3.0 FAQ’s

Tomorrow I will embark on my third 10-day juice fast.  The first one was on a dare and the second one I experimented.  I am totally excited beyond belief for this one.  So on the eve of this fast I figured I’d answer the most asked questions from the first two.  These are simply my opinions and observations from my experiences, your mileage may vary.

Don’t you get hungry?

This was my biggest fear going into the first one.  I was probably knocking back 3000 calories a day with regularity and now I was going to go down to only about 1000 calories and none of them are food.  The first fast we did 8 sixteen ounce juices a day for the first three days.  We wanted to make sure that we had enough coming in so we were “full”.  128 ounces of fruit and vegetable juices combined with at least 128 ounces of water on top of it, kept me more than full.  The hungry side of it was really all in my head and after the second day I never experienced feeling hungry.  The second fast I only had 4 to 6 twelve ounce juices per day.  The residual effects from the first fast was my tummy contracting and my brain getting on board with my body.

What are the withdrawals?

I watched a lot of information and read a lot of information prior to fast 1.0.  The consensus is that the first three days are HORRIBLE.  Mine really weren’t that bad, but I also had weened myself off of caffeine and most sugar and bread prior to starting the fast.  The friends that I’ve had do it with me have had some headaches and lack of energy but mostly it has been mild.  I would seriously recommend easing into a fast by backing off of the bad stuff in your diet.  When I took myself off of caffeine my headaches were horrible and I didn’t sleep well at all for a week before the fog cleared.

Isn’t it expensive?

We budgeted $10/day/person on the first fast and we had three adults participating.  After the fast, when I started making my own juices, I was WAY OVER that amount when doing my first few supplemental juices.  I also had no idea how to buy produce, how long things lasted, and what things I liked together.  The second fast there were two adults participating and we spent about $8/day/person as well.  I anticipate this fast being even more frugal because we have continued juicing and have frozen supplies and fruits in bulk currently.  If you go to your local juice bar, a ten day fast will cost you hundreds of dollars.  If you buy all organic it will quickly increase your investment.  I’m actually tracking my recipes and will be making “how I do it” available for everyone following fast 3.0.

Don’t you stay in the bathroom?

Without going into the land of TMI, some folks do and some folks don’t.  Juicing 1.0 nothing changed aside from having to pee all the time.  Juicing 2.0 I had to take a laxative about halfway through to get things moving.  I’ve know and heard of some people that make large TP investments during a fast and some folks that have to constantly get things moving.  Your body is very efficient and you should listen to it and take care of it.  If you need to go, go…if you haven’t been going; get it moving.

Do you really just have juice?

Yes that is all the food I consume.  I do chew gum to satiate the need to chew something.  If you have to eat something, it should be raw and unprocessed.  Basically you could snack on the same stuff you’re putting in the juicer if you just have to eat something.  It is only ten days though, if I can do it…anyone can.

Why can’t you just eat the fruits and veggies?

When was the last time you ate half a pineapple, two apples, and a handful of grapes in one sitting…Go ahead, I’ll wait

Yeah, never.

Even if you love fruits and veggies, you can’t consume them in the volume and ease as you can when they are in a juiced form.  I don’t like fruits and veggies, so this is the ultimate in good-for-you fast food.

Do you lose a lot of weight?

The first fast I lost like 13 pounds and the second one I lost about 8.  For 2.0 I purposely didn’t exercise as much, I think that contributed to the slower loss.

I’m so happy that I tried the first fast.  Not only did I lose a lot of weight and really kickstart my working out and health journey that I’m on, but it changed my perspective and relationship with food.  The inbox is open, if you want to know anything else hit me with a comment or email me: stevieking@gmail.com.

Ciao

SK

Do you remember?

I will go out on a limb and say that most, if not all, of us has a great moment we look back on where we were “in pretty good shape”.  It may have been playing sports in high school or when you completed a race in your 20s or after a biggest loser challenge at work in your 30s.  There’s some cool memory you have where you felt pretty good about who was looking at you in the mirror.

Mine was in my 20s and playing pick up basketball ALL THE TIME.  There is zero exaggeration in all the time.  I was probably on some kind of basketball court five days a week.  I played basketball instead of going out.  I wasn’t really trying to be in shape, we were just having fun and the by-product was I could run and jump and had a little bit of stamina and strength, pretty freaking awesome.

Fast forward from that happy picture you have in the full length mirror to the pictures you take now that are just of your increasingly round-ish face.  I was trying to think the other day when I got fat.  As with most things it is a slow and arduous process to reach the rotund physique that I created in my soon to be 41-year-old body.  I do recall a moment though when I was getting out of the shower and realized that my fat rolls on my back were now touching each other (sexy imagery I know).

Being sloppy was pretty fun though, aside from the aches, pains, shortness of breath, and ice packs.  I just ate and slept and ate some more.  I was lucky enough that my fat-boy was still able to be a fairly active dude.  Those good genetics allowed me to just keep on keeping on with my life because “it wasn’t that bad”.

I remember being smaller, but I really don’t remember what it felt like to be “in good shape”.

I remember the feeling of getting excited about a buffet

I remember the mouth-watering goodness of birthday cake

I remember eating a third plate in one sitting of a holiday meal

But I don’t recall what if felt like to actually be fairly fit…that’s pretty sad.

I remember someone telling me once that while recovering from alcoholism he had to create “new tapes” that would play in his head.  He had to create new responses for the situations his entire life that had previously been to take a drink.  I want some new healthy tapes too.  I’d like to know what waking up and craving green smoothies instead of chicken biscuits feels like.  Maybe I can automatically enjoy an apple the way I’ve enjoyed a Twix my entire life.

Reset

Restart

Re-live

Timehop is a pretty cool app that goes back into your social media archive and shows you what you posted in previous years.  There has been tons of cool stuff but something I have also realized

DUDE I’VE BEEN FAT A LONG TIME

and I’ve been putting it out there a long time and I’ve been fighting it a long time.

Finding that 20 something basketball kid isn’t about a resolution or a plan or a program.  That kid didn’t have any of that.  He just played and lived.  That kid didn’t eat great but that kid also knew that if he wanted to be able to not suck on the court that night I couldn’t destroy five trips back through the buffet line either.

Reset

Restart

Re-live

Making new memories takes time and most of us hate that part so we’d rather just keep pulling up the mental VCR on the old memories that are comfortable and safe.  Gang you can’t find a VHS tape now to save your life, yet you won’t upgrade your mental Beta tapes for fear of losing something special.  I think it is a good day to try this fancy new HD life guys…come on, you’ve got nothing to lose.

Ciao

SK

Basement Living

Basements are pretty neat creations.  They are dark and cool.  A lot of them have huge TV’s or super cool workout facilities.  Some people put customized bars or maybe a movie theater or a bowling alley.  Even the unfinished variety are cool places to store stuff and keep things out of sight.  The basement is generally one of the best places in a home.

A radio host that I listen to always refers to going in the basement when he is on vacation.  I adopted this term to describe when I want to go away on a vacation from life.  But unlike the physical hole in the ground below your home or his metaphorical place to reset from work, my basement is not really a good place.

I went missing and into the basement for about a month when I discovered that I would be losing my job.  I have had a tough time the last few years with jobs…some related to the economy, some related to me making bad choices, and some related to just plain stupidity.  I unplugged from writing and I shut down from friends.  The entire time I am down there I am telling myself that I need to get out before it goes completely dark.

As fate would have it I was able to find a new job and new direction and another new start.  It has been a month of learning the new job as best I can and trying to find a new routine for eating, exercise, and even writing.  The same thing that got me writing before is doing it again, as I prepare to take on another 10 day juicing adventure.  Hopefully this time I can get some of you guys to go along with my craziness.

I missed this keyboard and I missed these words and I also missed the fast.  It was so good for my body but it was also amazing for my mind.  I believe it is a good time to give it a rip again and see how round two goes for me.

Basements are only really cool when they are a part of your house and not necessarily when you stay down there full-time.  I’m back and the light feels good.

Ciao

SK

So now what…

As awesome as it was to do the 10 day fast, it had to come to an end.  Which means going back to the world of French Fries and cheese dip and fried everything.  Wow this is intimidating.  There is an entire world of bad choices out there advertising, attracting, and dangling my favorite foods in my face.  Being fat is a whole lot more fun than being healthy.  Being fat doesn’t require me doing any preparation or thinking about anything.  All I have to do is decide and then consume and then repeat.  I also have the challenge that involves my taste buds and the fact that I don’t have any experience eating healthy ever.

The first weekend, post fast, was a pretty normal weekend.  There was a basketball tournament, baseball workout, baseball scrimmage, Xbox, fantasy football draft, running around, and general time-consuming chaos for three days.  There were plenty of opportunities to fall off the wagon and snack or cheat or generally go back to being that guy.

I still have to plan

• It was such a key when on the fast, actually having my juices ready to go and easily accessible made the fast a success.  I believe that it is even more important going forward.  Now that I have the ability to eat Big Mac’s whenever I want I need to plan and schedule out my juices and meals accordingly.

Buying produce is harder than I thought

• I sat in Publix trying to buy juicing items and I realized that I do not have a clue what Kale actually looks like.  I was overwhelmed by the colors and options and how little I actually know about fruits and veggies.

I have to stay ahead of the meals

• When I was in the fast I just waited until I was hungry to have one.  This plan with eating “normally” doesn’t really work for me.  I need to start with some kind of breakfast and plan out my meals, snacks, and juices.  I want to build a healthy eating style rather than one meal and two juices being all I consume during a day.

When eating out, ALWAYS GET A TO GO BOX WHEN THEY BRING YOUR MEAL

• Restaurant portions are gigantic.  I did very good ordering my meals but I realized very quickly that even eating slowly and trying to be mindful I eat too much if it is on my plate.  I can make all the correct choices I want but if I consume everything I see, I’m not really making the progress I want.

This entire journey is such a process.  The good thing from the weekend was that I succeeded in not totally blowing my diet out of the water.  Now I’m back to the routine at work and will have a better chance to set some new eating routines.

 

Ciao

 

SK