I have said many times that even if I never lost another pound, I would continue to eat a plant-based diet and drink green juice because it has given me back my health. I would reassure others who hit weight plateaus for a week or two to just keep at it and the weight would start to go down again. Our bodies sometimes need time to adjust to this new way of being and doing, especially if we have been very overweight for a very long time. I had been from 280 to 340 for a couple of decades. So mid-March when I hit a plateau, I had to put my money where my mouth is so to speak. I hit a plateau. I hit 265 and my body froze, looked at me in horror and said, "Are you kidding me? We're melting like the wicked witch after she got watered down by Dorothy! This ain't right!!! Do you WANT to disappear? What if there's a famine? This is dangerous! You can't just go losing weight willy nilly I tell you!"
It didn't help that I had several extra-curricular stress activities pop up during this same time frame. If you don't know or understand what the stress hormone, Cortisol, can do to weight loss efforts, look up Dr. John Bergman on youtube. He explains it better than anyone else I've seen.
So for a couple of weeks, I was totally zen about this plateau. Seriously. I really didn't let it bother me because I understood what was happening. I had hit a lower weight than I'd seen in at least 15 years. When it had been a month, I started to get worried in that scared, secret, small place inside me that has always feared this new found health and energy will be ripped away. Right at this same time I was getting super busy trying to pack and clean to move out of this house finally. After several months of planning to move, we are finally actually moving. We HAVE to be out of this house by the end of the month even if it means camping out at the lake until we can find something else. Long story.... anyway, I was extremely busy and having to use every coping mechanism I had not to let the stress get to me. We had a very, very hard winter financially along with some other life stressors so it was no surprise, really, that the weight loss stalled. Knowing and understanding that and dealing with seeing that number stay the same every day are two different things. Actually, it didn't stay exactly the same. My weight, as with most people, can fluctuate 3-5 pounds in any given week which is the main reason I usually weigh daily. So I had hit that 265 for about 2 days when my weight started doing a gentle rollercoaster up and down and up and down from 266 to 269 for weeks. So I put the scale away. I didn't want worry over that number to pull my focus away from the main thing which is my health. I just played Dory and kept on swimming... and eating my plants and making my juice. As Spring came on strong, I did what I had always planned to do and shifted more to raw fruits and salads and less soups and starches. Not a big shift but just a bit more of this and a bit less of that. It felt right. I felt a boost in energy almost immediately.
I was out of town for over a week and got home last Wednesday night. Thursday morning I decided to pull out the scale and see where I was at and it said 266. Okay. Saturday morning, 264. Hey! Monday morning, today, 261! Yeah! Bye-bye plateau! I learned from you. I let you be and you let me be and now we must part ways. See ya!
That plateau lasted nearly two months. I learned that I really do have the power of my convictions within me to put my health first. I really felt that my body would eventually begin to seek a healthier weight once again. But I knew that if it didn't or if it took a year or two for that to happen, I would be okay in the meantime as long as I continued to flood my body with real nutrition. I learned some valuable lessons about myself. I have said many times that how I feel is far more important than how I look and I proved to myself that this was true. I've said that I have learned to trust my body. Now I've proven it. I've also proved to myself that if the scale becomes a detriment, I can just put it away.
I recently watched a video shared by my friend, Lori. It was posted by a bariatric surgeon and explained how our bodies will establish "set points" at a very high weight. He went into the anthropology of it all. His point was to make us feel hopeless to lose the weight without surgery. FALSE. The problem is that most people hit those points where their body is trying to adjust to the changes you've made, the weight loss slows or stops so they tighten down on the calories even more. They starve their cells which makes the body freak out even more. "Starvation! She's trying to kill us!" If you hit your plateau - or your new "set point" - and you just keep FLOODING your body with amazing nutrition, your body WILL relax and realize that it is safe to allow more of that weight to go. Truth. Doctors selling hopelessness to line their pockets make me sick. Right up until I drink my green juice or eat my bowl of fruit or salad. THAT makes me very, very well:)
JUICE ON YA'LL. WE GOT THIS!!
Showing posts with label Perseverance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Perseverance. Show all posts
Monday, May 12, 2014
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Is It My Amazing Willpower? BHAHAHA!
I am in an online group who set a goal each quarter of the year to lose 25lbs with the goal of ultimately losing 100lbs in one year. I started my journey in August of 2013 so I didnt start this particular challenge until the last quarter of 2013. So from Oct 1 to Dec 31, my personal challenge (it is NOT a competition) was to get from 310 to 285. I did that. Nearly exactly that. So now for the first quarter of 2014, my goal is to get to 260 by March 31st. I'm already to 274. I KNOW that I will reach my goal. The sad fact is, I won't have much company. Very few reached their goal last quarter and very few are looking good for this quarter. The MOST important thing, of course, is that most participants lost some weight. And equally important is that they are mostly still trying as we all know my policy is that you don't fail until you quit.
The thing is, I have to sometimes remind myself not to feel guilty for succeeding where so many others who are trying SO hard fail. Does that sound crazy? I find myself downplaying or just very quietly recording my success unless someone else in the group brings it up. I've made no secret of my methods but I don't try to "push" them on anyone else. So there are people on there using all different sorts of approaches. I mean some of these people count every bite, track it on their calorie tracker and work out like a beast and make sure they have a "calorie deficit." They work hard for every pound lost! Each person has their own idea of what a "healthy diet" looks like and that is fine. The thing is, I honest-to-goodness have to fight feeling guilty because what I'm doing is so easy to me. I don't feel like I'm having to really "fight" for it anymore. It is comfortable and easy.
On the other hand, I do occasionally have to fight off mini waves of panic that at any time now it will all be ripped away. My plant-strong diet will suddenly stop healing my body. My body will suddenly stop seeking a healthy weight and releasing the fat. I will once again find myself "fat, sick and nearly dead." The great thing is that the scared little girl who fears these things is growing paler, weaker and quieter with each passing day. I know that this fear is just born of a sad, sick past. It isn't real. It isn't a part of my today or my tomorrow. I can ignore it and it will go away. Once in a while "ignore it and it will go away" actually works in our favor! LOL Seriously though, if we don't feed our fear, it will wither up and die. If we indulge in it and feed it (with our time and attention) it will grow stronger. Don't feed the fear!
So, the qustion is, how can I succeed after all these years with my abysmal track record when so many other are failing? Am I smarter? No. Am I blessed with a better metabolism? BAHAHAHA!! Do I work harder? Not in most cases! Some people I know work super hard at doing everything "right" with painfully little to show for it. Do I have more willpower? No. Only two things come to mind to explain this. One, I hit my own personal rock bottom which put me in the perfect position to be truly willing to do whatever is required. Most people look at my life style and only focus on what they would have to give up. They immediately zero in on whatever their particular weakness is. "No steak?!" "No doughnuts?!" "No McDonalds?!" NO WAY!! Whereas my focus is on NO PAIN! NO WEAKNESS! NO WHEELCHAIR! NO STROKE! NO HOSPITAL! NO MORE SIZE 28! So when someone asks me if I'll never have a cookie cake or a pizza ever again, I can calmly, truthfully and with no regrets say, "Not if you paid me!"
The second thing is much simpler for me but resisted by so many because of the pervasive lies we have been fed as a society about diet and nutrition. It's the plants. That's it. Beginning, middle and end. It's. The. Plants. Plants heal and nourish. Fake foods and chemically and genetically modified crap posing as food destroy and damage and disease. Plants heal and nourish. It. Is. The. Plants.
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The thing is, I have to sometimes remind myself not to feel guilty for succeeding where so many others who are trying SO hard fail. Does that sound crazy? I find myself downplaying or just very quietly recording my success unless someone else in the group brings it up. I've made no secret of my methods but I don't try to "push" them on anyone else. So there are people on there using all different sorts of approaches. I mean some of these people count every bite, track it on their calorie tracker and work out like a beast and make sure they have a "calorie deficit." They work hard for every pound lost! Each person has their own idea of what a "healthy diet" looks like and that is fine. The thing is, I honest-to-goodness have to fight feeling guilty because what I'm doing is so easy to me. I don't feel like I'm having to really "fight" for it anymore. It is comfortable and easy.
On the other hand, I do occasionally have to fight off mini waves of panic that at any time now it will all be ripped away. My plant-strong diet will suddenly stop healing my body. My body will suddenly stop seeking a healthy weight and releasing the fat. I will once again find myself "fat, sick and nearly dead." The great thing is that the scared little girl who fears these things is growing paler, weaker and quieter with each passing day. I know that this fear is just born of a sad, sick past. It isn't real. It isn't a part of my today or my tomorrow. I can ignore it and it will go away. Once in a while "ignore it and it will go away" actually works in our favor! LOL Seriously though, if we don't feed our fear, it will wither up and die. If we indulge in it and feed it (with our time and attention) it will grow stronger. Don't feed the fear!
So, the qustion is, how can I succeed after all these years with my abysmal track record when so many other are failing? Am I smarter? No. Am I blessed with a better metabolism? BAHAHAHA!! Do I work harder? Not in most cases! Some people I know work super hard at doing everything "right" with painfully little to show for it. Do I have more willpower? No. Only two things come to mind to explain this. One, I hit my own personal rock bottom which put me in the perfect position to be truly willing to do whatever is required. Most people look at my life style and only focus on what they would have to give up. They immediately zero in on whatever their particular weakness is. "No steak?!" "No doughnuts?!" "No McDonalds?!" NO WAY!! Whereas my focus is on NO PAIN! NO WEAKNESS! NO WHEELCHAIR! NO STROKE! NO HOSPITAL! NO MORE SIZE 28! So when someone asks me if I'll never have a cookie cake or a pizza ever again, I can calmly, truthfully and with no regrets say, "Not if you paid me!"
The second thing is much simpler for me but resisted by so many because of the pervasive lies we have been fed as a society about diet and nutrition. It's the plants. That's it. Beginning, middle and end. It's. The. Plants. Plants heal and nourish. Fake foods and chemically and genetically modified crap posing as food destroy and damage and disease. Plants heal and nourish. It. Is. The. Plants.
Saturday, December 7, 2013
BRRRRR and Some Embarrassing Truths About My Life
So here in Oklahoma, winter is making up for how mild it was the last couple of years by icing on us and leaving us in the single digits. I'm freezing and pissy. I HATE ICE!!! I don't mind snow, I kinda like it. And when it's cold outside, it can make you appreciate your warm house and your fuzzy slippers (or in my case, hand-knit wool socks) even more, right? Yeah right!! We are doing good to keep it over 40 degrees in this place. My house is old. Really old and falling apart. They found problems with the gas pipes so they won't allow the gas on. Some nonsense about the danger of explosions or fumes... whatever. (Yes, for those who might not understand me yet, I'm being sarcastic.) So we have no hot water and only space heaters. We are supposed to be moved out by the end of the month but it may realistically be January something. We rent, by the way. The windows and doors are so poorly installed that you can literally pass things through to someone outside around the edges. Seriously, we've done it. The sliding glass doors have about a 3 inch gap on one side because they don't fit the opening! We've filled that with foam but it still lets in air. There are holes that you can throw a cat through, as the old saying goes. Although nobody better be throwing my kitties anywhere;o) I know the holes are that big because possums keep sneaking into my house. Yes, literally.
Totally off subject but I have to tell this story now, since I mentioned the possums. They live under our house. I'm cool with that. Well, this one is so comfortable living with us that he likes to stroll through in the night. We would usually just yell at him or the dog would bark or a cat would hiss and he would take off back out the hole. (It's not a hole I can get to - the landlord made the holes last year trying to fix the gas problem.) Possum wasn't aggressive, in fact he was quite shy and nervous so we just ignored the problem. I grew up in the country; critters don't bother me. My cousins had a pet raccoon for years. Well a couple weeks ago, Cameron woke up and the possum was strolling across his body on his bed as he slept!!! He screamed like a little girl and the dog came running and started barking and the chase was on. Well, possum realized he had screwed up big time (even though he was considerably bigger than the dog) so he did what possums do.... he played possum. He had made it to my room by this time. So Gadget dragged what he presumed to be his "kill" behind my love seat. Possum still playing dead. Cameron moved the love seat, put a bucket over it, took it outside and THREW it across the yard. Still playing dead! He came in the house and we watched out the window. About two minutes later, he gets up and casually strolls back under our house. Yup, it's like that around here.
I've mentioned that I had given up on life until last August when I watched Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. Well, I'm admitting to all of this so you can understand just how low I had sunk. We were living in a house that should have been condemned. We can only plug use one appliance at a time in the kitchen other than the frig. Throwing a breaker is a very regular occurrence. Basically if you turn on the toaster without unplugging the juicer, bam. This neighborhood isn't great either. Oh and my beloved old truck (I LOVE old trucks - especially Fords; I would rather push an old truck than drive a new car) has been neglected and left in need of repairs for over a year. I had to have someone to help me in and out if I went anywhere anyway and I couldn't do my own shopping anymore as I couldn't walk unassisted and was too proud to use an electric cart. So what did it matter if I had my own transportation. My poor family could do nothing to pull me out of this downward spiral. It was actually quite telling that I was even willing to live in town. I have always hated living in town. I need to be in the country surrounded by nature and critters and air. I feel trapped and claustrophobic in town and it sets off my PTSD something fierce.
So this really does relate to all my healthy life changes. I hated myself so much that I didn't care how I lived. I don't now. Juicing and WFPB eating has not only given me back health, energy, weight-loss and independence (which is so important to me I can't even express it here - I am independent to a fault by nature) it has also given me back my self-respect and my desire to live the life I choose. We are getting out of this rat trap. We are looking for land to buy out in the country. We are going to buy a large RV to stay in while we pay off the land because once you have 50% equity in your land, there are a couple of companies that will either put a double wide on it or build a prefab home on it for no down payment. Your land serves as your collateral. The RV will also allow me to do another thing that I've always yearned to do and never been able to - travel. And buddy, let me tell you... we are going somewhere warmer for the winter. We should have the RV by the end of January at the latest - probably a 32' 5th wheel, haven't decided for sure. Getting the truck fixed by the end of the month as well - that's my Christmas present. I have friends in South Texas I'd like to see as well as a sister in Arizona and brothers and tons of cousins in California. I am most definitely going somewhere warmer for at least a good chunck of this miserable, cold, icy winter that Oklahoma apparently has planned. I love Oklahoma but I HATE ICE!! (See how I brought that back around. I really did have a point!)
Oh and lest you think I'm too off topic on this post, let me just say that as long as I have to literally bundle up in several layers including hat and scarf and mittens inside my house, I will probably not be losing as much weight because I'm not drinking cold juice and eating cold salad today. If I can see my breath in my bedroom, I'm having hot lentil soup and warm broth and baked potato with salsa and oatmeal and anything else that is served nice and hot! Don't get me wrong, still plant-based and clean but not much raw. And I have really come to believe in the power of raw. I'm not getting involved in all the drama going on in the raw community these days but I do believe that eating as much raw, fresh foods as you can manage will always benefit you. Except when it's 8 degrees fahrenheit outside and you only have a space heater.
Oh and as to my weight, I have lost a bit more. I'm down to 293 which means I've lost 47 lbs since August 23. I'm really curious to see how much the weight loss slows with these changes or if it will surprise me and keep going at 2-3 lbs a week. Stay tuned!
Totally off subject but I have to tell this story now, since I mentioned the possums. They live under our house. I'm cool with that. Well, this one is so comfortable living with us that he likes to stroll through in the night. We would usually just yell at him or the dog would bark or a cat would hiss and he would take off back out the hole. (It's not a hole I can get to - the landlord made the holes last year trying to fix the gas problem.) Possum wasn't aggressive, in fact he was quite shy and nervous so we just ignored the problem. I grew up in the country; critters don't bother me. My cousins had a pet raccoon for years. Well a couple weeks ago, Cameron woke up and the possum was strolling across his body on his bed as he slept!!! He screamed like a little girl and the dog came running and started barking and the chase was on. Well, possum realized he had screwed up big time (even though he was considerably bigger than the dog) so he did what possums do.... he played possum. He had made it to my room by this time. So Gadget dragged what he presumed to be his "kill" behind my love seat. Possum still playing dead. Cameron moved the love seat, put a bucket over it, took it outside and THREW it across the yard. Still playing dead! He came in the house and we watched out the window. About two minutes later, he gets up and casually strolls back under our house. Yup, it's like that around here.
I've mentioned that I had given up on life until last August when I watched Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. Well, I'm admitting to all of this so you can understand just how low I had sunk. We were living in a house that should have been condemned. We can only plug use one appliance at a time in the kitchen other than the frig. Throwing a breaker is a very regular occurrence. Basically if you turn on the toaster without unplugging the juicer, bam. This neighborhood isn't great either. Oh and my beloved old truck (I LOVE old trucks - especially Fords; I would rather push an old truck than drive a new car) has been neglected and left in need of repairs for over a year. I had to have someone to help me in and out if I went anywhere anyway and I couldn't do my own shopping anymore as I couldn't walk unassisted and was too proud to use an electric cart. So what did it matter if I had my own transportation. My poor family could do nothing to pull me out of this downward spiral. It was actually quite telling that I was even willing to live in town. I have always hated living in town. I need to be in the country surrounded by nature and critters and air. I feel trapped and claustrophobic in town and it sets off my PTSD something fierce.
So this really does relate to all my healthy life changes. I hated myself so much that I didn't care how I lived. I don't now. Juicing and WFPB eating has not only given me back health, energy, weight-loss and independence (which is so important to me I can't even express it here - I am independent to a fault by nature) it has also given me back my self-respect and my desire to live the life I choose. We are getting out of this rat trap. We are looking for land to buy out in the country. We are going to buy a large RV to stay in while we pay off the land because once you have 50% equity in your land, there are a couple of companies that will either put a double wide on it or build a prefab home on it for no down payment. Your land serves as your collateral. The RV will also allow me to do another thing that I've always yearned to do and never been able to - travel. And buddy, let me tell you... we are going somewhere warmer for the winter. We should have the RV by the end of January at the latest - probably a 32' 5th wheel, haven't decided for sure. Getting the truck fixed by the end of the month as well - that's my Christmas present. I have friends in South Texas I'd like to see as well as a sister in Arizona and brothers and tons of cousins in California. I am most definitely going somewhere warmer for at least a good chunck of this miserable, cold, icy winter that Oklahoma apparently has planned. I love Oklahoma but I HATE ICE!! (See how I brought that back around. I really did have a point!)
Oh and lest you think I'm too off topic on this post, let me just say that as long as I have to literally bundle up in several layers including hat and scarf and mittens inside my house, I will probably not be losing as much weight because I'm not drinking cold juice and eating cold salad today. If I can see my breath in my bedroom, I'm having hot lentil soup and warm broth and baked potato with salsa and oatmeal and anything else that is served nice and hot! Don't get me wrong, still plant-based and clean but not much raw. And I have really come to believe in the power of raw. I'm not getting involved in all the drama going on in the raw community these days but I do believe that eating as much raw, fresh foods as you can manage will always benefit you. Except when it's 8 degrees fahrenheit outside and you only have a space heater.
Oh and as to my weight, I have lost a bit more. I'm down to 293 which means I've lost 47 lbs since August 23. I'm really curious to see how much the weight loss slows with these changes or if it will surprise me and keep going at 2-3 lbs a week. Stay tuned!
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Three Types of People You Meet in Juicing Communities
I have watched all the youtube videos and read all the blogs I could find by and about people who lose weight juice fasting and/or a whole food/plant-based diet/high raw diet etc. Yes. A lot of people do regain the weight but the ones who have the courage to come back and tell you what went on will tell you exactly why. (Check out Steve Crider's latest videos STEVE CRIDER YOUTUBE CHANNEL- love that guy because he is honest and never gives up!) They regained the weight because they went back to eating whatever they used to eat that made them fat in the first place. If you do what you've always done, you will end up where you've always been. I read and watched and researched and read some more. I saw that many people regain the weight with juicing and WFPB diets just as they do with WW, Atkins, South Beach and Weight-loss surgery. I took all that in and used it to motivate me to really research and plan so that when I was finished with my first actual juice fast, I would have a solid plan in place for what I was going to eat for the rest of my life to continue to lose weight and eventually maintain a healthy weight, feel great, live an active and joyful life and love my food all at the same time. And I have. I NEVER would have believed that I would love eating like this and I sure as heck never thought I would LOVE eating like this. I grew up a country girl. We raised our own beef, chickens, and pork. I showed livestock in the shows and went hunting with my dad. Vegans and vegetarians were extremist nutcases. (Note - Personally, I still think PETA is nuttier than fruitcake.) Well, call me nutty because I am now very near vegan and I LOVE what I eat every single day. And my two teenagers have gone along for the ride and are losing weight as well and they love the food too! And my 19 year old was one of those kids who never touched a veggie other than a tomato or canned corn EVER before we started this. (No! I'm NOT counting french fries. That is a fat, not a veggie, in my book.)
Here's the thing. I really believe there are three types of people around juice fasting communities. Those who think they want this, try it and, within days or maybe a couple of weeks at most, decide it is too hard. Even though detox has been explained to them, they may become certain that juice is making them sick. They drop out and are never heard from again. Then there are those who throw themselves into it and white knuckle their way through a nice long juice only fast while counting the days til they can once again hit the Burger King drive through or pat themselves on the back for having more veggies on their pizza than they used to. They lose a ton of weight and then promptly gain it all back. It is absolutely true and can't be repeated often enough; If you do what you've always done, you end up where you've always been. One hundred percent accurate! Funny how that works:/
Then there are those who use the time on juice fast to allow the process to fundamentally change them. If you are one of these people, you come to realize that this doesn't just change what you are doing for a few days or weeks or even months; it changes everything. It is physical, mental and emotional. You discover things about yourself that you didn't know before including inner reserves of strength. You educate yourself. You discover that your weight gain had nothing to do with lack of willpower and that you've been duped by a huge industry into becoming addicted to things that harm you in order to make them richer. You get pissed and You. Change. Everything. And you love it! Free of all the salt and sugar and chemicals, your taste buds come back to life! You rediscover that the foods given us by our creator actually are wonderful to the taste without all the chemicals and that foods that aren't over-processed and overcooked and genetically modified taste better and sustain our bodies the way they were intended to be. You relearn what healthy feels like. You rediscover having energy to burn. You realize the miraculous thing that the human body really is! It begins to heal itself! I have a number of friends who have gotten off of blood pressure medication just as I have and off of asthma meds and acid reflux meds like my daughter has and even off of INSULIN! The body can and will heal and regenerate itself if you flood it with all the nutrients it needs.
I'm NOT saying everyone has to give up meat or dairy or gluten as I did. But it is certainly wise to very cautiously add those substances back in and pay attention to the effect on your body. Most of the ones I know who are still losing or maintaining after a long period of time have definitely made whole-food/plant based foods the center of their diet. And I literally do not know one who has maintained while still eating a processed, junk-food based diet. I really, really recommend you check out Dan Miller's web page here: DAN MILLER WEB PAGE or go to DAN MILLER JUICING & PLANT-BASED FOOD and look over his discussion thread there. I'm in there as Natshell:) Dan has been at this a long time and has more knowledge and information available on this topic (not to mention succes at losing and maintaining for a long period) than anyone else I know of and he is great at answering questions.
I assume most people who find my blog have already watched Fat Sick and Nearly Dead but if you haven't, do so! I also strongly recommend anyone who hasn't already, please watch Forks Over Knives. If you are a reader, read The China Study, The Pleasure Trap, Wheat Belly and Clean. Check out youtube videos and websites by Dr. McDougall, Dr Fuhrman, Dr Esselstyn and Rip Esselstyn, Douglas Lisle and Robert Lustig. Let one discovery lead to another. Make it your business and your top priority to discover what food/long-term diet will best serve your weight and your health once you aren't juice fasting anymore. Shouldn't your health and well-being be a top priority? Lots of people do regain weight after juice fasting. But YOU don't have to be one of them.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Guest Blogger Reynolds - Surely Juice fasting isn't (gasp) ever difficult!?
Hello Ladies and Germs, it appears to me that contrary to all previous articulated notions to the contrary, doing a juice fast can, for some, in certain specific circumstances, be just a tinge on the difficult side.
Who would have thought? Let's see.... ceasing to chew food after decades of that thrice daily ritual ... ingesting liquids that look like your grandpa in South Louisiana just dipped a pitcher into the swamp to conduct mosquito larvae experiments... giving up our favorite foods of Snickers and Cornflakes on rye and cold Chef-Boyardee ravioli with apricot and dark chocolate pieces... living in a world where inundation from food sellers is more difficult than winning the lottery three times in one week... being ridiculed, criticized and called crazy by our FRIENDS!!! ... having removed from our listening pleasure the melodic sound of freshly produced cellophane wrappers crackling in our fat little fingers... having that little invisible monkey that piggybacks around with you screeching that he is hungry at the top of his lungs ... and the icing on the cake, so to speak, having to wash the dog in the backyard as your sadistic neighbor grills burgers and bacon every night. Then you realized that you've bathed the dog in the back yard four times this week already.
This is a big head game, this juice fasting. It is an exercise in distraction, illumination, redirection, denial and wistfully hoping.
It is all about dealing with THIS hour. Whatever it takes is what it takes. Taking a walk, cleaning the bathroom, calling your mother, vacuuming the car, weeding the roses, reading a book, watching Fat Sick and Nearly Dead again. Whatever it takes. The big thing is you have to believe that rebooting is beneficial and worth the sacrifices. Has stepping on the scale and seeing a smaller number show up, does that spin your top? How about knowing that you just began the process of expelling decades of stored toxins in your body, likely extending your life and making your remaining years healthier? If none of that works, then get creative. Try following a squirrel into a tree and do the squirrel bark at him until he looks mad enough to jump on you. Get creative!
Just please, please........... don't go eat 19 twinkees and a bag of Oreos and expect to feel good tomorrow, or feel good about yourself. It is not gonna happen. We are rooting you on gal. We've walked that walk. It is all about THIS HOUR. So just win this hour. Whatever it takes.
- See more at: http://community.rebootwithjoe.com/discussions/topic/100-lbs-or-more-starting-a-9113-30-day-reboot?p=135#sthash.Ys8JReho.dpuf
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Guest Blogger - Reynolds
I am a member of the fantastic community of juice nuts at rebootwithjoe.com based on Joe Cross and his experiences as seen on "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead." My friend Reynolds is the guy that everyone in our group turns to for wisdom and inspiration. He is in the middle of this same journey that I am on and, like me, feels that nothing in this world is going to offer the things that juice fasting can. Another friend on the group had had a pretty significant slip-up on day 6 of her first juice fast and wondered if she should just give up and "pig out for a few days" or jump right back into juice fasting or maybe just try to transition onto a healthy "diet" instead of juice fasting. She got tons of great advice and support but Reynolds words really hit home for many of us. I asked him if I could post his reply here and he agreed so here it is. Someone out there needs to hear this. I just have this feeling.
Heathie: I read your post then went offline to compose a thoughtful response. When I came back to post, Katie had posted her very sage advice gleaned from numerous reboots over the last 6 months where she trimmed over 100 pounds from her frame. My words are very similar to hers, I'm just more long-winded. But the common points on which we both touch, we hope resonate with you. Here is mine:
ROFL..... Heathie your number three, "pig out a few days and then start back?" had me splitting my side. You probably don't get it but Natalie, Katie and Jana do for sure.
You are likely saying, "but I wasn't trying to be funny." Exactly! You were asking the SAME question every Fattie asks themselves when they get a mouthful of mud... "so do I just go back to being who I was for all those years?" Every single one of us in this forum have had huge doubts when we stumbled and we asked that same question.
Here is the whole enchilada wrapped up in a long thought :
All fat people got that way for a reason, maybe three. Once fat, we had family, friends and society send us mixed messages about our rising weight. At some point we became obese, and while we learned a host of excuses to push back anyone who cautioned or criticized us, we never managed to get around to accepting responsibility for STAYING fat. It is one thing to get fat over our teenage and young adult years, but it is another thing to keep gaining in our twenties, thirties and forties. Jana, Natslie, Katie and I are all near or above 50. Sure, we'd tried to lose weight every year or two. But we never found a way to get it off and keep it off. Until we ran into Joe Cross and juice fasting.
Heathie, what happens on a JF is a fundamental change in the mind. It doesn't come with most any other weight reduction plan. During a prolonged JF the mind is allowed, yes even forced, to put some distance between food and ourselves. Not having reason to be so intimate with chewed foods for a period of time allows us to reduce, and even remove, the emotional bonds that exist between EVERY Fattie and food. Finally, the stranglehold food has had on us is broken, literally, for the first time. It is not a permanent break up, necessarily, and yes that is the challenge of every Fattie that has gone through an extended JF must deal with.
I can't tell you how many days you have to be on a JF (10-45?) before the brain makes the switch and the mind sees things like it has NEVER seen them before. That change has as many looks as there are people doing a JF. But most JFers come to the realization that they have been lied to by the commercial food companies, but worse they've been egregiously lying to themselves as well.
During the JF the combination of detoxing, losing lots of weight and stepping back some distance from food synergizes together to give the person a birdseye view of food, addiction, compulsion, cravings and binging. I guess it is akin to seeing a ghost or Bigfoot. -- you might later question what you saw, but at the time you were unmistaken in what you saw. It is that pronounced of an awakening. The trick is to live out what we know. But we have 10-20-30 years of bad habits and only days/weeks/months at having a deep appreciation of vegetables and juicing.
So it is hard at first to win every single fight with our compulsive/addictive self. We'll lose once a day, then once every third day, then once every week, until finally ... finally the body relents and goes along with what the mind has been saying! Then, the struggle is cut to a fraction and the person is "over the hump." Will he or she struggle occasionally? Most certainly. But the struggle isn't at 10:42am, 2:39pm, 6:05pm, 8:47pm -- it is once every week or so.
The addiction is broken, but no immunity is created or a magic shield thrown up around the person. The lust of the eye is still there. The difference is that the new mind sees food differently. It no longer is a surrogate lover as it was. Now it is something to use as needed to meet a basic nutritional need. Sure, enjoying food is fine, but seeking pleasure from food no longer controls your every chewing decision. Most critical for the typical JFer out living in the chewing world again is the ability to master perceptions of food and thereby strictly controlling what goes in the body. There is no longer a free-for-all where just anything goes. We cant kid ourselves anymore. When eating again, every meal is a considered decision. Do want me to say that again? Every meal is a considered decision.
So why this loooong post? Well, what I'm telling you is this, it is so US. So fattie, to flop off the horse and then say, "oh what the hell, I think I'll just go eat a pan of peach cobbler." That is what fatties do routinely.
But in the near future, maybe within only a week or two, you too will recoil from the thought of going and pigging out with every stumble. Soon, you'll want to flee from pig outs as you will see them for what they are -- compulsive , uncontrolled bouts of mania. Yep, as part of JFing the mind changes its perceptions and with the changed perceptions comes a changed behavior. But! It is possible to slide back into the abyss, so vigilance is required for a long time, usually for more than a year.
Have you ever talked with someone that has climbed a massive peak like Kilimanjaro or Denali? Invariably they will mention that besides being staggeringly difficult dealing with all the adversities, it was a very specific system to summit and return to base camp safe. Freelancing was tantamount to death. The many that had gone before had spelled out all the problems and obstacles threatening each climber. While only thousands had done it before, nevertheless all the perils, risks, pitfalls and dilemmas any climber could face were very well articulated and defined by previous climbers writing about their experience.
So it is with a JF. There are no new wrinkles to be discovered by a new JFer. The struggles are all well known and written about here and in many blogs. It is important to know that what each of us are going through on our JF, is completely commonplace. It is predictable! Really!
Oh, not everyone has the exact same issues of headaches and diarrhea, or like. But your weaknesses, cravings, panics, listlessness and other symptoms experienced in your JF are the same ones the rest of us have experienced. Promise! So you see where I'm going with this -- learn from climbers that have summitted and come down to tell about it. Don't think for an instant that you , or me, or Natalie, or Katie, or Jana or Danielle -- can beat the established path that has been blazed ahead of us. We simply can't do it. Knowing the regimen and then sticking to it is imperative. We just aren't smart enough to find a new, better route up the mountain. Stick to the known, proven routes. Going rogue has bad consequences.
So what! You fell off the horse! You did it. Now that is history. Are you going to live in that momentary failure or instead jump back on the horse and ride. I hope you choose the latter, and choose it immediately.
Heathie, you have inside you a champion. But you'll have to find that champion. Usually the champion doesn't show up in the first couple of days as that time is so full of confusion, angst and flailing about.
But she will show up if you stay on the horse. But, before she does, it seems like you are about to expire. The body throws a fit, and then capitulates finally in day 4, 5 or 6. This gets lots easier. We are sure rooting for you and want you to ride with us on our journey to get healthy and lose weight. We hereby grant you a full absolution of your face plant! Now c'mon, go with us. You can only fail if you quit. So don't quit! :)
- See more at: http://community.rebootwithjoe.com/discussions/topic/100-lbs-or-more-starting-a-9113-30-day-reboot?p=83#sthash.AEETWGPg.dpuf
Thursday, October 17, 2013
My Personal Dialogue
I belong to several wonderful and amazing groups who are committed to the same path that I have, more or less. I also follow every committed juice faster and raw foodist that I can find on youtube. Lately I have seen a rash of people hitting "bumps in the road." It always hurts my heart to see/hear someone questioning their own commitment and wondering if they should throw away all they've accomplished because of the slip ups, whether it be the first one or the 101st one. I have a favorite saying: "You never fail until you quit." The problem is that when you really screw the pooch and dive headfirst into a mountain of processed or fast food, all your past failures and all the nasty chemicals start whispering to you that you are a failure; that you "can't do it" and trying to convince yourself to tune those voices out is really hard while you are under that influence. It's like trying to talk to an alcoholic about AA WHILE they are drunk. It just doesn't work.
I consider there to be two kinds of slip-ups. Lets get this straight first. There are slip-ups and then there is screwing the pooch. A slip-up is, for example, eating too much of a food that is actually allowed on your plan. The food is okay but you ate much more of it than planned. Or perhaps you ate a slice of tomato while on a juice fast. It isn't going to really mess with your head in a chemical way but it wasn't "The Plan." Now screwing the pooch is an entirely different thing. For example, going for a value meal at McDonalds, possibly followed up with a box of donuts or a trip to Braum's for a brownie fudge sundae. Of course, there are also all the degrees in between. I have had slip-ups but since I started down this path back in August, I haven't screwed the pooch even once. Not even close. I see these people who seem so committed and so strong and who are even having great results slip and sometimes fall altogether. The ones who just never show back up break my heart. The ones that get up, dust themselves (and the juicer) off, and trot right back down that path again are heroes.
As I said, I've encountered quite a few of both types of slip-ups, fall-downs and crash and burns lately and it's got me asking myself how have I avoided it? I have only experienced the milder version of slip-ups and one week of trying to put bread back into my diet and discovering that was a bad idea. (Previous blog - and for the record, I have taken off the 7 lbs I regained from that little experiment as of today.) Every healthy thing I have attempted in my entire life, I have screwed the pooch within short order and then I've given up entirely. Every time and there have been many. Weight watchers, Nutrisystem, Atkins, South Beach, you name it. I have been the Crowned Queen of excuses and giving up. How have I avoided that?
I know this will sound simplistic but it really, really isn't. I have not screwed any pooches this time for a couple of simple reasons. This plan, this path is awesome. That's reason number one. I don't feel deprived. I have learned the truth about the caca I was eating before and I really, truly, deeply don't have any interest in putting that junk in my body anymore. The other reason is a little harder to articulate so bear with me.
I have changed my personal dialogue. I don't stand in front of a mirror and tell myself I'm thin and healthy and becoming more successful every day. I have literally internalized and come to believe different things about myself. I think of myself as someone who has conquered a huge slavering beast and come out of it with super powers, because I did. I think of myself as someone who loves all those beautiful rainbow treats in the produce section, because I am. I think of myself who has the number of the food industry liars and the FDA and the Dept of Ag liars and doesn't fall for their bs anymore. I'm smarter than that. I think of myself as someone who sets a good example for her family and friends because I AM. And I think of myself as someone who is clearly losing weight and becoming healthier and stronger every day Because. I. Am.
I am human and, let's face it, the holidays are approaching like a locomotive. I was concerned that the first big test would be all the masses of Halloween candy that appeared a couple of weeks ago. But honest to goodness, it just isn't even on my radar. Not even when a friend holds out a big basket of it and says, "have a piece!" I mean it sincerely when I say it isn't even difficult to say, "No thanks." If I ever, finally, face that day, that situation, that I can't say no to and I experience a true Screw-the-pooch moment, I am confident that I will have the strength to turn right back down my chosen path. But I reject the conventional wisdom that says that day is inevitable.
I consider there to be two kinds of slip-ups. Lets get this straight first. There are slip-ups and then there is screwing the pooch. A slip-up is, for example, eating too much of a food that is actually allowed on your plan. The food is okay but you ate much more of it than planned. Or perhaps you ate a slice of tomato while on a juice fast. It isn't going to really mess with your head in a chemical way but it wasn't "The Plan." Now screwing the pooch is an entirely different thing. For example, going for a value meal at McDonalds, possibly followed up with a box of donuts or a trip to Braum's for a brownie fudge sundae. Of course, there are also all the degrees in between. I have had slip-ups but since I started down this path back in August, I haven't screwed the pooch even once. Not even close. I see these people who seem so committed and so strong and who are even having great results slip and sometimes fall altogether. The ones who just never show back up break my heart. The ones that get up, dust themselves (and the juicer) off, and trot right back down that path again are heroes.
As I said, I've encountered quite a few of both types of slip-ups, fall-downs and crash and burns lately and it's got me asking myself how have I avoided it? I have only experienced the milder version of slip-ups and one week of trying to put bread back into my diet and discovering that was a bad idea. (Previous blog - and for the record, I have taken off the 7 lbs I regained from that little experiment as of today.) Every healthy thing I have attempted in my entire life, I have screwed the pooch within short order and then I've given up entirely. Every time and there have been many. Weight watchers, Nutrisystem, Atkins, South Beach, you name it. I have been the Crowned Queen of excuses and giving up. How have I avoided that?
I know this will sound simplistic but it really, really isn't. I have not screwed any pooches this time for a couple of simple reasons. This plan, this path is awesome. That's reason number one. I don't feel deprived. I have learned the truth about the caca I was eating before and I really, truly, deeply don't have any interest in putting that junk in my body anymore. The other reason is a little harder to articulate so bear with me.
I have changed my personal dialogue. I don't stand in front of a mirror and tell myself I'm thin and healthy and becoming more successful every day. I have literally internalized and come to believe different things about myself. I think of myself as someone who has conquered a huge slavering beast and come out of it with super powers, because I did. I think of myself as someone who loves all those beautiful rainbow treats in the produce section, because I am. I think of myself who has the number of the food industry liars and the FDA and the Dept of Ag liars and doesn't fall for their bs anymore. I'm smarter than that. I think of myself as someone who sets a good example for her family and friends because I AM. And I think of myself as someone who is clearly losing weight and becoming healthier and stronger every day Because. I. Am.
I am human and, let's face it, the holidays are approaching like a locomotive. I was concerned that the first big test would be all the masses of Halloween candy that appeared a couple of weeks ago. But honest to goodness, it just isn't even on my radar. Not even when a friend holds out a big basket of it and says, "have a piece!" I mean it sincerely when I say it isn't even difficult to say, "No thanks." If I ever, finally, face that day, that situation, that I can't say no to and I experience a true Screw-the-pooch moment, I am confident that I will have the strength to turn right back down my chosen path. But I reject the conventional wisdom that says that day is inevitable.
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