Paleo Living

Weight: 214.2

I made a stir-fry last night with leftovers from the freezer--bacon, chicken breasts, hamburger--and chopped up some veggies. It would've been better over rice, but it was *delicious*. :) Wish I'd only eaten one bowl, however. I'm feeling very full this morning...  I also had some honey-dew last night.  And some cashew butter with an apple. 

Work will involve going to lunch today with my team as well as a pot-luck on Friday.  I'll be eating paleo through this week.

I've recently been talking to someone who is actively interested in trying the juice fasting approach and I thought that some of what I said could help others:

Be prepared to use sick/vacation time the first three days. You may not need it, but be prepared. I came down with, essentially, "stomach flu" as the toxins fled my body. I'll spare you the details, but sitting on the toilet with a trash-can in front of me was the bulk of my memory for the 2nd and part of the 3rd day. The headache I had kept me abed for most of the time. And the following weekend, I was still dealing with caffeine withdrawal headaches. I lost 7 pounds in the first three days. All water, sure--but not a pleasant way to lose it, let me assure you.

Now, I did not have the benefit of any kind of decent diet or eating prior to the juice fast--in fact, I'd had a big Hooters meal the day before after visiting with friends for the weekend and eating anything and everything set before me (and even rooting out stuff on my own). And I mean *junk*.

Now, I don't want this to scare you--but I want you to be prepared in case you face a difficult course. Hunger dissipated after 3-4 days. Occasionally at meal-times, I'd get a little hungry--but the juice was very satisfying. You'll be pleasantly surprised. 

If you're already accustomed to the pleasure of eating veggies and acclimated to the tastes, then it will be an easy transition. I had to relearn how to appreciate "real" food. Now, the juices taste like pure pleasure to me. At the time, however, there were some juices where I just had to pinch my nose and slam it down.

I seem to have programmed myself to run in 10 days segments. It's hard for me to push beyond 10 days. I still want to push into a 30 day (or longer) fast. That's a future effort, however. :)

I'm also taking more supplements, now--which may help to prolong my ability to fast.

On a completely different note, I'm also reading a couple books by a real-life "forager" about finding edible, naturally growing, non-farmed plants--which he contends have 2-3x as many nutrients as the "agricultural" plants.

It helps to have someone to encourage you while you're on this.  Even if you can just text someone and say, "I'm having a hard time right now..." and get an encouragement back, "Juice kan dew eet!" (What my wife usually sends back to me...).  You'll find a lot of strength knowing someone is rooting for you. :)

I also discovered that if I'm hungry or facing cravings and I *do* something--sauna, walk, clean, play a game, drive to the store, whatever--just *something*--it relieves those pangs and cravings quite a bit.

Last night in the sauna, I had been very hungry before I went and realized an hour and a half later that I hadn't been thinking about food at all...