PhoneBoy Says

Run another copy of the previous updates, except this time, I was woken up early by my body. The senna tea I had last night did it's job. Total net weight loss since I started is 10 pounds, which is a nice bonus.

I am noticing less hunger pains now. A couple of sips of tea seems to quell any hunger pains that do show up. That being said, I am looking forward to being done with this cleanse. Not thinking about food quite as much as a couple of days ago, but I'm also ready for some different tastes in my mouth. If I go up to Poulsbo this week for one or two extra curricular meetings, I'm going to miss going to Central Market and getting some sushi.

What time is your alarm clock set for? Do you use the snooze button?

No alarm clock needed in the mornings. One or both children are usually awake by 7am. We've got Jaden trained not to wake us up before 7am on school mornings, 8am on the weekends. Hm… I wonder how that will work during summer break, which starts on Thursday? Guess it depends on how planned out mommy has his schedule.

This half, anyway.

Essentially a carbon copy of yesterday's update: stuff is still moving along, one pound lighter, and no senna tea this morning.

I am starting to think about what I am going to eat when I come off this fast--perhaps more than I should. Physically, I'm not that hungry. The lemonade or just plain water keeps that in check. But mentally, I am thinking about the vegetable soup I plan on making--I pulled an interesting sounding recipe off of the UltraWellness site--a Veggie Delite sandwich at Subway--something I've never eaten before--and eventually, the concept of meat. That chicken I cooked the other day, or some steak. But that's later.

Fact is: I like to eat. Perhaps more than I should, perhaps not the kinds of foods one is "supposed" to eat, but I like eating. And it's not like I can avoid it since everyone needs some kind of food to survive. The question is: what will the diet look like when things "return to normal." The fact I am obsessing over vegetables for a change is probably not a bad thing in the grand scheme of things, but it's mildly frustrating at the moment.

Half way through this cleansing process. At the moment, I find myself thinking about what I want to eat when I come off this cleanse. The first day, I will be drinking OJ. The second day, start the day with OJ then move onto vegetable soup broth--not canned stuff, but freshly made stuff. The third day, more OJ and eventually soup with the veggies. Then I should be able to eat normally.

But I do wonder about eating meat again. Not because I don't like it--are you kidding, I did Atkins, for crying out loud--but I wonder how I will ease back into eating it again. I know eating a bunch of it at once is a recipe for disaster. An old co-worker of mine actually burned a hole in his stomach by eating too much meat after not having had it for quite a long time. I don't think I'm anywhere near that length of time, but I am mindful of that incident. Smaller portions for a while for sure.

Tonight I drank senna tea. It should keep things moving along. Haven't needed any additional help. Afraid to try the salt water bath for the insides.

Despite not having eaten for more than 4 days, stuff is still moving out of my bowels--exactly what's suppose to happen. No senna tea today as I don't need/want that kind of help today. One pound lighter to boot.

Unlike some people, whom while on this cleanse are disgusted by the sight and smell of food, it doesn't bother me that much. Good thing, as I still have to feed the kids even if all I'm feeding myself is lemonade. I also had a chicken that I decided to thaw out before I got the crazy idea that I was going to cleanse myself. It was going to go bad unless I cooked it yesterday, which I did. Funny thing was, long after I finished cooking, putting away the chicken, and cleaning the crock pot, I could still smell the chicken in the hallway when first coming into it.

I'm also not experiencing any major "bad" or "down" feelings. I'm also not feeling "up" either, like what some people describe by this phase of the cleanse. I am very much on an even keel--moreso than usual, I think, which while not blockbuster, is very nice in it's own right.

Today, for Father's Day, I am going to trek over to the Evil Fry's (tm) in Renton. It's a bit like going to a buffet right now because while I can't eat food on this cleanse, I can't afford to spend money at Fry's either. But it's nice to look around and I'll probably come back with something small and/or something I can expense.

I'm not hungry so far today and feel pretty good. Had Senna tea both last night and this morning. No lemonade yet, but I plan to rectify that soon enough. Two more pounds off the body.

You'd think after not eating solid food for more than 72 hours there wouldn't be anything left in my bowels. You'd be wrong. Of course, that's the point of doing this.

I have noticed that the past few nights, I've been dreaming a lot more than I usually do. Maybe you always dream, but I don't usually remember doing so. I seem to sleep a little deeper too.

Today, it's Jaden's birthday party. Yes, his birthday proper isn't for another couple of weeks, but we're having it early to ensure attendance of more of his friends. Seems everyone runs away shortly after school is out, which happens this Wednesday. Off to get ready for the event…

Feel about the same as yesterday. I didn't do the senna tea this morning, though I had a weak cup before going to bed early last night. All the vacuuming and moving furniture about after the carpet cleaning folks really wiped me out! The scale showed me weighing two pounds less this morning, which is never a bad thing.

Grade A Dark Amber Maple Syrup makes the lemonade taste a bit different. I may have to use a little bit less of it than I was using the Grade B stuff.

My stomach is rumbling a bit, but I don't really feel hungry. If I am hungry, it's different than usual. Did notice my pants fitting better, about 4 pounds lost according to thescale, and the fact that when I speak loudly, my voice is "different."It's crackling or something. Not sure what that's about. I didn't take the senna tea this morning as I don't think my system needs that kind of help at the moment.

When I went out to buy stuff yesterday, I didn't buy enough lemons because, quite honestly, I had no idea how many it would take to make a day's worth of lemonade. I also thought the health food store was charging an arm and a leg for Grade B Maple Syrup, so I only bought a little. I also wasn't sure I was actually going to go through with it, so I was hedging my bets. Looks like I'm going through with it. My wife will go pick up what I need when she goes to the store today.

I also did some reading and discovered that what they used to call Grade B Maple Syrup is actually now called Grade A Dark Amber. That's easy to get at the store--I checked--and for a heck of a lot less money than what the health food store was charging!