Day 10, the end of the cleanse

Weight: 342.6
Mood: relieved...

So today was the last day of the master cleanse. Here are my thoughts about it. First, I think that fasting in and of itself is a good thing. It helps you work on your discipline and flushes out your system, or at least gives your liver and kidneys a rest. I don't really believe the claims of the master cleanse, but people tell me that I look healthier, glowing even, so that's good. The cravings, which were the main reason that I did this, never went away. I am craving healthy foods now too, so it's not total crap. I lost a lot of weight, and I plan to continue dieting to reach my goal. I can tell you that my beautiful sister said that she craved the juice after the cleanse was over...I couldn't even stomach the juice any more, and I went with water only today. I also had a some tic-tacs to clear the nasty flavor from my mouth. My sweet wife started making the soup I talked about yesterday- although it's a day early, so the smell has been killing me all evening! delicious. but how can you complain when your wife makes you exactly what you request, early or not? She's pretty awesome.
Here's my final pic, and in case you are too lazy to look back, I am putting my starting pic above it! I will keep posting to this blog, though not daily as I continue my diet. Thanks for reading.

Dear Lord,
Thank you for getting me through this first step in my weight loss. Please help me to continue to do your will in all aspects of my life. Thank you for never leaving my side. and thank you for loving me. I am yours!
Amen

Day 9

Weight: 344.6
Mood: Excited to be almost done

So today I woke up from a nightmare that I had ruined the cleanse...In my dream my friend Greg gave me some cake, and after one bite I remembered that I couldn't eat it...so I quickly ate the rest of it...Then as the dream progressed, my mom gave me some indian food, that was actually a chapati stuffed with cheesy rice - not indian at all. I think dreaming of food means that I need to eat again. I am looking forward to breaking the fast. In fact, I am making the Soup Nazi Mulligatawny soup as my vegetable soup. (For those of you who don't know, vegetable soup is called for after the fast to transition back to solid food.) One thing that is troubling me is that the first day after the fast calls for a lot of orange juice. I love orange juice, but as a diabetic I don't think that's the best option for me. So I think I will go with V8 and do the soup that night. Not sure exactly, but I don't want my blood sugar to go haywire again.

Day 8, and filter feeding.

Weight: 345.6
Mood: truthfully, I'm sick of lemons. and I love lemons.

So today I slept late. I didn't make the lemonade for the day because I had a short day at work and figured i would make some when I got home. I wasn't any hungrier than any other day, so that's good. My wife dropped the kids off at my work so I could take them to the Pastors Conference at FBC. She bought them some food before they came, and Rina, my #1 daughter, heated her sandwich up before we got in the car. I. almost. died. It smelled really good. I started inhaling really big and when they asked what I was doing, I said, "filter feeding". (It's a thing. look it up.)

Day 7 and a week of thoughts

Weight: 348.0

mood: variable with a chance of showers

So today was the worst day so far as hunger goes. After lunch I have pretty much been famished the whole day. I drank more water and went for a walk at lunch. I work in Ponte Vedra, and I walked down a little side road near my office that leads to the 17th hole of the TPC. It's a very nice, peaceful walk and I was able to thank God for the blessings in my life and ask Him to help me make it through the day.

My mouth had a terrible taste in it all day, but when I asked God to help me, I reached into my pocket and felt...peppermint! (My friend Dick LeJuene had given them to me at church yesterday) I decided that a 16 calorie mint wasn't going to derail the whole process and I ate it. It made my mouth feel better, and the rest of the afternoon ok. Thank you Jesus!

Every night after I blog I think of something that I wanted to say, but I tell myself that I'll just post it the next day. So here is what I wanted to say...well, hmmm....um....I can't remember. It must not have been that earth-shattering...

Day 6

Weight: 349.6

Mood: shifting

So I wasn't disappointed when I weighed in because I kind of know that this is my sticking point...in the past I got discouraged at this stage, but I feel ok right now. I did the SWF last night and it was totally useless and made me sick. According to the book, you have to listen to your body, and my body is screaming not to do that flush again. I didn't finish all the juice today, because my stomach has been on edge ever since last night. I drank water though, so that's good. My blood sugar is down to 127, which I am loving. The hunger pangs are still around, and the cravings are not gone either. In fact, I have been smelling sausage pizza all day and there isn't any around! Then I start thinking about all the different kinds of sausage and the different ways to prepare and eat it! So I did some exercise to take my mind off of it. It didn't.

I drank some peppermint herbal tea to try to calm my stomach, no luck so far. Anyhow, here's a picture of me. I am wearing the Army t-shirt that I bought to motivate me. I thought I was smiling, but my stomach was hurting so I guess that outweighed the smile:

Dear Lord,
even when I am having a bad day, I will praise you. You are the amazing God who saved me from death and gave me a new life. Help me to live that new life for you. I give you all the praise and all the glory for everything that I accomplish.

Thank you Jesus.

Amen

Day 5 and the return of the SWF

Weight: 349.8
Mood: skeptical but ok

Hey, short post today. I didn't lose as much overnight as the previous nights, but I am not doing the cleanse for the weight loss, but for the reduction or resetting of my cravings and appetite. I bought pizza for the kids tonight and it was still really tempting. I thought it was supposed to get easier on day 5, but maybe not...

I am doing the salt water flush tonight, in fact I am in the middle of it right now. I better run!

Here's the picture of me for the day: I thought I would smile a little this time...










Dear Lord, Thank you for keeping me from eating that pizza! Thank you for the little things that you do every day for me that I take for granted. Please continue to let me feel your presence. I want to do your will.
I love you Lord.
Amen.

Day 4 : Dates and sweet cream

Weight: 350.6
Mood: ok

Day 4 of the Master Cleanse was pretty mild. The hunger was there, but the juice kept it at bay, and my headache was milder today. In all the excitement of making the juice and getting out the door, I forgot to take my Metformin this morning, but my blood sugar stayed at 170...too high, but not terrible. I look forward to going below 350 tomorrow for the first time in a long time. I know that some is water weight, but I also know that I am burning calories - a lot more than I am consuming - just by being big and fat.
If you remember, the two reasons that I wanted to do this were to lose weight, but mostly to reset my cravings. The cravings have not gone away, and I read that many people say that this happens between days 4 and 6, so we will see! The more I read about it, the less I buy into the whole "colon caked with crap" idea. I think that any liquid fast is good for your organs, but I don't believe that there's 50 pounds of anything stuck to the walls of my insides... As such, I am not doing the salt water cleanse every day. It's not about willpower, it's about usefulness. I don't think every day is necessary.
Speaking of cravings, I had the chance to take my beautiful daughter Rina out on a date tonight, and she wanted Sweet Cream ice cream...the best ice cream ever, if you ask me. We went into the shop, and the sweet smell was very enticing, but I was able to resist...

Day 3 and free hot dogs

Weight: 353.6
Mood: ok but a bit hungry!


Hello dear readers. that's right, I called you dear. Today was a full day of church and Upward Basketball. Actually, yesterday was too, but today's games were a little more difficult for me. According to what I have read about the Master Cleanse, day 3 is a hard one. I did not think it was too difficult except for the hot dogs being grilled down the hall from where I was announcing the games! It also doesn't help that I walked down there to talk to my friend Bobby, who generously offered me some for free...FREE!!! My favorite flavor!!!So i quickly hurried back down to the gym and downed some of the juice.

Speaking of the juice, I used less agave today because it was too sweet. I started taking my diabetes medicine, metformin, again today, and my blood sugar came down to 146. Previously it was hovering just over 200. The biggest problem that I have with this medicine is that it tears up my stomach. I know that my stomach is going to hurt every time I take it, and I assumed that the Master Cleanse would make it worse. It actually did not. I still had some stomach discomfort by not as bad as in the past. Apparently chasing the metformin with some double cheeseburgers was a bad idea all around. Go figure.

Master Cleanse!

Weight: 355.8
Mood: pretty good

So I am someone who likes to do things right.  or at least what I think is right.  Because I am a bit of a perfectionist, I find it hard to start a project because I have a fear of not doing it right... I am slowly getting over that, though.  That is one excuse I have used in dieting.  Every condition has to be perfect for me to continue!

I started a diet/cleanse called the Master Cleanse yesterday.  It consists of a homemade lemonade mixture and some other things.  If you are interested in it, there are lots of results in Google for it.  I won't go into all the details here, at least not all at once, but I will describe my experience in case anyone comes here looking for some info. I will say that it claims to help you lose weight, lose cravings, and "reset" your taste buds so that you crave healthier things.  I do not know whether I believe all the claims, but I figured it would be a good way to jump-start my diet. So anyway, today is day two, and true to its claim, I am not hungry.  Don't get me wrong, I still want food- but it's only day 2.

For those of you here to see my Master Cleanse experience, read on...for the rest of you, skip down to the bottom for the daily prayer.  Thanks for reading.

Try Trying!

I have tried to lose weight many times. But this time is different. (different than the last different time and the different time before that.) In fact, I have started so many times that my poor son is an expert at taking "Before" photos.

Lots of people say that "until it becomes important to you, you won't lose weight", but I submit that even when you think it's important it takes more than that. It takes effort. You have to TRY! When you finally decide that the effort you expend doing worthless things every day should be put to something useful, it gives you a different perspective. The more effort you pour into this new important venture, the more likely you are to stick with it. That's why I am starting this blog. And taking pictures. And committing to this diet plan like nothing I have tried before.