Friday, December 26, 2008

Cleanse Time

If you have issues with people fasting save yourself the aggravation and do not read any further. I consider myself to be pretty damn knowledgeable about health and nutrition. It's a personal interest of mine so if you think I am full of shit I understand. There are two schools of thought on fasting, those who think it is dangerous and stupid and those who find it beneficial. There are health risks and it isn't recommended by most physicians but I figure there must be something to it if people have been doing it for 150 years.

I have consumed more fast food, soda and sweets in the last 6 weeks than I have all year. My body is sick with preservatives, sugar, fat and other disgusting additives. Things have been so hectic I just let my health take a shit. I have caffeine running through my veins and to sleep I have Tylenol pm. Disgusting. My normal happy super healthy self would drink at least 50 oz of water a day and eat fresh veggies and fruit throughout the day keeping my meat intake to a minimum. The sweet tooth never really goes away but the fruit usually keeps me satisfied. This last year before my downfall, I was in the best shape of my life. My workouts were about an hour and half a day six days a week. Strength training and running transformed my body. I felt strong and super confident.

I am about 5'10: 150lbs, yes I am a giant! (I can't believe I admitted that!) But back when I was taking care of myself everyone would ask me if I was a model! I sorta miss those days even though models are almost all ugly?!? At my prime I was about 145 but all muscle now I am only 5lbs heavier but not so toned. I haven't lost total control but I'm getting there fast.

Where I am at now: I haven't gained much weight but I have lost a lot of muscle and I crave JUNK all day. There was a time when I wouldn't think twice about drinking a soda it was just no. Now I crave it. I quit drinking soda about 8 years ago and fell off this year. Not that I keep it in my fridge but I do often purchase it at school. This is where the cleanse comes in. I did this master cleanse last year at around this time for TEN days. Some will argue that fasting is extremely dangerous and actually does more harm to your metabolism than good. Starving yourself of protein causes your body to eat your muscle that is a fact but muscle memory is strong. I find that even though I lose some muscle as long as I continue my weight training during the fast I am able to get back to my normal toned self in about 7 days. At which time I also eat about 6x a day small meals of equal protein to carbs and lots of water. Sometimes I kick up the protein because I love feeling strong by building muscle.

If you are one of those girls who is afraid of weight training because you dont want to look like Chyna then I recommend you read this. I forgot the guys name but he explains that women do not create the testosterone necessary to bulk up like that naturally. So don't worry. The truth is the more weight training you incorporate into your work out the more weight you will lose and the faster your metabolism gets. I digress.

This is what I experienced last year while cleansing:

*Initial boredom--you realize if you are like me that food dominates your thoughts
*obsessive daydreaming about gross food that I didnt even usually eat
*bouts of weakness
*irritability
*bad breathe
*white tongue

Then around day 3 I started experiencing wonderful things:
*excessive energy
*the best sleep ever and wonderful dreams
*dropped a lot of weight (although it is water weight)
*even more heightened sense of smell
*extreme mental clarity
*skin became very clear and shiny
*eyeballs were very white
*no mood swings

I just felt freakin great. So revitalized and rejuvenated it was unreal. I did this with three other co-workers and we all had the same or similar experience. The other girls have fasted again since but I know it is not the best thing for your body so I figured one time a year is sufficient. What happens is you give your digestive tract a break and clean out all the old yucky poisons in your body. Essentially prepping it for a new diet of fresh veggies, fruit and organic food. Don't get me wrong I will still eat some processed food but not the sick stuff like frozen dinners and high sodium high fat shit. Just good stuff. I wasn't able to eat meat for a while, in fact I just started eating red meat again this last six weeks. My taste for it went away and it disgusted me a bit too thanks to that stupid book Skinny Bitch. The best thing to keep in mind is that you should eat for sustenance, nutrients and energy not for entertainment! This challenge of mine is two fold: a. to clean out the poison and b. to start over with a new diet.

Since I am moving next week and starting fresh I figured what better way than to do it with a cleaned out system. Get rid of all this yucky shit that is proven to make you fat, unhealthy, moody, have gross skin, gross hair, and be sickly. I am going to create a temporary blog for my adventure so I don't drive you guys away. I will post it and if you are so inclined to check out the torture I put myself through to regain my health then please do.

There is ongoing research about the effects of one's diet in relation to their mental well being in addition to their physical health. I mean think about all the people whos lives were transformed by eliminating Gluttin from thier diets. (which Im skeptical of) ADHD, depression, and other mental illnesses are also strongly correlated to specific unhealthy eating habits. It requires discipline but the rewards are countless. When your mind is healthy you are able to cope with pressure and stress better and your focus is on point ...just what I need! You will see that your new outlook on life when you are healthy attracts a lot of positivity to you. And it worked for me, my co workers and there are many other testimonials online. Check it out!

1 comment:

Krista said...

I am a fan of cleanses too, but I don't usually do them for that long myself. Especially since I'm training for a half-marathon right now - it would probably make me feel a bit week. I know exactly what you mean though. Since finals ended I've been working out almost every day, and now that I'm back home away from family I dropped $200 on groceries with lots of fresh produce and organic goodies. Yay for health!