Stay Out!

You know what makes me pretty mad? You may or may not, but you are about to find out if you read this.

So I'm driving around town today and I drive by one of the classic Baptist (I think, maybe not but it's a decent assumption) church. In the yard around they had placed some hundreds, or thousands, of white crosses and a sign that says something about 1000 babies killed by their mothers in this county.

I'm assuming that this is a response to President Obama's executive order on abortion. The order lifts the ban on federal funding to organizations that have anything to do with abortion. Be it education or anything. Additionally, the ban expanded to organizations that didn't even get their funding for abortion-related activities from federal funding. As far as I'm concerned, if a health education organization even acknowledged abortion, then it was banned.

It's one thing to not approve of abortion on a personal level. That's ok with me, but why try to demean people who make that decision? Not everyone in this world (6+ billion, right?) has the same moral code on things like that. Just because someone believes something different, doesn't mean they are wrong. My problem comes with these demonstrations that try to get into other people's business.

If someone wants to get information on this for one reason or another, so be it. People should stick to their own business on things that have no direct effect on them. If you don't like it, and it doesn't hurt you, then don't worry about it. I'm not saying that people should just go at whimsy to get abortions, but people should be at least allowed to get information and counseling on these things. Luckily Mr. Obama is not falling to these molders of people's mental clay and allowing them to change what he believes in; I hope he continues to stay away from Ann Colter and crew. :)

Blah, that post doesn't even make sense. Of well, at least I got some of it off my chest.

Post-Cleanse

Ok, well.. The past 24 hours has been very interesting to say the least.

Without going into too many details (you really don't want to know haha) the past 24 hours (i.e. since I have finished the Cleanse and returned to eating.. well basically everything in sight) have been one of the most rollercoaster-esque (word?) times of my life.

Well, we decided to head to a friends house the break the fast at 12:01 AM this morning.. in Indian style. Curry chicken was, of course, the meal on tap for the event. Great meal btw as well.

However, a late addition to the breakfast party also included some indulgence into the word of fermented beverages. Advice to anyone thinking about cleansing in any way: take it easy on drinking following the cleanse.. :) Regardless, the past 24 hours has been very fun, and very not fun at times. That is all.

Moving on, it has been good since I have returned to flavor. I will continue to savor the foods that will be fueling my body again, at least for the next few days, much more than I have, perhaps ever, I have a feeling. Additionally, I am very glad to see the return of coffee and tea: two much missed beverages for me and my awareness.

So, what do I have to say to sum up this experience? 1) This was probably the single hardest thing I have ever done in my life. 2) I lost 8 pounds in 2 week: aka alot, but not as much as I anticipated to be honest, and it will probably be back by two days from now. 3) If I ever do this experience again, I will stick to 10 days and plan it out much better next time. 4) I do not really feel much healthier than before, especially since I have been eating alot of ice cream in the past 24 hours. 5) I do feel that I have a better appreciation for food and tastes than before, but I'm not sure how long this will last.

I am glad, overall, that I had this experience. Maybe not so much for the physical attributes of it, but moreso for the emotional and mental portions of the journey. It has been quite a journey.

Where do I go from here? I'm not quite sure. I am going to just eat like I had for 21 years for the next week until Chinese New Year (next Monday) at which point I will make beef and brocolli. Then I will come to a conclusion about how I would like to semi-permanently suite my diet. I don't feel like I will return to ova-lacto-terianism like I did last semester. However, as I sit now, I feel like I would like to cut out MAJOR entrees of beef and pork when possible. I.e. when I move out of MS permanently (presumably) I will not eat any steaks or pork chops etc. but not be strictly go against chicken or turkey or dishes with dark meats in them. I know this is getting out of any sort of vegetarianism, but that is just how things are looking as of now.

Additionally, I am going to try out another challenge, influenced by a number of factors. After my birthday in two weeks.. I will be attempting a 30 day alcohol free time. This will be good for me in multiple ways, hopefully. But I will get more into this as the time gets close.

Until then, ciao.

Day 10

Ok, my original plan is now over. So my plan for the original cleanse has been achieved, to much difficult success.

From here on out, shouldn't be too bad. I am just waiting for Monday morning!! Hot pockets and grits will prevail in my stomach come this time.

Day 9 over

Four more days. That's pretty much all I have to say.

Regardless, I feel pretty good. I say pretty, not just good, or very good, or fair. I mean pretty good. I don't feel extraordinary as some reports suggest on this diet.. Therefore, I'm not certain that one can derive the "eurphoric" feelings as described by this. It is not terribly hard to do after about day 6, but it's just plain annoying and you continuously look forward to the day you stop, which of course of MLKJ Day!

Luckily, the long wait will soon be over and I can get back to deliciousness of pseudo-vegetarianism. I shall cherish this day for all time, until perhaps next time. But I can't even discuss that possibility right now... I'll wait till Monday night over raw fish..

Also, I am tired of waiting on grad schools, they need to hurry up and tell me my fate.

Day 8

Ah.. well nothing important.. I may have to go get some more juices and fruits and things tomorrow because I can not tonight.. big basketball game, got to go suffer through the smells of the Hump dogs and cookies.

Anyways, a list of the foods I will be enjoying in my first few days of next week.

Oatmeal with peanut butter and honey.
Progresso vegetable soup (got to take it easy, son)
Hot n Ready Little Ceasar's cheese pizza.
Spicy Tuna rolls.
Waffle Hut hashbrowns
Potatoes Au Gratin!!!!!111!

Day 7

Ok, it's the morning after day 7, but whatever.

Thank god that it's the downhill point from this point. It's not that it's bad or that my cravings for flavor are near as bad as they were last week. I'm just reading to get this crap over with.

Not regretting anything, actually I am right now since I have 5.76 more days left, but I am glad I've done this. I will tell you have a great appreciation for food right now. And coffee. And bananas foster. Also, it would suck to be a cave man without fire. I will tell you that much.

Regardless, the halfway point has come and gone. I'm feeling pretty good and trying to stretch my food out to make it on what I have, although I may have to go to the store later to get some foods, and stock up for the meals that I will be cooking next week with fervor.

Otherwise, nothing incredibly to update about..

Zai jian.

Weekend Update

Currently, it's 4:30 on Sunday afternoon. Going ahead and posting on Saturday and Sunday.

I mean, there's not much to say. I played from Bball yesterday, got pretty tired, but I'm also out of shape so.. Regardless, got to keep the energy coming into the body more than normal to get any production out of it when you're doing exercise on the Cleanse.

Otherwise, energy is going well. I am really looking forward to next Monday though and some real food. I feel fine, but I still want some damn cooked food!!! You can't imagine the desire for even decent food until you can't eat it. I know for at least the first week after this I am going to appreciate the little things in food much more than before. We have even made a list of the things we will get to eat when we can. Yes this is just torture for us, and it's not like we had to go through this. Still I'm not upset that I started, and have no plans to stop as far as I've come now: almost halfway.

In other news, United 3-0 Chelsea.

Also, I was told I looked like death today as I got ripped off for $8 at Ruby Tuesday for the salad bar. I was certain that it was only 3$ but apparently certainty can be deathly wrong. Regardless, one of my friends said I look like death, but I'm not sure that Death doesn't look like me. I'm really sure that I look all that different from 1 week ago, other than I have lost some weight.

Nevertheless, further on we trudge into the famine, I mean Cleanse.

Good night and good evening.

Day 4

Day 4, Friday has come and is almost gone. Although I think I will head out to a friends house here in a bit and challenge the world.

Regardless, today went pretty well, I was able to keep hunger away during my 3-hour class stretch. Eating a few carrots and other things while walking between classes helps alot with that, also eating a good breakfast is important.

The afternoon came about a test of a pick up soccer. It went pretty well for about an hour then I got tired. But that was more likely due to lack of fitness than anything else. Regardless, it was now time for smoothies.

We went to Kroger and bought a plethora of fruits and et cetera. Proceeded to make delicious smoothies and greatness. Mine consisted of banana, strawberry, black and blue berries, mango, orange and apple juice, and of course spinach. Sweetness. It's working out pretty well so far.

All in all today was good, I felt good for alot of the day, but I am definatelly looking forward to next Monday.

Well until next time.
Goodnight and good evening.

Day 3

Well day three is about to be over. After the scene this morning everything else went pretty well for the day. Nothing too bad.

Not much to update about, I am just trying to chug along for the next 11 days. It's a long time from now, hopefully not too long.

We did discover some new things to eat, we think. Honey all natural honey that is should provide a pretty good source of calories for the week. Additionally, Muesli, which is made from raisins and raw rolled oats should provide a nice breakfast for the next week. I can't prove it's necessarily completely raw, but definitely devoid of preservatives and additives. At the very least it is raw oats.

That's about all for this update, shall continue tomorrow. I believe tomorrow night instead of the regular drinking in college, the three cleansers shall make smoothies (lame, yes..) for dinner/dessert.

Until later.

Good evening and good night.

Ok, so I got up this morning and felt really really bad a weak. However, after 30 minutes and drinking some orange juice, eat a banana and some walnuts, I feel much better, still kinda bad.

Lesson to be learnt: don't skimp on the food in the evening. From about 7PM on, I only ate a salad from Wendy's and part of a bell pepper. Bell peppers are nasty little things raw, by the way.

So, thusly, I will try to make it out until Monday with what I have, but I think I will go to a more fruit-based diet next week like the new contestant Matt is doing. It may be worse for my blood sugar, but at least my blood sugar won't be down like it was this morning! Can't have that happening.

Well, will report on the rest of the day later on tonight. Ciao.

We'll day two is over. Only 12 more to go. But there is good news! And it will help me (us) alot in our journey. Unfortunately, you'll have to wait to find out at the end of the post.

Today I had similiar foods from yesterday. Only I had a 3 hour bloc of classes where I didn't eat, so I get pretty hungry and in kicked the withdrawals. It was pretty sh*tty needless to say.

I have discovered that nuts are the key. They suppress your appetite. Additionally, they provide a decent amount of protein and much needed caloric energy. I'm still trying to eat as much as possible of these non-high-calorie-dense foods continually so I can get as many calories as possible in to try and limit muscle trophy. I had the pecans, spinach, and carrots at school again today. It's hard to get full on just the vegetables so the nuts are very welcome.

It's not too bad. They worst other than the mid day craving was when my roommate asked me to go to Wendy's with him tonight, he of course had a baconator, which wasn't bad for me because I have been used to no meat from Vegetarianism, but the Oreo Frosty was terribly tempting as well as the fries. This trip, however, leads me to today's news...

We have recruited another journeyman for our cleanse experiment. During our trip to Wendy's, I was outlining the Cleanse to Matt, and he fell into my attorney trap and was convinced to do it. So now we have three members in our boat sailing to the legendary land of Cleanse. His will be more of a fruit diet because he is limited in his tastes for vegetables though. We shall see how it goes.

Good evening and good night.

Day 1 report

So day one saw the beginning of the cleanse and now I am at the end of the road for the day and we shall see how it goes.

I'm feeling decent right now. When changing things, the first few days are always the hardest regardless of what it is so that is not unexpected.

Started the day off with an apple and glass of classic H2O. Made myself and all day lunch/snack with a handful of spinach, 2 large full carrots, a handful of pecans, and a pear. Over the course of the day I just snacked on all these things. I think this may be a key, if you keep snacking on these types of foods, the withdrawal symptoms from regular eating are lessened. You get fuller by continuing to eat and your body is unable to send signals to your mind that you need food, because you are continually eating. Additionally, the continuous eating is important because supposedly you still need to get a minimum number of calories to keep your body from metabolizing your muscles. By eating alot of these (relatively) low calorie foods, you stay full and are able to get more calories into you to make sure you stay safe during the cleanse.

As far as temptations, today had a few, friends eating nice au gratin potatoes and fajitas, etc. But the worst came about 4PM this afternoon after playing some basketball, I had a real bad craving for some cheese pizza, not sure why but it just came to me. I held fast though.

Regardless, since there is two of us doing this cleanse (Charles and myself) we should be ok, and be able to help each other along in our quest for gloring.

Good evening and good night.

First Post

This is officially the first post of the blog for the first cleanse. The 2009 Joe Cleanse. I'm using this blog for now to track the progress of this test.

Well, the "Cleanse" consists of not a fast, but a cleansing diet. Basically the raw foods diet. The plan is to eat only things that are edible without cooking. Mainly fruits, vegetables and nuts. Along with some water and of course 100% fruit juice.

This plan is an attempt (probably misguided but whatever) to clean the system out. No processed foods (juice.. eh) nor anything that has been cooked. Supposedly, there are enzymes in alot of raw foods that help clean out the system (don't think about it too much, it's not pleasant). Plus it's good to keep all the good stuff that taste good out of the system for a bit. Maybe it will flush everything out.

So the plan is to do it for two weeks... starting today, January 6th, 2009. It's not just me though, it's Mr. Charles Mullen who is also participating in this adventure. He started yesterday, but it's whatever.

Ok, so it all started with my romp into vegetarianism last fall. That went well and I liked it, felt reasonably healthier, maybe except the many fries and shakes from burgerking but that's another story. Anyways, after my trip in vegetarianism, I went home for the Christmas holidays. Enter the Dragon aka lots of drinking and eating of meat and plenty of unhealthy things.

Fast forward a bit and I was reading through some other blogs and such and this guy talked about doing something he called the "Master Cleanse." This MC consists of fasting basically. Drinking only a mixture of water, maple syrup, lemon juice, and ceyanne pepper. Additionally, one on the MC would drink a glass of saline in the morning as some sort of reverse enema. This is to be done for 10 days and supposedly after the 4th day you feel better than ever.. well I'm not sure that's true but whatever.

So I took the idea and ran with it a bit. I didn't think I would survive (mentally or physically) for 10 days without any real sustiance. I have gone a level down... this raw food diet. I think it will work out. We'll see how it goes. Maybe it's not the greatest idea in the world but it is a test of my self-discipline as well as a way to get back into pseudo-vegetarianism and etcetera.

Anyways, wish me (us) luck in the next 2 weeks and hopefully it goes well!