Wow, it's been 6 years since I last posted (and last lemonade dieted)!
Well, just posting to say I successfully completed another 10 days of this diet. This time I didn't keep a running diary of the ins and outs. But I got through it without too much struggle.
It's strange, I did this on a whim more than a need or strong desire. My maple syrup is set to expire April 12, so I figured- "why let it go to waste?" So I started last Monday (March 31, 2014), actually only intending to do 3 or 5 days. But once I started, I couldn't convince myself in the point of stopping. So I decided to do the whole 10.
I'm currently on orange juice day, and for my own record, I want to make note of what was difficult this time around and what was good. To start off with something good, for one, living in Japan, we have certain amenities like washlets (toilet seats that spray you) and that made the frequent bathroom trips much better than I remember them being last time. Also, this time, instead of making my lemonade for the entire day in the morning, I instead made a mix of the water and maple syrup in a 2-liter bottle that I could bring with me to work, along with a kit of a couple lemons, measuring spoons, hand juicer and cayenne pepper. During lunch time I would usually go to the break room or to my car to cut and juice lemons. It was a bit tedious to be honest. And because of this setup, I couldn't just take a sip immediately when I was feeling hungry. But the benefit was that the lemonade was always fresh.
I remember last time around days 5, 6 and 7 I didn't feel so great and remember having this terrible bitter, nothing taste in my mouth. I was pretty sure the lemon juice was interacting with the plastic container I had kept my daily reserve in. This time, because there was no lemon juice mixing with plastic and I drank only from a glass, there were no particularly bitter, chemical tastes. The disgusting taste of nothing still came, but that's just part of the package and what happens when you haven't eaten food for days.
The Smooth Move laxative tea is still terrible tasting. I don't understand it! The tea itself doesn't taste bad when it's in your mouth, it's just when it leaves your mouth and there is this sweetly disgusting after-taste. It's the worst! But interestingly, I found this time that there were no cramps this time at all. It actually (finally) lived up to it's name!
The saltwater flush was also still unpleasant, but I didn't have any troubles getting or keeping it down this time. I guess it's because I figured out the trick early on last time: concentrated salt water mix followed by fresh water chasers; same effect. What I would do is have two glasses of equal size, one filled with water, one filled with saltwater. And I would go back and forth sipping each one. After that I would drink one more glass of fresh water to make 1 liter. It worked. Although, I kinda didn't think about whether to use tapwater or distilled water for the flush. I used tapwater for the first 7 days or so, since it was just passing through. I think that it was okay, but on day 8 or so I decided to use bottled water, just in case. But there were no noticeable differences.
Now I'm on orange juice day, and I don't remember the wait for solid food being this long and grueling. I bought a bag of oranges last week. But I remember last time, I barely had the strength to squeeze oranges for orange juice on day 11. So this time I decided I would buy some store bought juice just in case (I wasn't able to find anywhere in the book where it said the orange juice should be self-made; I think this was just a tradition in my family). I went to the supermarket yesterday and unbelievably couldn't find any non-cheap orange juice without added flavoring at either of the 2 supermarkets I went to. So I went home, and squeezed the pulpiest, thickest glass of orange juice I've ever made and put it in the fridge for the morning. I drank it this morning, and while the thick pulp didn't cause my stomach any distress, I could still feel reactions going on down there. Nothing major, just signs that the systems were being reactivated. But after spending all that time squeezing juice for one glass of OJ, I decided I was going to rely on store bought. Fortunately today at lunchtime at work, I was able to find a good 100% juice hand-squeezed with no added flavoring. I'm drinking and enjoying that now as I write. Still, I can't wait to be able to enjoy the sensation of solid food again! Sunday can't get here soon enough!
Ironically, while I started with the intent to use all the maple syrup I had, I actually cut back on the maple syrup, and in the end, I'm still left with a jug that's still probably 80% full...
Currently, my weight is 71.5 kg (down from about 75 or so). But since I didn't actually do this primarily to lose weight, I'm pretty sure that weight is gonna come back. I just hope it's not right away.