in their lounge, or have a picnic at the beach and talk business by the seashore.  Well I guess I did learn a thing or two from her. I have looked for special things to consume that are within my diet right now. I found that one of the things that I can have is Ashwaganda tea. It has a very rich flavor. No it does not taste like coffee, nor does it taste like att that I've ever had. But it does have a roasty sort of flavor. I would put it in the same camp with coffee, but again it doesn't taste like coffee. But it is a treat for me.  

I mentioned that my friend Cody at the Montecito wine bistro made a "cocktail" for me. It really didn't matter what it was. It just was a treat. I came back in and he said he had been thinking about a drink that you could make for me. He asked if he could push the limits by adding two small raspberries. I was feeling wild and crazy so I said yes. Please don't tell Dr. Saunders. I'll include a picture of it. Another celebratory beverage for me is mineral water. It is kind of funny that I can actually tell the difference between Perrier and other sparkling waters. Sometimes I had a line, sometimes I had a lemon, sometimes I add ice. All of this just makes for a little extra celebration in my life.

Day 4b – Friday

Day 4b – Friday

Today is Friday, the fourth day of the second part of my fast. Today was much easier with regard to having a strong desire to eat solid foods. I spent the vast majority of the day helping my mother-in-law. It is a bit odd to make food for someone and not be able to have any. So to make things easier, I made sure that I had a big mug of soup before I started cooking, and then one next to me on the counter while I made meals.

I have found this time that I'm less interested in soup broth and wanting just water. But I know I must eat the soup broth. That is critical. The doctor has told me that drinking nothing but water can be quite problematic for fasting. Is told me that the body needs the salts in the nutrients that come through the broth. Many people ask me about adding salt to the broth thinking that might be a bad thing. But the doctor has assured me that not only is it okay but that I should be careful to remember to add salt to the broth. Of course I am no nutritional expert, but he is and another nutritionist that I spoke to said the same. 

But when I do drink water, I want to be careful to drink water that is good for me. So I spend the money to buy bottled water and I have been getting the plain water that has electrolytes added to it. It tastes like, well it taste like water. But it is far healthier. I also gave that to my mother-in-law while she was in bed. Gatorade and other products have lots of electrolytes, and potassium, but they also have a bunch of sugar. As you may remember, I cannot have the sugar.

Overall the day was really very uneventful with regard to my fast. It wasn't so difficult but I'm dreading tomorrow. What I remember from the first time that I did this was that day four and five were really quite a challenge for me. If you have been reading this from the beginning you might remember that on those days I felt very sick. Not really sick to my stomach, I was running a fever and feeling completely blown out. In talking with the doctor, he had said that was because my body was getting rid of all the toxins. It will be interesting to see if that's what happens again tomorrow or if my healthy eating since the last fast has prevented those toxins from reentering my system. I'll know in a couple of days I guess. 

At least I made it through this day.  I am not sure if tomorrow is going to mimic the first time or not. Today I did have a little bit of lethargy, but really not that much. So far so good. But I am waiting for the other shoe to drop as they say