Juice fast- It is Finished!

It is Finished!

It is finally the moment of truth.  True revelation is nothing without a changing of our minds.  I have not only went on a radical physical change but also mental.  I feel supercharged, like I can literally do anything.  For the first time in years I feel like running, biking, swimming, and doing all the stuff I used to love to do.  I feel like eating nutritious foods because they are good for my body instead of because they are low in Calories.  My friend Bryan Weisweaver told me a quote once that the ancient Greeks believed that food were our real medicine (I'm butchering it).  This is so true.  Providing our bodies with the fruits and veggies that it is craving is so much more powerful than any medicine you can put in your body.  So, onto what everyone wants to know, how much did I lose?

Before that, here are some other things you might want to know:

Total cost of the 10 day fast: $185

Total lbs of apples eaten: 24 lbs

Total lbs of strawberries: 10 lbs

Total bunches of Kale eaten: 15 bunches

Total bunches of Spinach eaten: 10 bunches

What else? Celery, Carrots, Chart, Ginger, Beets, Kiwi, Lemon, Lime, Sweet Potato, Pears, etc.

So, how much weight?

I lost a total of 20.6 lbs. in 10 days!

So, what was my first meal?  Apple!  I also had 2 eggs and a piece of wheat toast with nutella on it because I have been craving it for 10 days!

Thanks so much for all of you that supported me through this.  Your support has meant everything to me.  If you are questioning if you can do it, know that through Christ all things are possible!

Cheers to Better Health!

Day 10 "Last Day!"

Day 10

It's finally the last day.  I woke up this morning like every other morning and made my breakfast and dinner.  We went to church for worship and left early so I could go with Mike Coble for a golf scramble in Syracuse.  This was a little scary because britt is getting into the last stages of pregnancy and I was over an hour away.  I ate as much as I could and braced myself for the 91 degree weather.  I drank plenty of water and somehow made it through 18 holes.  I went to drink my dinner drink and it sucked!  This was supposed to be my last juice but it was so bad that I couldn't stand to drink it.  This meant that I had to live on 30oz on my last day.  Please note that this is neither healthy nor part of the fast.  So, I made it home to see my beautiful wife and ended the night resting.

I couldn't sleep because I hadn't ate hardly anything all day and all I could think about was eating the next day.  I finally got to sleep after laying there battling my mind for about 2 hours.  I thought about getting up at midnight but I decided that would be for someone that was doing a diet, not a lifestyle change.

So, tomorrow is the first day of the rest of our lives.  This has been an amazing experience and I am so glad that I accomplished it.

Cheers to better health!

Day 9

Day 9

To see how Day 9 went you can see day 8.  I am still a little tired but I have found ways to keep myself satisfied.  We watched "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" again and it inspired me to continue to change my life style after my 10 days are long gone.  I know now that the day after 10 days is not the end but really the beginning.  

The fast has been great for losing some quick weight and working on changing my mind.  Not being able to eat allows me to have some time where I don't have to worry about eating 3000 calories in one meal and I can focus on seeing what causes me to overeat.  

So, tomorrow is the last day.  I am really excited and happy that I made it to this point.  I can't wait start fresh on Monday with a new body and mind.

Cheers to healthy living!

Day 8

Day 8

Well, today was the last day of the work week.  It will be smooth sailing from here.  I started my day out by spilling my lunch all over the back of my car so I wasn't too optimistic about the possibilities of what the day would have to offer.  I decided to save my breakfast and sip on that throughout the day and chew some gum.  Gum is allowed in my fast but if you are going to do one of your own I would recommend thinking about what the gum is doing to your body.  For me, I needed it to get the taste out of my mouth and settle my stomach down.  I chew sugarfee gum but I am sure it is putting things in my body that I wouldn't like.  Once I got home I tried my lunch juice and it was disgusting so I threw it out and made a fruit heavy dinner.  If you have been reading from the beginning you would know that I am trying to have a veggie filled lunch and dinner, but I can't take it any more.

Britt and I went on a nice walk along the riverwalk and talked about things we could do that don't have anything to do with food.  We came up with a nice little list and I am excited about knocking some of these things off with our Son. It was nice having enough energy to go on a walk but my head is still cloudy and I feel like I am in slow motion at times.  Britt's mom decided to come out tonight and stay through tomorrow.  Most of our time with her includes a nice dinner and waking up to a huge breakfast so it is going to be weird not eating.  Once Marcia got out here we decided to go to watch the fireworks at the silver hawks game.  I am sure that prior to my fast we would have replaced this with going for ice cream or some other food related experience.  My old company, Melrose Pyrotechnics did the fireworks, and they were awesome!  I would highly recommend getting out to the cove on a Friday night to see these!  We got home kind of late so I was really hungry and kind of dizzy so I went to bed.  For those of you that are thinking about doing a fast, please know that my dizziness is not typical.  If I liked the juice (especially veggie juice) I would have been drinking all day and night and would have felt fantastic.  Since I hate the taste of the juice right now I am sacrificing feeling good for not having to put another ounce of juice in my mouth.

Recommendation
So, what I recommend is getting a juice and find a "go-to" fruit filled and veggie filled mix.  This will allow you to make that recipe when all else fails.  Also, since it is such a mind game, your mind will tell you that you like that recipe and it will make a world of difference.

Cheers to better health!

Day 7

Day 7

Today was pretty uneventful.  I had the typical hunger and craving issues but I have definitely turned a corner.  I saved my breakfast juice and sipped on it all morning so I could keep my body full with the energy I needed.  I also saved the last little bit and filled it with water so I could have it after lunch.  My lunch was better today and I started using a water bottle with a small opening at the top.  This made it so that I couldn't smell or see what I am drinking.  This made it much easier!

Work days are pretty slow since I am constantly thinking about what I would like to eat.  I have found that I don't have any desire to give into eating something solid when I go places like gas stations or see what my friends are eating around me.  My mouth has stopped watering at the smell of one of my favorite foods but my mind is still focused on what I am going to eat after I am done.  I have had weird cravings for avocado because of all the advertisements going on right now by Subway and a handful of other places.  Did I mention that I have never ate avocado?

We went to our friends Mike and Nicole's house tonight.  They have been encouraging through this time and Mike and I are having a competition to see who loses the most weight.  It isn't really a competition for me because I can't lose any more weight than what my body is losing.  Mike is running 30 miles over the 10 days and trying to eat better to compare how much weight can be lost while working out compared to juicing.

I have come far enough now that I know I will finish.  I find it hard to give up a weekend to my juice fast but I keep reminding myself how many weekends I have spent killing my body with fatty foods.

Tomorrow is my last day of work, which has been an major goal that I have been looking forward to from the beginning.  I am excited about finishing this fast and starting a new, healthier lifestyle.

Cheers to better health!

Day 6 "Tired of Juicing"

Day 6
Today's post is going to be short.  I am tired of drinking juice.  I am still working on changing my thinking towards this process.  I can't find any vegetables that taste good to be so it has been difficult to enjoy my days after my morning juice is long gone.  I have found that my mornings and early afternoons are going better and better but after 2 pm has been difficult.  The mean green juice that I have been having for lunch and dinner doesn't seem to be satisfying my body.  By the end of the day I find myself dizzy and lightheaded.

Work Difficulties
I had a conversation with my boss today about how difficult it has been to concentrate on my work at times.  He encouraged me to keep going and stay focused on becoming healthier.  I am so blessed to have such a great boss and job!

Eating Difficulties
Britt went out with one of her friends for dinner at Hacienda tonight.  I appreciated her being able to go out and enjoy herself since I have been making life difficult but I can't say I wasn't jealous of both going out to eat and spending time with her.

Final Thoughts
I struggle with thoughts of quitting every day.  The fast doesn't make much sense to me anymore and I feel like 5 days would have been best for my body and mind in regards to moving forward.  I am worried that I won't be able to continue my healthier life style once the fast is over since I am forcing myself to drink the Juice.  I am going to continue to count on God to help me change my mind.  I am also going to continue to concentrate on God's Grace enabling me to change my life.

Day 5 "Half Way There"

Day 5
Today has been better and worse at the same time.  I don't necessarily feel sick or hungry but rather just tired of Juice.  I haven't had a juice that tasted good since Saturday and I really am really craving something with substance.  My mind and body have both went through transformations over the past 5 days but my mind is struggling to keep up.  I have lost a considerable amount of weight (I am not going to say how much until the end) but my mind is constantly cloudy.  When I am able to sit at my desk and forget that I haven't ate anything in 5 days I am fine.  It is when my stomach gets hungry or I look at the bottle of juice sitting next to me that I start thinking about food.

Joy of the Lord

I had to stay up kind of late last night because one of my friends is painting our bathroom.  We just got an antenna so we can get free HD channels so I was flipping around seeing what was on.  I stumbled across a Joyce Meyer's teaching and decided to see what she had to say.  In typical Joyce Meyer fashion she was telling me exactly how it is.  She was talking about the Joy of the Lord.  Now, I have understood for a while that I find joy in food but Joyce had a powerful way of reminding me of what God can do for you in your time of need.  She spoke of Paul and his writings in Philippians.  Paul said in Philippians chapter 4

"⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."


If I was casually reading through this I might think, "Paul probably has the perfect life."  That's actually not the case.  If you study this out you will find that Paul was in prison at this time.  Not only was he in prison but he was in the middle of the city where all the sewage drained to and he was ankle deep in sewage.  So, lets ask the question "how was Paul able to rejoice in the Lord?"  He knew that the Lord is near (in him).  This allowed him to be anxious about nothing and pray about everything.  Not being anxious about whats going to happen next would give us the peace we are looking for that transcends all understanding.  When you focus on Jesus He will guard your heart and mind.

Moving forward with the fast

Is this Juice fast easy?  No, in fact I hate it.  I wish I would have only did 5 days.  I can't even imagine choking down another juice tonight but it is something that I committed to and I have to finish.  I know God is walking with me and I look forward to a better day tomorrow.

Be Joyful because God is Good!