be healthy

Okay, it’s day 6. Last nite, I had a can of tuna with a little mayo in it. It was 50% because I wanted it and 50% because I needed it. I could have gone to bed without eating it, but I made a bunch of croutons out of some day-old bagels from work. The croutons turned out yummy but I used too much butter. Yes, I tried a few. Big deal, they’re croutons. So I will probably pop a few when I get home tonite. I used butter, parmesan, garlic, parsley and salt/pepper. I froze them and they will last for 6 months so that’s cool. Anyway, standing over the oven and two trays of them baking was too much to resist. Hence the tuna. haha Man, I’m longwinded.

So my manager had me order a pizza tonite for him and his brother (who is very cool, by the way) and asked me if I was hungry. I said no, but I will order it for you and he remembered that I’m doing the cleanse. He said something along the lines of “Well, I will order all veggies in your honor” which I thought was cool and I told them they were good boys. He was all, “Thanks, MOM.” haha

So I am at 10 pounds lost, now!!! Awesome, right?! I don’t really see much of a difference yet so I’m not as excited as my exclamation points might indicate but I’m DEFINITELY more excited than I would be had I lost ZERO. ;)

The next mark I am looking forward to is 15 lbs. lost, which I anticipate will take about 5 days because my body is probably going into starvation mode (whatever the hell that means).

In celebration of the 10 pounds lost, I am going to do the salt flush tomorrow! Haha…seems like an odd way to celebrate, but I don’t work tomorrow so if it disagrees with my tummy badly, that’s okay because I will be home to handle it. Plus, what better way to express my happiness about losing weight by doing something that will result in more weight loss, equalling more happiness? :)

By the way, YES I AM monitoring my thought process in this whole matter pretty closely. I’m not going to be all obsessive and become anorexic or anything ridiculous like that. The idea is to be healthy in such a way that healthy routines become just that: routine.

Apparently, when I REALLY want to do something and find a way to hold myself accountable (like blogging or something else public and e-lame like that), I am capable of solidifying a routine in no time. In the last 6 days, I’ve gotten my routine of getting up, getting dressed and packing my lemonade-making supplied/appliances in one of my big cloth Sprouts bags and heading to work. I make the lemonade here so I can start with one bottle and refridgerate the other.

I even have one bottle (the green and blue one) designated as my “breakfast” bottle and the orange and pink one is for dinner. It’s not something I would lose my mind about if the routine were broken for whatever reason, but it’s little mental notes like this that I refer to that keep me in line.

Am I not the MASTER of run-on sentences? Sheesh.

Anyway, so a handful of croutons tonite and that’s good. I will definitely NOT give a detailed report on my morning tomorrow. haha So good for you and good for my pride and femininity. ;-p

I ate some solid food yesterday after almost passing out and I woke up this morning to just half a pound of weight loss. New motivation. I will write more later but now I have to go to work.

- Okay, it’s later in the day (10:25pm).

I feel better today. I made myself crazy yesterday looking up recipes. To my credit, the idea was to find some quick, healthy things I would actually make and enjoy eating once the juice fast is done but watching videos and checking out recipes was bad news for my morale. I know that has nothing to do with feeling woozy but it’s part of why I gave in, instead of buying a few more lemons after work and chugging a fresh batch of lemonade. Now I know not to let my lemon supply run low! :)

My boss gave me the key to the gym, so I am going to do some moderate cycling on the recumbent bike after my shift tonight. Then, I am heading to Walmart to pick up some dried parsley flakes so I can make my croutons. They will freeze for up to six months, so I think I will end up deciding against introducing a daily salad to the fast. That doesn’t make any sense.

Also, while on the fast, I am going to go easy on exercise. Normally I would blast into a hardcore routine which is stupid for a couple of reasons. Now, because I don’t have a lot of energy for “extra” stuff. My resting metabolic rate (RMR) is about 1500 calories burned per day – that’s the average projection of what my body burns on it’s own just sleeping and existing (based on my height, weight and age). I think it’s less for me, personally, but even it was only, say 1200 cal/day, I am only consuming about 650 cal/day so there is a 550 calorie gap which is what I am burning each day without doing anything at all. Calories are little vehicles for heat energy, so since I am in the negative, exercising is even more taxing for my body, so I have to be chill about it. On top of that, I burn myself out when I get all ambitious in the beginning. I guess that’s a common thing. So maybe slowly easing into the moderate workouts over the next 25 days is a good idea. That way, when I start eating again, I will be able to just kick up the workouts a little bit so I am really challenging myself. I’ll need to in order to keep losing weight and to build muscle which is absolutely necessary in order to increase my RMR, which is one of the goals here.

I am really looking forward to eating healthy. Lucky for me, I really enjoy a lot of healthy foods. It’s the few unhealthy ones that I tend to eat most often though, because they are oh-so-convenient.

The amount of water I’m drinking is astonishing. I feel really good because of it, too. My skin looks a little better, as far as how youthful it is. I broke out recently, but that’s because it was that “time of the month” and I seem to be cursed with teenage skin.

I also figured out that some of the initial 5 pounds I lost probably had a lot to do with the fact that I was getting off my period and not retaining water anymore. So that sort of solves that mystery. ;)

Okay, I am going to do my closing now (I’m at work). I will update this thing tomorrow evening! :)

I woke up late this morning and only had 2 lemons left so I could only make one bottle of lemonade today. I’m at work for 10 hours, with no breaks (which is ridiculous, but another story) so I don’t have time to run grab another couple of lemons. Anyway, I brought my peppermint tea with me which is 0 calories, so I’m just going to have a few glasses of that to balance out the blandness of the water, today. I know I’m getting half the calories I’m normally supposed to while on this fast but I’m getting a small percentage of the calories I’d normally consume anyway, so what’s one day?

I lost another pound and a half. That’s cool, but I find it hard to believe that I am already plateauing. haha I might have to try the salt flush thing afterall. Yikes.

I didn’t drink the other tea last night, so maybe that’s part of it. Still though, 8.5 pounds in 3 days is amazing. This pooch I’ve developed on my tummy is shrinking a little bit but I know I will have to do some serious ab workouts to get the kind of stomach I want. I don’t want washboard or anything, but something closer to that would be nice.

I still haven’t gotten the key for the gym from my boss. He’s been out sick, so I will ask again (for the 4th time) tonite. He is forgetful.

So, I am excited to see what my weight looks like tomorrow.

The hunger thing is SO manageable! I’m amazed. I mean, it’s not like by body doesn’t have any fat to burn off, so I guess it’s not that amazing. haha The hunger pangs come and go but I am completely handling it which is not something I thought I was capable of. (Why are they called “pangs” instead of “pains”?)

Anyway, back to work for me. I guess I don’t have anything fun to report. I’m anxious for the 10-lb. weightloss mark. :)

Wish me luck!

So it’s Day 3 and I feel fine. I get hungry in the evening hours and between my two 30-oz. bottles of lemonade if I wait too long, but other than that, I feel good. I lost another 2 pounds, so I’m at 7 pounds lost in less than 3 days. Any weightloss after this will really get me excited.

I even went to pick up some dinner for my best friend/roommate from a fast food joint and I didn’t get anything and didn’t steal a bite of his. ;-p I thought about getting some fries and having a couple (Del Taco has GREAT fries, by the way) but I realized that it had only been 2 days and laughed at myself.

I was telling the aforementioned friend last night that this is less about the weightloss now and more about the willpower. If I can stick with this thing, I will have conquered a part of myself that I thought was uncontrollable.

It’s amazing how I am resisting, though. There are chips and donuts here at work and I have to brew fresh coffee every couple of hours but I’m sticking to the lemonade and water. It had become routine for me to pick up fast food when I left for work and when I left for home and I didn’t even think about it today on my way in.

I got pretty shaky yesterday between bottles of lemonade but once I chugged half of the 2nd bottle, I was fine. I just finished my 1st bottle for the day, so I’m going to have a bunch of water between now and whenever I need the 2nd serving.

I forgot to bring my peppermint tea, which I have yet to try, so that’s a bummer but I’ll have some tomorrow.

I’ve abandoned the salt flush idea altogether. The herbal tea is enough for me.

One thing that sucks is that I’m peeing like every 10 minutes. I hope that goes away! I don’t have time for that! haha

Okay, that’s it for today’s update. See ya tomorrow!

COPIED AND PASTED FROM MY MYSPACE BLOG

Yesterday was excellent until about 11pm when all I could think about was grabbing a bite of something – for hours. I laid in bed until I passed out and woke up feeling nauseous. I was a little sweaty and couldn’t tell if I was hot or cold and I was dizzy. So I got up, got more nauseous and laid back down. I feel better now. Still a little feverish (if I had to put a word on all those symptoms) but better…functional.

I skipped the salt flush. I don’t have a problem chugging salt water, but I have a problem chugging ANYTHING when I’m woozy. I won’t do the salt flush anytime I feel this way, I decided. I might just do the extra cup of tea in the morning thing.

Anyway, I don’t know if this is possible without amputating a limb or something, but I lost 5 pounds already. I can actually see a difference in my tummy. My pants are loose, too. That’s a little crazy and I’m skeptical that it’s not just not having eaten for one day PLUS a coincidence. I know women’s bodies tend to fluctuate within a 7-pound range when they are MAINTAINING so I’m not getting too excited. Ask me again in a week. ;)

So my batch of lemonade for the day is cooling in the refridgerator. By the way, I LOVE my citrus juicer. It’s awesome and fun. I feel like a little kid licking the spoon when I use it. haha I can easily see myself using it for all kinds of interesting recipes when I’m done with the cleanse.

I work tomorrow and I need to find my free oil change coupon so I can go do that before work. Oh and I found out that the volunteer-vacation program I am interested in does NOT include airfare so I will be saving up for longer than I thought…which is okay. Like I said, I am practicing self-control and saving $$ is another good way to exercise that habit, so is being patient. :)

I’ll probably have a cup of peppermint tea today. I didn’t yesterday but it sounds good. See ya tomorrow!

COPIED AND PASTED FROM MY MYSPACE BLOG

Okay, so it’s Day 1 of the Master Cleanse. I posted a bulletin earlier and now I have what I need to get it done! Okay…well, I went to Fry’s and I have the first three days worth of lemons and syrup but I’m good to go on the cayenne pepper, two kinds of teas and sea salt. I bought a few jugs of purified water and a cheapie auto-juicer for the lemons.

The juicer works awesomely. I just got done making my first batch and it’s actually really good and interesting-tasting. I would drink it recreationally. That’s a good thing since it’s all I’ll be drinking for a MONTH!

I found these two 30-oz. water bottles with insertable non-toxic gel freezy tubes so I can freeze those and the “lemonade” should stay nice and frosty while I’m at work or flitting around running errands.

I’ll be saving some money on food, despite how FRICKIN EXPENSIVE the organic grade B maple syrup is. $10 for a 12.7 oz. bottle when I’ll need 120 oz. for the duration of the cleanse. I literally sat outside Sprouts for 20 minutes waiting for them to open because hippie cashiers don’t clock in til 8am, apparently. But it’s all good. I got to hear my two favorite new songs on the radio and some random gibberish from morning personalities about Samuel L. Jackson and alarm clocks.

I’m going to have to figure out how to ration myself on this lemonade stuff because it’s yummy enough that I could blast through the day’s allowance of 60 oz. in like, 2 hours.

The one thing I am NOT looking forward to is the laxative tea. I’ve never used any kind of laxative before and, organic and “gentle” or not, uhm skurred. I don’t wanna be “pooping my brains out” as one vlogger put it. She was super hot and I have no idea why she was doing the cleanse. Unless she honestly cares about the “cleansing” part of it (which isn’t likely in my pessimistic, judegemental opinion). Her problem actually wasn’t with the tea, it was with the salt-water flush you’re supposed to do each morning. That’s a mega-diuretic, apparently and it hits you pretty much immediately. So, my apologies in advance to my current and future roommates if I’m taking up your bathroom time, but I have NO idea how this is going to affect me.

Well, I do know one thing…I am going to be fucking starving. I can eat, okay. Especially lately. I’ve turned into a li’l oinker in the last 6 or 8 months and it shows. I only eat once or twice a day, but usually it’s much more than I should and I always end up saying, or at least thinking, “Goddamn, I should NOT have eaten so much.” It doesn’t help that I’ve been fast-fooding it up, lately. I’ll just have to figure out how to keep my mind off of the hunger. Looking at those before and after photos I took today should do the trick.

I don’t know if it’s the cayenne pepper or if it’s about a million degrees in here, but it’s HOT.

...

Okay, yeah, someone had the heat on. I’ve been gone for two hours shopping for ingredients, waiting to shop for ingredients, then shopping for ingredients again, otherwise I would have shut it off. Yikes. I’m opening a window.

Sorry for the blow-by-blow but watching those vlogs were a bad idea…I think I thought for a moment that anyone is going to care what I have to say about anything. haha Silly me.

I’m mainly keeping this blog so I can monitor myself and keep that initial momentum and willpower.

I probably should have slept last night. I’m going to be ALL unbalanced today. Oh well, it’s my weekend. I’ll nap.

I’m working four-tens now, so I have Thu., Fri., and Sat. off! It’s rad because as exhausting (more like BORING) as the longer hours are, I get an ENTIRE day to RELAX and two days to get shit done, or vice versa, depending on what’s going on. I love it. I need it.

So, another side effect of this cleanse is that there’s some kind of mucus build-up that happens. Some people reported having white, mucusy tongues so I won’t be making out with anyone for a while. I guess that goes away after a few days, but still…the idea is yuck-o.

One thing I’m going to really have to pay attention to is my water intake. You’re supposed to drink TONS of water on this cleanse, which I’ve been getting better at lately. But, considering I have seriously, regularly, gone for like, 3 or 4 days without drinking anything and without even thinking about it, “getting better at it” means, having 2 or 3 bottles a day, when I’m working, which is hardly good enough. So, I guess that might help with the hunger thing, right?

See, I’m already fixated on that being a problem. I think I’ll have to adopt a more positive outlook on that whole issue pretty soon, here.

So, as far as how much weight I want to lose, I really don’t care. My goal here isn’t to lose a bunch of weight then start eating crap again. I intend for this to be a jumpstart. I’m reading that people have more energy and feel lighter, healthier and clearer (which makes sense with any fast, which is what this is), so with that in mind, I look forward to starting a realistic workout routine. I don’t want to get all gung-ho and sign myself up for something there’s no way in hell I will stick with, only to lose motivation in a week or two and quit. I’ve asked my manager to give me a key to the gym and the resort I work at so when I get off work at midnite, I can pop in there for an hour and do muh thang. Midnite might sound late, but that’s my 6pm, you know. I don’t go to sleep til 4am-ish with the schedule I have, so I won’t be exhausted or anything. Anyway, my manager agreed to the gym thing. In my opinion, he said yes for a couple of reasons…

1. The gym will be open for an extra hour which is a service to our guests and he doesn’t pay me for the time, so it’s a win-win for him.
2. He’s in really good shape and has said he likes his front desk staff to have an “active and healthy” image, which basically translated to me as “Be hot instead of fat”. I didn’t take offense because he says it to everyone and a few of us are a little more on the frumpy side than we need to be, especially since we’re all in our early 20s. He’s a bit chauvanistic (along with some other flaws) but he’s cool enough that it’s almost balanced.

Anyway, so that’s the idea. I should get a key from him on Sunday, when I work next. The tough thing will be not going for the coffee at work and not putting sugar in my tea. Maybe the break from the sweetness of the lemonade will be nice, actually.

Oh another thing that was worrying me is the lemon juice on my teeth. I can’t imagine that’s a good thing for enamel, but what the hell do I know. I lucked out in that the bottles I bought have rubber straws that pop out of them so I can at least bypass some damage with those. I read in a couple different places over the years that dentists recommend drinking sugary/acidic drinks with a straw (if at all) so I put two and two together.

I hope irritability won’t be a factor. I’ve never denied myself solid food for an extended period of time before but I have a collective memory of people getting irritable when that happens. I’m pretty much focused on how happy I am that this is a stepping stone to a healthier lifestyle so maybe it won’t even be a significant problem.

My major worry is getting shaky and light-headed. I am reading that this also can happen and will pass, but the idea of passing out or shaking so much that it’s noticeable is pretty crappy. I get shaky a lot, like every other day, if I don’t eat for a long time but it also seems like this happens when I have time to think about it and worry about it and mull over when I can eat next. So maybe with the long hours it won’t be a problem on work days. The weekends…well, I’ll just have to stay busy…or stay asleep. haha

Well, speaking of sleep, it’s nappy time. I promised my cats I would sleep in their little room on the couch so I’m going to make good on it, even though they don’t know what the fuck I meant. They like the attention and they deserve it. I know they are soothed even when I’m just sleeping next to them. I took a VERY long nap the other day in their room and they were all so calm – and purring – when I woke up. I love having them with me.

Plus the follow-through thing is part of this lifestyle change, so even if I’m the only one to hold myself accountable, it’s going to happen.

So, I’m off to update my 43 Things with a copy-paste of this under the “Be Healthy” item then it’s down to kitty city, for me.

Peace out to my mini-list of myspace friends who probably won’t even read this! Stay tuned for Day 2.

Sure my boobs were tiny, but my stomach was flat and awesome and I was comfortable in my own skin. I don’t care about being a string-bean again, but the fat’s got to go. Anyone up for a hike?!