...Running Wild on the Web....

As of Saturday, my juice feast crumbled.  I’m slowly wrapping my head around the situation but the great one upstairs said that it was my “time”.  On the 11th day, an ill prepared venture led me into some of Jacks New Yorker Deli fries.  Late in the afternoon, my wife and I went out looking at houses, whatnot.  I had just finished a green juice around 11 in the morning and didn’t make a plan to love myself thinking that we would only be gone “an hour”.  Man can live only on juice for a certain amount of time.  The thing is: we were out so long, my will bent just enough to let the smell of JNYD waft slowly through the Vinings community.  I was having a moment because I was so hungry.  The thought of having a “cooked” Welch’s Grape after all the hard work I had put into it, I decided to go straight to the fries.  They really were delicious.  I’ve said it many times, but the fries there are outstanding.  The other two places are= Ted’s Montana and Dave Poe’s. But Vinings was the hood I was in and it broke me like a 2 dollar whore.

Where to from here you ask?  I’m not sure yet.  I lost right at 13 lbs and havent gained any of it back yet.  Lots of water for sure.  I will be juicing two days a week, aka- the day that I use to worship the higher power and feel the highest most powerful vibrations.  Am I disappointed?  Yes.  And no.  Yes because it was more of a character test for me.  Can I do it?  Instead of beating myself up about it, I’ve started thinking about another time to do it.  I simply have too much going on with my charity, the kids school which also ties into my responsibilities with my charity, finishing up work before spending some time in Hawaii next month.  Lots going on.  I know, I know….when you get knocked off the horse, you get back on.  I will in due time.  I wish much luck to my brothers and sisters still on the path and I am sending vibrations of strength and power of the will your way.

I plan on keeping the blog going though.  I’ve had fun with it and getting people interested in some crazy shizz.  Let’s think of something else to do.  Something fun.  I’m running the Peachtree this year.  Maybe a training journal?  You tell me about your runs and the ins and outs of it?  I just want to do something a little lighter this time around.  I would recommend that fast for anyone.  I promise you will lose some weight and gain a lot of insight as to who you are as a person because IT WILL BEND you.  I’ve to head off and do a little meditation before bed, but here’s wishing you all peace and love for the next couple of days.  If you have any questions, other than, “why are you such a loser…” I’d love to hear it.  Come and board the Peace Train.

I missed a huge opportunity today that I’ll forever kick my own ass about and that was the fact that Gregg Allman was signing books less than five miles away from my office at lunch and I didn’t go.  As I sit here and type this, the man is 10 miles away and I’m still sitting here typing because I’m “too tired” to go.  If ever there was a man who knows about trials and tribulations, it would be Gregg Allman.  On top of that, how kick ass was he as the bad guy in “Rush”?  That old school black Benz?  The finger/gun sign in court while Jennifer Jason Leigh was on the stand?  The guy should have been an actor.  Also, besides writing or co-writing most of the killer Allman songs, the guy put out an album with Cher and called it “Allman and Woman”.  That’s what I’m talking about.  Nobody does that anymore.  ”Come and let me show you my Tattoo”….admit it.  We ALL missed that.  Damn.

Second point- the Hawks.  Classic Atlanta is going to go down tonight at Phillips Arena, the “Highlight Factory”.  I won’t be watching.  Is it the first round?  It is.  Have the Hawks avoided the sweep?  They have.  Will they lose by double digits at home tonight and make 20k fans wish they would have spent the money to go and have Gregory LeNoir Allman sign a brand new copy of “My Cross to Bear”?  I think so.  The number in my mind is 17.  I’ve been listening to a lot of “Coast to Coast” with George Noory in carpool and I really think that there is something to telekinesis and remote viewing.  The number 17 comes from one of those places.  I see Kevin Garnett slamming one down on Josh Smith.  17…17…17…

Day 7 was pretty alright.  Nothing major to report other than some mild nausea late this afternoon and that could have been from anything.  Again, only fruits today.  I just like them more and they seem to keep the hunger away.  I was reading a friend’s post earlier and someone asked if he got cravings.  They come and go but less frequently than before.  When that happens, slam a juice.  Drink a big water.  It’s strange how much people DON’T really need food.  It’s been mentioned many times in other places, but a lot of our eating and bad habits are just emotional attachments.  I have a ton of habits.  I still bite my nails and I’m 40.  There’s no reason for it.  My friend Ray, who I think is about 100 times more healthy and food conscious than me, made a point that seems pretty obvious but that we all miss most of the time.  Many (most probably) times our hunger stems from pure boredom.  You want to walk into the break room and watch SportsCenter and have a Snickers or some chips.  You need a Diet Coke or a Coke to go with that.  Then it becomes habit.  If you’re an office worker or someone with a set schedule, see how many times a day you think about food.  See if you can find a pattern.  Coffee in the morning is an addiction but it’s also a habit.  I can’t believe it’s been eight days since I’ve had some and I still think about it.  Emotional attachments.

I checked my weight yesterday and I had lost between 10 and 11 pounds and most of that was probably water.  The thing is, it’s a nice base to start work from.  The key will be keeping it off.  Now that I realize how much energy I have, next week I’m going to do some walking and try to figure out how much I can do.  I definitely need to drink more water because I think I only drank about 2 liters today.  To work out or run/walk, I’ll definitely need to monitor my water intake.  

I’m off to not watch the Hawks lose by 17+ points tonight and to quietly monitor the Braves game.  I’ll probably re-read Gregg’s except of “My Cross to Bear” in the newest Rolling Stone.  I might listen to a little bit of “Low Country Blues” over the top of all that.  I’m most definitely going to have some grapefruit/lemon/apple juice.  Let’s go Hawks.  Is Willie Green taking the point tonight?  Whatever….

First, I’ve had several people ask about the cleanse.  They don’t “get it” I suppose.  Every time someone mentions the cleanse, I always think back to Anna Faris in Lost in Translation and she’s running through the lobby talking about “power cleansing”.  She corners the guy who’s based on Spike Jonze and says, “Promise me that you’ll try this power cleanse!!!”  I want to corner some people and just go off about the cleanse.  Kind of like Dan the Man.  He put up a straight up Jesus video yesterday that you people really need to take the hour and five to check out.  Lots of neat personal info and he goes way into his whole philosophy.  Most of it I don’t buy, but there are some things that, having had this experience, I most definitely will rethink.

I was joking with my wife that I was “vibrating with the higher consciousness” earlier.  She asked if I was on meth or something but the fruits really can pump you up.  I’ve definitely reconsidered the whole “carbs are bad” argument.  There’ definitely a component of this whole thing that plays off the fruit sugars and really gives off some nice energy.  It’s really hard to explain to people who have never laid off solid food for any amount of time.  I’ve most definitely given second thoughts to my food selections going forward and the whole “what can I live with/without” and making smarter choices.

To live like this, you most definitely have to have some sort of “higher self” or spiritual journey.  It’s really about focus and control.  I see why fasting is so popular in religion.  You have to have a reason for doing something like this.  It would be very difficult without maintaining some connection with God, or whatever you choose to call.  Sometimes, when you realize that you have to turn it over and focus on that higher power, you can actually feel a release or you’re suddenly drawn back into focus.  That part of it makes total sense to me now.  If you don’t have a purpose or something of higher importance, it will be very challenging for you.  ”I want to lose 50 lbs. in a month ” is going to be a lot tougher than you think.  That’s just a special hint from me to you.

A training tip…you NEED to plan this thing out in advance.  You MUST build up to a full blown juice fast.  You can’t just walk outside and say, “Today.  I’m fasting”.  There’s no long term success there.

On a personal front, I just celebrated six years with my wife yesterday which is amazing.  I’ve lost about 11lbs as of this morning and six days of juice fasting.  That’s not bad, but I hope it picks up steam over the next 14 days.

With that, I would like to salute the great George Lindsay.  A great guy and made hay in (my opinion) the greatest television show ever.  Goober.  Gomer cousin who took over when Gomer went into the service.  ”Saaaal- ute!!!”

Today has been one of the best days so far.  What is it?  Day 5 or something?  Anyway, the day started slow.  I woke up around 9:30, stayed up for an hour and then went back to bed until 1:30 or so.  I can’t believe I did that, but I stay kind of tired and dreamy when left to my own devices.  Once I got up, I went shopping for a new shirt.  Believe it or not, my shirt size has gotten a little smaller.  That was the goal for today.  I didn’t make it.

First, I really did learn a lot today.  I really tried to drink a ton of water but I would imagine that it was less than three litres.  It was one of those day that you hear about where you don’t really want anything at all.  As a matter of fact, I didn’t even want any juice until the late afternoon/evening.  That’s not really weird as you would find out by doing something like this.  I’m not sure why your body puts you in that space, but you can suddenly develop this urge where you’re not hungry for hours.  Nothing even sounds a little tantalizing.  Around 8, I gave in to the power of the green juices and had a nice one.  

I’m really thinking about switching to straight fruit at this point.  There are a few reasons for it but mainly, I just don’t have enough time to kill the greens.  They’re pretty hard to fully juice with the Breville.  Regardless, I will be on the high energy trip for a while.  Another tip that I picked up last night was cutting your juice with water.  The way that I learned was full on grinding everything up and drinking what was there.  Usually, its not that bad.  Well, it’s never ‘bad’.  The green juices can overpower something really easy.  I did two bunches of parsley today that amounted to maybe four tbsp’s of liquid.  I poured that into 32 oz. of fruit juice and the parsley absolutely ruled that drink.  Herbs are VERY powerful.  A little goes a long way.  So that’s my reasoning for cutting with water.  

I’ve said it before, and this is yet another reason to cut with water, but the Breville will juice for you.  It’s awesome.  The problem is: some of the smaller herbs that you really want to get into, you can’t because they are so small.  The centrifugal juicers spin that stuff around and literally tosses them into the bin like a lawn mower with minimal juicing. If you’re reading this and thinking about it, go with the auger.  The auger type juicers seem to be the most efficient for everything for getting the maximum juice for the buck.

Anywho, at this point I’m really starting to feel better.  After a week of juicing, the first three days weren’t all that great.  My energy level still isn’t popping like I’ve heard.  I am starting to get some weird acne which I heard could be caused by a cleanse.  No real issue there.  Over the next week, I hope that my energy level will increase with the fruit juices and that I’ll be able to get a decent night’s sleep.

I finally had a smooth day today.  I’m not sure if this is cool or not, but I had a bowl of veggie soup (not cold) at lunch.  Not sure if that’s allowed….but I did it anyway.  It was damn good too.  Today was real good for me.  The rolling waves of headaches seems to have gone away.  Hopefully that means that I’ve beaten the deadly caffeine addiction for the last time.  Right now, unless I’m eating a pizza, I’m not into food at all.

Here are my first impressions of the juice fast- it ain’t for everybody that’s fer sher.  If you work around normal people, you will battle with them throughout the day.  Of course, its a mind thing, but everything is doing this.  This isn’t like the movie cranking away and everybody’s just smiling and juicing.  It’s not.  I’ve had the same thing for breakfast since Tuesday and most of the same snacks.  I’m taking the “old school purist” view of just juicing up the simplest things.  Grapefruit/apple, Greens and lemon, that kind of thing.  Honestly, it’s just easier that way and you can do a bunch at one time.  In the morning, those bottles are separated and once you get them shaken back up, you “break the fast” for real.  

I haven’t had the bathroom issue that other folks have had.  My issue is the worst cotton mouth on the planet after a green juice.  Drinking water doesn’t help and I’m beginning to think that the only way to deal with it is to ride it out.  I read about it, but most of the stuff is for Muslims and their whole deal is different than what we’re doing.  Apparently, Muslims are the pinnacle of the fasting methods.  Ramadan is coming up soon and a co worker told me that he would be fasting during the day everyday for some wild amount of days.  They get to eat after dark and can eat as much as they like before dawn.  I’d probably eat all night and sleep during the hard part.  So…there are some weird side effects and possible medical conditions that might arise.

I’m really getting better though so the whole wheels up thing might be in progress as we speak.  Just so we have some context, MCA from Beastie Boys died today.  At 47 years old, he certainly provides a perspective for us entering the “middle ages”.  Keep drinking those sexy green juices….”Hey MCA get on the mic my man!”

helluva hard time today. Starting to tap into some of the emotional aspects of this, too. Imstill in the clouds and adjusting flaps. Acid burning throat and alll. How much for one chicken wing?

OK.  Sorry I didn’t give a blow by blow of yesterday but quite frankly, I was too tired to do anything.  I’ve had a serial migraine for the last 48 hours as well.  The thing to take away from this is: do the crime, do the time.  If you ever decide to take the opportunity to do a cleanse, pack a lunch.  Tonight, I’ve just had a hot shower and a nice glass of water and I’m almost ready for soft shoe shufflin’ time.

Yesterday- I drank a nice “green juice” and headed into work.  Nothing out of the ordinary until lunchtime.  One of my coworkers sat about 7 feet away and munched on crunchy Baked Lays for what seemed like an hour.  I had two coconut waters.  I’ve decided that I’m not much into coconut water.  It has a very sophisticated taste.  I can only describe the first drink as what I’d imagine it tastes like when someone spits in your mouth.  A weird saliva-y taste that’s a little hard to swallow.  After that, you get the initial hit and then it’s pretty sweet.  Either way, I had 200 calories worth yesterday and today.  That won’t be happening tomorrow.  The enemy of the daylight is boredom.  You don’t realize all your little habits until you’re not doing them anymore.  No more scavenging the breakroom for donuts and Boston Cremes.  No more three or four Diet Cokes in a day and that sweet buzz that goes along with it.  Diet Cokes and donuts…magic.  That was not an everyday thing mind you, but it did happen as the great (and also surprisingly obese) Kevin Federline used to say, “from time to time…”

Other than the routine, I wasn’t stuck in the desire for food.  I did have to keep myself for part of the day and finally went to bed around 8:30.  The whole cleansing thing is very tiring.  I woke up at 2 thinking it was 5 and then again at 4:30.  At that point, I had a raging migraine and could tell that this was going to be a long day.  I dropped my kids off for an appointment and came back home and slept another hour before going into the office.  It was best for everyone and I was pretty caught up for this week.  Big “green juice” for breakfast and another for dinner.  Do you get bored with it you ask?  Yes.  There’s a part of your stomach that waits for it like acid.  After the first sip, you’re busy thinking about water.  Or Chick Fil a.  Today was a battle day for sure.  I had the cravings, I had the headaches, I had the emerging signs of a temper, I had thoughts of giving it up….

But that’s where that ended.  I thought about the silliness of giving up.  People in other countries routinely eat a fourth of what we do and they seem to do fine outside of the machine guns and war lords.  They’re not dying of obesity though.  I am in this for the long haul and to inject some long forgotten discipline back into my life.  I’ve just got to get a platform from which to work.  My fasting partner battled yesterday but had to have a couple of nuts.  It happens.  Get back on the bike and get going.  The whole thing, like life, is a trip.  In this particular part of it, we hang on.

I made my kids spaghetti for dinner tonight.  I craved that.  I read three articles about BBQ today.  I craved that.  I thought about how I was going to eat pizza after breaking the fast on the 23rd.  I will eat shortly after.  I’m not someone that you’re going to see on “Intervention” working out four hours a day and eating 150 calories.  So even if this whole experiment makes me come across as more intense than I actually am, I still have perspective on it.  At this point, it’s 19 more days.  All this being said, after reading several articles on fasting, I think I’m coming to a point where the turbulence is nearing an end.  If you could compare it to an airplane, yesterday and today have been the liftoff and climb.  A lot of gaining control of the vehicle and getting the ass off the ground.  Today, I’ve been climbing through a few low clouds which shook me around a bit and moved my insides from side to side.  I think I’m to that first level off before the climb to cruising altitude.

I’m going to cut it short tonight and perhaps my thoughts will be a little more collected tomorrow.  Until then, here are my Top Ten cravings for Day 2 of the 21 day juice box:

1.)  Vincents pizza.  My favorite pie.  It’s on Barrett Pkwy in West Cobb.

2.) Tomato bisque.  I’m not sure why, but I don’t really like Tomato Bisque.

3.)  Chick Fil a sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit with a Diet Coke.  I would be in a coma after this.

4.) Peanut butter and Cheese crackers.  A vending machine classic.

5.)  Slopes and Red Brick BBQ- the gold standard in Sandy Springs/Perimeter BBQ.  I haven’t tried Heirloom BBQ but I drive by it every morning.  If I lived in Riverbend Apartments, I’d shoot myself in the face because they cook 24/7.  It used to be a convenience store.

6.) the Ramirez from Jack’s New Yorker Deli in Vinings- as a special bonus, Jack’s also has the best fries, bar none, in town.

7.)  Dunkin Donuts Boston Creme-  I probably would have punched a midget in the face for one of those today.

8.) a burger from Taco Mac Perimeter.  I sent a horrible Turkey BBQ sandwich back two weeks ago and was rewarded with one of the best burgers I’ve ever eaten.

9.)  ten bowls of the spaghetti that I made for my kids’ dinner tonight.  

10.) Rice-  I have no idea why, but I really wanted rice or a baked potato with butter and salt.  Nothing else.  

Hopefully I’ll be at cruising altitude tomorrow.  Or at least pray that I am.

That’s right.  At 11:11 PM pre juice night.  I don’t know why I’m so anxious.  This whole thing is 21 days.  Kids live off rice for years.  Right?  Not allowed to jam any Xanax either.  I know that I have at least two juice feasters joining me tomorrow so I you’re up and down with it, shoot me a pm and let me know so that we can through some support your way.  Should be an interesting three days.  Works been really busy and I’ve got a few busy weeks ahead, so I’ve got to be disciplined and pay attention to the situations that I put myself in. I need to get a ruling on this as well—if I’m on a juice fast, can I drink pure coconut water?  I’m planning on it so if that’s messing it up, I need to know tonight.  

Other than that, work.  I was just asking myself how I keep attracting losers into my life regardless of my intent.  I’m a “vibe guy”.  If you’re failing, I don’t mind helping out, not because I think I’m going to get something from it…..I generally like hooking like minds up.  Somehow, I keep leaving myself with the remnants and fall out doing shit like that.  But….I’m done with it.  Literally, a Don Corleone power move, “You’re dead to me”.  I mean it too (should this person be reading).  You’re an f’n trainwreck/nightmare to deal with.  Really.  So with that being said, I’m going to try and keep things chill over here so that this whole fasting thing doesn’t completely engulf me.  Lots of sleep and lots of juice…at LEAST one gallon a day.  

Raybone- prepare with throttle ready….I’ve got 41 mins to demolish any food in the fridge.  I’m off to do it.  Buenos noches from a lonely room….

It’s been a crazy weekend since Friday.  I didn’t perform up to par on a professional test Saturday morning so that monkey is still on my back.  It’s been there for a while.  It will be there for a little longer.  I’m not exactly sure what happened outside of being a little less prepared with some areas that I definitely needed to spend some more time with.  It was a four hour test and I really didn’t condition for that.  I had forgotten how long those things are.  With fifteen minutes left, I was reviewing about 20 questions that I had marked for review and pushed the “End Test” button with less than 15 seconds to go.  No fun.  So that put a little damper on, but I did get to spend quite a bit of time with my wife planning a couple of weekend getaways.  I can’t believe I’m going to be married for six years in a couple of weeks.  That’s crazy.  It’s life, baby.

So lets get ready to freak on some juices for the next 21 days.  We really need to make sure our mind is wrapped around it fully tomorrow.  Lots of water, minimal coffee.  Watch your dairy and your wheat.  I’ve had some pretty good food this weekend in anticipation.  I’ve had enough that I’m actually feeling like this whole thing is going to “come correct”.  Straighten everything out.  I’m pounding a carrot and something green drink as we speak.  I’ve been painting outside today and felt extra dehydrated today.  It’s caught up with me before bed tonight.  I’m excited though.  It’s twenty one days.  No one here will die in 21 days.  I don’t know anyone that couldn’t live off their body fat for 21 days.  Think about it that way.  Let’s all keep in mind that we’re going to feel like shit the first couple of days and let it be that way.  It is what it is my brothers and sisters.  Let’s accept it now so we don’t hate each other Wednesday.  Don’t come back to me and say, “Hey Jay.  Do you think this is a good idea?  I’m feeling like shit.”  You feel like shit because your inner terrain IS SHIT.  All this processed food is like heroin man.  That’s why people can’t quit the bread.  You don’t need bread to live but if you ever go to an Italian restaurant with the rolls, people will sell their family for that.  I was telling a friend’s wife late one evening at a local Mexican establishment, we’re always bitching about what we eat but nobody has a problem going to El Azteca and LITERALLY eating an entire bag of fried corn chips and cheese dip on their own.  We’re not going to die people.  The feeling you’re going to be feeling, the feeling I’m going to be feeling, pure withdrawal.  Nothing more, nothing less.  You don’t need a Diet Coke.  I promise.  You REALLY DON’T need a Diet Coke.

The last meal for this prisoner will go down around lunch tomorrow.  Going to have a five gallon bucket of sweet tea.  Because I LOVE sweet tea.  Not sure what I’m going to do for a meal but the tea will be partaken of.  I hope everybody who’s taking this challenge with me is “fired up and ready to go”.  We’re all going to feel like champions on May 22nd.  One more post tomorrow night before we start the countdown.  Have a wonderful evening with the ones you love my friends!