A GEEK'S JOURNEY TOWARDS BETTER HEALTH

ihearthealth · **Joined:** Mon May 09, 2011 4:39 am **Posts:** 125

(Btw, I love love love the post you quited from Doug777. I'm printing it out and hanging it up!!!)

Amii · **Posted:** Wed Jan 11, 2012 2:59 pm

Hi nerdy

... I feel so weird calling you that, as if I'm being mean to you haha. Are you a doctor/med student?

What you say about being one of those normal people who can eat whatever and not think about it, remember that that isn't really normal in this western society. It's highly abnormal, I'd say... but if you can make it there then it's a real achievement

you can do it, you're doing so well.

Are you sure you're drinking enough lemonade?

nerdygeek · **Joined:** Sun Oct 16, 2011 7:46 am **Posts:** 228

Crissy: So happy that I still have my pal here with me! I feel your support radiating through my screen!

And I'm sending it right back at ya!

IhearthealthWelcome girl! I have to say that I am very impressed with you undertaking this cleanse with 2 little ones! Raising toddlers must be exhausting and then having to fast on top of it...hats off to you girl! I remember when my baby sister was a toddler (she's 6 now), I felt like I was constantly running after ALL the time, she had such boundless energy, I'd just shake my head at times and wonder where it was all coming from! Well, I know you're going to do great and I am so humbled that you find my posts inspiring...please do stay on as long as you can....definitely the more the merrier!!!

Amii: You can call me nerdy!

I think of it as a term of endearment! So many years of being teased in elementary, high school for being a nerd/geek...I decided that it was actually a really cool name and I took the power back from them by using it myself! I believe that normalcy is overrated and if being a nerd/geek sets me apart or makes me different, that's fantastic! And yes to answer your question, I am a medical student, working on my MD-PhD...apparently I love school so much, I never want to leave or maybe I love torturing myself :lol:

Thanks for your encouraging words! Also, I am drinking approximately 60-64 ounces of the lemonade everyday...I make 2 separate 30-32 ounces of the lemonade and drink it throughout the day. So I think I am intaking enough calories....Nevertheless, my days are just so long and I feel the drain of energy towards the end more...

DAY 10

So I reached the landmark Day 10! Yay! Technically, I know I could just stop here and have nothing to feel bad about...But I dedicated myself to going the long haul this time and I don't feel like I have gotten everything out of this process that I need to get. It's funny, because when I looked on my calendar today and mentally counted out the rest of the days ahead...I groaned out loud because there is just so many days ahead and it's like "I'm really not going to eat for 30 more days?!" Geez!!! :lol:

I know...I know...take it one day at a time....I plan on doing so, but I really couldn't help lamenting about the duration today!

(ALERT: Back to some stories of food porn...if you are feeling weak or shaky, please stop reading now, as I might make you drool (yet again!) :lol:

So, last night was one of my good friend's birthday, he turned 27 and we went over to his house to celebrate before heading out to downtown to grab some drinks and maybe karaoke. (Little side note, I don't drink...I've never actually had an alcoholic beverage, no reason why not, just never really wanted to). Okay Nerdy, get back to the story! Okay! So, I brought over a cake that I bought at this amazing local bakery...it was a chocolate cherry cake with cream cheese frosting, topped with lots of fresh cherries! It looked GOOD! So of course, after singing the Bday song, it was time to cut the cake and I don't know why or how I got assigned to cutting duties. So here I am expertly cutting out nice generous slices to all the guests and of course everyone is moaning about how delicious, and moist and rich and oh so good the cake is! I was almost tempted to just lick the knife (just a little lick, that's all) :lol:

But of course, I refrained, but that was really hard! Especially because my olfactory sense is so strong these days, I could literally smell the maraschino cherries!

So it gets worse! How worse can it get? Well we ended up at this local pizza parlor and they were having half appetizer night, so my entire table of about 18 people, decides to start ordering every single appetizer on the menu! Next thing I know, there is mozzarella sticks, hot wings, and hot hot pizza with every imaginable topping and the cheese just dripping off of it! They also had this french fries dish topped with generous serving of ranch dressing, and buffalo sauce. I have never had that before and it looked great! (Funny thing, I imagined myself having that but with oven baked zucchini sliced like french fries! HAHA..the health kick is kicking in!) Anyways, everyone is licking their fingers and chewing and smiling and laughing and I find myself feeling abit left out. Although I was enjoying my friends' companies, it felt lonely being the only one not eating and sampling all the food and although my cravings are diminished, I still have to say that the social pressures of eating is one of the hardest things about this cleanse. If I was a hermit living in a cave with no social contact, it would be a lot easier I'm sure...but then again, maybe this is preparing me for the "real world" when I am finally off the cleanse and learning how to avoid succumbing to those food that brought me here in the first place. I don't know how much temptation I can handle! The thing is, I don't want to isolate myself and refuse to go to gatherings with my peers, just because there will be food there. I have to learn how to be around lots of delicious, yummy, and tasty food and not dive in!

On an ending note, I have to say that on Day 10, one thing I realize is that although I am not as hungry anymore, I do have some longing. It's like this psychological longing for food...knowing that when night time falls or day breaks, I still am not going to eat...anything....that part is hard. My friends...I miss food.

Amii · **Posted:** Wed Jan 11, 2012 6:28 pm

I found that one of the most helpful (and hardly ever talked about) things for me whilst cleansing was keeping my hands NOT free. It sounds simple enough but I'll give an example... I often eat when I'm sitting in bed on my laptop. When I'm cleansing, in the evenings I tend to just watch shows on my laptop and my hands are free so I instinctively want to eat because that gives my hands something to do. I found that if I lay down whilst watching stuff, then I didn't want to eat anymore. I snuggled up under the covers instead so my hands weren't free... and not many of us can eat whilst lying down. I was able to watch my show without cravings interrupting me. Maybe this'll help? Maybe the longing is part of a habit in a particular situation?

BTW my next cleanse starts in a few days and I've got the first 2 seasons of ER to watch

if being a med student is anything like that then I don't know how you can cleanse at the same time LOL.

ChrissyO · **Joined:** Sun Jan 01, 2012 2:50 pm **Posts:** 840

I hear ya loud and clear, I miss food too. Agreed on the daunting amount of days left just in this month to go.I made my son some tomatoe soup today, could hardly resist tasting it, so I did, one spoonful. That's my confession and I'm sticking to it. :oops:

Got my resolve back, whew, had some more lemonade.

When I'm cleansing and get invited anywhere by my friends, I usually take them up on lunch or dinner out, etc........explaining to them it's for their friendship not the food that I go. They are flattered and dont seem to mind my not eating. So if your friends are real, they wont mind either, they will just be glad to have u there. Hey, with everyone eating, you get to do most of the talking

could be a good thing, just prepare something interesting or funny to talk about, like you do here, you are very entertaining....

You are so cute with your food porn, I decided that now I can blame u if I fall off the wagon, so to speak,

Cheers to another day of accomplishment and success. :!:

C

Kathym1013 · **Joined:** Tue Jan 03, 2012 9:59 am **Posts:** 50

Nerdy you are amazing to be able to be around all of those delicious foods and not eat them. I agree with your rationale though, if you have an active social life, you should keep life as close to "normal" as possible (whatever normal is) and the fact that you are able to go out and have fun hanging with friends and not make it all about "eating" is a major lifetime victory. You are beginning the dis-association process of friends/food/fun. Good for you!!

Fortunately for me and my cleanse, all of my friends are so so busy with their own lives we only hang out maybe quarterly so I have had minimum social functions.

Girl if you can make it through those situations, you got this!

nerdygeek · **Joined:** Sun Oct 16, 2011 7:46 am **Posts:** 228

Amii: That's a very interesting idea with the position and longing...I never thought of it the way. I'm glad that you found another way to avoid caving in! Hope you enjoy your ER DVDS! That should be a lot of fun. Unfortuntately being a medical student is even more intense than they portray on the show and sadly none of my colleagues look anywhere as hot as George Clooney or Julianne Marguiles!

Crissy: Thanks for "confessing" your little sin yesterday! I can picture you taking a little sip of the soup and looking around making sure nobody caught you! :lol:

You made me crave some tomato soup thinking of that imagery! And yes...I take full blame for any and all falls of the wagon that you might encounter, as a result of my food porns! :wink:

Kathy: You will be missed! A part of me envies you abit as I too would love to be just done already!! But I will hang on a bit longer. Come back and "check" on us?

DAY 11

Today went by really fast thankfully. My tongue is completely pink again and my bad breath is greatly diminished! I wonder if that means that I am not detoxifying as much impurities as before :?:

Oh well...I am still going to persist along. Funny thing today, I started researching soup recipes that I am going to make to break my fast in 30 days or so! Why did I start now? Especially when I already know how to make vegetable soup? I have been really thinking of how I am going to reorganize my eating when this whole fasting is over and I was looking for new ideas to implement in the future. I am thinking of eating mainly vegetarian moving on, with an option to add seafood and maybe lean chicken once in a while. I like the idea of eating only fresh food and things that are not in a box and preserved. So I spent like my entire lunch break (not eating obviously!) but looking through recipes online. I joined allrecipes.com and have saved over 20 recipes of amazing looking vegetable-inspired dishes! I am SO looking forward to eating healthier and I feel so energized to take control of my eating. I plan on decreasing my dining out incidences, making all my food and paying very close attention to what I put in my mouth. After all this cleansing, I'd hate to start adding in toxic products back into my newly "cleaned" system. I want a fresh start and this cleanse is giving me just that.

I ran out of lemons today and had to go to Trader Joe's to pick some up and I found myself loitering around the vegetable and fruit section. I was just admiring all the different colors of veggies out there and was imagining myself cutting them up and eating them! There had such fresh looking eggplants, zucchinis, bellpeppers, squash, avocados, apples, mangos, green beans...I keep thinking to myself that nature has given us so many wonderfully delicious and beautiful food products already, it's a wonder we still go out and seek out man-made, factory produced, toxin-filled food that does nothing but cause us disease. I like this new way of thinking...I passed by the chocolate and candy section, and the cookies and whatnot, and I didn't even feel the urge to stop...all I could think of was that bright orange bellpepper that I just left behind in the produce aisle and just how crunchy those green beans would taste after I have stir-fried them!

Of course, I get home and my house smells like a cafetaria and for a second I think I am about to get weak, but then I deeply inhale, say hello to my roommates/chef-wanna-bes, and bid them adieu and off to my room I go. I dont feel envy or weak or hungry, I feel resolved to stay the course and yield to temptation. I like this feeling. I hope this feeling lasts...

Amii · **Posted:** Fri Jan 13, 2012 3:00 am

Hiii nerdy,

Do you have an exercise routine normally? If not, now might be a good time to start implementing steps towards one. I mean just creating the habit of same time, same place. No real exercise right now. I'm suggesting it because I read that our bodies become very adaptable whilst fasting.

Here's my suggestion: Pick a time of day (the same time every day) where you know you'll get 30 mins or so free. Start today by just putting on your trainers and stepping outside. Walk just ten steps or so. Then go back in, change back into your other clothes, and continue on with your day.
After about 5 days of this, start walking a bit further in your daily step-outside. Walk like 2 minutes. After 5 days, walk 5 minutes, or increase as you want. The idea is just to build a stressless habit easily that you can sneakily turn into real exercise without even noticing.

After 15 days I would push it up to 20 minutes of walk/run intervals. By the time you finish cleansing (you say in 30 days) you could be running for 20 minutes in your designated time of day and you'll have made it a habit because of 30 days of stepping outside in training clothes. That way, when you break your cleanse you'll have an exercise habit already in place to support you and encourage healthy eating, and to fall back on just in case.

So as part of your day to day schedule, you know that, for instance, at 7:30am, every day, on the dot, without fail, you change into your workout clothes and step outside for a minute... that eventually turns into at 7:30 every single day you step outside in your workout clothes and end up running. Apparently making it the same time of day is very important to sticking to it and making it a real habit. There also needs to be a trigger, something you associate with doing right before this new habit. Like, waking up or brushing your teeth.

Sorry for blabbing on but I thought it might be useful to think about given your recipe planning haha

ihearthealth · **Joined:** Mon May 09, 2011 4:39 am **Posts:** 125

Love that tip Amii!! Thanks for sharing!

nerdygeek · **Joined:** Sun Oct 16, 2011 7:46 am **Posts:** 228

Hi Amii and iheatheart! I forgot to mention in my daily blogs that I usually go to the gym just about every other day..I average about 5 miles on the treadmill for a total of like an hour or so. I find that my energy level has been high enough to maintain that and additionally, some days I do the stairmaster instead. Since my time is getting shorter, I am thinking of using some Jillian Michaels CDs that I bought a few months back that I haven't used yet, to cut down on time.

nerdygeek · **Joined:** Sun Oct 16, 2011 7:46 am **Posts:** 228

DAY 12

Today was not easy at all. It's funny how yesterday I felt so high and today I'm feeling so down. My classes are really long (some as long as 4 hours straight) sometimes and although I have my lemonade with me, I am surrounded with people all eating their snacks and whatnot and I wish I was eating. I know I'm whining and I don't like feeling or sounding like this but my mood is definitely depressed today. My schedule is so intense and I feel like 600 or even 800 calories is not enough to drive me much longer. I am cutting up on cadavers all day and they smell bad and hard to work with and im just like damn... I am drinking more lemonade yet I still dont feel satiated. I want solid food. I can't help it. I want to be strong and all chipper and happy..but today is not a great day for all that

On a lighter note...my friends and I are going to the club tonite to finish celebrating our friend's birthday from Tuesday. I went shopping for a new dress. Found a tight little number and although it fit, I still didn't like the way my body looked in it...It's weird, I know the scale probably might indicate a 10lb loss by now, I still don't see fully much of a change in my body. I bought the dress anyways...My roommates loved it so maybe I'm blind. Oh well...I should be a little more excited that I get to play dress-up and all, but for some reason my mood is not being lifted. I am also not really a club person, only been like 2 other times before and it's not my scene at all...oh well, guess I get to spend time with friends and maybe get some dancing in. That might cheer me up...release some endorphins! Sorry y'all to sound like such a downer...Perhaps tomorrow will be a better day.

ChrissyO · **Joined:** Sun Jan 01, 2012 2:50 pm **Posts:** 840

Glad ur not sick, nerdy, this bug is killing me. :shock:

Waiting for a break in the clouds.

Have fun, this weekend, keep us posted, cheer up, better days ahead.

C

nerdygeek · **Joined:** Sun Oct 16, 2011 7:46 am **Posts:** 228

DAY 13

I cheated on the cleanse. I ate a banana and an apple. I feel very bad about that. It was a rough few days. I am going to take a break from posting for a couple of days. I will be back by Tuesday or perhaps Wednesday. Maybe even sooner...I just have a lot of stuff going on with my academics right now and my time is very constrained. I hope you are all hanging in tough out there. I am sorry that I haven't been able to check in as much as I would have loved to. But you all inspire me and I am rooting for all of you. I am not quitting the cleanse...far from it. I am now even more resolved to make sure that I complete my 40 days. I have decided to go an extra 2 days to compensate for my failure this week. My new end date is February 12. I hope to "see" you all back here if not in the next few days. Wishing you all the best!

kate_ · **Posted:** Sun Jan 15, 2012 9:49 am

nerdy,

You didnt cheat! You did 12 days which considering all the food around you with friends is fantastic!
Thats something to be proud of and just because you didnt get to the 30 or 40 day mark dont feel down.
You achieved the Master Cleanse... be very proud of that

kate x

ChrissyO · **Joined:** Sun Jan 01, 2012 2:50 pm **Posts:** 840

Dont worry Nerdy......your body may have needed a slowdown from the detox...........I like the way you look at it though, get back up and continue......good girl.

Dont get down on yourself, you put good foods in your body, no harm there. :wink:

Your bud on MC forever.......well a few weeks anyway...

C

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A GEEK'S JOURNEY TOWARDS BETTER HEALTH

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