Since then, I have eaten a whole-food, plant-based diet and lost a total of 125 lbs. and counting. I hope you are able to benefit from my struggles. Enjoy, and feel free to leave a comment!
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From a writing standpoint, these entries are where the month really started. I finally felt comfortable enough with posting on a daily basis to start to get to the root of the issues that have kept me overweight for my entire life.
Juice-vember 10th: cravings were not as bad today, but still present. Also dealt a little bit with cotton-mouth after my workout this morning, which is not fun when you can't just stuff a sausage McMuffin or three into your food-hole to cure it. My subconscious decided to make me dream about standing in line in a cafeteria, waiting to spoon large quantities of allyoucaneat pasta onto my plate. I jerked up like I had had a bad dream when it was my turn to hold the ladle.
About the choices that lead from temptation to sin, I think it was Martin Luther who said something like "You can't prevent the birds from flying over your head, but you can stop them from building a nest in your hair." I'm trying to internalize that truth as this month rolls on.
So - what made me decide to dedicate the month of Thanksgiving (and specifically, Thanksgiving dinner) to juice fasting? Actually, at first I was just going to fast until the end of this week, because I had scheduled a doctor's appointment to follow up with the doctor who told me, point blank, to "knock it off." The last time I saw her I was already down 15 lbs. from my previous weight, but I thought it would *really* show her if I went all-out to try to get at least twice that off at our next meeting.
Then I thought about the dozen other times in my life I've lost large amounts of weight in short periods of time, only to gain it all back, with interest, once I stopped fighting against what can only be described as my addiction. Usually, I set a goal that seems a little bit far-fetched but definitely within my grasp. While I'm doing well with eating and working out, I have always had at least one eye towards that day that I could stop my "diet" and start eating normal again. And by "eating normal again," I mean satisfying every craving I had, whenever I had it, until I could barely push away from the table. Nothing at all "normal" about that, right?
What's even worse is that my body, that has endured this roller-coaster I've put it on in the past two decades, has started to lose its resilience (as any body does). As a result, eating a whole pizza or a large container of Chinese food (either General Tso's Chicken or Shrimp Egg Foo Yung) does much more lasting damage to my liver, kidneys, and intestines at 39 than it did at 23. Or, at least, I was able to shake it off much more easily. Now, when your doctor tells you that you have a "fatty liver," or that your kidneys are not functioning like they should, you tend to take stock of your food-related decisions, and how they might affect your family in the near and distant future. I have a wonderful wife with whom I would like to grow Methusaleh-old, and three beautiful kids (so far!), all of whom I would like to watch grow all the way up and build families of their own. Hearing how unhealthy I had become made all of that seem very unlikely, if I continued to make the choices I made.
I wanted to set a goal that seemed, basically, impossible. One that I could only reach with the help of the Holy Spirit and the constant encouragement of family and friends. Thirty days seemed about right, like two microseconds before I typed that first Juice-vember challenge post at the end of last month. I had no idea what I was doing then, and I have no idea how this will affect my life going forward, but I'm hoping that I will remember these days of fending off cravings and feeding my body good, all-natural foods, that on those days when I think I absolutely cannot go another second without eating ALL of whatever thing is exciting my olfactory sense, that yes I can, and yes I already have. Several bazillion times over a thirty-day period, and never felt better.
Sorry for the rambling post, but thanks for reading!
Juicevember 11th: This is, officially, the longest juice I've ever done - I beat my previous record of ten days after today. "Not even halfway there" sounds much less encouraging than "one more day in the books," so I'm focusing in small, short-term victories. Rebecca and I have had some pretty good conversations about the necessity of changing the entire way we eat over the past few days, which is great for us and our family going forward.
And I'm trying to toggle my greens to get lots of varied nutrients into my system. Yesterday (and many days before), kale; today, broccoli and (for the first time) collard greens. I've also used spinach and dandelion. I'm sure collards are much better for me, long-term, in juice form than cooked up with ham hocks and vinegar. It's a tie as far as taste, I keep trying to convince myself. #juiceon
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Tomorrow's post is actually a little bit of a short one (less than 500 words), but I wanted it to stand alone, as I reveal the depths of my food addiction to my growing reading audience. Thanks again for reading!
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