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mollymoo24
Distinguished Member
| Joined: | 30 Dec 2007 |
| Location: | Chicago, USA |
| Posts: | 9953 |
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Posted: 1 Jan 2017 01:22 pm |
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Happy New Year Michelle! I hope 2017 is full of good things for you and your family. 
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 10 Mar 2017 03:32 pm |
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Day 4 of Juice Fast
Weight: 184.6
I was ready for another juice fast after struggling with my weight and wanting to speed up the benefits of my visceral massage therapy. The plan is to try and go at least 4 weeks to give my physical therapist time to work on my abdominal adhesions without food in my belly to get in her way. I'm hoping the extended fast will also jump start my weight loss. I would like to be back in the 150s which would likely take longer than 4 weeks, but I want to at least be back in the 160s which I estimate to be about 4 weeks. In order to stay on this fast as long as possible, I'm allowing myself a couple of cheats. If I get really hungry and feel the need for solid food I'll allow myself a small raw salad with vinegar or a piece of fruit. Normally this small amount of food would be totally dissatisfying, but while on a fast I relish every bite. The cheats seem to sabotage my weight loss a little so I'll try to keep it down. My starting weight was around 189.0 (I forgot to weigh on day 1), and I lost 3 lb the first day. That means I've averaged about 0.7 lb each day afterward. The last time I fasted, after the initial big drop on day 1, I usually averaged about 1 lb/day.
I don't know where the time has gone these past couple months. I've been trying to get back into training especially hard. With a 70.3 race coming up, I was cramming my workouts which was exhausting. I was doing 2 long rides a week and drastically increasing my swim lengths to bring myself up to distance. After all that hard work I ended up missing the race which was last Saturday. A 3am phone call woke me that morning to inform me that my father had another heart attack.
My father is pretty old. On paper he's 94, but my mom says he lied about his age to get into the Chinese Nationalist Air Force so he's really 97. This is his third known heart attack. Because of his age there's nothing the doctors can do as any type of procedure would be too risky. His resting heart rate was 120 when I first saw him, but medication has been able to bring it down to about 85. This tells me that his heart is working overtime to compensate for ease of blood flow. He looks awful and I can tell he's suffering mentally more than physically. Poor guy.
A couple of job opportunities popped up. I have finished interviewing for one and am waiting to hear back. It was a tough process including a written test then a phone test and then an onsite test with 2 separate interviewers involving questions and writing code on a board. I have another interview on Monday that includes a coding exercise that must compile and run. I'll have 30 minutes to complete it. These interviews take a lot out of me. It's like prepping for a final exam in college. There's so much that is expected these days, and it's not enough to know a lot of different languages. Depth is the key.
The hubby has also had a few interviews that seemed to go well. All of them said it would take a couple weeks to finalize their decision so he's back to waiting. One of them was a job he applied for 6 months ago. Why would anyone wait that long to set up interviews?!
My next race will be a marathon in June. An old cross country friend is coming to California to do it and asked me to do it with her. She's much faster than me so I don't expect to be able to run with her, but it will be fun to have the same experience to talk about and share. I'll be doing most of my training on the bike as my weight is a hindrance to running safely, and my knee is still not quite healed. The drastic weight loss will definitely help me get back into running which is my biggest motivation of all.
Despite all the free time I have with not working, I feel like I'm busier than ever. I've forgotten to take care of myself again. I'll be back on here daily to make sure I don't forget and to keep myself on track for the fast.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 11 Mar 2017 09:52 pm |
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Day 5 of Juice Fast
Weight: 183.0
I got a big drop today, so maybe those little salads are not a problem after all. I think part of it was from my bowels emptying, finally. I feel better too, not much pain in my abdomen. The headaches and fuzziness also went away yesterday, but the stomach growling is still there. Anyway, that's 3 lb down in 3 days so I'm back to my usual average of a 1 lb/day.
I had a couple of cheats yesterday but they weren't big. I had a sample of the rotisserie chicken salad at Costco (I've always wanted to try but didn't want to chance buying a big tub of it if I wasn't going to like it.). I also had a bite of last night's dinner which was pulled bbq pork. My cravings have been so bad, not for sweets but for something fatty. I don't know if those two bites satisfied the cravings at all or made them worse. To help ease the cravings I tried miso soup today. That seemed to help a lot. Maybe I just needed something that tasted a little savory. The small salad with vinegar is helpful as well. I feel comfortable enough that I'm not lying awake at night feeling hungry.
It's time for me to start working out too, but I'm having a hard time tearing myself away from my computer. I get so stressed out about these interviews that I feel like I'm not prepping enough. A couple of people have told me that no one gets all of the questions right, but somehow I feel like I'm not getting enough of the questions right. How much is enough? I just don't know and that's what's killing me.
Well that's my promised check in. Time to get back to work.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 13 Mar 2017 05:31 am |
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Day 6 of Juice Fast
Weight: 185.0
A 2 lb weight gain was very disappointing to see today. Considering all I had was a small salad and miso soup, I have to blame the weight gain to water weight. It must have been the miso soup because that's the only thing I ate with salt in it. Seeing today's weight had me vowing to stick to juice only. Unfortunately we went to a neighbor's party where there was an awesome brunch spread. I stayed strong through the party but came home feeling terribly hungry and tired. With so much more studying to do today I tried to boost my energy with some soup. I was still hungry and just couldn't concentrate so I went with a more substantial mushroom soup. In the meantime I kept up with the juice and water. Now my stomach was sloshing and uncomfortable, and I was still hungry. This time I felt the need to fix this feeling with a slice of bread. Voila! I finally was good. That was hours ago and now I'm feeling uncomfortable again. I can't deal with the hunger and the stress of prepping for tomorrow's interview, so now I'm snacking on some cheese. I will be back on track after I'm done with the interview.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 14 Mar 2017 04:57 am |
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Day 7 of Juice Fast
Weight: 184.6
I ate a little more today. I was feeling really tired and fuzzy from prepping for today's interview, so to get a boost of energy I decided to break my fast just for today so I could get through my interview. I had a bowl of soup and some bread with hummus. Now I'm back to my juice fast.
Despite the food I still felt a little fuzzy. One of my questions was to write a class for playing cards and I couldn't remember the word "deal". I had to ask what the word was for giving a person a card. Anyway, I didn't think the interview went that great. I spent a lot of time prepping for questions and didn't get a single question. It was all coding. I completed the coding exercise but not as quickly as I should have and with too many hints. At least I wasn't a total flub since I got to move onto the next exercise.
I also found out I didn't get the job for the previous interview. The other person who interviewed didn't get it either. The job remains unfilled as it has been for many months. I didn't get feedback. I think companies are all following the Google style of interviewing now but are not offering enough to attract the kind of extreme expertise that they're expecting. One thing that's good though is that I'm getting better at Java with all this studying and practicing.
Now that those interviews are out of the way I can get back to training. Tomorrow is a 4 mile walk and a short swim. Other than that I have to take my mom shopping for some special cleaning supplies that she wants. It's going to take most of my day so I won't be able to visit my dad tomorrow. I'll go see him Wednesday for sure.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 15 Mar 2017 04:25 am |
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Day 8 of Juice Fast
Weight: 185.8
I'm not surprised to see my weight was up. Even with the little bit of solid food I've been eating, I'm still happy to see that my weight is significantly down from day 1. I think I might continue to supplement my juice with a little bit of solids, mostly soups. I'm just not as committed to full juice this time.
A couple days ago I had a problem with sloshy stomach from all of the liquids I was drinking. I thought it was a bit odd considering how little food was in me, the liquids should have gone right through my stomach. Well today I found out that I still had a blockage to get rid of. Now I feel tons better and no more sloshy stomach. I can drink my juice in one big chug instead of sipping throughout the day.
Today's exercise was just a 4 mile walk. I didn't have time for much after coming home from errands and taking a long nap. I'm still feeling fuzzier than usual. Still, I'm trying to keep up with my personal project even if it's just an hour's worth of work.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 16 Mar 2017 03:40 am |
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Day 9 of Juice Fast
Weight: 185.0
Today I got in about 29 miles on the bike. It was supposed to be 30 but it was close enough. I threw in some hills so that made up for the missing mile. Actually I had originally planned on a 40 mile ride today, but I didn't want to take chances with my reduced calorie intake. As it was, my power output was much lower than usual with an average of only 106 watts. My last 30 mile ride was 131 watts.
I also got in an easy yoga session. The dog made it extra interesting, jumping and climbing all over me, trying to lick my face during every downward dog. I could just lock him out of the room, but I admit I enjoy his silliness.
Because of the exercise, I decided to take in a little extra nutrition with some lentil soup. I thinned it down with a little water so it would be easier for my stomach to handle. I've estimated my daily juice intake to be about 460 calories (44 oz). With the soup I'm now at about 950 calories. The estimated calorie burn from the ride (2 hours) was about 790 calories. I definitely need the added calories during heavy workout days. I can do this either through soup or a protein shake to try and stay on the liquid side of my diet. Soup tastes much better so that's my first choice.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 17 Mar 2017 03:55 am |
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Day 10 of Juice Fast
Weight: 184.8
I woke up this morning feeling pretty hungry. I had a juice and some soup and felt much better. My sweet cravings are still pretty much gone. Donuts were looking good but I had no problem walking away. I still grapple with a craving for protein and fat. I had hoped the soup would help, but it doesn't seem to be enough. Still, I'm going to try and stay away from the extra food as much as possible to keep my intestines as empty as possible.
Today I went to visit my dad. I stayed a couple hours during which he was awake but didn't seem to recognize me. He nodded at me a couple times, but he did the same thing to the nurses. Most of the time he just looked straight through me. It wasn't until I got up to leave that he showed recognition. He tried to get out of bed to follow me, I assume to walk me to the door like he used to do. Being hooked up to all his tubes he wasn't allowed out of bed. It took me a while to calm him down enough to make him stay in bed. He seems ok for now, but he still has the intermittent breathing difficulty like he's gasping for air.
I was pretty tired when I got home at 2 pm, after being up since 6 am. I tried unsuccessfully to get some work done and gave up to do a workout instead. I took the puppy and hit the trails at 3:30. I'm testing out my knee and decided to do a run/walk interval of a minute each. I kept my stride really small. The knee felt ok for the most part but there was some soreness on the downhill. I stuck to a short 2 miles which seems safe. The knee still feels good so as long as it's still good tomorrow I can keep the 2 mile run/walk as my base starting point and slowly work my way up. Anyway, the run woke me up enough to get some work done.
I'm feeling tired now even though it's still early. I wanted to do a bit of yoga before bed, but it's time to call it quits. My eyes are in full burn fatigue mode.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 17 Mar 2017 08:52 pm |
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Day 11 of Juice Fast
Weight: 185.0
This morning I did a 14 mile walk. It took 4 hours. During that time I had nothing but water and had skipped breakfast. When I got home I drank about 24 oz of juice and ate a bowl of soup. I feel full and pretty content. I hope to see a weight drop tomorrow. I've been too good to keep seeing my weight fluctuate around the same number for the past week.
I've also signed up for another series of dietbets. I'm doing 3 of the usual 4 week bets, but this time I've added a 6 month bet. This time I'm committed to continuing the weight loss long term.
Time for a quick shower and then off to run some errands.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 19 Mar 2017 07:44 pm |
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Day 13 of Juice Fast
Weight: 183.6
I forgot to check in yesterday. By the time I remembered I was so tired I fell asleep with the laptop on my chest while waiting for it to come online. Anyway, I weighed 185 yesterday, again. I was super hungry too. I had a little more to eat than the usual soup, including bread, cream cheese and hummus. I felt much better and was happily surprised to finally see a weight drop this morning.
Yesterday I spent the morning kayaking with a friend. We were on the water for about 2 hours battling currents and my friend's jack russell terrier who couldn't decide where to sit. My arms are a bit sore today, I think too sore to do my long swim. I took the pup on a short walk this morning and find my legs feel a bit sore too. So, today will be a rest day with just some strength training and yoga.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 20 Mar 2017 07:25 pm |
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Day 14 of Juice Fast
Weight: 182.4
Yay, another drop in weight. I am pretty pleased considering how much I ate yesterday. It wasn't much, but it was more than I thought I would need considering I didn't exercise beyond a couple of dog walks. Total calories in were about 1350. Part of it was due to a gift of red leaf lettuce from one of my favorite farmers at the farmer's market. It was huge and fresh picked. I made myself several lettuce wraps with hummus. Yummy!
Jobs have dried up all of a sudden, so no new interviews on the horizon. I haven't heard back from the last interview either. I'm trying to stay positive and continue to work on my app and a possible teaching project for which I need to research all of the costs and come up with a business plan and teaching plan. I've got a lot to do so back to work.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 21 Mar 2017 10:12 pm |
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Day 15 of Juice Fast
Weight: 182.0
I'm lucky to see a drop in weight today. Yesterday was a lazy day so I didn't expect to see a lower weight today. Only 2 lb left to go to be out of the 180s. Hopefully this will happen in the next week or two.
Today I was supposed to do a 4 mile walk and a short easy swim. Unfortunately I started to feel abdominal pain which turned into back pain. I cut my walk short by 1 mile and barely made it home. I couldn't stand up straight and I couldn't bend down to stretch. A couple hours later I realized I was constipated. How that happens on a mostly liquid diet I have no idea. The plan for today is lots of heat to my back and lots of water for my insides. The swim is definitely out. I can't stand without pain.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 22 Mar 2017 04:08 pm |
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Day 16 of Juice Fast
Weight: 181.4
Woohoo, another drop in weight, and again that was after another cheat day. Yesterday I was craving salt so I had tortilla chips, like 3 servings of chips. I went a little crazy after feeling so deprived this past week. Today I vow to be back on the fast with just some veggie soup to add a little bulk.
My back is feeling better but there's enough of a niggling feeling that I'm going to trim down my workout. I'll do my bike intervals but not the swim or strength training. I might do yoga, but will stop if my back complains.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 23 Mar 2017 09:24 pm |
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Day 17 of Juice Fast
Weight: 182.0
Weight is up a little but after several days of big drops I feel good about it. Yesterday I treated myself to a little tuna sashimi. The tuna steaks were on sale at the market, and they looked particularly good so I got one. I cut a small portion off the whole steak and only had about 3-4 oz. What a treat! Other than that I was pretty good.
I also got in a good workout. I did intervals on the bike trainer for 30 minutes. They felt awesome. It felt great to push hard, and just when I thought I couldn't do one more interval I did it anyway. The last one came as a surprise. Maybe I should do the longer intervals next time. Anyway, my back felt great on the bike which is lucky because I still have pain when walking. However I did better on this morning's walk, managing 3 miles before the pain flared up. Thank goodness for physical therapy. I don't think I'd be able to move still if I didn't have someone to release these muscle cramps I keep getting from my abdominal issues.
I've decided to give the Amazon interview process a try. I got contacted by an Amazon recruiter to work on the Alexa product. That would be a pretty interesting job. The first step is a 90 minute online assessment. To prepare I found this website, leetcode.com, that has a bunch of coding problems presented at interviews. Each one has a set of solutions too. Even if I don't pass I think I'm going to have fun prepping.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 25 Mar 2017 05:35 am |
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Day 18 of Juice Fast
Weight: 182.6
Today has been an exhausting day. It started out great with kayaking at 6am. We took my pup out in it for the first time ever. He did pretty well. He had no trouble jumping into the kayak when I told him to, and he was calm for most of the trip. The only problem was that he loved having the 2 of us within licking distance so we were constantly wiping slobber off our faces. So far he's too afraid of the deep water to try jumping off the boat. I dread the day he learns to swim. There will be no keeping him out of the water then.
When I got back home around 9 am I went straight to the computer to get some interview prep done (I'm going to do the Amazon online assessment). I love leetcode.com. There are a ton of sample problems and the website is well setup for writing my own solutions as well as learning better solutions from others. I worked for 5 hours straight, not noticing the time because I was having so much fun.
I made myself some soup for lunch and got in a quick shower. I was just settling down to do some more coding exercises when I got a phone call from my dad's hospital. I was told he was declining and that he didn't have too many days left. The hubby had an early dinner and we were off to the hospital around 3 pm. He recognized me when I got there but other than that he was in and out of a restless sleep during which he would start screaming from time to time (more like from a bad dream than from pain). I held his hand to calm him down and until he fell into a deeper sleep. Just when I was about to leave the nurse came in to take his vitals. Boy, he did not like that. He was totally unaware of his surroundings and tried to punch both me and the nurse. For a dying guy he sure is feisty. Anyway, he settled down quickly once we left him alone and went right back to sleep. I felt comfortable laving him for the night.
I was super hungry by the time we got home. I had another big bowl of soup and my last juice. I'm pretty tired now so time for bed.
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mollymoo24
Distinguished Member
| Joined: | 30 Dec 2007 |
| Location: | Chicago, USA |
| Posts: | 9953 |
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Posted: 25 Mar 2017 08:38 am |
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Hi Michelle. I noticed you're been back so I just caught up a bit on your journal. I'm sorry to hear that your dad is in his last days. Glad you are able to spend time with him at the hospital.
I have no experience with a juice fast. On the one hand, it's almost incomprehensible to me. On the other hand, it could be just the ticket to snapping my current out of control food obsession.
Do you have a particular juice(s), schedule, etc that you follow? Veggie juices, fruit juices, any juice you want as long as its juice? Do smoothies count?
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 25 Mar 2017 07:46 pm |
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Hi Molly! What a happy surprise! I read the last part of your diary and thought you were gone. I was sorry that I had missed saying goodbye to you but am glad you made it back into my diary.
So a juice fast is definitely tough. I'm not always able to get past day 1. I have to be in the right mood. The first 3 days are the toughest and that's where I'm the strictest on sticking with the diet. Morning is a fruit juice (orange, apple and pineapple juices blended with frozen berries). The rest of the day is veggie juice with the only fruit in it being lemon. During the first 3 days I don't do much exercise because I go through withdrawal, experiencing headaches, stomach cramps and tiredness. On the 4th day I might allow some cheats in the form of smoothies and soups if I need them. Or I might just call it quits on the 4th day as it's usually enough to get rid of sugar cravings (but not cravings for fats).
I understand why you left, but I hope you are able to visit often if not be able to start a new diary that's not so personal maybe. Take care.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 25 Mar 2017 07:57 pm |
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Day 19 of Juice Fast
Weight: 181.2
Today I plan to spend a good part of the day at the hospital. I'm going to bring my laptop and hopefully will be able to get some work done. I'm not so sure I'll be able to go through with this Amazon assessment. I find it hard to concentrate and I'm a little more weepy than I thought I'd be over my dad's coming death.
Anyway my weight is down. I'm happy with the small cheats I've added to this fast. I feel like my weight is coming down in a way that will stick. I think that once I come off the fast my weight will not go back up too much. In any case, my current diet is something that I feel capable of sticking with for a month or two easy.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 26 Mar 2017 07:35 pm |
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Day 20 of Juice Fast
Weight: 181.8
I've decided to cancel my Amazon interview. I spent over 5 hours at the hospital yesterday and even then it was hard to leave. My dad held my arm and cried. I don't think he knew it was me because he asked what my name was. It's not just his dementia too. It's listening to his neighbor patient complain about his crying and the nurses apologizing to him about the noise. It seems a little insensitive given I'm sitting right there. The visits are exhausting. Most of the time I'm too tired to do anything except drink my juice and then fall asleep once I get home. When I do try to work I find myself doing the same problem over and over because I keep making the same stupid mistake over and over.
I'm going back to the hospital today, but I need to find time for myself in all this. I'm going to figure out a schedule that works so that I can at least get is some exercise.
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mollymoo24
Distinguished Member
| Joined: | 30 Dec 2007 |
| Location: | Chicago, USA |
| Posts: | 9953 |
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Posted: 27 Mar 2017 04:01 am |
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I'm sorry. This process must be so hard. I'm glad you realize that you have to make time for you too.
It's possibie that I could keep accountability here and journal someplace else. Not sure. It's not like I had time to plan for this. I'm exploring other options right now including password protected, privacy controlled and/or encrypted blogs. I'll still be coming by and checking on you all. 
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 28 Mar 2017 06:06 am |
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Thanks molly. I appreciate the kind words and sympathies. It's good to see you are not completely gone.
Day 21 of Juice Fast
Weight: 181.8
No change in weight which is ok for now. I'd like to start dropping again so I'm going to reset my fast by sticking to juice and vegetable soup for the next 3 days. I would have started today but I did a 15 mile run/walk and needed to fuel up. The rest of the week is pretty moderate so I don't have to worry about needing the extra calories.
I didn't visit my dad today as he was transferred to hospice, and I didn't know the schedule for the transfer. I was worried he'd be moved by the time I reached the hospital and didn't want to spend the day driving for hours. I did see him yesterday. He was asleep most of the time, but when he did wake up he was totally zoned out. He didn't recognize me or speak to me. It's almost like he looked right through me. At least he seemed relaxed. What bothers me most is that he is not being fed anything. He's just receiving fluids and medicine. I keep imagining how hungry he must feel on top of everything else.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 29 Mar 2017 03:35 pm |
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Day 23 of Juice Fast
Weight: 180.8
I totally forgot about logging yesterday. I was so busy and then just too tired by bed time. My weight was 181.4 yesterday so I was happy to see that I was at least holding steady, but today I got a new low after hanging steady for 4 days. I am so close to being out of the 180s. I was hoping to be there sooner but the way I'm doing it now is better and more sustainable. At least I hope it's sustainable. I'd like to continue until I'm around 165 lb. Then I'll take a little break before reworking the rules for my permanent diet.
Today I have to do some errands and then I promised to take the girl pier fishing. She's on her spring break, and she's been bored since I've been spending so much time at the hospital. I feel guilty about my dad, but I'm torn about needing to be there for him and needing time for myself and family. This time I choose family,
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 31 Mar 2017 08:37 pm |
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Day 25 of Juice Fast
Weight: 179.8
Once again I was too exhausted and preoccupied to log yesterday. I had gone to visit my dad and he looked pretty bad. He had such a hard time breathing and he seemed to be in pain this time. Unfortunately his roommate is no help. He talks and sings nonstop in a very loud voice. I sat through an hour of this and was surprised that this guy had so much to say. It was truly amazing. Despite the chatter my dad fell asleep and I let soon after. So with a 3 hour visit and over 2 hours of driving, it was a tiring visit.
Yesterday's weight had gone up slightly to 181 lb, but today I was rewarded with my first sub-180 weight. Again I was surprised to see it considering I had my first real cheat since I started the diet. Last night I was feeling super hungry so I had a full serving of leftover pasta with meat sauce. Not only that but I ate it after midnight. I think I must have been truly hungry.
Today is a me day. I've already completed a nice morning run and ran errands. Now I plan on doing some work and watching some tv to cheer me up.
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vicincali2
Distinguished Member
| Joined: | 1 Nov 2011 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 2290 |
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Posted: 31 Mar 2017 11:22 pm |
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| You're doing so good Michelle. Down 10 pounds and in the 170s. The juice fast works. Last edited on 1 Apr 2017 01:54 am by vicincali2
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mollymoo24
Distinguished Member
| Joined: | 30 Dec 2007 |
| Location: | Chicago, USA |
| Posts: | 9953 |
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Posted: 1 Apr 2017 01:22 am |
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Just checking in...you're doing great keeping it together with all that's going on. <3
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 3 Apr 2017 10:52 pm |
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Thanks vic and molly!
Day 28 of Juice Fast
Weight: 180.4
I had some bad cheats but luckily no permanent damage done. I've been away for a few days dealing with my dad. Today he passed away around noon. I feel lucky that I was there for him at his last breath. We had only been there 10 minutes before it happened, so I almost feel like he waited for me. After all of his suffering, I was gratified that his last moments were peaceful and that he died in his sleep.
I don't know what to do with myself now. I can't seem to write my thoughts without erasing everything and starting over, so I'm going to stop here and maybe come back tomorrow.
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vicincali2
Distinguished Member
| Joined: | 1 Nov 2011 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 2290 |
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Posted: 3 Apr 2017 11:43 pm |
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| I'm sorry for your loss. Please accept my condolences.
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mollymoo24
Distinguished Member
| Joined: | 30 Dec 2007 |
| Location: | Chicago, USA |
| Posts: | 9953 |
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Posted: 4 Apr 2017 03:33 am |
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May he rest in peace. I'm glad you were there for him, it does seem like he waited for you. Sending my condolences and support Michelle.
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jackbenimble
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 4 Apr 2017 12:32 pm |
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| I'm sorry for your loss, Michelle. It was good for you to be with him when he passed.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 7 Apr 2017 03:31 am |
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Thanks everyone! I really appreciate the well wishes. All of the kindness I'm receiving is helping me get through the grief.
Day 31 of Juice Fast
Weight: 179.8
The weight has not budged because I've been straying a lot from the diet. Although I'm still drinking the same amount of juice, I've added some solids that are big no-nos. It's been hard given the circumstances. Family and friends want to get together with me after my dad's death and it always seems to revolve around food. I find it impossible to say no right now.
I'm definitely feeling better now. I've gotten through the worst of it, including the mortuary arrangements and the death certificate. The hubby helped me a lot as I found it difficult to speak clearly through my tears on the phone. I don't know why I cried so much the first couple days. I'd be fine for hours and then something would trigger me and I'd get all weepy again.
I'm trying to get back on track. The exercise is going well even if the diet isn't. I need to start losing instead of sitting at the same weight for a week again. It's going to be hard. Not only is my brother and nephew coming for the burial (family dinners), but I've had this insane urge to bake. I normally hate baking, but it seems to be the right activity to keep me occupied and take my mind off things. I've only made cookies and brownies so far, and I gave into eating one cookie. Tomorrow I plan to make buttermilk biscuits from scratch. That could be very dangerous.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 8 Apr 2017 04:20 am |
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Day 32 of Juice Fast
Weight: 178.8
So happy to see another 1 lb drop. Almost everyday I've had some kind of cheat, mostly small cheats but some big ones. So far the cheats are small enough to keep losing weight but enough to keep me from feeling totally deprived.
I'm doing 4 dietbets now. I've made my goal weight early this time. If I'm lucky I hope to win about $50 this time. That will pay for half the fees of the marathon I'm doing in June. I'm going to keep up with the dietbets for 6 moths. My goal is to lose 45 lb in those 6 months. I feel like 145 lb will be a comfortable weight for me where my body will feel light enough to train seriously without putting too much stress on my joints. Ultimately I think my race weight should be 135 lb. Since my college race weight was about 125 lb, I don't think it's an unreasonable weight to seek.
I made the biscuits today. They didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped. The recipe wasn't as much as it claimed. I came out with half the biscuits it said it would make, so I made them half sized to get more. The tops didn't brown as nicely and the bottoms were too brown. Luckily all the flaws were hidden by the sausage gravy that I made to go with them. The family ate them all, and I couldn't resist having one. Still, next time I make these I will double the recipe and maybe change the oven settings to get a more even bake. Tomorrow I've decided to try making pizza dough.
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mchen01
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Posted: 9 Apr 2017 02:56 am |
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Day 33 of Juice Fast
Weight: 179.6
I completed my first round weigh in for one dietbet. I've got another one to do in 2 days where my goal weight is 179.3. I'm going to try and be good for the next couple days, but right now I'm craving a Chinese style meal with lots of white rice. I guess I will make myself some cream of mushroom soup instead. After all, I'm still paying for the biscuit in sausage gravy.
Today's weight is a little bit of a cheat. My weight this morning was over 181 lb, but after my 30 minute bike interval workout I got my new weight. I was a little dehydrated but not by much. I also did a 45 minute evening run, and post-run my weight was still about the same.
The run tonight was interesting. There were more bikes than ever, which is odd because it's only a 0.7 mile lollipop loop. My dog took after one cyclist who came up on us without warning - bad dog!! Without bikes, the dog is very well behaved. It's the reason why I do loops on this short trail - so he can run beside me off leash. Anyway, we also came upon a woman making big holes along the trail. She was filling them back up but not very well. Turns out she was literally digging for treasure. She told me she was finding tourmaline and quartz - pretty cool.
My goal for the rest of tonight is to drink plenty of water to rehydrate.
Whoops, forgot to mention my pizza dough progress. I wasn't able to make it today, because after buying ingredients and a pizza pan I found I didn't have enough time to make it by dinner time. I will definitely do it tomorrow.Last edited on 9 Apr 2017 02:59 am by mchen01
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mollymoo24
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| Joined: | 30 Dec 2007 |
| Location: | Chicago, USA |
| Posts: | 9953 |
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Posted: 12 Apr 2017 08:49 am |
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Hi Michelle. I hope that you are doing OK. The period immediately after losing a parent is full of emotion and very busy. It's difficult to keep balance and keep healthy eating and exercising as a priority. I think its necessary to just muddle through as best you can for a little bit.
Your mention of trying to lose 45 pounds in 6 months to get to a comfortable running weight really resonated with me.
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mchen01
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Posted: 12 Apr 2017 06:11 pm |
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hi molly! it has been very confusing sorting through my emotions. just doing the burial arrangements leaves me numb and tired. i keep seeing my dad's face right when he died. it's not his best look. i hope some older, happier memories come back to me instead.
Day 37 of Juice Fast
Weight: 179.8
I can't believe I went this long without journaling again. I don't know where the time went. At one point I had gotten my weight down to 177.6 lb, but it bounced back up. I did have to eat a little following a long workout so the increase in weight could be due to that. Anyway, no biggie, I'm still sticking with the liquid diet for most days.
The day before yesterday I was supposed to do a 16.5 mile run/walk. My knee started bothering me about half way. I think the pace might have been too fast. I had to switch to a walk the rest of the way. Unfortunately, about 2.5 miles from finishing, I noticed the dog started to favor one leg. When I looked at his paw, I saw that he was getting hot spots (redness on the edges of his pads). The hubby was nearby surfing so I left him a message to wait for us. I stopped my workout at just under 15 miles. I guess I could have gone on and finished, but there was no point in stressing my knee further. The knee was bad enough, that I had to take a rest day yesterday.
Tomorrow my brother gets into town. I will spend most of the day cleaning the house. I've already done a 4 mile walk this morning. If there's time I will try to get in 15-20 miles on the bike trainer.
Oh yeah, the pizza dough turned out pretty well, I think I will try and make a batch every week or tow.Last edited on 12 Apr 2017 06:12 pm by mchen01
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mchen01
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Posted: 15 Apr 2017 03:59 am |
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Day 39 of Juice Fast
Weight: 178.8
It's been a very busy but very nice 2 days. Having my younger brother visit has really cheered me up. I think he's the only other sane and compassionate person in my family, and his sympathy and understanding has lifted much of the stress I didn't even realize I was feeling.
Yesterday I did a 3 mile run and this morning I did another 3 mile walk through some hilly trails. I'm feeling more relaxed and the alone time I get while I exercise is especially soothing. The weather has been great. It's been sunny with a cooling breeze. The ocean has been calm and bluer than usual. Tomorrow we all plan to hike out to the cliffs with binoculars and look for whales.
I've finished one set of dietbets and have already joined a second round. I need to lose 7.1 lb in 3.5 weeks. I feel like this is going to be a difficult round so I think I will need to count calories just to be on the safe side. Just because I'm on a liquid diet doesn't mean I can't overeat. For instance, tonight I had 3 beers so no more of that if I want to make my weight.
On a side note, I ate a silkworm larvae on a dare. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but it wasn't great either. It smelled worse than it tasted, but to me the look was the nastiest. At least now I feel confident that I won't ever starve in the woods if my only food is bugs.
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mollymoo24
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| Joined: | 30 Dec 2007 |
| Location: | Chicago, USA |
| Posts: | 9953 |
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Posted: 15 Apr 2017 09:31 pm |
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lol...about the silkworm larvae bet. You continue to surprise me. How exactly does this come up out of the blue? :)
I'm so glad that you felt cheered by your younger brother's visit. The planned hike sounds spectacular! I hope you have a great time.
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mchen01
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Posted: 16 Apr 2017 05:12 am |
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hey molly! the silkworm thing was a long time coming. I'd had a can of silkworm larvae in my cupboard for several years. I had found it in a Korean market and was fascinated and grossed out by the idea of eating what was most unappetizingly pictured on the can. I showed it to my brother as a joke, but he promptly opened it, took one out and dared me to eat one if he did. Sometimes I surprise myself too.
Day 40 of Juice Fast
Weight: 178.4
So much for calorie counting and watching my liquids. Tonight I had more than enough wine to ruin my calorie goal. Oh well. My brother is leaving tomorrow so no more temptation to drink after that.
Today I made Korean BBQ and Thai yellow curry for dinner. The curry was a little disappointing, but I think I should have used sweet onion. The sauce seemed a little thin too. Maybe I should have used coconut cream or maybe some sweetened condensed milk.
We went to the beach in search of whales today. Only the hubby was lucky enough to spot one. I'm so jealous. I will have to go searching again on another day. The rest of the group went down to the tide pools while I stayed to watch the dog. The tide was a little high so all they were able to find were a bunch of hermit crabs. Still it was a great day with more gorgeous weather and good company.
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mollymoo24
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| Joined: | 30 Dec 2007 |
| Location: | Chicago, USA |
| Posts: | 9953 |
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Posted: 23 Apr 2017 04:42 pm |
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Hey, you haven't been back in a week, hope things are going well and you're just busy!
I have this idea that it must be very pretty where you live, with the ocean nearby and whale watching to be had.
Last edited on 23 Apr 2017 04:52 pm by mollymoo24
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mchen01
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Posted: 27 Apr 2017 06:00 pm |
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hey molly! thanks for checking on me. i haven't journaled because i've been in the hospital. i'll explain down below.
Day 52 of Juice Fast
Weight: 177.6
I've been back home for a couple days now after another bout of intestinal obstruction. Even though I got released from the hospital, I'm not out of the woods yet. Eating beyond a cup of liquids is painful. My stomach feels overly full and I get a painful bloat. The surgeon has asked me to stay on a liquid diet for the next couple weeks. If I'm unable to get in a full meal of liquids then I need to go ahead with surgery.
This time I was able to see the CT scan of my small intestines. It was startling and gross. My small intestines were dilated and much larger than my colon. Food had been stuck in the small intestines for so long that there was fecalization. How nasty is that?! The contrast I drank for the scan took 3 days to reach my colon.
There was no warning this time. I wasn't constipated, and I had only had a diet coke for dinner before the pain started to hit me. By morning the top of my belly had swollen in an odd way with a large bulge on the left side. I still wasn't feeling that bad, at least not until the car ride to the hospital. By the end of the 30 minute ride I could feel the waves of sharp pain starting to rise. Waiting in the emergency room, the pain just got worse. The dilaudid would only last 30-60 minutes before I was sweating and crying from the pain. It took 3 doses of dilaudid before the pain became manageable. The first pumping of my stomach showed that all that was in it was the contrast I drank for the CT scan. I'm still baffled as to what caused the pain and why I didn't feel it sooner.
Anyway, I was expecting my weight to be much lower after 3 days of no food or drink and then another 4 days of calories below 1000. I was pretty swollen with water weight when I first came home. I weighted 182.6 lb. The second day home my weight had dropped to 178.2 lb. My weight is a little lower today, but I still was hoping for more. I'm very behind on my dietbet goals now. I need to lose 6 lb in the next 1.5 weeks. I'm hoping much of this will continue to come off as water weight and old food as my small intestines slowly empty.Last edited on 27 Apr 2017 06:01 pm by mchen01
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 28 Apr 2017 06:03 pm |
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Day 53 of Juice Fast
Weight: 176.0
I'm very happy to see my weight come down so much. I think I gained a lot of water weight while I was in the hospital. Maybe that was from the morphine. The arm that had the IV in it was very swollen.
I'm still having pain with every food intake, including water. On the other hand, I was able to eat a little more yesterday. My mom made me a pureed carrot and potato soup that was out of this world yummy. It helped bring my appetite back. The canned soups are ok, but now that I eat unprocessed so much I can taste the chemicals in processed foods.
I'm also having difficulty exercising. Yesterday I went for a short walk and had to cut it down to a half mile. I also had to sit on a tree stump to rest for a while. The abdominal pain on my right side gets bad with just a little bit of walking. I'm going to try again today though. I need some kind of exercise. I also plan to do some grocery shopping so it will be a full day of good movement for me.
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mchen01
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Posted: 29 Apr 2017 07:15 pm |
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Day 54 of Juice Fast
Weight: 176.2
I'm feeling better today, While I'm still a long ways from eating solids, the pain has decreased with taking in liquids. At least it doesn't hurt to drink water anymore, and I'm able to finish a bowl of soup before it gets cold. My belly still bloats with every meal, and I'm still unable to walk for long before the pain hits. I welcome every small positive step that gets me back to normal.
Today I feel well enough to get some work done. I'm going to try to do some coding for at least an hour, maybe two if I can make it.
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mollymoo24
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| Joined: | 30 Dec 2007 |
| Location: | Chicago, USA |
| Posts: | 9953 |
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Posted: 2 May 2017 11:18 pm |
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I'm really sorry to hear about your medical episode and I hope that you are healing and feeling better daily. I know that it is going to be incremental and take a while. Do they have any clue what led to the obstruction? How scary. :( Know that there is healing energy coming your way from me.
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mchen01
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Posted: 3 May 2017 06:05 am |
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Thanks molly!!
Weight: 175.8
It's time to give up on the juice fast. I feel like my nutrition is lacking. I get constant headaches now along with weakness and tiredness. I don't know what I'm going to do yet. I have to go on a low roughage diet next, and it's terrible. It includes a lot of refined starches and animal proteins. I have to cut out raw vegetables, beans, nuts and grains. I was told this diet may be required for at least a month, or I'd have to follow it for the rest of my life if my intestines are unable to process these foods.
My weight is coming down slowly. I'm starting to feel constipated today, so I've been drinking lots of water. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow.Last edited on 3 May 2017 06:05 am by mchen01
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mchen01
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Posted: 3 May 2017 11:19 pm |
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Weight: 175.8
No weight change which is unexpected. With all of the starchy foods I've been eating the past few days I guess I thought my weight would balloon. I've added crackers and white bread to eat with my soups to test my digestion. It was rough at first, but I'm doing much better. I felt good enough to try eggs in my diet and am feeling better with that too. However, the solids have left me constipated so I'm going to back down again. I'm drinking more water today and staying away from solids.
Today I tried out goat's milk. It was not homogenized so there was some cream globules in it. I'll need to shake it longer. In terms of taste, it was exactly like cow's milk. It's not like I drink a lot of milk, but I do use it for cooking. I was interested in goat milk because I've been thinking of starting my own farm some day. My plan for the farm is that it will mainly include aquaponics, but I'd like to have chickens and goats too. I was almost there with finances. I had saved enough to have a good down payment on land, but we had to use almost all of it this past year while both the hubby and I have been unemployed. I'm not discouraged though. I feel like we will come out of our slump soon.
I'm moving forward on my own business venture. I've been on the SBA website researching how to start a business. I'm not quite ready for it, but it's good to see how I should direct my current work in the right direction. My biggest concern that holds me up is the cost of insurance and whether I need it and how much, so I'm delaying starting until I have a large part of it set up.
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mchen01
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Posted: 5 May 2017 03:45 am |
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Weight: 175.8
Ugh, still stuck at the same weight. Still feeling constipated too. The stool softener is not working. While I'm not in pain, I still get a bulge around my stomach area after a meal which tells me I still have a partial blockage in my intestines that keeps food or liquids from leaving my stomach. In desperation I've finally taken a dose of MiraLax. It better work or I'll have drunk poison for nothing.
I was super tired today so I spent most of the afternoon napping. I still feel like I'm missing out on nutrition. I've tried Ensure, but it's really sweet and I hate using up precious calories on something I don't like. I hate vitamins too. I just want to eat a salad, a huge salad full of all kinds of veggies and beans and maybe some olives. I really miss veggies.
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mchen01
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Posted: 5 May 2017 06:36 pm |
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Weight: 174.4
The laxative worked and I feel much better. Sometimes I don't realize how much discomfort I'm in until it's gone. Today I finally felt well enough to go for a little test run. No pain on the run, so I'm doing much better. There is still the usual pain in the right belly area, but nothing out of the ordinary.
I also did another strength workout so I'm getting my money's worth out of the app I bought a couple months ago. I'm going to try and do one strength routine every day for the next 30 days. Most of the are only 10 minutes long per set. I'm starting with just one set because I'm pretty weak. Maybe I can get to 2 sets by the end of 30 days.
I now have 3 days to lose 3 lb. I'll do my best.Last edited on 5 May 2017 06:49 pm by mchen01
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mollymoo24
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| Joined: | 30 Dec 2007 |
| Location: | Chicago, USA |
| Posts: | 9953 |
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Posted: 6 May 2017 02:04 am |
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I'm glad to hear that you are feeling better. I understand what you mean that you sometimes don't know how much discomfort you are in until it is gone. Hoping for continued good updates.
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mchen01
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Posted: 8 May 2017 09:39 pm |
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Thanks molly! Hope everything is well with you as well. I may not know what you are up to, but I'm cheering for you always.
Weight: 173.8
Today's weight is after a 30 minute ride on the trainer, so there is some sweat weight loss. I was hoping to be at 171.4 lb by today, but that was my conservative goal. I have one more day to meet that weight for my dietbets. I think I can do it if I can just get past this darn constipation. I have taken 3 doses of a laxative since yesterday morning and so far nothing. Today I'm going to switch back to a clear liquid diet and hope that helps. It's starting to look more and more like I'm going to need that surgery.
Last Friday I did a strength routine that left my glutes and hamstrings super sore. It was hard to sit. All I could do was fall into a chair. The soreness is mostly gone now so I did an ab workout this morning. I'm going to reset my 30 day commitment and call this day 1.
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mchen01
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Posted: 9 May 2017 09:39 pm |
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Weight: 174.4
Not much to say today. I'm feeling tired and still need to do my strength workout. My belly is still achy and distended although not as bad as yesterday. I've made an appointment with the surgical center to arrange surgery. In the meantime I'm back to a liquid diet with one serving of something solid but super soft, like cream of wheat, rice porridge, over-cooked noodles and white bread.
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mollymoo24
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| Joined: | 30 Dec 2007 |
| Location: | Chicago, USA |
| Posts: | 9953 |
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Posted: 10 May 2017 03:52 am |
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mchen01 wrote: Thanks molly! Hope everything is well with you as well. I may not know what you are up to, but I'm cheering for you always.
Thank you! Check your inbox. :)
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