the refeeding

dinnertime!

So it was time.  7pm.  Max sliced up some seedless watermelon and a banana for me and put it in a little bowl, and I grabbed some chopsticks which would help slow me down.  I will tell you that each bite of those fruits was divine.  I would chew slowly and savor every sweet drop.  The fruit slid down my throat easily.  It was like turning on a light switch; my digestive system swung into gear and in a few moments my intestines were grumbling and churning a bit.  I stopped eating after 3 bites to make sure my stomach was not going to revolt, but it was fine, so half an hour later I had finsihed the whole bowl.  Halfway through we called my mom and let her know the fast was over.

"Oh...I'm so happy!  I did not sleep last night; I tossed and turned all night I have been so worried about you."  I laughed and assured her I was OK and as she hung up she said, "eat an extra banana for me!"

Earlier this afternoon as I was languishing in bed I got a surprise visit from big sister Jackie, Mitchell, and my nephews.  Of course I apologized profusely for missing the Mitchell's son's Bar Mitzvah last night but they understood.  Jackie folded some laundry for me and we all went out into the garden and the boys and I picked some fresh lettuce, the last of the zucchini blossoms, malabar spinach, serrano peppers, rosemary, chives, parsley, and basil for Jackie to prepare for dinner later.  We had a really nice conversation and Jackie studied me up and down, all thirteen pounds lighter, and said, "Onge, you look good.  Starvation suits you."

my first bite of food in 9 days

Talk about a Jackie-ism.  Despite having said that, I found out later from Sabrina, my other sister, that the  plan had been to stop over at my place and if I looked really bad they were going to "call 9-1-1."  Overall I am grateful that my family, though a bit bewildered by my method, were supportive and concerned.

Max brought over his bioelectrical impendance machine to test my bodyfat percentage, as he said he never had tested someone who had not eaten for nine days and this was going to further his research.  I ended up losing 13 pounds, obviously some of that is water and muscle, but I did lose quite a bit of fat as well since my BF registered at 14.9%.

The goal is to get back in the gym and on the bike and pack back on some muscle and continue to lose a bit more fat, now that clearly my body has remembered how to burn it.  I would not mind getting that number down to 13% over the next month or two.  I definitely lost muscle in my legs; I wonder how that is going to play out next time I climb some hills, but as I said it will be offset by the fat loss.

Actually the first thing I'm going to do is head to the gym Tuesday and do some core work and a light swim, nothing too strenuous, as I want to ease my body back into this the right way.  Tomorrow I plan to add avocado in with the fruit and Wednesday if all goes well, salad.  I will be sticking to raw foods at least until Thursday I think.  I have to keep in mind that my metabolism has slowed way down and it will be some time before I can eat like I used to.  Otherwise I will end up like many fasters do and pack back on the fat and then some.

Two hours after I had the fruit I did juice some carrot, celery and spinach but I could not drink more than a sip.  I'm still having some diarrhea (despite the fact that the BE machine said I was not, in fact, dehydrated) and carrot juice does not work for me when I'm in that state.  So I had more watermelon and a third of a banana and a glass of water.  So far I seem to be digesting fine.  Thank goodness.  I can't wait for my half of an avocado for breakfast tomorrow.  I will probably stop at Whole Foods on my way to work to get some vegetables and fruit.

The food did give me more energy within an hour.  The body is an amazing machine.  I'm really hoping that tomorrow morning I will not be a zombie like I have been and I can take the dogs on the most enjoyable walk we've had in over a week.  Chloe notices the change in me immediately and started playing with Madison and she jumped on my lap.  The dogs have been so depressed this week, convinced I was dying.  Madison, for her part, is not convinced.  Wait until she sees me tomorrow, she will perk right up. These two should realize how damn hard it was this week to feed and walk them every day.  I still can't believe I did it.

Now, I'm going to pray that this exercise worked.  I guess I will find out in the coming month.

stats: weight in am = 115.2 saliva PH = 7.0 (after watermelon) urine PH = 6.5