Friday, May 16, 2008

Day Three

Well there's no way of putting this delicately, so I'll say it outright.  This morning I woke up filled with hate.  My headache was still taunting me from behind my left eyeball, and I resented the notion of getting up to drink a nalgene bottle's worth of salt water, and then proceed to starve myself only if all I was going to get out of it was pain and anger.  

I walked to the kitchen and stared at a frying pan soaking in the sink with somebody else's egg, cheese, and grease particles clinging to the sides.  I gagged.  Repulsive.  

Ok, so I guess it's not food that I want.  At least not fried eggs.  So, I made a deal with myself.  1.  If I wake up with a headache tomorrow, then it's not worth it, and I'll quit.  Anyone who has spent 24 hours with a headache will probably agree with me on that one.  2.  Today I'm taking a day off of the SWF.  The authors of this cleanse say that if it is not possible to take the salt water (and today, for me, it is not), then drink a cup of smooth move tea in the morning as well as at night.  So, I poured a cup of my laxative tea, which actually is quite good, and turned to my heap of lemons.  As I chopped and squeezed, I became more resigned, perhaps slightly accustomed even, to the routine.  I knew from looking at the egg nasties in the sink that I didn't need to eat.  I just didn't feel good.  

When we do something that doesn't feel good, we stop.  Why am I continuing on?  My answer still continues to be, I don't know.  I mean, when we exercise we continue when it hurts.  When we're trying to meet a deadline, we don't quit working even though it sucks.  So, I'll stick to my deal.  Today I'll persevere.  If I wake to a headache tomorrow, I'm having a piece of toast.

But now, two glasses of lemonade later, I'm sitting on the front porch.  It's 70 degrees out and my headache is barely noticeable.  Adam just weeded the garden and we're going to go to the nursery for plants.  I'm not hungry, and I feel happy.

Could my anger and repulsion have just been part of the mass exodus of toxins from my body?  God that would be great.  But I suspect that that is a whole other de-toxing cleanse of its own.  One that takes a lifetime of effort.

Grace.

1 comment:

gardenpoet said...

Okay. I've been reading this, resisting leaving any comments, but today is the day. I have been doing a web search on this regime to see whether it is healthy or harmful, and have found that most of the controversy centers on whether or not one loses weight effectively with the MC Diet. It appears that people do, though whether that is a long-term or a quick-shot water loss is as yet proven. What concerns me most is the health safety of this rigorous regime.

From a NY Times article:

......."Samuel Klein, the director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the medical school of Washington University in St. Louis, is leery of master-cleanse-like regimens because there is no data that prove they provide any medical benefit and no evidence that fasting helps rid the body of toxins, which happens naturally, he said.

While fasting for a few days is not dangerous, Dr. Klein said, “Fasting for too long can deplete muscle tissue, including your heart muscle, and it can reduce the size and functioning of organs like the kidney and liver.”

He is just one of many nutritionists who caution that fasting can be counterproductive. Some say it can even slow down the metabolism, making it even more difficult to lose weight in the future.".....

So...be careful, Arm Chair Foodie. A conscious decision about WHY you are doing this and a bit of research as to the real effects on your body would seem to be in order.