Day 3 - Modified Juice Plan

Vitals - Weight 222 lbs, BP 140/93, pulse 66.
Had somewhat of a restless night sleeping. Fell asleep easily but woke up after an hour and couldn't get back to sleep for a time. This morning I have a bit of a sinus headache, but not too bad. Will plan today much like yesterday. I'll pick up some Naked juice to have during the day while I'm at work and will supplement with vegetables and fruit.

Will juice this morning.

The morning's juice had some  dandelion greens, as well as spinach and the usual. Had an apple about 10:00 and some green Naked juice at noon. Another green juice at 2:30 and an apple at 4:00.

Dinner was salad and steamed broccoli and cauliflower with some wild brown rice. Had a glass of wine.

I've been dealing with a slight headache all day, nothing horrible but feel I should take an aspirin tonight before going to bed.

Tomorrow I'm meeting a friend for breakfast. I believe they have fruit shakes but if not, I'll juice before going and maybe have coffee or something there.

Until then.

Juice Plan, Day 2

Okay, day 2. My BP this morning is 146/92, pulse is 61. Weight is 226.

Will begin to juice. I have cucumber this morning to add to the apples, carrots, celery and kale. Also supplementing with Hawthorn, Garlic and water pills. My BP medication is 40mg tablets of Benazepril.

Had my juice. Not sure what to do about lunch. I'll be in an office that doesn't have many choices around it for selections. I'll stop by the store and pick up a couple of juices to take with me. I'll find the most natural ones, the ones without added items.

Okay, so I picked up a coupe "Naked" juices. On the way to work, I had a medium sized apple. For lunch I had one of the juices and then mid-afternoon I had the other one. At about 5:30 I ate a Cutie.

For dinner, I finished the rice from last night, had salad with 1/2 tomato and some more steamed cauliflower.

It's 8:00 and I'm feeling like I'll need to have another shake or something but I'll try to hold off since I just ate. I may just sip on water.

Feeling a bit more tired than usual at this time of day. Other than that, my mood is fine.

An hour later and I'm hungry. I can go without but it'd sure be nice to have some food. Craving carbs/sweet.

Juice Fast, Day 1

I finished watching "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" this morning. Was encouraged by what I saw.

A bit about me...

Family history - Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Strokes, Cancer, Emphysema. Most everyone in the family has lived into their 80's and 90's but my dad died of stomach cancer while in his early 60's. 

Myself, I have hypertension. I currently take medication for it but even in college, my bp was 140/90. I'd like to think that it just runs high for me, but it's gotten higher through the years.

Other than that, my blood is fine, I run half marathon's and am generally in pretty good shape.

My food addiction is carbohydrates, white breads, and sweets. 

I'm also about 25 lbs overweight. 228 this morning. I didn't take my BP when I woke up but I will from here-on-out and report that as well.

Today will be my first day of a juice fast. I'm not sure how long I'll do it for, but I'll go for 10 days, since I've heard that by the third day, the detox is pretty rough and it'll be easy to go back to eating junk, so, 10 days it is. 

This morning, I did have a cup of coffee with cream but for breakfast, I juiced 4 apples, 5 carrots, 3 celery stalks, kale and a lemon. Over ice, it's pretty good.

We'll be going to Sprout's later to stalk up on more vegetables and I'll continue this plan. I hate calling it a "fast" since that has a "starvation" feel to it, so I'll be calling it a plan from this point forward.

12:00 and I'm hungry. Looks like it'll be a modified juice plan. Having a protein shake made with almond milk, strawberries, blue berries, and whey protein. 

I'll have another vegetable juice later this afternoon and for dinner, steamed vegetables and salad.

3:15 - Juices 4 apples, 5 carrots, 4 celery stalks, lime. Had to get something in me before going to Sprouts.

For dinner, had steamed broccoli and cauliflower, salad with tomato and wild brown rice. Had a some red wine as well. Full, satisfied and now need to make it to bed time without eating more.

Cravings for food I normally eat. Seems more solid.

Status Update

Well, I've been eating a lot of salads, but haven't been losing much weight. Beginning to get out and run again. Not going to go through my next half marathon the same way as I did the last. I'll be prepared for this one and have until the beginning of May so a good couple of months of regular running. Did a little over 2 miles yesterday morning. Was going to run the OC 5k with Ryan the weekend of the half marathon but found that they do it the same morning of the half, so we'll have to find another one to run together.

I've given up white foods for lent, when I remember. Had a few french fries last night with my salad. Have a physical scheduled for this afternoon. Haven't had one in about 3 years, so I'm over due. I'm expecting the "lose weight" discussion, and really need to drop 30 lbs. It'll help all around, no pun intended.

I'm in the BP research program for another 4 months so they can't really do anything about that until then but other than that, I should be okay.

Progress

I've lost 4 lbs thus far, which is 2 per week. I'm reminding myself that I'm the one responsible for what goes in my mouth. A bowl of oatmeal with raisins for breakfast, protein bar for snack, oranges, apples, bananas, vegetables are my other snack items during the day. Lunches have been salads mostly and then small portions for dinner. Went to Red Robbin the other night and had an appetizer as my dinner.

Going to Vegas this weekend. Won't have a refrigerator in the room so I'll have to make good choices when I'm eating out.

Day 2, more or less

It's been pretty easy to make smart food choices the past two day, except tonight I had buns with my hamburgers. Still, oatmeal and coffee in the morning, salad for lunch, fruit for snacks, it's all good.

Got a call from Ryan's doctor. They got his lab results and his glucose was a little high so they want to test some more, this time with him fasting, to make sure he's not diabetic. They said it was no rush so it feels like they don't really think he is, but just want to make sure.

Down to the weight I was a few days ago so yesterday's weight might have been liquid weight. We'll see tomorrow, and yes, I'm weighing myself daily.

Wake-Up Call

The other day, Ryan picked up my BP pills and asked what they were for. I told him that they were for lowering my blood pressure. He then had me explain to him what high blood pressure was, and I did. Then, he asked the wake-up call question...."Can high blood pressure kill you?"

Wow...So, for all of those times when I told myself that I needed to take care of my self, watch what I eat, lose some weight because, as I told myself, I needed to be here for the kids, and then didn't do as I wanted to; now's the time.

I weighed myself this morning and was the heaviest I think I've ever been. Will losing 30 lbs be enough to lower my blood pressure so that I won't need pills? I don't know. What most likely will though is giving up the sugar, the white bread, the tortillas, the burritos, the processed meat, the chips, and on-and-on. As the nutrionists say, it's not a diet but a lifestyle. I am in control of what I put in my mouth. I can walk/drive by the bad stuff and stick to the healthier fare. I am in control, not my hunger, not my tastebuds, not my habits, but me. I will commit to eating healthier, more organic, more "green". This is my future we're talking about...