Changing modalities mid-waterway

Howdy again all.  I has been a month since my last post.  A few things have changed and others have not.  I've decided to end this cycle early and post results for reference.

I made it good the first few weeks and then started to let things creep into the diet that were not strictly on the diet.  Instead of raw I would eat some cooked veggie dish.  Then something else with maybe some pasta or bacon bit in a salad.  Anyway after 3 weeks I broke.  Pounds started coming back on and I had no discipline except bad discipline.

I couple weeks ago I read through Tim Ferriss' 4-Hour Body book which advocates the Slow-Carb Diet.  I can do low carb and I especially like that he gives you a cheat day where you can have whatever you want.  So I am now going to start a new cycle using a modified lower carb version of the diet while taking his recommended PAGG stack of supplements.  (Policosanol, Alpha-Lipoic Acid, Green Tea Extract and Garlic) What do they do?  Here is one explanation: What Is The PAGG Stack?

Today I also weighed in and got some measurements.  This will be my baseline for the 2nd cycle but I will also compare it to my 1st round...

Weight: 305.4
Bicep R: 14.75    L:  14
Waist: 50.5
Hips: 50.25
Mid-thigh R:  25    L:  24.5
(other measurements)
Neck: 19.5
Chest: 50.5
Calf R:  18.5    L:  18

So from cycle 1 with 7 weeks from 9/11 to 10/30 I lost-gained...
7.6lbs lost
1/2" lost off neck
1 1/4" gained on bicep
1/2" lost off chest
1 1/2" lost off waist
1" lost off R thigh
1/2" lost off R calf

Not bad, not great but not bad.  I can definitely tell some of my range of motion has improved.  This is with zero exercise.

My cycle two 4HB Total Inches starting point is 179

Days 8-14, ooops

Well boys and girls I kicked off week two with a flurry of good eating.  Then on Tuesday or Wednesday I started down the slippery slope.  The salad bar had 7 layer salad, the next day there was grilled zucchini & squash and baked beans.  Then there was the fresh tabouli and baba ghanoush at the stores.  Finally, over the weekend came the pizza.

I unofficially weighed in Saturday after a meal and was up 3 pounds.  I am not going to count it since since as I said it was after having a couple glasses of water and maple syrup with a stack of pancakes.  I usually try to weigh in before breakfast but had an early monthly meeting to get to.

Not counting the completely bad stuff over the weekend my approximate spending for the week (Monday through Friday) was $56.57.  That also included a can of raw-sourced protein powder I got on sale.

I am endeavoring to get back on track here on week 3.  Breakfast was apples and I have bananas sitting beside me for lunch.  I have several pounds of carrots at home and half a cucumber which I can use for juicing tonight.

Back to it...

Days 3 - 7

Did you think I had abandoned the blog after 2 days?  Two days and out like most tries at dieting?  Oh no.  You are not rid of me that easily.

The infamous Wednesday through Sunday blog entry strikes again.  This is what happens when you don't have enough to say to keep the studio audience laughing.  You save up all your good material and hope the natives don't demand fresh content all the time.

One week is almost done.  Due to my successful computer upgrades I am now able to bring you the news of the last half week.  As one would expect of somebody striving for excellence I was able to maintain my juicing and raw eating regiment with only a few minor culinary disappointments.  The work days this week I went to the salad bar and loaded up on fresh fruit and veggies at lunch.  I had some points where I was getting the munchies so I got some raw almonds to snack on.  Other days I got bananas that were on sale.

Based on my  receipts I think my grocery store and salad bar spending comes to $52.98 for the last week.  This is a bit low since I started dinnertime on Monday and skipped lunch/dinner Thursday for a major sleep session.  The parents fed me a salad for lunch when I went to visit yesterday and my buddy Danny had a fruit bowl last night when we had a shindig/bonfire at his place.

Anyone ever read/watch the Celestine Prophecy?  It is sort of spiritual/mystical book series which provides a set of insights to lead one to true understanding.  Insight #1 is to become aware of mysterious coincidences that happen around you.  Within the hour of me creating this blog and challenge I get an invite to come to Danny's party.  The first time I went to Danny's house was for a raw foods support group and pot luck dinner. :)  I think the universe is trying to tell me that I need to go raw and find my support group again.

The other good news of the week is that yesterday, Day 6, I weighed in and had lost 9.4 pounds.  I'm down to 303.6.  It shall be an interesting trip to see where the next 7 weeks will lead.

Later y'all.

Day 2 and the Equipment

It is day two and today I juiced breakfast and dinner while hitting the salad bar for lunch.

I was pretty proud of myself; my local Hy-Vee grocery store has an all-you-can-eat salad bar buffet.  Now normally I go through there loading on cheese, meat strips and the salad dressing along with all the mayonnaise-laden pasta salads and oh yeah don't forget the Oreo fluff and shortcake with whipped cream and granola for dessert.

Today...I went through the salad-only section getting a bowl of romaine with all the colorful add-ons like red onion, red cabbage, carrot, celery, tomato, jalapeno and raisins.  Instead of the Ranch or 1000 Island dressing I would normally get I used the vinegar and just a few drops of oil from the shakers off to the side.  All those textures and flavors made it surprisingly tasty.  And for dessert I had some fresh pineapple, red and white grapes and a few more raisins.  I consider it a successful outing; I also managed to pick up some more produce for tonight's juice on the way out.

Doing the Grind
I figured while I was getting the new challenge going some of you might want to know what equipment I am using.  My primary piece of kitchen technology is the Green Power Gold Juice Extractor.  I found mine used on eBay for less than half of the MSRP with all the bells and whistles.  It is a low speed twin gear machine that will really wring the juice out of most things I run through it.  Pulp from carrots and root veggies come out of the chute almost powder dry.  I've only ever had trouble trying to juice pineapple, which in that case my mother's Champion Juicer did a much better job.

So far each time I have been feeling hungry two or so hours after drinking my glass of juice.  It could be part work stress but more than likely just that my stomach is shrinking from the size it was before.

Day 1 & T-1

While I officially started this today, yesterday I juiced two meals. I figured that I would post some of my concoction recipes as I either made them up or found them from other places.

#1

1lb of carrots

4 roma tomatoes

1 gala apple (3" diameter)

1 clove garlic

The carrots and apple sweetens it up while the tomatoes mellows it out. The garlic gives it some heat and a little zing. Not too bad.

#2

Mean Green and/or Green Lemonade

6 kale stalks

6 celery stalks

1/2 large cucumber

lemon

3 gala apples (3" diameter)

1" ginger

This will hit you with some major chlorophyll and the lemon and ginger give it twang. Be sure to add enough apple or the green will get to you. (note I normally do not add cucumber so the previous comment might not apply so much) If you are not easing your way into juicing this may clean your system out. It happens. :)

As I said on my launch post breakfast and lunch today were a bust before I started EW2E but dinner tonight was another round of Green Lemonade.

By the numbers, or if you will, the starting measurements

As promised I got some measurements taken this evening and they are:

Neck: 20"

Right Bicep: 13 1/2"

Chest: 51"

Waist: 52"

Right Thigh: 26"

Right Calf: 19"

At a minimum I will plan on getting new measurements at the halfway and the eight week marks.

Who, what, why??

My name is Jim and as of last night 9/11 I am 313.0 lbs. If you browse similar blogs you might have run across my old blog at 28 Days Raw where I lost approximately 42 lbs in eight weeks in 2009 eating a diet of raw fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts.

A couple days ago I had the chance to watch Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. In it Joe Cross had nothing but water and juiced fruits & vegetables for 60 days. In the process he cured his medical conditions and lost a whole bunch of weight. The film also documents Phil Staples whom Joe met while on the road. With Joe's help Phil followed a similar program and went from 429 lbs to an eventual 220.

I am again ready to challenge myself to do an intensive program to get my weight down. According to the film Joe started his journey at 309 lbs so we are not too far off on the starting points.

I will cut the soda-pop and coffee; herbal teas are OK in a pinch. (the 28-day raw challenge I did the last time was in February and I got cold) I will concentrate on juicing, trying to do as many 'meals' as possible that way. If I do not juice I will eat raw fruits, vegetables, nuts or seeds...the same thing but with more volume and fiber.

I will get some measurements tonight and do another post so we will have a starting point for this grand adventure. (posted)

I've technically broken the day with breakfast and lunch but I will juice for dinner. Let the games begin...

Edit:

I am still debating about the frequency of my posts. When doing the 28 day blog it got to be a chore to post every day however it was also a pretty good tool to force me to behave. I had to argue with myself pretty hard to make any exceptions when you know you will have to publicly fess up to cheating. However this time will be almost twice as long.

Only time will tell.