SteveOH

Feelings and Thoughts

I slept a little better last night.  I did have a half a glass of red wine to relax after successfully meeting a late night deadline (the reason I didn’t go to the gym as well), to that may have helped.  I did, however, wake up with that same stupid headache that I’ve had for 3 days, and I’ve noticed my lower back hurts a little.  Like sore.  I’m not sure if it’s that I’m sleeping poorly, or the detox, but it’s there.  My throat is also still sore, as if my lymph-nodes are fighting some nasty stuff in there.  I wouldn’t doubt it.  I’ve started taking echinacea and vitamin C (my usual arsenal against the cold and flue) just in case.  I’d rather deviate a little from the detox and continue doing it, than get sick and have to stop.  That would mean a lot of wasted time.

I updated yesterday’s post showing that I didn’t make it into the gym.  If its the detox, a bug, or whatever, I feel less than confident that I can make it into the gym and not kick the crap out of my immune system.  So, until my throat feels better, I’m going to rest (i.e. no gym).  Some sources say you should do the detox on a vacation or at home.  I can definitely see why, but I’m strong enough to keep at it.  Some people may feel too crappy to be able to function.  And while I’m groggy and achy and headachy, I’ll just keep pushing on.

I did have to give in and take some tylenol today for the headache (and eat some fruit).  I know, I know, against the detox, but I was getting desperate with the feeling like crap constantly.  I also considered stopping the detox so that I wouldn’t get sick, but it seems like I’m already sick (either from a bug, the detox, or both) so if I get any worse I’ll have to stop.  If I feel the same as today or less, then I’ll keep going.  I want to at least hit day 7 of the detox as that’s when you’re supposed to get the good effects.

Resources and Tips

• Juice Fast : General Information
• Learn all about the detox diet
• Juice Fast : Who should do it, how to do it, and what it entails
• What Do You Need to Do to Practice a Juice Detox?

The links above are general information for when you’re researching.  I’ll add them to the preparation post for those who are in that phase.

Goals

• DeTox: something is definitely happening!
• Lose body fat (a plus but not required): I lost another pound today (more water).
• Start the new year more disciplined: working on it
• Get over this constant fatigue: Feel like crap.  Yay!
• Learn good habits: Stupid good habits.  Why do they have to suck so bad! LOL
• Sleep 8.5 hours: Slept better because of wine + less stress over deadline

The weight I’ve lost (3 lbs so far) are temporary and nothing more than water and an empty colon / large intestine.  What I will say though, is my skin is definitely thinner and I look more defined.  Not instant 6 pack defined, but you can definitely see muscle definition that wasn’t there before.  This is, of course, a result of being semi-dehydrated, but, I can definitely see its short-term value for those trying to lose a few lbs (or inches – yes, my waste is smaller as well) for a big event (e.g. a wedding, date, etc).

Supplementation

Everything is fine here.  As I mentioned above, I did add the echinacea (2 pills in the morning, 2 before bed) and 1000 mg of Vitamin C (1 pill in the morning and one in the evening).  I’ve also made sure to take the right dosage of CLA as well.

Diet

Today’s menu:

1. 8 AM: Breakfast: juice
2. 9AM: Detox Tea
3. 10 AM: Mid-morning: protein shake
4. 12 PM: Lunch: juice
5. 3PM: Detox Tea
6. 4PM: Mid-afternoon: protein shake
7. 8PM: Dinner: juice

Today’s recipe is a variation of the Fresh RAW v8 Juice Recipe.  It’s surprisingly good (I expected it to taste like dirt) but the beet really made it sweet.  I’m also not a picky eater / drinker, but my wife said it tasted like dirt (she doesn’t drink anything even remotely natural tasting!).

My variation: instead of cabbage and kale I added 5 leaves of Romaine Lettuce, the 1 green bell pepper and I passed on the onion and garlic (I don’t want to stink up the office).

You cannot taste the tomatoes (and I love tomatoes) as I think the carrots and beet combination overpowers it.  It is blood red though, which is fun to drink.  I also added a cucumber for fun, which I think mellowed out the flavors.

I cheated a little today and had a kiwi (the entire fruit) at around 3:00 PM after finishing my DeTox tea.  I wanted to see if my headache would go away because maybe it was caused by “low blood sugar”.  I also took 2 tylenol about 30 minutes prior because I just felt crappy and was desperate for some relief.  The tylenol took 70% of the headache away (so I might actually have a cold) and the kiwi took another 20% of it away.  I still have a headache, but not nearly as bad as it was.

Exercise

As mentioned above, I will delay going to the gym until I feel better (i.e. sore throat goes away, headache reduces a bit).