Juice Feast Day 4 of (60?)

Good morning!! Just wanted to stop by and say hello. Another successful day yesterday in keeping this commitment to myself. I don't know if I will make 60 days but I'm sure gonna try. I feel pretty good today. Slept a lot last night. I think my body is using this time to heal itself. I'm sure it has a lot of house cleaning to do from the last two years. Yesterday had a small unassisted (no enema or laxative) movement. Which I was happy about. Gonna do the enema on Sunday morning (Superbowl Sunday). I think I may attempt to schedule a colonic for next week to really get some of the stuff moving.

Last night I stayed away from the TV (food commercials) pretty much stayed in bed surfed the net and read. I had one moment I felt slightly tempted when I walked by the bags of potato chips in my dining room. But I threw them in the trash at my wife's suggestion so I didn't have to look at them.

Yesterday's meals:

Juice from night before 32 ozs

Apple, Pear, Spinach, celery,

(robeks) I-9 30 0z / Green drink 30 oz/ immune booster 20oz

Vitals:

Weight; 269 (Lost 6 lbs)

BP; did not take

Energy; 1-10 (8-9)

Commitment level 1-10; (10+)

Juice Feast Day 3 of (60?)

It's Morning and I feel pretty darn good. Kept waking up all night about every 2 hours to go to the bathroom #1. Despite that, I feel very rested. Still haven't had a bowel movement since day one. So it looks like the enemas and possibly smooth move tea will be necessary.

Challenges: Yesterday I didn't have enough juice at work so I finished about 80 oz by 5pm. But I had to work until 9pm. Got a bit of a headache that I tried to stave off with water. Overall it wasn't too bad but preparation is key.

Yesterday's meals:

Left over juice from night before.

Apple, Pear, Spinach, celery,

Vitals:

Weight; 272 (Lost 3 lbs)

BP; 130/83

Energy; 1-10 (9)

Commitment level 1-10; (10+)

Juice Feast Day 2 of (60?)

Good morning everyone. I know it's only day two on this wonderful journey to wellness but I feel really good. Alive and full of energy. One of the biggest problems for me in doing a juice fast is the preparation of the juices. I literally dread making the daily juices especially the clean up. I think I may have found the solution. Went to a place in West Hartford, CT called Robeks. They make fresh juiced fruits and veggies 30 oz size for only 7.00. Last night I bought 120 oz for 28.00 and to top it off I had 4 different varieties of juice this is good for me because in the past I had a tendency to drink the same concoctions every day. Also, for the price if I'm not sure I could get that type of variety.

After doing some reading I found that, in the past I probably wasn't drinking enough Juice to sustain me at the level I needed to be at. This time it's really important to maintain a level of strength and endurance because of my daily needs at work (massage therapy)and also my desire to work out. This will be one of the determining factors of how long I can last on this "Juice Feast".

I woke up at 3am and had to go to the bathroom (#1). I swear I had to have gone for two minutes straight. It was pretty impressive to say the least. Another new area of this feast that I'm trying to wrap my head around is doing daily enemas. I'm not there yet. Although I do at a minimum plan on having a few colonics done (the number depends on how long I go).

So, what's my goal with all of this? I guess there are a number of things:

1. Give my system a much needed rest so it can do some internal repair and house cleaning
2. Eliminate cravings so that it's easier to sustain a "raw food" lifestyle
3. Lose weight
4. Normalize blood pressure
5. Eliminate the aches and pains especially in the joints (knees)
6. Challenge that which I call myself to control addictive behavior concerning foods
7. ... more to come...

Yesterday's meals:

33 oz of viva coconut water

32 oz of of natural lemonade sweetened with fruit (didn't have access to juice yet)

30 oz of the V-9 (from Robeks) see picture above for ingredients

About 64 oz of water starting with 32 in the morning

Vitals:

Weight; 274 (Lost 1lb)

BP; 130/83

Energy; 1-10 (10)

Commitment level (1-10); 10+

Juice Feast Day 1 of (60?)

Well Hello!!! It's me again!!! It's been almost two years since I have posted here. I have to say I'm happy to be back again. It's been a rough journey. I spent the last two years eating and drinking whatever and whenever I wanted. I attempted to get back on the wagon a few times but unsuccessfully so.

So hear I stand, getting ready to begin a juice fast. I watched the movie, "Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead" and I realized that his story was my story in a nutshell just a slightly different version.

Here's my version: Once upon a time ... (insert excuses here) ... and then I gained weight and felt horrible and had to make a change. The Beginning (pressing reset button).

Although I have been doing pretty good since the beginning of the year. Eating a lot of fruits and veggies consuming, smoothies almost daily I still don't feel like I am quite of the right mindset to take this all the way home to get back fully on my journey to health and wellness. It seems like such a long journey and committing to it while I know it's the best thing for me feels like the beginning of the end. Like I have to give up something a part of me.

I was sharing with a client what I wanted to do yesterday and the first thing she pointed out was that it's going to be Super Bowl Weekend. UGHHHH! Not only that I plan on spending Saturday with 3 of my best friends from Home (New Jersey). That always entailed me drinking alcohol and eating plenty of Junk food. Usually at some point consuming copious amounts of WHITE CASTLE BURGERS. Well I shared with them what I plan on doing and they were probably a little disappointed. I actually felt a little guilt for selfishly starting this a few days before our "fellas" outing. How dare I think of my health and well-being at the expense of my guys. I even considered putting it off until Monday that way I can enjoy the SuperBowl also.

As easy as this sounds, there was a catch. I spontaneously opened my big mouth in a group I participate in on Facebook Winter/Spring Body Makeover Challenge/ Food Eater's Anonymous about doing a 60 day juice fast just like the guy in the movie. Well, I didn't expect anyone to agree to join me. But at least 5 people agreed to do at least a five day Juice fast (starting FEB 1, 2012). But didn't know how and requested help. UGH!!!

I thought well I can allow them to do it and secretly start on Monday, who would ever know right? Wrong!!! As I watched the excitement and anticipation for the start simmer in the room I felt more and more guilt come over me. How can I mislead these friends some old some new who are looking to do what I know I should be doing. And to top it off I started this CRAP!!!! $*$*$&

So I decided that I will DO IT! I'm committed not sure about an entire 60 days but I am committed to one day at a time with the hopes that I can make it to at least 60 days and hopefully to 90 days. I am going to go out with my friends on Saturday and do whatever I decide on Sunday but I plan on tugging my juice along with me. STAY TUNED!!!

As you may have read in early posts I like to start a health plan in an unconventional way. Instead of easing my way into it I like to just go for it cold turkey. So yesterday I indulged in a few foods and drinks ceremoniously (a sort of last supper) which led to a serious bout with the bathroom. My stomach was not very happy with me at all!!! I will spare you the details. So let the journey Re-BEGIN.

Starting weight: 275 lbs.

Diet Type: Juice Feasting

A Raw Journey To Wellness 1/25/10

Good Morning.

Well it has been 7 full days 100% Raw. I feel great and don't have any cravings at this point for cooked foods.

Minor challenge was, 0ver the weekend, my mom was up and she had Chinese Food (Shrimp Egg Foo Young, my favorite). The smell when she took it out of the bag was really intense. But not in a good way. It really didn't smell too good. Then later that night I looked in the fridge to notice that the bottom of the bag was soaked with oil. It looked disgusting. I thought, I love the taste of this stuff and I can easily eat an entire order of this. And look at all that disgusting oil, this is what I put into my body. There can be no nutritional benefit there.

Well needless to say mom went right to sleep and had a hard time waking in the morning. In fact, she woke up extremely tired. I told her it was from the heavy food. That her body was still working to digest it. Nevertheless, I didn't even crave it and wasn't tempted to grab some that night. There were very few chips in the house so that was easy for me. I felt my heart drop when I saw that my wife had thrown an old bag of Salt and Vinegar Kettle chips in the garbage. It was almost like breaking up with a girlfriend. But no serious cravings for them like I usually do. The additional celery has been helpful.

Overall it was a good weekend, no slip-ups, no major issues and I feel good...

Week 1: 250.2 lbs (loss of 17lbs in one week)

Feel Good: No workouts this weekend just didn't have the time.

Foods: Lots of fruits over the weekend. Bananas, Dates, Oranges, Pears, Watermelon, Bluberries, Pineapple, Melons, Coconut water, Celery, Spinach, Dandelion Greens.

A Raw Journey To Wellness 1/22/10

Good Morning!

I hadn't planned on posting today but I thought this was funny. Last night I had a dream and I don't usually remember my dreams. I was at a game or big event of some sort. And I walked up to the concession stand to go get something to eat or drink. So I was about third in the concession stand line and as the person in front of me was about to order some guy comes up and cuts the line and they take him. Well, of course I confront him. "Yo man, don't you see a line here?" He politely says, "oh I called in my order" as the guy hands him this BIG GIANT DOUBLE DECKER HAMBURGER DRIPPING WITH GREASE. I swear it was the biggest burger I have ever seen. Before he left the stand he takes a huge bite of it and uses his sleeve to wipe his mouth and he has this big chunk of food in the side of his cheek looking like a squirrel as he's chewing and walking away.

So I get up to the counter and I look over at the Greasy fryer that looked like it hadn't been cleaned in years and the guy behind the counter asks me what I wanted to order. And I look up and say nothing and swiftly walk away. That's when I woke up... Talking about subconscious mind!!! Just wanted to share that with you I thought it was funny but great that even in my dream I didn't take the temptation.

Quick update

Yesterday had:

32 ozs of a green smoothie

2 bananas, 2 oranges

2 anjou pears

4 dates

16 ozs of fresh coconut water (young thai coconut)

And a large 38 oz green soup (similar ingredients as on 2/21/10)

Exercise: Spinning 1 hour

Weight 253 (2 more lbs lost/14 in 4 days)

A Raw Journey To Wellness 1/21/10

Hello All,

It's been a long while since my last post. I think it was before Christmas sometime. That's when I started getting stressed out by a lot of things going on. And history shows that when I get stressed my immediate "learned" response is to go back to comfort foods. I began adding some cooked foods, potatoes, rice, seafood, fish and then an occasional slice of pizza here and there. It was amazing how the food was taking over my mind and my body. I was still consuming my smoothies daily but in the evenings I found a way to convince myself to eat something that wasn't a part of the plan. I actually became okay with this until I started taking a self assessment of how bad I felt. So in the New Year I said I was going to start fresh and get back on track but I was still not mentally ready and made some poor food choices that kept me craving the cooked foods.

At or around Thanksgiving I weighed around 244 lbs. As of Monday morning I weighed a whopping 267 lbs. That's right I gained 23 lbs in less than two months. No wonder I was feeling like crap. Anyway, this past Sunday I had what I called my last supper. It was really a last breakfast. Now I don't recommend doing it this way but this worked for me. I decided that I was going to have one last day of decadence before I got started again. Here is what I did, I went out and bought some FRIED FISH from the market made grits (grandma used to make them and I was craving them), potato bread, eggs and yes sausage links. I cooked breakfast for the family and said a prayer and asked God for help with my next Raw endeavor. My wife commented several times on how much I was eating that day. (She said, "I never saw you eat like this before, are you okay.") I ate so much I thought that I would have a heart attack or something just from the pure garbage that I put in my body. But all the while I was convinced that if I lived I would get back on track with the Raw Foods again. That night, I culminated my last supper with a cup of Smooth Move (laxative tea). My wife looked at me and just shook her head. I won't tell you what happened about 5am the next morning but I'm sure you can guess. After that I felt refreshed and renewed and weighed myself. Yep 267 lbs...

I took a deep breath and I thought to myself, I'm starting over again with a fresh clean slate. I did what I did and it's done. No guilt, no shame and no fear. It is what it is. I'm okay with this. I tried to think of every motivational catch phrase that I knew to make this fall okay. I picked up my book The Fifth Agreements (sequel to "The Four Agreements") and did some reading. And suddenly I was okay with what I did. I just had to remember that what I did at the time was okay and that I should not continue to beat myself up about it. And that here in this moment I have a chance to make a new decision as I have been given another day to make it right (whatever right is). So I went downstairs and grabbed a couple of bananas and oranges and went to work.

In the past when I did this in September, I allowed myself some cheat foods, chips, popcorn, peanut butter. This I thought kept me sane. As i was always craving chips or something salty. I'm thinking because I was getting too much sweet with the smoothies and fruit that my body naturally craved salty. This was the case even when I eat cooked foods. If I had sweet I needed salty. If I had salty I needed sweet. It was like a balancing act. I hear that some crave one or the other and some like me crave both. What I decided to do is add a lot of celery into my evening "raw soup" Celery has a lot of good natural salt and this should help cut out the cravings (I'm hoping). So far so good.

This time I am doing 100% raw, with no cheat foods. I am going to go as long as I can with this and see how it works. A clean raw/live food diet is the optimal way to go at least that's what I have found for me. I have also added in workouts at the gym. Spinning, treadmill and occasional basketball.

Check this out, in just 3 days I lost 12 lbs. I weighed myself this morning and I was down 12 lbs. I've only had one workout (intense spinning class) this week so it's clearly the change in diet that's doing it. The first night I released so much water it was amazing. I had not drank that much water I was sure. But it seemed like ever other hour I was going to the bathroom. I lost 4lbs the first day. The second day I lost another 6 lbs. And yesterday I lost 1 lbs. So in just three days I'm halfway back to my thanksgiving low weight. That feels great.

So I have been keeping a little journal each day and here it is:

Day 1: Monday, January 18, 2010

Starting weight 267 after first movement

4 bananas lasted me until 6 pm.

Soup:

3 celery stalks

Hand full of cherry tomatoes

Dandelion greens

Romaine heart

small slice of onion

2 Oranges for late night snack

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Day 2: Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Weight 262.9 (Lost 4lbs) Peeing all night long

20 oz of water upon waking

Smoothie: Banana, orange, Cup blueberries, thin slice lemon, baby spinach about 2 cups, cup ice, 14 oz water

I drank about 16 ozs. Gave the wife the other 16. Had one left over.

Had a 4 bananas and an 2 oranges

Workout spinning class 45 mins.

Had my veggie soup same as above about 40ozs.

Felt great not hungry.

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Day 3: Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Weight 257 (Lost almost 6 lbs)

Didn't make the smoothie in the morning. Just decided I wanted to do some fruit today. Had 5 bananas, 4 oranges.

Note: Found an Asian Market (thanks to a friend) in town and went there to see what they had. All kinds of exotic fruits and veggies most of which I didn't know what they were. In fact, the guy that was stocking them didn't know what they were. I was curious about a fruit called Durian. And they had it. But it was 4.49 a lbs. So I decided to wait on my Durian experience. Coconuts for 1.49 each. Deal! Wow! Came home and had to figure out how to open the damn things. Thanks Youtube...

In the evening I had my Coconut experiment. Coconut water from 2 coconuts. Made coconut milk from the coconut and drank about 16 ozs. Did some research and found out that it was over 500 calories a cup. So that was a lot. I decided that I was satisfied with the Coconut Milk. And didn't make the veggie soup.

Well that's all for now. It's Thursday morning and I am feeling good. Pray for me, send me positive energy, thoughts whatever it is you do. I need it there's a lot of baggage (mental and physical) that needs to be unloaded and this thing is much bigger than will power. ;-) See you next time!!! Be True To You In All You Do!!!!