Holy CRAP are these almonds fucking amazing! I got the Raw Vanilla and Honey Orange. They are without a doubt the best almonds I’ve ever tasted. Rich and buttery and clean and awesome.

Free shipping on orders of $30 or more – get gifts and order lots. Seriously. Holidays will be here before you know it and these people really know what they’re doing. I just finished (over)eating at a Brazilian barbecue and still can’t stop eating ]]> I just got my order from Briden Wilson Farm, in Arbuckle California. I mostly ordered almonds to milk when I get my milker in the mail, but since I was ordering, I also got some sweet stuff to try.

Holy CRAP are these almonds fucking amazing! I got the Raw Vanilla and Honey Orange. They are without a doubt the best almonds I’ve ever tasted. Rich and buttery and clean and awesome.

Free shipping on orders of $30 or more – get gifts and order lots. Seriously. Holidays will be here before you know it and these people really know what they’re doing. I just finished (over)eating at a Brazilian barbecue and still can’t stop eating these things.

http://www.homegrownalmonds.com/

omfg

Sugar. God damn fucking sugar.

Sugar causes me to feel dehydrated. Sugar causes my guts to distend and make me appear 6 months pregnant. Sugar is something I crave periodically, between ovulation and menstruation. Eating sugar causes me to crave more sugar. And, perhaps worst of all – sugar tastes good.

Sugar tastes real fucking good.

I ate cake on Sunday, and I woke up feeling, literally, hung over. Dehydrated, slow minded, tired, run down. Ok so, it was two slices, but if I was going to do it I was going to do it right and try both kinds. It was a party.

And now, I’m about 3 days from bleeding, and all I want is cake and ice cream sandwiches and molten chocolate ganache, and chocolate mousse, and waffles, on things and .. fruit?

Yeah. Fruit. Which got me thinking – When I started this whole shebang, I gave myself license to eat as much as I wanted of my allowed food items. I eat a LOT of fruit. I sat down and really thought about it. I have been eating about 7 servings of fruit a day since I started. Most times I snack, it’s fruit. Sometimes I have two or three fruit smoothies in a day. And once I’ve eaten some fruit – I crave more fruit.

*sigh*

I think I’ve figured out what the hard part ]]> As I embark upon my 4th week eliminating, I want to talk about something very big that I learned during week 3. A nemesis, a weak link, a vice, if you will. What I fear will be the biggest hurdle to overcome in regards to my dietary journey since learning to share my handisnacks in preschool.

Sugar. God damn fucking sugar.

Sugar causes me to feel dehydrated. Sugar causes my guts to distend and make me appear 6 months pregnant. Sugar is something I crave periodically, between ovulation and menstruation. Eating sugar causes me to crave more sugar. And, perhaps worst of all – sugar tastes good.

Sugar tastes real fucking good.

I ate cake on Sunday, and I woke up feeling, literally, hung over. Dehydrated, slow minded, tired, run down. Ok so, it was two slices, but if I was going to do it I was going to do it right and try both kinds. It was a party.

And now, I’m about 3 days from bleeding, and all I want is cake and ice cream sandwiches and molten chocolate ganache, and chocolate mousse, and waffles, on things and .. fruit?

Yeah. Fruit. Which got me thinking – When I started this whole shebang, I gave myself license to eat as much as I wanted of my allowed food items. I eat a LOT of fruit. I sat down and really thought about it. I have been eating about 7 servings of fruit a day since I started. Most times I snack, it’s fruit. Sometimes I have two or three fruit smoothies in a day. And once I’ve eaten some fruit – I crave more fruit.

*sigh*

I think I’ve figured out what the hard part is. :/

I find it utterly amusing how difficult it’s been to find canned tuna that is actually in spring water. Most tuna in water is actually in vegetable soy broth and has salt. I’ve found real tuna in real water at Whole Foods, and Trader Joes, and they’re the same price either place. Yay!

The almond milk is going splendidly, even the chocolate kind, which confirms my suspicion about the dairy in that chocolate square I had. I also tried out some almond cheese, which didn’t work well for me. All it contained was almond, milk protein and salt, so it’s easy to see what the culprit was. I’ve periodically noticed trouble dealing with whey protein in meal bars as well. I can now say rather concretely that milk protein is a no-no.

At TJ’s yesterday, I picked up a can of coconut milk, and holy crap is it rad in a smoothie. My morning smoothie today was coconut milk, almond milk, banana, sunflower seed butter, 1/4 tsp of maca, and a teaspoon of organic unsweetened coco powder. It’s heavenly.

The smoothies can be tough to digest. Based on my education in school, I theorize that it’s because there’s no amylase involved in just swallowing something that’s already chewed up for you. They say to chew 27 times for a reason – enzymes in your saliva start breaking the food down and chewing increases surface area for your stomach acids to do their thing. So I’m prioritizing making smoothies that taste good enough to molest for a while in my mouth before I swallow.

I’ve added lemon back to good results. A squeeze here and there in my water or on my asparagus has been a welcome addition, and from what I can tell I’m not adverse to citrus. Yay!

I just got finished ovulating. I know this because I spent 3 days solid tinkering with the neevita backend, horny as a three-balled tomcat, wanting to eat nothing but fat. I got a typical skin reaction for the first time since I don’t know when – small little blemishes that surfaced and disappeared within about 3 days. I’m pretty happy with it. Planning to hang onto this for another bit, at least through my next cycle, and see how my skin reacts.

I’ve taken to using baking soda to exfoliate, and that’s working very nicely. Caused me to realize that I once spent $35 on a ‘crystal exfoliant’ that is basically baking soda and some oil. Sheesh. Got ]]> Elimination diet is going well, overall. I’m figuring out how to afford it and spending a lot of time grocery shopping, which I’ve found to be really grounding and lovely. I spend more time in the kitchen and take the time to eat meals at the table more often, too. I feel more like a real person living a real life now, whereas before I’d decided I was too stressed or busy to do those things for myself.

I find it utterly amusing how difficult it’s been to find canned tuna that is actually in spring water. Most tuna in water is actually in vegetable soy broth and has salt. I’ve found real tuna in real water at Whole Foods, and Trader Joes, and they’re the same price either place. Yay!

The almond milk is going splendidly, even the chocolate kind, which confirms my suspicion about the dairy in that chocolate square I had. I also tried out some almond cheese, which didn’t work well for me. All it contained was almond, milk protein and salt, so it’s easy to see what the culprit was. I’ve periodically noticed trouble dealing with whey protein in meal bars as well. I can now say rather concretely that milk protein is a no-no.

At TJ’s yesterday, I picked up a can of coconut milk, and holy crap is it rad in a smoothie. My morning smoothie today was coconut milk, almond milk, banana, sunflower seed butter, 1/4 tsp of maca, and a teaspoon of organic unsweetened coco powder. It’s heavenly.

The smoothies can be tough to digest. Based on my education in school, I theorize that it’s because there’s no amylase involved in just swallowing something that’s already chewed up for you. They say to chew 27 times for a reason – enzymes in your saliva start breaking the food down and chewing increases surface area for your stomach acids to do their thing. So I’m prioritizing making smoothies that taste good enough to molest for a while in my mouth before I swallow.

I’ve added lemon back to good results. A squeeze here and there in my water or on my asparagus has been a welcome addition, and from what I can tell I’m not adverse to citrus. Yay!

I just got finished ovulating. I know this because I spent 3 days solid tinkering with the neevita backend, horny as a three-balled tomcat, wanting to eat nothing but fat. I got a typical skin reaction for the first time since I don’t know when – small little blemishes that surfaced and disappeared within about 3 days. I’m pretty happy with it. Planning to hang onto this for another bit, at least through my next cycle, and see how my skin reacts.

I’ve taken to using baking soda to exfoliate, and that’s working very nicely. Caused me to realize that I once spent $35 on a ‘crystal exfoliant’ that is basically baking soda and some oil. Sheesh. Got me there.

I’ve switched now to mainly Trader Joes frozen wild fish, as eating $8 in fish a meal was squeezing me pretty tight. I’ve also switched to conventional produce for anything of which its skin I do not eat.

I’m continuing to get my lamb at Whole Foods and lucked out on a sale last time I was there, so I’m stalked up a bit in the freezer currently. I’m still suffering sticker shock from the food receipts I have in the last 10 days, though. Hope this store lasts a while.

I’ve cheated a couple of times with small amounts of multiple of things to mixed results.

Based on my cheat findings I’ve just introduced chocolate almond milk so I can make smoothies in the morning again, to good results so far. Adding in the two nut products this week and getting skanky heartburn from eating out is enough for now.

I think the biggest shift in perspective since beginning this experiment is how intently I listen. Whether it’s been a matter of focus, cutting out the white noise or both, when my guts turn funny while I’m eating something, I stop eating it.

One of my clients told me yesterday that my skin was glowing. I’d worn makeup that day but the sentiment was very encouraging. With cystic acne there are often times when no amount of makeup is going to help me appear any healthier.

As for my skin, the cyst cluster I’ve been nursing since late April felt slightly more sensitive the last few days, since I started wearing makeup over it. It continues to improve color and texture wise and based on my experience with these things is on its way out. No new cysts of late. ]]> The elimination diet is speeding along, with a few new developments.

I’ve switched now to mainly Trader Joes frozen wild fish, as eating $8 in fish a meal was squeezing me pretty tight. I’ve also switched to conventional produce for anything of which its skin I do not eat.

I’m continuing to get my lamb at Whole Foods and lucked out on a sale last time I was there, so I’m stalked up a bit in the freezer currently. I’m still suffering sticker shock from the food receipts I have in the last 10 days, though. Hope this store lasts a while.

I’ve cheated a couple of times with small amounts of multiple of things to mixed results.

• 5/12 tiny square of dark chocolate with sea salt, while it tasted fantastic, did cause a gut reaction. I suspect it’s from the dairy.
• 5/14 The sunflower seed butter has worked fine, and is now a welcome addition to my bananas.
• 5/14 I tried 3 spoonfuls of a thick Italian-wedding type soup and a taste of someones gin-based drink after performing Friday night. I had heartburn for the next 24 hours. Pasta, beans, alcohol, spices and most anything not made by my hands is still a no-go as of that result.

Based on my cheat findings I’ve just introduced chocolate almond milk so I can make smoothies in the morning again, to good results so far. Adding in the two nut products this week and getting skanky heartburn from eating out is enough for now.

I think the biggest shift in perspective since beginning this experiment is how intently I listen. Whether it’s been a matter of focus, cutting out the white noise or both, when my guts turn funny while I’m eating something, I stop eating it.

One of my clients told me yesterday that my skin was glowing. I’d worn makeup that day but the sentiment was very encouraging. With cystic acne there are often times when no amount of makeup is going to help me appear any healthier.

As for my skin, the cyst cluster I’ve been nursing since late April felt slightly more sensitive the last few days, since I started wearing makeup over it. It continues to improve color and texture wise and based on my experience with these things is on its way out. No new cysts of late. Fingers crossed.

As part of this elimination, I am avoiding grains (yes, all of them, including rice), gluten, eggs, dairy, nightshades, citrus, alcohol, and sugar by eating a very specific group of foods. I took my approach after googling “elimination diet” and reading a few sites. I went with a more restricted diet than some because of known sensitivities to nightshades and grains, and designed my diet based on both new and known information.

I also cut out all spices and drinks, including herbs and herbal tea. I’m cooking with only sesame oil, and sea salt. Coupled with fresh, wild, weirdness free meats, I’m amazed at how good this food tastes. I’m having some of the best meals of my life right now.

I’ve done a lot to improve and change my diet in the last 10 years but I’ve never just sat down and roughed it for a while to see what my sensitivities are, exactly. I’ve not decided yet whether I will go for two weeks or a month or more, I’m waiting to see how I feel once two weeks are up as to whether I am ready to start re-introducing high risk foods.

I’ve already seen some notable improvements, like my pee being a normal color in the mornings, not having a film on my tongue and naturally being down and up with the sun. I sleep sounder, fall asleep faster, and I have more stamina when I get going, like riding a bike. I find that I am tired mid-morning and often have headaches in the evening. The headaches are subsiding now that I’m nearly a week in. My face is steadily healing and the swelling from my most recent abscess is continuing to go down.

Oh, and I’ve got a lot of gas, since most of what I can eat is gas inducing. Probiotics seem to be taking care of that.

It’s amazing how expensive it is to eat well. I’m now getting the previously perplexing paradox of poor people in this country being fat. All I’m eating are select vegetables and fruits, lamb, and fresh fish – yet there is simply no possible way I can keep up this diet longer than a month or two, financially.

It’s due to this that I really hope I’m good with Brown rice or some kind of cheap grain when I reintroduce it. And buying organic is bleeding me dry. Right now, I’m going through about $15 in food in a day. My budget is more like $6 a day. Switching to conventional for anything I don’t eat the skin on (bananas, mango) and things that are generally safe to get conventional like broccoli and sweet potato next week. That will help a lot.

I am looking forward to the day when my little makeup bag no longer consists mainly of concealer and other ways to cover up ]]> I decided to go on an elimination diet, not only to detox from my trip, but to also track down what food intolerance contribute to the ailments I typically suffer. The most notable affliction being consistent respiratory congestion and my skin troubles, I’m also curious as to how diet restriction effects my PCOS and IBS symptoms, which have worsened and improved with age, respectively.

As part of this elimination, I am avoiding grains (yes, all of them, including rice), gluten, eggs, dairy, nightshades, citrus, alcohol, and sugar by eating a very specific group of foods. I took my approach after googling “elimination diet” and reading a few sites. I went with a more restricted diet than some because of known sensitivities to nightshades and grains, and designed my diet based on both new and known information.

I also cut out all spices and drinks, including herbs and herbal tea. I’m cooking with only sesame oil, and sea salt. Coupled with fresh, wild, weirdness free meats, I’m amazed at how good this food tastes. I’m having some of the best meals of my life right now.

I’ve done a lot to improve and change my diet in the last 10 years but I’ve never just sat down and roughed it for a while to see what my sensitivities are, exactly. I’ve not decided yet whether I will go for two weeks or a month or more, I’m waiting to see how I feel once two weeks are up as to whether I am ready to start re-introducing high risk foods.

I’ve already seen some notable improvements, like my pee being a normal color in the mornings, not having a film on my tongue and naturally being down and up with the sun. I sleep sounder, fall asleep faster, and I have more stamina when I get going, like riding a bike. I find that I am tired mid-morning and often have headaches in the evening. The headaches are subsiding now that I’m nearly a week in. My face is steadily healing and the swelling from my most recent abscess is continuing to go down.

Oh, and I’ve got a lot of gas, since most of what I can eat is gas inducing. Probiotics seem to be taking care of that.

It’s amazing how expensive it is to eat well. I’m now getting the previously perplexing paradox of poor people in this country being fat. All I’m eating are select vegetables and fruits, lamb, and fresh fish – yet there is simply no possible way I can keep up this diet longer than a month or two, financially.

It’s due to this that I really hope I’m good with Brown rice or some kind of cheap grain when I reintroduce it. And buying organic is bleeding me dry. Right now, I’m going through about $15 in food in a day. My budget is more like $6 a day. Switching to conventional for anything I don’t eat the skin on (bananas, mango) and things that are generally safe to get conventional like broccoli and sweet potato next week. That will help a lot.

I am looking forward to the day when my little makeup bag no longer consists mainly of concealer and other ways to cover up my face.

5 things you can do NOW to change the world:

A recent review on Yelp commented “And then there’s the trapeze artist. I don’t know which was more impressive: her skillfulness, her costume, or just the fact that a restaurant would have such a thing with which to entertain the dining guests.  Very cool!”

Who: Zita at The Pink Door What: http://www.thepinkdoor.net/ When: Sunday Nov 1, 6-9pm Where: 1919 Post Alley, Pike Place Market

Treat yourself to a lovely meal and come see me strut my tailfeathers in the dining room of the famous Pink Door restaurant in Seattle’s Pike Place Market. Reservations strongly recommended, ’cause this place is effin tasty, people.

This is a rare opportunity to see aerial performance in an intimate, close setting, simply for the cost of an amazing meal. Don’t ]]> Last Chance! Sunday Nov 1 is the last evening I will be performing at Pink Door this year (as well as being the day before my 30th birthday)!

A recent review on Yelp commented “And then there’s the trapeze artist. I don’t know which was more impressive: her skillfulness, her costume, or just the fact that a restaurant would have such a thing with which to entertain the dining guests.  Very cool!”

Who: Zita at The Pink Door
What: http://www.thepinkdoor.net/
When: Sunday Nov 1, 6-9pm
Where: 1919 Post Alley, Pike Place Market

Treat yourself to a lovely meal and come see me strut my tailfeathers in the dining room of the famous Pink Door restaurant in Seattle’s Pike Place Market. Reservations strongly recommended, ’cause this place is effin tasty, people.

This is a rare opportunity to see aerial performance in an intimate, close setting, simply for the cost of an amazing meal. Don’t miss out.

I’ve had it with consumerism, yet I’m neck deep in it. I’ve had it with plastic bottles, wrappers, packaging, waste. It pisses me off. It’s unnecessary. It bugs me. A lot. And it’s done so for a long time. I’ve been noticing again. From Sara’s glass jar that she takes to the smoothie place to get filled instead of a Styrofoam one, to the bag I saw on set today, I’m noticing what these things are saying.

Hilarious. And true.

I’ve got like 4 of those kinds of canvas bags around here and can’t recall one time I thought to take one with me to the store. Perhaps if mine said what this one does… (To be fair, most of the time I put my groceries in my backpack, which was full today when i went shopping. But still.)

I feel like a raging tool every time I take my garbage out and sort all the recyclables, and see how much stuff I’m still generating. As it should be. I’ve supposed that because i dont bag each piece of my produce in 17 different bags I’m like, better than people who do or something – meanwhile each cup of tea I drink has a wrapper associated, every smoothie I drink has a cup I toss, I have vitamin water bottles all over the place, I buy stuff in boxes and wrappers all the time…

Thankfully though, I don’t think about it often – perhaps once a week when I take out my trash, sometimes 2 weeks if I’m really conscious and careful. But maybe I shouldn’t be thanking myself for that. Maybe I should be embracing my wastefulness full hilt and welcoming what a hypocrite I am.

In a rush to get to work and need something quick, someone else bought it for me, I’ll reuse it a couple times – All things I say to rationalize the bottles, wrappers, plastic bowls and other random shit I throw away on a regular basis. Recycling is still close enough to garbage to urk me. It’s an energy and resource suck that I initiate with my thoughtlessness and being lazy, that just doesn’t need to happen.

(Thanks for the video link, Miah!)

I’ve decided to live with all of my trash (sans yard waste, which we already compost and reuse), for two months — 2 weeks longer than it takes to form a habit. The effort is to document the process, and in the end, form better consumer habits based on the experience. I’m focusing mainly on things like vitamin water bottles and single serving packaging, grocery bags and other such things.

I want to see how much of this stuff I really contribute to our world. I just went and fished all packaging I could find here from the last week or so out of the trash and collected the various bottles from around my room.

I kept a few things I know are older to balance out the stuff I know I don’t have, like some clifbar wrappers and at least one paper to-go carton from my Pink Door gig last Sunday. I’m calling my official start date Sept 1. From now until Nov 1, the day before my 30th birthday, I will pack-out all of my consumer packaging waste and bring it home with me. If you’re someone who’s chosen a lifestyle that includes creative ways to be conscious of waste, I’d love to hear your advice.

Week 1 - sans the 4 plastic bags I forgot to put in the photo.

Looking at the word brought an acronym to mind – Why Always Soil The Environment? I hereby dub thee, the ]]> I suspect simply embarking on this experiment will produce an immediate decline in the waste I produce.

I’ve had it with consumerism, yet I’m neck deep in it. I’ve had it with plastic bottles, wrappers, packaging, waste. It pisses me off. It’s unnecessary. It bugs me. A lot. And it’s done so for a long time. I’ve been noticing again. From Sara’s glass jar that she takes to the smoothie place to get filled instead of a Styrofoam one, to the bag I saw on set today, I’m noticing what these things are saying.

Hilarious. And true.

I’ve got like 4 of those kinds of canvas bags around here and can’t recall one time I thought to take one with me to the store. Perhaps if mine said what this one does… (To be fair, most of the time I put my groceries in my backpack, which was full today when i went shopping. But still.)

I feel like a raging tool every time I take my garbage out and sort all the recyclables, and see how much stuff I’m still generating. As it should be. I’ve supposed that because i dont bag each piece of my produce in 17 different bags I’m like, better than people who do or something – meanwhile each cup of tea I drink has a wrapper associated, every smoothie I drink has a cup I toss, I have vitamin water bottles all over the place, I buy stuff in boxes and wrappers all the time…

Thankfully though, I don’t think about it often – perhaps once a week when I take out my trash, sometimes 2 weeks if I’m really conscious and careful. But maybe I shouldn’t be thanking myself for that. Maybe I should be embracing my wastefulness full hilt and welcoming what a hypocrite I am.

In a rush to get to work and need something quick, someone else bought it for me, I’ll reuse it a couple times – All things I say to rationalize the bottles, wrappers, plastic bowls and other random shit I throw away on a regular basis. Recycling is still close enough to garbage to urk me. It’s an energy and resource suck that I initiate with my thoughtlessness and being lazy, that just doesn’t need to happen.

I’ve decided to live with all of my trash (sans yard waste, which we already compost and reuse), for two months — 2 weeks longer than it takes to form a habit. The effort is to document the process, and in the end, form better consumer habits based on the experience. I’m focusing mainly on things like vitamin water bottles and single serving packaging, grocery bags and other such things.

I want to see how much of this stuff I really contribute to our world. I just went and fished all packaging I could find here from the last week or so out of the trash and collected the various bottles from around my room.

I kept a few things I know are older to balance out the stuff I know I don’t have, like some clifbar wrappers and at least one paper to-go carton from my Pink Door gig last Sunday. I’m calling my official start date Sept 1. From now until Nov 1, the day before my 30th birthday, I will pack-out all of my consumer packaging waste and bring it home with me. If you’re someone who’s chosen a lifestyle that includes creative ways to be conscious of waste, I’d love to hear your advice.

Week 1 - sans the 4 plastic bags I forgot to put in the photo.

Looking at the word brought an acronym to mind – Why Always Soil The Environment? I hereby dub thee, the W.A.S.T.E. project.

What: A an outdoor, fire-cooked feast of medieval proportions! Food comes off the fires around 6pm. Make a day of it – come early and stay late. Smoke Farm has 360 acres to wander and a river to dip in.

When: July 12, from 2 to midnightish!

Where: Smoke Farm: 12731 Smokes Road Arlington, WA 98223

Website: http://www.smokefarm.org

Burning Beast returns to Smoke Farm for its second, sure to be celebrated, culinary firestorm. The Stranger Slog called it “the worlds funnest and most delicious feast in a field cooked by Seattle’s best chefs.” Eleven star-studded cooking teams gather to prepare and master an assigned animal, vegetable and/or sea creature, whole or in parts, using fire, earth, steel and little else. The jaw-dropping list of participating chefs includes; Dylan Giordan (Serafina), Angie Roberts (Boka), Matt Dillon (Sitka and Spruce & The Corson Building), Garret Abel (DeLaurenti’s), Dustin Ronspies (Art of the Table), Gabriel Claycamp (The Swinery), Ron Jones (Jones Glassworks), Tyson Danilson (Le Pichet), Jonathan Sundstrom (Lark), Zephyr Paquette (Elliott Bay Cafe), Jennifer Alphonsine (Circa Alehouse), Seth Caswell (emmer & rye) – and more!

Entertainment included! Featuring aerial thrills provided by the amazing Zita, the incredible Dyno and Tamara the Trapeze Lady! Plus, music by ‘The Hallways’.

Atmosphere – outdoor casual. We encourage guests to THINK GREEN carpool, and bring along reusable plates, cups and cutlery (if you can). Plus – it’s a lovely place! Bring picnic blankets, swimsuits, comfy footwear, and healthy appetites. burningbeast@smokefarm.org for questions/info. See you there!

Tickets are $75, ]]> Who: Myself, Dyno and Tamara are performing aerial

What: A an outdoor, fire-cooked feast of medieval proportions! Food comes off the fires around 6pm. Make a day of it – come early and stay late. Smoke Farm has 360 acres to wander and a river to dip in.

When: July 12, from 2 to midnightish!

Where: Smoke Farm: 12731 Smokes Road Arlington, WA 98223

Website: http://www.smokefarm.org

Burning Beast returns to Smoke Farm for its second, sure to be celebrated, culinary firestorm. The Stranger Slog called it “the worlds funnest and most delicious feast in a field cooked by Seattle’s best chefs.” Eleven star-studded cooking teams gather to prepare and master an assigned animal, vegetable and/or sea creature, whole or in parts, using fire, earth, steel and little else. The jaw-dropping list of participating chefs includes; Dylan Giordan (Serafina), Angie Roberts (Boka), Matt Dillon (Sitka and Spruce & The Corson Building), Garret Abel (DeLaurenti’s), Dustin Ronspies (Art of the Table), Gabriel Claycamp (The Swinery), Ron Jones (Jones Glassworks), Tyson Danilson (Le Pichet), Jonathan Sundstrom (Lark), Zephyr Paquette (Elliott Bay Cafe), Jennifer Alphonsine (Circa Alehouse), Seth Caswell (emmer & rye) – and more!

Entertainment included! Featuring aerial thrills provided by the amazing Zita, the incredible Dyno and Tamara the Trapeze Lady! Plus, music by ‘The Hallways’.

Atmosphere – outdoor casual. We encourage guests to THINK GREEN carpool, and bring along reusable plates, cups and cutlery (if you can). Plus – it’s a lovely place! Bring picnic blankets, swimsuits, comfy footwear, and healthy appetites. burningbeast@smokefarm.org for questions/info. See you there!

Tickets are $75, from http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/68737

I've gotten to the point where I eat mostly fruit and raw eggs. I experimented with an entirely raw diet for a while but didn't find it suited me very well. I've all but eliminated pasta and potatoes from my diet which has helped me immensely in feeling and looking better, I eat my meat raw and stay as far away from pre-packaged/processed food as I can. The results have been staggaring.

But I still get sick from time to time. And I know I'm not getting colds or viruses, I'm just getting sick. Sometimes it's emotional and stress related. But other times, I can't pin it down.

After some nudging from people who have done it and a fuckload of research, I decided to try the Lemonade Cleanse, a 10 day fast of lemon juice, maple syrup, cayenne pepper, and water. To supplement the fast and keep the bowles moving, it is required that you drink a laxative tea morning and evening, and optionally partake in a salt water flush every morning. Here is my story.

Thursday, March 9th

7:15pm ——————————————————————-

I decided to make a drink to see what they tasted like and am quite pleasantly surprised by what I will be ingesting for the next 10 days.

Call me crazy but my throat already feels better after one.

The tea they suggested is really good too.

My last treat for the evening? Bananas dunked in Trader Joes Honey flavored greek yogurt.

See you on the other side…

Friday, March 10th I started the fast.

Saturday, March 11th

9:57am ——————————————————

I am pretty loopy today. Lots of typos and disconnections. But otherwise the fast is going well. A few people read through the page I linked last night and proceeded to pick apart the guys ideals. He feels that calcium is good for lung health, that lemons and limes are the best food on the earth, is religious, etc. I consider his personal beliefs, many of which I don't agree with, to be separate from the actual fast, which makes sense to me. So, just wanted to point out that just because I'm doing the fast, that doesn't mean I agree with all the dribble on that page, and hopefully curb some people from bothering to try to discredit the fast based on that. I'll discredit it on my own by doing it, thank you very much.

Besides, everyone knows that raw egg is the most nutritious food on the planet. Duh ;)

I'd also forgotten how hot my stomach looks when I go a day without solid food. Hubba hubba.

8:05pm———————————-

I've been cramping and feeling uncomfortable today, so I decided to try the salt water flush tonight. It sounded terrible and not for me, but I had decided when I started this that I would try it once so I knew exactly what I was choosing not to do. Basically, it's drinking a quart of salt water, which then flushes your system within an hour or so.

My colon is so friggen clean you could eat off of it. But I am so fucking sick I pretty much want to die. Well, maybe not, but I am rather exceptionally uncomfortable. Probably even more uncomfortable than you are after envisioning someone eating off my colon. :P Well, actually, we're probably even. Welcome to my HELL!!

Amazing results, I admit. But the salt water flush is simply not on my list of things to re-do. Like, ever. Never again. Unless you're a masochistic freak like me who tries weird painful shit for the hell of it (One day, perhaps I will share with you my tequila story), I don't recommend it. Personally, I'd rather just give myself an enema.

I found a better link to the basics of the fast I'm doing. Lots less voodoo talk on that one. I'm feeling a bit sicker than is acceptable, but I just realized that I've barely drank any water since I started – Lots of lemonade and tea, but very little water. I suspect kicking that up a couple notches will clear up my sickliness.

The physical hunger is trivial. Mostly what I'm going through is unsettled stomach that feels like my typical indigestion, (I suspect because I'm not keeping up on my water intake like I should be) which actually makes me not want solid food. The lemonade is already getting old, though, which concerns me as it's only the second day, and I have very .. stark .. reactions to foods I've simply had enough of. If I get much more sick of it, I'll start gagging every time I 'eat', and I don't think I'll stick with the fast for long if that starts happening.

As far as the assburglars you supposedly shit out when cleansing.. I'm very skeptical of it. However, I'm just passing liquid at this point, so none of that for me on this cleanse, and my supporter who's done it before has not mentioned it.

If I do a different type of fast the next time it's time to cleanse, I will probably do a colon cleanse kind so I can keep eating and not make it such a shocking ordeal for my system. Probably do each kind once a year. When I get around to the other one, I'll surely write about that one too, and if I do shit out any monsters, I'll totally post pictures

I'm shooting for the full 10 days, though currently I'm a bit weary of training while my shits are liquid and urgent. If that doesn't clear up soon (it's supposed to) I will need to settle for 5, I've got shows coming up that I need to practice for.

10:52pm ———————————————

Thanks to corvida for pointing me to this episode of This American Life. Skip to 23 minutes for the following, and exceptionally interesting (if you find my fasting posts interesting) segment about one eloquent and well spoken mans 20 day fast experience. His focus was enlightenment, whereas mine is physical detox; his story is rather touching actually.

Act Two. Life in the Fast Lane. For millenia, people have tried to reach a spiritual promised land by fasting. Jesus did it. The Buddha did it. Monks and saints and new age gurus have done it. And now, on the radio, This American Life contributor David Rakoff tries it. He does a 20-day fast, to find out if it brings him any form of enlightenment. (25 minutes)

Sunday, March 12th

5:45am —————————————————

Apparently, I no longer need sleep. Down at 11:30, up at 5am. I have a pretty busy day, it'll be a good test I suppose, and a good first shot at slipping in naps during the day.

9am ——————————————————

Supposedly it's important to bathe a lot while fasting, but so far I've been feeling less of a need to shower. My skin isn't as greasy and I'm sleeping much cleaner, not waking up in night sweats and am generally just feeling more self-sufficient in regards to hygiene. Without food getting stuck in my teeth there is no fuzz, though I'm still brushing and flossing like normal since I'm sure this stuff is murder on my enamel. I took a long bath this morning anyway while the house warmed up, and it was good.

My breakout on my chest and chin from the pringle-fest last weekend is clearing very obviously, but my eyes are dull and my lips are thin. I am in good spirits but sleepy most of the time, and my muscles frequently tingle as if they'd just started to fall asleep before moving them. While getting out of the car yesterday and the tub this morning, I got that half-cramp half-tickle feeling in my calves, and I get it in my hands as well. My hands and feet are even colder than normal, and for the most part, I feel pretty weak.

I am not hungry.

11am ——————————————————–

I just passed a small amount of brown plastic-looking stuff. It reminded me of when I got my cervical biopsies, and just didn't bleed very much, and then after about three days I passed this long rope of plastic-looking blood/tissue and it royally scared the shit out of me. They didn't warn me about it.

That was just the waste buildup from two tiny puncture wounds in my cervix after 3 days. So when considering, 'are those pictures REAL?', I thought they really might be, because I can't imagine what 26 years of intestinal buildup would be like..

Sure enough, that's pretty much what this stuff looked like, though a fraction of the size and girth and much less scary. It was a rather small lot of thinnish strands about 4-6" long, nothing to REALLY write home about, but it does answer some questions, and probably gives me a lot more interesting crap (hah) to look forward to.

At least I know it's working. Now I'm ready to FEEL it working.

1:45pm ——————————————————–

I just realized that I have neither sneezed nor coughed at all today. I've also toned down the pepper and noted that my stomach doesn't react adversely to the drink when I have very little pepper or none at all.

8:22pm ————————————————-

I am >< this close to ordering a pizza.

Grrrrrr. No, I'm not REALLY serious. However:

I have been feeling starved since 5pm, and I've drank more of this fucking lemonade and teas than I could keep count of. Within 5 minutes I'm in hunger pains again. I've basically just been waiting until it was late enough to go to sleep without being up at 3am dealing with this again.

I am pissed and cranky and I want a fucking pizza, even though I don't eat fucking pizza, and if this shit isn't over with fucking soon this fast can go fuck itself in favor of a colon cleanse where I don't FUCKING STARVE.

In all honesty, if I'm still feeling like this tomorrow night I'm likely to break the fast (the right way) at the 5 day mark, which I had already decided would be an acceptable length if I had problems or couldn't train. If 3 is really the breakthough day, then tomorrow should be better.

Monday, March 13th

I woke up at 8am ready to quit the fast. I wrote a long post about why I was breaking the fast early and my reasonings and my experience with it. Instead of posting it, I went and took a shower, and made a decision.

11:30 am ———————————————–

Rather than sitting here talking myself out of continuing, I'm going to spend the day normally and do what I need to do, damnit. So far, I've either been too excited about, or too effected by the fast to just forget I'm fasting and live somewhat normally. With that being the case, even with a variety of viable reasons to quit now, I suspect that I would not feel good about breaking the fast at this stage, having not -really- given myself a chance to adjust to it.

If that was the hump, I think I'll be fine from here on. Tomorrow is the halfway point. Looking back, I don't feel like I've been doing this that long. I just need to get the fuck over the fact that I'm fasting and quit making it such a big god damn deal. In the grand scheme of things, this is cake.

Mmm. Cake..

12:30pm ——————————————–

I have a rather staggaring headache, and my face is breaking out a little. But my lips are the right size again!

7:00pm ————————————

Training was fucking awesome.

No, seriously. From the time I started stretching till two hours later when I made myself quit, it was great. I started warming up and stretching and I couldn't stop MOVING. I was so lean and long and light and loose. My typical crunchy spots were smooth, I didn't have the pains in my shoulders or hips I usually have, and I didn't have to worry about barfing up my lunch while upside down :P

I worked on trapeze with [info]bevsob, as we're doing a singles/doubles act for SEAF, which was perfect for my energy level and where I was at mentally. We made a lot of progress and I'm super excited about the act. In fact, I've decided to can my solo rope act on Friday and do the trap act twice. I was so mellow and focused and smooth, it really was exceptionally enjoyable.

I've only ever felt this way while training once before, last summer when I was revisiting and mending my relationship with drugs. (I no longer do them, but felt a need to resolve my largely negative experiences with them after being in therapy for a while) I stopped in to work out after a short introduction to 2cb, and was no longer under the mild influence, but had a residual calm and grounded relationship with my body. As well, I was easily able to express my sensual side and slow my movements on aerial equipment for the first time that day, which has changed the way I view my performances and my abilities ever since.

I think it may be safe to assume that I have broke through.

10:27pm —————————————————–

Mental note: There is no such thing as 'just a fart' while fasting.

Tuesday, March 14th

1:36pm —————————————–

Fast is going fine, I'm not doing much today since I trained yesterday. Shit out some more weird brown plastic, this time much shorter and fatter strands. Beyond that, I'm mostly splattering out foamy liquipoop. Thankfully the frequency has slowed to 3-4x a day. My asshole is thankful.

6:11 pm ——————————

Ain't no thang. I hardly notice it anymore. Well, I noticed it once, when I spent too much time sitting on this stupid computer and hadn't drank anything for a couple hours. I about fell over and my knees were numb.

I can see weight loss now. Sadly, I kinda like it, even though I certainly didn't need it. I might take some shock jock rib protrusion pictures to express my angst for.. whatever it is I'm angsting over today, but that remains to be seen with a lot of my stuff already having been packed.

Rob is off the lemonade, he went to juice today. I personally feel that he didn't drink enough water or lemonade to sustain himself, but whatever, he's not me and he's decided it won't work for him. Thankfully he's agreed to stay on juice until I'm done so I don't have to deal with food while I finish up. Not bad for someone I'd expected to scoff at me when I mentioned a fast.

Wednesday, March 15th

At day 6, I'm about done. My boobs are shrinking away and I've lost as much weight as I am willing to lose. Training was pretty rough. I feel fine, but tired, and I am hungry. Not 'craving' hungry, but 'uhm, could really use some actual sustenance here' hungry. It's not horrific, but it's not something I plan on ignoring.

I am naturally 5'8" and 118-120lbs. My body fat percentage is somewhere between "ooooh, lucky!" and "too fucking LOW.". I can get to ~125lbs if I'm dedicated to strength training with weights 3x a week. I don't gain weight any other way besides working out, and have a psycho high metabolism. My body is thankful for the break, but is ready to get back to food. I ain't gonna argue with that.

I am satisfied with how far I took my first fast. I feel that going the full recommended 10 days wouldn't be healthy for me, and even if it would give me some kind of emotional satisfaction to go 'all the way', I think it's more important to do whats right for my body than conform to a cookie cutter standard. So, I am settling for 7, a full week, and I think that's totally ok. Tomorrow is my last day, and I will be doing a big fat load of nothing all day long.

I'll post a breakdown once I've been back to solid food for a while and have had a chance to experience the supposed benefits after fasting. Here is my current stand on The Master Cleanser/Lemonade Cleanse:

While I wouldn't call this some kind of religious experience or the most enjoyable thing in the world, the difficulty vs. benefit ratio is currently well balanced as far as I am concerned, though I do think part of that is knowing when to stop. I think the fast is reasonable and much safer than some alternatives, but it is a rather formal and pretty fucking hard core way to go in the grand scheme of options. Next time I’ll do either a juice and broth fast, or a psyllium husk colon cleanse to go with my already pretty alright diet.

(P.S. I am not a doctor. ]]> For the last few years, I've been developing my relationship with my body, and adapting different viewpoints on disease and illness than I had previously. For the most part, I figure that diseases are largely psychosomatic and the process of neglect or mistreatment. I think a lot of that neglect and mistreatment comes from eating the SAD (Standard American Diet) which is primarily improper food combinations that have been deep fried and processed to the degree that whatever life force the food once had, it's gone by the time you eat it.

I've gotten to the point where I eat mostly fruit and raw eggs. I experimented with an entirely raw diet for a while but didn't find it suited me very well. I've all but eliminated pasta and potatoes from my diet which has helped me immensely in feeling and looking better, I eat my meat raw and stay as far away from pre-packaged/processed food as I can. The results have been staggaring.

But I still get sick from time to time. And I know I'm not getting colds or viruses, I'm just getting sick. Sometimes it's emotional and stress related. But other times, I can't pin it down.

After some nudging from people who have done it and a fuckload of research, I decided to try the Lemonade Cleanse, a 10 day fast of lemon juice, maple syrup, cayenne pepper, and water. To supplement the fast and keep the bowles moving, it is required that you drink a laxative tea morning and evening, and optionally partake in a salt water flush every morning. Here is my story.

Thursday, March 9th

7:15pm ——————————————————————-

I decided to make a drink to see what they tasted like and am quite pleasantly surprised by what I will be ingesting for the next 10 days.

Call me crazy but my throat already feels better after one.

The tea they suggested is really good too.

My last treat for the evening? Bananas dunked in Trader Joes Honey flavored greek yogurt.

See you on the other side…

Friday, March 10th I started the fast.

Saturday, March 11th

9:57am ——————————————————

I am pretty loopy today. Lots of typos and disconnections. But otherwise the fast is going well. A few people read through the page I linked last night and proceeded to pick apart the guys ideals. He feels that calcium is good for lung health, that lemons and limes are the best food on the earth, is religious, etc. I consider his personal beliefs, many of which I don't agree with, to be separate from the actual fast, which makes sense to me. So, just wanted to point out that just because I'm doing the fast, that doesn't mean I agree with all the dribble on that page, and hopefully curb some people from bothering to try to discredit the fast based on that. I'll discredit it on my own by doing it, thank you very much.

Besides, everyone knows that raw egg is the most nutritious food on the planet. Duh ;)

I'd also forgotten how hot my stomach looks when I go a day without solid food. Hubba hubba.

8:05pm———————————-

I've been cramping and feeling uncomfortable today, so I decided to try the salt water flush tonight. It sounded terrible and not for me, but I had decided when I started this that I would try it once so I knew exactly what I was choosing not to do. Basically, it's drinking a quart of salt water, which then flushes your system within an hour or so.

My colon is so friggen clean you could eat off of it. But I am so fucking sick I pretty much want to die. Well, maybe not, but I am rather exceptionally uncomfortable. Probably even more uncomfortable than you are after envisioning someone eating off my colon. :P Well, actually, we're probably even. Welcome to my HELL!!

Amazing results, I admit. But the salt water flush is simply not on my list of things to re-do. Like, ever. Never again. Unless you're a masochistic freak like me who tries weird painful shit for the hell of it (One day, perhaps I will share with you my tequila story), I don't recommend it. Personally, I'd rather just give myself an enema.

I found a better link to the basics of the fast I'm doing. Lots less voodoo talk on that one. I'm feeling a bit sicker than is acceptable, but I just realized that I've barely drank any water since I started – Lots of lemonade and tea, but very little water. I suspect kicking that up a couple notches will clear up my sickliness.

The physical hunger is trivial. Mostly what I'm going through is unsettled stomach that feels like my typical indigestion, (I suspect because I'm not keeping up on my water intake like I should be) which actually makes me not want solid food. The lemonade is already getting old, though, which concerns me as it's only the second day, and I have very .. stark .. reactions to foods I've simply had enough of. If I get much more sick of it, I'll start gagging every time I 'eat', and I don't think I'll stick with the fast for long if that starts happening.

As far as the assburglars you supposedly shit out when cleansing.. I'm very skeptical of it. However, I'm just passing liquid at this point, so none of that for me on this cleanse, and my supporter who's done it before has not mentioned it.

If I do a different type of fast the next time it's time to cleanse, I will probably do a colon cleanse kind so I can keep eating and not make it such a shocking ordeal for my system. Probably do each kind once a year. When I get around to the other one, I'll surely write about that one too, and if I do shit out any monsters, I'll totally post pictures

I'm shooting for the full 10 days, though currently I'm a bit weary of training while my shits are liquid and urgent. If that doesn't clear up soon (it's supposed to) I will need to settle for 5, I've got shows coming up that I need to practice for.

10:52pm ———————————————

Thanks to corvida for pointing me to this episode of This American Life. Skip to 23 minutes for the following, and exceptionally interesting (if you find my fasting posts interesting) segment about one eloquent and well spoken mans 20 day fast experience. His focus was enlightenment, whereas mine is physical detox; his story is rather touching actually.

Act Two. Life in the Fast Lane. For millenia, people have tried to reach a spiritual promised land by fasting. Jesus did it. The Buddha did it. Monks and saints and new age gurus have done it. And now, on the radio, This American Life contributor David Rakoff tries it. He does a 20-day fast, to find out if it brings him any form of enlightenment. (25 minutes)

Sunday, March 12th

5:45am —————————————————

Apparently, I no longer need sleep. Down at 11:30, up at 5am. I have a pretty busy day, it'll be a good test I suppose, and a good first shot at slipping in naps during the day.

9am ——————————————————

Supposedly it's important to bathe a lot while fasting, but so far I've been feeling less of a need to shower. My skin isn't as greasy and I'm sleeping much cleaner, not waking up in night sweats and am generally just feeling more self-sufficient in regards to hygiene. Without food getting stuck in my teeth there is no fuzz, though I'm still brushing and flossing like normal since I'm sure this stuff is murder on my enamel. I took a long bath this morning anyway while the house warmed up, and it was good.

My breakout on my chest and chin from the pringle-fest last weekend is clearing very obviously, but my eyes are dull and my lips are thin. I am in good spirits but sleepy most of the time, and my muscles frequently tingle as if they'd just started to fall asleep before moving them. While getting out of the car yesterday and the tub this morning, I got that half-cramp half-tickle feeling in my calves, and I get it in my hands as well. My hands and feet are even colder than normal, and for the most part, I feel pretty weak.

I am not hungry.

11am ——————————————————–

I just passed a small amount of brown plastic-looking stuff. It reminded me of when I got my cervical biopsies, and just didn't bleed very much, and then after about three days I passed this long rope of plastic-looking blood/tissue and it royally scared the shit out of me. They didn't warn me about it.

That was just the waste buildup from two tiny puncture wounds in my cervix after 3 days. So when considering, 'are those pictures REAL?', I thought they really might be, because I can't imagine what 26 years of intestinal buildup would be like..

Sure enough, that's pretty much what this stuff looked like, though a fraction of the size and girth and much less scary. It was a rather small lot of thinnish strands about 4-6" long, nothing to REALLY write home about, but it does answer some questions, and probably gives me a lot more interesting crap (hah) to look forward to.

At least I know it's working. Now I'm ready to FEEL it working.

1:45pm ——————————————————–

I just realized that I have neither sneezed nor coughed at all today. I've also toned down the pepper and noted that my stomach doesn't react adversely to the drink when I have very little pepper or none at all.

8:22pm ————————————————-

I am >< this close to ordering a pizza.

Grrrrrr. No, I'm not REALLY serious. However:

I have been feeling starved since 5pm, and I've drank more of this fucking lemonade and teas than I could keep count of. Within 5 minutes I'm in hunger pains again. I've basically just been waiting until it was late enough to go to sleep without being up at 3am dealing with this again.

I am pissed and cranky and I want a fucking pizza, even though I don't eat fucking pizza, and if this shit isn't over with fucking soon this fast can go fuck itself in favor of a colon cleanse where I don't FUCKING STARVE.

In all honesty, if I'm still feeling like this tomorrow night I'm likely to break the fast (the right way) at the 5 day mark, which I had already decided would be an acceptable length if I had problems or couldn't train. If 3 is really the breakthough day, then tomorrow should be better.

Monday, March 13th

I woke up at 8am ready to quit the fast. I wrote a long post about why I was breaking the fast early and my reasonings and my experience with it. Instead of posting it, I went and took a shower, and made a decision.

11:30 am ———————————————–

Rather than sitting here talking myself out of continuing, I'm going to spend the day normally and do what I need to do, damnit. So far, I've either been too excited about, or too effected by the fast to just forget I'm fasting and live somewhat normally. With that being the case, even with a variety of viable reasons to quit now, I suspect that I would not feel good about breaking the fast at this stage, having not -really- given myself a chance to adjust to it.

If that was the hump, I think I'll be fine from here on. Tomorrow is the halfway point. Looking back, I don't feel like I've been doing this that long. I just need to get the fuck over the fact that I'm fasting and quit making it such a big god damn deal. In the grand scheme of things, this is cake.

Mmm. Cake..

12:30pm ——————————————–

I have a rather staggaring headache, and my face is breaking out a little. But my lips are the right size again!

7:00pm ————————————

Training was fucking awesome.

No, seriously. From the time I started stretching till two hours later when I made myself quit, it was great. I started warming up and stretching and I couldn't stop MOVING. I was so lean and long and light and loose. My typical crunchy spots were smooth, I didn't have the pains in my shoulders or hips I usually have, and I didn't have to worry about barfing up my lunch while upside down :P

I worked on trapeze with [info]bevsob, as we're doing a singles/doubles act for SEAF, which was perfect for my energy level and where I was at mentally. We made a lot of progress and I'm super excited about the act. In fact, I've decided to can my solo rope act on Friday and do the trap act twice. I was so mellow and focused and smooth, it really was exceptionally enjoyable.

I've only ever felt this way while training once before, last summer when I was revisiting and mending my relationship with drugs. (I no longer do them, but felt a need to resolve my largely negative experiences with them after being in therapy for a while) I stopped in to work out after a short introduction to 2cb, and was no longer under the mild influence, but had a residual calm and grounded relationship with my body. As well, I was easily able to express my sensual side and slow my movements on aerial equipment for the first time that day, which has changed the way I view my performances and my abilities ever since.

I think it may be safe to assume that I have broke through.

10:27pm —————————————————–

Mental note: There is no such thing as 'just a fart' while fasting.

Tuesday, March 14th

1:36pm —————————————–

Fast is going fine, I'm not doing much today since I trained yesterday. Shit out some more weird brown plastic, this time much shorter and fatter strands. Beyond that, I'm mostly splattering out foamy liquipoop. Thankfully the frequency has slowed to 3-4x a day. My asshole is thankful.

6:11 pm ——————————

Ain't no thang. I hardly notice it anymore. Well, I noticed it once, when I spent too much time sitting on this stupid computer and hadn't drank anything for a couple hours. I about fell over and my knees were numb.

I can see weight loss now. Sadly, I kinda like it, even though I certainly didn't need it. I might take some shock jock rib protrusion pictures to express my angst for.. whatever it is I'm angsting over today, but that remains to be seen with a lot of my stuff already having been packed.

Rob is off the lemonade, he went to juice today. I personally feel that he didn't drink enough water or lemonade to sustain himself, but whatever, he's not me and he's decided it won't work for him. Thankfully he's agreed to stay on juice until I'm done so I don't have to deal with food while I finish up. Not bad for someone I'd expected to scoff at me when I mentioned a fast.

Wednesday, March 15th

At day 6, I'm about done. My boobs are shrinking away and I've lost as much weight as I am willing to lose. Training was pretty rough. I feel fine, but tired, and I am hungry. Not 'craving' hungry, but 'uhm, could really use some actual sustenance here' hungry. It's not horrific, but it's not something I plan on ignoring.

I am naturally 5'8" and 118-120lbs. My body fat percentage is somewhere between "ooooh, lucky!" and "too fucking LOW.". I can get to ~125lbs if I'm dedicated to strength training with weights 3x a week. I don't gain weight any other way besides working out, and have a psycho high metabolism. My body is thankful for the break, but is ready to get back to food. I ain't gonna argue with that.

I am satisfied with how far I took my first fast. I feel that going the full recommended 10 days wouldn't be healthy for me, and even if it would give me some kind of emotional satisfaction to go 'all the way', I think it's more important to do whats right for my body than conform to a cookie cutter standard. So, I am settling for 7, a full week, and I think that's totally ok. Tomorrow is my last day, and I will be doing a big fat load of nothing all day long.

I'll post a breakdown once I've been back to solid food for a while and have had a chance to experience the supposed benefits after fasting. Here is my current stand on The Master Cleanser/Lemonade Cleanse:

While I wouldn't call this some kind of religious experience or the most enjoyable thing in the world, the difficulty vs. benefit ratio is currently well balanced as far as I am concerned, though I do think part of that is knowing when to stop. I think the fast is reasonable and much safer than some alternatives, but it is a rather formal and pretty fucking hard core way to go in the grand scheme of options. Next time I’ll do either a juice and broth fast, or a psyllium husk colon cleanse to go with my already pretty alright diet.

(P.S. I am not a doctor. Just opinionated.)