DAY ... (does math) FORTY-ONE - JULY 13TH
So here we are: a month following the Crazy Cleanse/Diet I put myself through. All the things I went through were hopefully interesting to read and helped you understand where I was coming from. In fact, I can't explain to someone an experience I had with the diet without asking them if they read the blog for fear that I will be regurgitating stories I've already shared. I pretty much shared everything I was willing to share in those posts. But back to the point I was trying to make, everything that I went through and shared means nothing on a person level if I did not meet my goal. I may be able to handle more than I thought I could and it may mean something on a survival level if I can go through long periods of time without food, but my objective in starting the diet/cleanse was to lose weight. If this did not happen in the long run, then - at least to me - it was a waste of time.
So, let's recap. The last post saw me at a weak point. I had gone from 186 pounds, down to 174 (maybe even 173?) back up to 182, and then ending possibly at 179. I don't think I realized until now what sort of cliffhanger I left on, giving no full answer on the success of the cleanse/diet. I was going to watch what I ate, work out on the bike, push-ups, sit-ups, and do some P90X. The whole nine yards.
What actually happened? As my time with the diet came to an end, I discussed my ordeal with some friends who have gone through dramatic weight losses in the past and we talked about what might be the best direction for me. In doing this, one of my friends pointed out that if my main objective was to lose the weight, then the P90X might not be where I want to go. P90X will help you lose weight, but the main intention is to help work out your muscles and toned and all that good stuff. When my brother used P90X, he would go on the scale consistently and be disappointed at the fact that he wasn't losing weight. He was probably dropping fat and adding muscle simultaneously, but had no idea. And since muscle is heavier than fat, he very well could haven been getting discouraged when he was really doing himself a big favor. The point of all this is that, while beefing up and getting some muscle would be an advantage at some point, what I'm really trying to concentrate on at the moment is getting to a good weight. So dropping the P90X from my immediate future plans happened fairly early on after the diet came to a close.
After the diet did end, I did spend a few days on the stationary bike in my house. While I did clock in a few sessions, I then became interrupted with social plans and work. It's hard for me to rationalize how I can put my life on hold for a diet but I can't work out when I want to. This is the best explanation I can come up with: When you decide to start the cleanse/diet, you have no choice to change everything you do. Either way, as long as you're not going great distances or trying to do things that are physically demanding, nothing changes. You go on the computer, sleep, work out, and even be lazy a lot of the day since there you don't have a lot of energy to begin with. When you work out, you have to put aside time in your day to bike between a 30 to 150 minutes, and you can't walk around sweating and smelling so you have to shower immediately after, and this has to be scheduled between work, dinner, time with family and friends, plans, etc. So to dedicate a huge chunk of time for myself every day is just not particularly easy for me. And if any of that sounds silly, then you can see why I went for the drink rather than the active workout schedule.
While quietly and internally planning my next step, I took time to enjoy eating again. Fast food places, barbecues, desserts, alcohol, etc. Just being able to have those normal foods again, even though I realized that I didn't need them the way that I did before the diet. And, to be honest, NOTHING tasted so good or so much (yes, tasted "so much") as those first few days of Orange Juice after I stopped having the Death Drink. Some time last week I decided to step into phase two. Last Sunday I got on the scale to see where I was after I hadn't really been paying attention for a few weeks. 180 pounds. I was only six pounds under my starting point before the diet, but I didn't think this was too bad considering that I hadn't been making a big effort in watching my intake. However, I decided that I would get back into working out and watching what I ate starting the next day.
Monday morning I stepped on the scale and was told that I was now 178 pounds. To the best of my knowledge, aside from doing some slight exercises with my calves, stomach, and butt muscles, I really hadn't done anything of significance the previous day, so I didn't really have an explanation for the two-pound weight drop. After work, I helped with stuff around the house and planned to get on the bike. Before I could get a chance to hit the bike, a friend texted me to see if I wanted to play basketball. I immediately jumped on the opportunity and ended up playing for about two hours after not having played more than a half hour of basketball in roughly two years. I also rounded this out with 50 push-ups when I got home.
Tuesday morning before work I got up and went on the scale. 176 pounds. Some simple exercises, two hours of basketball, 50 push-ups and some careful food decisions and I was down four pounds in 48 hours. I continued doing the 50-push-ups per day routine (except for yesterday, where I inexplicably slept for eternity) and tried to be somewhat careful with my eating habits.
Today, I am 175 pounds and I am going to try to get down to 170 pounds a week from today. With eating, push-ups, and the bike I will try to make it happen and see where I go. It's probably an unrealistic goal, but if I eat under 2400 calories most days and get enough time on the bike, it could hopefully happen. I lost five pounds since Sunday morning, so it might not be too crazy to do it again by next week.
As for the diet's effects, I have to say that if a person wanted to start getting in shape or feels too dependent on food, I would definitely suggest it. I would suggest it not necessarily for the weight loss but to show how someone can operate with minimal food and how people tend to revolve a lot of our days or lives around what, when, where, and how we eat. Food is awesome, but we as people do take a lot of time to factor in food in such a way that I'm not sure could be explained without taking it out of the equation. So what's the best way to lose weight? It's what most people recommend: diet and exercise and water. Aside from a juice in the morning and milk in my cereal, I am trying to drink only water as a beverage. If I decided to go to a party, then I'll have a drink drink or maybe I'll treat myself to a soda, but then it is just that: a treat. It's making those substitutions into my life and making them permanent. Green tea weened me off of soda, but with all the high fructose corn syrup, I don't think I need to have Arizona green tea as part of my intake. So water, work on the diet, and exercise.
If there are changes or some sort of progress then I may update, but I think this topic has mostly run its course. I hope you enjoyed.
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