Mastercleanse Days 2 & 3

So. first things first.  today is day 3 and i weighed myself as soon as i woke up.  i'm down to 160.4 lbs., the lighter side of me since i can remember. =p  i also took my waist measurements.  the narrowest part measured 35 inches, meaning i lost 1 inch.  but the lower part did not budge, so my belly is still very much with me.  he he.

for those of you [about 32 of you, if sitemeter is doing it's job correctly], who are just tuning in, i am on my 10-day Mastercleanse detox diet.  you can check in on why and how i began this on my "I'm back!"  post here.

so, onto my report...

Day 2

yesterday was pretty busy up until i went home at about 5 pm so whenever i felt hungry i would just gulp down a few swigs of the juice and went on my busy day.  All in all yesterday was a lot better than day 1.  forgive me but i cannot say anything more about day 2, i'll explain in a bit...

Day 3

it's a holiday today so i had a lot of time on my hands.  this doesn't mean that there wasn't any work to do, i have yet to tick off a single item in my to-do-list.  but i decided to take it easy as my daughter has been complaining in a major way how i always am on the pc, working, and that i never play with them.  I can write a whole other post about this part of my life but it does not belong here so i won't.

i've been feeling a bit light-headed today, just a wee bit. so i don't remember anything else about yesterday. =P  i am not as hungry as the first day or probably yesterday but i feel a bit strange, i can't explain it.  i do not feel weak, i do not feel tired, i do not feel like i'm starving.  it's more like how you feel when you lack sleep.  it's weird because i had more than my fair share of 8 hours, so why feel like this?

i read somewhere that when you are on the cleanse your body rids yourself of toxins and it's [your body] going to tell you what you need.  and maybe that's just it.  i don't get much sleep, HAVE NOT GOTTEN MUCH SLEEP SINCE 5 YEARS AGO, when i first gave birth to my daughter, lol!

anyways, i also missed food today. nothing specific in particular, and i do not miss food like i want to gobble up everything in sight.  i just miss tasting different textures in my mouth, different tastes.  i'm kinda tired of the juice.  i think when this batch of calamansi runs out, i'm switching to lemons.

I also have to drink more water.  i hardly drink any.  and tomorrow morning i'm doing the dreaded salt water flush. =P

sorry for this crappy post but i really don't feel like writing right now. i hope i'll be in a better state of "write" tomorrow, Day 4.  till then...

Mastercleanse Day 1

So, yesterday i started the 10-Day Detoxification process called the Mastercleanse.

If you read my last post i said i tried to do it for 2 days just to see if i could stand not eating anything solid and still be able to go about my normal routine.  i said it was a breeze and that i felt energized the whole time.

yesterday was not as easy as the first time.  i actually felt hungry often and at times almost forgot i was on the cleanse and thought about where to take my lunch... Good thing i did not totally forget and was able to continue the day successfully.  The drink solved the hunger problem.  Running out of it while away from home made me feel weak.  and what i forgot when i did it the first time was that i had to pee a million times.  It was like i was purging out all the excess water in my body!  it was annoying to have to go to the bathroom so many times but i knew it was doing my body good.  and , warninng: TMI... my pee was aplenty and as clear as water. =D [you were warned. =P]

i weighed myself as soon as i woke up yesterday and found that i was on my heavier side. =P  a whopping 165.4lbs.  what i forgot to do was measure my waist so i did that this morning.  i made 2 measurements:

• the narrowest part of the waist : [brace yourselves] 36 inches
• 1 inch above the belly button: [hold on to your seats] 38 inches

aargh.  i did not want to share that.  but i have to, for record purposes, as i am sure to have forgotten the numbers in 10 days time. =P

i also weighed myself this morning and my scale said: 162.4lbs. Tadaaa!  that's 3 pounds of water or pee, ewww, gross!  i wonder how many liters that means.. can you convert pounds to liters? ;)

i am well aware that whatever i lose during the 10 days can come back a hundredfold.  but i am hoping that the cleansing part of this diet will help me clean up my act and really start eating healthy, read: stay off processed food and drinks!

so i am arming myself with more of the juice today and hope that today will be better than yesterday.  =D

back where i started =D

apparently, i've come full circle, ha ha.  i really missed this blog.  to be honest, trying to be cool over there with the cool kids at tumblr just didn't work out for me.  ha ha.  well, when you are 40, trying to be cool is totally uncool.  =P

anyhoo, just a quick update.  i'm stuck at 163 lbs, yo-yo-ing between 160 and 165 but mostly at 163.  been here for about too long than i should be [since June 2011, aarghh!] .  so i'm gonna change all that, yep, for the nth time, but i pray to God, with the i-hope-it's-really-gonna-workout-better-this-time-on-bended-knees kind of pleading.

my latest strategy, is not just aimed at weight loss but over-all detoxification. because skipping rice, sugar, softdrinks, for 2 weeks did not work like magic as it used to when i was half my age.  and  i think i need it.  40 years of eating all the crap that tasted oh so good but now feels oh so heavy [mainly on the belly] need to be purged off my system. i'm talking about doing the mastercleanse.  all of the recommended 10 days of it.

but before i talk about it, just to make sure i get this blogging thing straight for whoever is reading, since there are SOME people [i couldn't believe it myself but sitemeter does not lie, right? right?] who still visited this blog even when i stopped and moved over to where the cool kids are at.

why on earth i wanted to join them kids, i cannot think for the life of me now. =P but hey, don't get me wrong.  it's great over there too, and i met really nice people, learned a lot from them and got motivated with their successes and the support and push they gave me.  it's just me, of course.  i decided, i should come back here and finish this thing once and for all. =D

Soooooo, my last post was here where i said i was moving back to here.  but i never did. So, i'm back here. [whew, that was way too many heres.  but i hope you follow. [pun, super intended] =p

and yes, i missed writing long posts and i'm just the kind of girl who likes to round things up, and finish whatever i started.  and i MISS blogger.  because this is where the REALLY COOL ONES are at.  ha ha!

so back to my new strategy.  i first heard about it [yes believe me, i just learned about it, even if it has been existing for longer than i have, more than 50 years they say] from my mom, who gave me not one but 2 newspaper clippings of 2 different women who tried out the mastercleanse aka the lemonade diet.  Gina gave a day by day account of her experience and Lucy wrote about the struggle with food temptations and the beautiful effects of finishing the detox process.

honestly, it took a few days for me to even consider seriously reading about it.  10 days without anything solid seemed an impossible hurdle, especially for a person like me who lives to eat.  it's my most favorite thing to do.  ha ha!

but when my mom urged me to try it, i began researching on it and the more i learned about it, the more i wanted to see if it was really possible.

So last week, 2 days before the hubby arrived, i decided to try it out.  i said i will do it for 2 days, just to see if i can really go on my day normally sans solid food.  and i was amazed with my experience.  i actually went through those 2 days without food --> feeling great!  here's what happened:

• i drank a minimum of 60 oz. of the juice per day.  i used calamansi instead of lemon since they are much cheaper and much easier to squeeze [i do not have any kind of lemon squeezer contraption].  i had nothing but the drink and alkaline water.
• whenever i'd feel hungry, i would drink a glass or 2 of the juice and i was good to go.
• it was not difficult at all.  i even had to supervise a baking class, got presented with irresistible baked goods, but, i had no desire to eat even one morsel.
• the best part? i felt energized through out, i felt light on m my feet, and the first night, i got sleepy early [i'm a night owl] and i woke up early, REFRESHED [something that does not happen at all! i usually wake up and get up from bed reluctantly, with a heavy heart and butt =P]

i know, i know.  2 days are not 10 days, and it well could have been the usual first-day-high.  and maybe being busy with a gazillion things to do got my mind off food.

and Lucy and and a bunch of others say the 4th day is the hardest.  i realize 10 days are not a joke but if the first 2 days were a breeze, maybe i have hope.

so tomorrow, i start on the detox for the long haul - 10 days.  i expect to lose a bit of weight, which i might just gain back when i finish with the 10 days  but i'm more after that great, energized feeling of being healthy.  knowing you're doing something right for your body.  i think it is high time!

i also read that the mastercleanse is a good way to start a healthier eating lifestyle, which i think is what i really need to be doing the most.  i'm never going to lose the remaining 30 lbs. if i do not change my eating habits for the better.  yes, i'm aiming for 130 lbs.  125 seems too far away [read: unrealistic] at this point in time. =D

and i'm afraid to go to the doctor because i think diabetes, hypertension, and a worser case of asthma is just around the corner so i think this is the next best thing to do right now.  maybe i'll  have the courage to get a health check when i've taken better care of my body.  whatever.  i'm just so going to do this.

tomorrow is Day 1.

goodbye

i guess some color, theme, and title changes are not enough for my new journey.  i have decided to move on and move out.  this blog has been a never-ending roller coaster ride that has turned into a vicious cycle.

so i bow out of here.  if you still believe in me, you can check in on my progress here.

thank you for reading, cheering, and maybe even snickering.

the race. begins. now. see you at my big bash!

one strategy at a time

when i decided to get serious about becoming fit and healthy, about the time when i actively began posting again this year, i never thought it would be this difficult.  or maybe it would be better to say, i never thought it would take a lot to stay motivated at exercising and re-inventing my eating habits.

if i look back, not so long ago, it seems like i'm always starting something and never really am successful at maintaining what i set out to do.  and its not like i did not even try because i did.  it is just that i still have not found that exercise regimen which will fit the life i have right now.  and the most difficult of all is to constantly say NO to grazing and binge eating.  i also cannot bring myself to eat all the recommended foods in most [if not all] of the diet programmes i researched on.  because they always involve extra expenses and additional work, both of which is too much for my already full hands right now.

so two things, i GOTTA do:

1. i gotta get a hold of my self-control and not let it fly out the window the minute i see food.  i gotta lick my love for food, specifically my love for starches and pork.
2. i gotta find THAT exercise regimen which i need badly to lose the belly fat, huge amounts of it, i tell you!  i know it should involve cardio/aerobic work-outs but something not hard on my weak knee and does not involve wearing a swimsuit please.

i found/discovered three things whilst staying cooped up in this hospital room:

1. i can exercise at home. lifestyle channel has a 5:30am program daily.  so that means i need to wake up EARLY to join in on the action.
2. Jillian Michaels, that terror of a boot camp trainor of 'who's the biggest loser?' fame.
3. a cool routine tip from discovery no. 2 - exercise with a pack of cards [more on this later]. this is for when i don't catch the early morning show in no. 1

we are going home the day after tomorrow.  i'm kinda excited to start again.  i actually tried some routines last night, i stopped at 5 reps, my arms hurt and i couldn't lift my butt without endangering the hospital furniture.

today is my birthday and i am 39 years old.  and i'm spending it in a hospital room.  with my daughter who is recovering from a severe case of bacteremia.  we were here since oct. 28 and will have to stick it out here for another 3 days.  the antibiotics she is being treated with is only available in vials and can only be administered intravenously.  she is out of danger now.  Thanks be to God!

i on the other hand am in danger of sabotaging my weight-loss efforts.  although i am not [yet] stuffing my self sick with food, i am eating more often and unhealthy take-out food at that.  i blame it on stress and boredom and sleeplessness and pathetic internet connection for now.

so, i hope to get back on track soon.  on a more positive note, i have been able to analyze my fitness persona [or the lack of it] and am now trying to psyche myself into losing girth and weight.  i'm crossing my fingers i finally nail it this time around. 

yesterday i stopped taking note of what i ate, instead i just kept on being mindful of what i ate.  taking care to not overeat and continue with my no-white-rice diet.

i also have successfully avoided dessert pastries and i hope i can keep on with my birthday nearing and the christmas season coming in.  i cannot claim that i have stopped drinking sodas and eating sweets altogether but because of the conscious effort i am happy to report that i have kept it at a minimum.

my waterloo instead is my love for starchy food.  the whiter the better, ha ha.  i love rich, dense bread, pasta of all kinds, and yes, white rice.

last night i had a spoonful of it and i was reminded of how comforting and delicious it is when paired with the right food [which simply means everything else].  but i'm glad i stopped myself at that one spoonful.

i also love pork very much, especially when it is tender and with just the right amount of fat.  and pork to me is best paired with white rice.  think lechon and a steaming cup of rice.  or pork tonkatsu as topping to a hot bowl of japanese rice.  or even nilagang baboy isn't complete if you don't have at least a cup of white rice with it.  and chicharon, have you tried it with left-over rice?

according to any and all weight-loss diets ever created and written, this is the most sinful of combinations.  this is the pairing that is so calorie-dense that it will sabotage weeks of conscientious dieting.

so why, oh why is something that tastes so good sooo, sooo bad for us? especially to apple-shaped women like me.  and do you know that whenever i attend parties, i bypass all of the other attractive and dishes served in favor of lechon and plain white rice.  to me, nothing can beat the satisfaction of crunchy roasted pork rind, pure almost bland tender slice of meat and a spoonful of white rice.  with or without the sauce that comes with it, it is perfection.

pardon this rant of a post.  i turned away from succulent lechon being hawked at the mall at dinnertime yesterday and for lunch today i only had 2 rolls of meatless fresh lumpia.  and not even a grain of brown rice with it.