musings on weight loss...

Update time...

As the title states, this will be a short entry on the my recent thoughts of weight loss. As everyone who knows me knows, ever since leaving the Utah National Guard and parking myself for good portions of the day behind a desk in 2003, I've ballooned up like crazy. Basically from 200 pounds to 250. Yecch. Now that I am home and contemplating the future (including a very possible return to the guard full-time), I am looking at ways to quickly and efficiently drop some poundage.

We live next to the Nephi City cemetery, which has 1.5 miles of wide, shaded, walking space, so a round trip from my house, through the cemetery and back, runs just over 3 miles. It makes for a nice brisk walk, and I am getting up to the point where I'll actually jog it. For now though, its a nice 45 minute power walk. Still found it to be too slow in helping me drop weight, so I am adding to it with the following:

I've read up a bit on the concept of 'fasting' for better health (spiritual, mental, and right now most importantly--for me--physical) and was intrigued. There is a plethora of info out there supporting the idea that extended fasting (I am not talking the traditional two meal, 24 hour fast that we typically do each month via our church responsibilities) is actually the best thing we can regularly do for our bodies. Basically by giving the entire digestive system a chance to rest and recover from the loads of processed crap we put into it, we emerge refreshed, invigorated, and sporting a sharp mental clarity/acuity that has been lacking.

There are 3-day, 7-day, 10-day, and even 40-day fast period "guides" that are readily available online. I read through them all and decided to really give the ten day fast a whirl.

I started Sunday night, following family dinner at the Cranes. To put it bluntly, for the last 132 hours I have subsisted on a daily diet of lemonade (made of purified water, freshly squeezed lemons, a few tablespoons of pure maple syrup, and a pinch of red cayenne pepper) and a nightly cup of herbal tea. Nothing more. No solid foods whatsoever.

Spartan, it is. I'm getting roughly 800-1000 calories a day, essentially from the maple syrup content of the lemonade, so it isn't like I have completely starved my body into some health danger.

Here's the kicker--after 5.5 complete days of these (halfway through my designated fast period) I feel FREAKING AWESOME. Seriously. Energetic yet calm, incredibly peaceful (no small feat considering the stress in my life recently) and flat out GOOD.

The hardest day was 2-3. That was the point where my body tried to kill me--saying HOLY CRAP PUT SOME FOOD IN MY BELLY! I've gone 24+ hours before with no food, so the end of day two was really the point where I'd hit my natural limit. I pushed through it though, and by mid-day 3, hunger was completely gone. I mean completely. Don't get me wrong, the SMELL of food drives me crazy, but not from hunger. I honestly feel like a have a comfortably full stomach. I read that extended fasts really trend to sharpen your senses as the body purges off all of its built in toxins. I'm not going to speak to the whole "toxin" idea, but I can say that my sense of smell is supercharged. SO the smell of food is particularly intense and inviting, but doesn't induce hunger per se.

At this point I feel like I could take this thing indefinitely. Obviously I am going to hold it to the 10 day period I mapped out, and on days 11,12,13 gradually reintroduce food back into my system, starting with chicken broth and soft fruit, and then building back into a regular diet by the end of day three (post-fast). Its a great chance to press the restart button on my
entire system, and to 'restart' by eating healthily afterward. Fresh fruit and veggies, lean cuts of meat, no junk food, soda, etc...

Now for the kicker--like I said, I am halfway through the 10 day fast--(meaning I'll stop this next Wednesday night (June 11th), and be back to a somewhat normal eating schedule by Sunday the 15th) and I have dropped --in 5 days-- 16 pounds. From 252 to 236. Agi is freaking out. She is claiming there is no way this can be healthy--that much loss in so short a time (frankly it is accelerating now). All I can say is that I feel GREAT. I am still working out in the yard, going for the occasional walk, and playing basketball with the kids. And all I am putting into my body is 8-10 glasses of maple-syrup infused lemon water, additional glasses of water, and a nightly 8 oz. herbal tea.

I have tons of energy. No headaches, no other aches, no weird or out of the ordinary body issues, nothing. And a real serene (I cringe at saying it--but 'zen-like') outlook right now. In a nutshell I feel fine. No, more than fine. Great. Outstanding. I even had a previously scheduled mini-physical checkup for a health insurance policy on day three of my fast, and I came through with flying colors--totally normal heart rate, blood pressure, etc...

So. I'll throw another entry on Wednesday after I finish with the final tallies of my ten-day fast. I had hoped to lose 10 pounds in 10 days. NOW it is looking like I could easily lose 20+. In ten days. Yowza!