Weight: 149.6, Fat: 16.6%

I finally slept on my own, we did setup a mattress for my pregnant wife in another room, and I’ve never slept that well. As you can see, the daily weight loss is starting to fade out, although the fat loss is trending down, maybe this means I’m now burning my “love handles”, pictures will tell, and I will upload some today or tomorrow, stay tuned.

Weight: 150-lbs, Fat: 17.1%, Steps: 12000

Something happened yesterday, something good.

It was a very cold day, and I couldn’t wear my usual running gear, so I decided to go for those “old pants that do not fit anymore” (you know the ones you keep in the last drawer), and not only they did fit great, but I also needed a belt. I’m at 150-lbs now, which is my target, but I well know that I’ve lost 10 pounds of water weight in this process, so I’ll keep water fasting until June 1st, and then, switch very progressively to juice fasting, until day 50.

10am update: I had planned on a nice walk today, but I’m not going to try to become a health nut, and I’m just going to stay home this morning and do some reading, then do some gardening with my wife and roof work, I’ll take it easy today, it’s been a long week with a lot of work. Sometimes you have to give your body a break, no?

9pm update: I managed to do a nice 1 hour walk after gardening, awesome. While showering I’ve noticed a little rash on my torso, although this isn’t the first time this ever happens to me, it’s very minor and should go away shortly. I feel a little tired, but the garden looks much nicer.

Weight: 151.4, Fat: 18.6%, Steps: 24000

The daily weight loss has started to slow down, which is probably the result of my metabolism trying to conserve energy. Although I still feel pretty energetic and, to be honest, very well. If the trend is pursued, I shall pass the 150-lbs mark this week, which is a big milestone. I’ve ordered a wheatgrass juicer and I will plant some wheatgrass this weekend, so it will be ready at the end of my fast. I’ve been giving it some thoughts and I think juicing will be the most efficient way to kickstart my gastrointestinal tract. We’ll see then, there’s plenty of time before this.

Weight: 152, Fat: 19.2%, Steps: 23120

My metabolism is starting to slow down, I can perceive this as I feel colder in places my wife doesn’t. This comes with no surprise. The hunger is still present, but easy to ignore, despite the fact that I often think of food, even in my dreams (at times). My body doesn’t sweat when I exercise, but I make sure to stay hydrated properly. I’m still easily irritable but I try to manage to hide it, when I can.

Weight: 153, Fat: 19.7%, Steps: 21600

Today I feel energized, I have a lot of things on my plate at work and I’m busy in my personal life learning an “forgotten” computer language. I had some weird dream about food, mostly involving protein bars, there’s things I can’t explain; I’m not going to micromanage this.

I’m a little less grumpy than usual, although, something is definitely missing from my routine. I’m still easily irritable, although I try to hide it at work; my wife has definitely noticed.

The weight loss is slowing down, as I expect it to; I’ve noticed I’ve lost some muscle mass, as I was told it would happen.

I’ve read that (in men) the abdominal fat is the last one to go; we’ll see.

Weight: 153.6, Fat: 18%, Steps: 22300

I’m feeling good today, thirsty when I wake up, as obviously my body is depleted of sodium, which retains water; therefore I have to drink a lot.

I was asked to share my feelings, emotions and effects of the fast on me, therefore I will try to summarize them here.

• I have a lot of energy, I walk 9 miles a day, and doesn’t really feel more tired than in general.
• I still perceive hunger, but it’s easy to overcome now, it seems that it has gotten easier after day 11 or 12. I can fully sit at the table and talk to my wife while she’s eating dinner without having the urge to eat something.
• I am more irritable and grumpy, just like if some pleasure was missing out of my daily routine.
• My breath stinks a little, this is due to the removal of toxins from my body (I have entered ketosis).
• I am delighted of the weight loss so far, my wife is impressed. In truth I know this is the easy part, the most difficult part will be to learn how to eat right, I’ll focus on this next week or so.
• I am forcing myself to stay very busy, yard work, house work, hobbies, you name it. I do read a lot as well.

Weight: 154.2, Fat: 19.3%, Steps: 22300

I’m feeling great today, I slept good (probably because I worked a lot yesterday), no headache, beautiful day. It hardly gets any better than this. I can now sit with my wife, talk to her while she’s enjoying her dinner and not even feel compelled to eat something. I sometimes dream of food, any food, but who doesn’t.

Michael Pollan said: “You are what you eat”, but I prefer “You are what you don’t excrement”, it’s not as nicely put, but it’s closer to the truth. The maximal cell lifetime in one’s body is 7 years, meaning, if I shake your hand now, and again in 7 years, it would be a totally different person. Isn’t this scary? No, it’s just the way the body “regenerate itself”.

We build computers that can perform trillion of operations per second, but we wouldn’t be able to build a piece of machinery that reaches the perfection of the human body. Maybe because computer existed for about a hundred years and we did for few million, who knows.

10am update: I just realized it’s been two weeks! I’m so busy I forgot about it.

Weight: 155.8, Fat: 19.8%, Steps: 29000

Just a quick snippet before I go to work, I feel great, the hunger, while still present is easier to overcome, and I try to maintain a good daily exercise routine. I feel good, better than I have been in a long time. I wear a ‘S’ sized t-shirt today.

10am update: I carried my gps while walking to work this morning, the walk is exactly 4.5 miles, and 9500 steps.

2pm update: I had a nice 12.5 miles walk today (about 25000 steps), I’m going to repaint a part of the roof and moan the lawn, then laundry.

Weight: 156.4, Fat: 19.6, Steps: 29000

As promised I took some pictures, as shown below.

I let you comment on these, I think there’s some noticeable changes. Anyway, I slept 12-hours, and I feel much more energized, I have to work this weekend, so I’ll be busy, which, all things considered, is very good.

Weight: 157.4, Fat: 20.2%, Steps: 21000

I barely slept last night, my wife being pregnant makes it difficult. Thankfully, it’s Friday. I do have to go to work Saturday and Sunday, although, not as early as during the week; so I will make sure to catch up on sleep tonight. I am energized (compared to the early days of the fast), possibly because my body already got rid of many toxins. I have read about a third of “How and when to be your own doctor” and I sincerely really enjoy this book. It gives me really good ideas on how to break the fast later on and how to maintain a healthy lifestyle, for which, nutrition has so much to do; next on my list are “Fit for life” from Harvey Diamond, which seems to also refer to food combining as the right way to eat. As far as sleeping is concerned, I’ll set myself a temporary bed tonight in the soon-to-be baby bedroom.

I’ll post some new pictures tomorrow, stay tuned.

8pm update: I’m exhausted, lack of sleep, I’m going to nap right now. On a side note, my tongue has a nice orange color.

Weight: 158.2, Fat: 19.7%, Steps: 21500

We’ve reached another milestone, day 10! I make sure to stay hydrated, and I had less coffee than usual. I stay very busy, and this helps drastically. My headaches are gone, and I feel a little more energized than usual. Looks like a good day!

1pm update: I’m not sure why, but it seems that I’ve gotten over the hump, and controlling my hungers seems easier, let’s hope this is true. The cravings are still here, but I’m getting better at ignoring them.

Weight: 159.4, Fat: 21.6%, Steps: 13000

I have reached a milestone, being under 160-lbs, this feels good. I still have cravings, of course, but most importantly, if I lay down and stand up at once, I feel a little dizzy. This is the fruit of ketosis, therefore I have to avoid harsh exercise; as I can only convert energy from fat very slowly. I still have the strong taste of bread on my tongue.

1pm update: “Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet” – Albert Einstein.

2pm update: Fasting burns, according to my estimations,  roughly 1 calorie every 10 steps; this doesn’t brings me dizziness, hence, I will pursue my walking routine (9 miles a day) during the reminder of the fast.

4pm update: Surprise! My wife came to pay me a little visit at work, she’ll be driving me home tonight, why not; that means that I’ll walk only 4.5 miles today; not 9, let’s just say it’s my reward for reaching my first milestone.

7pm update: After a good shower, I looked at myself in the mirror, there’s clearly a change, and this will bring me the motivation I need, tomorrow will be day 10, and that’s another virtual milestone.

Weight: 160.6, Fat: 21%, Steps: 20751

It’s another beautiful day out there, and I feel great today!

I am hungry, I now understand that it’s a feeling that will not go away; but, I’ve realized that those feelings are getting easier to ignore; I’m dehydrated, probably because my body is lacking the sodium (and other minerals) that retain water, so I do drink plenty of water, and I switched from tea to herbal tea (no caffeine).

12pm update: Work offers free lunch and dinner today, salmon, roasted veggies and roasted tofu and half a million pounds of desserts. If you ever wondered how I got fat, now you have the answer. I’ll stick to my Tazo tea.

2pm update: If everything goes well, I’ll be under 160-lbs tomorrow, this is a big milestone for me, it’s not only a simple reminder that hard work pays.

Weight: 162.4, Fat: 21%, Steps: 20966

One week! The numbers above are encouraging, it’s a nice day today, I’ll hurry up and walk to work, as I overslept a little. Here’s the encouragement of the day: my pants feel a little large for me, not by much, just a little; this is a very good feeling; maybe I’ll need a belt in a week or so. Bad news, hunger is still present, even after my gastrointestinal tract shutdown; I dream of food, I think about food several hours a day, possibly those thoughts are not going away during the fast; oh well, it’s fine, it’s going to be a busy week at work anyway.

11am update: Of course work is providing free (great) lunch today, no wonder how I got overweight. Now here are the good news: if I enter my weight and height (5’8”) into a BMI calculator I get a result of 24.7. The “normal” range is 18.5–24.9, how’s this for encouragement, I’m getting closer to my goal.

1pm update: I’ve noticed that carbonated (sparkly) water brings satiety, so this is key when fasting, cold works better than room temperature.

2pm update: If you want, you can email me at the email address below:

5pm update: Wow, I’ve been super busy at work today, no time for play, the day just flew by. I’ll probably take off shortly and have a nice walk home. By the way, my wife’s ob/gyn appointment is in exactly 3 weeks, by then we will know the sex of my child, I’ll post the results on this blog.

9pm update: I cooked for my wife in exchange for her to give me clean haircut, I feel like doing an extreme makeover; somehow it’s a good feeling.

Weight: 164, Fat: 20.6%, Steps: 28215

I hear my stomach growling, this means that my gastrointestinal tract has not shutdown itself entirely yet. This will probably happen next week. I have a weird taste in my mouth, maybe this is a symptom of ketosis. I will go to the market this morning, my wife will most certainly buy her favorite goat milk and I’ll take some pictures, then, as it’s a nice day out, I will take the roll to be processed downtown; this will be a nice walk. I’ve started to read the book “How and when to be your own doctor”, it’s a good read, more on this later. This book is in the public domain, so I will offer it as a download: How and when to be your own doctor, let me know what you think of it.

Be aware that Dr. Moser, the author of this book has passed away from cancer at the age of 56, so I’m certainly not saying this book is a reference, it has some interesting facts and it’s inspiring; feel free to suggest other books (or documentaries) and I will read them; be aware, however, that there’s a lot of books of questionable interest on nutrition out there. In fact, it’s not uncommon to enter a book store and find more books on nutrition than any other subject.

3pm update: Back from the market, going downtown to get my film roll processed, it’s a beautiful day out there.

6pm update: After a nice day outside, I’ve decided to add my daily mileage to my blog, you now find this on every post. I do carry a pedometer, an Omron HJ-720IT which I strongly recommend for its accuracy.

Weight: 165.6, Fat: 21.8%, Steps: 25701

I woke up at 4am with cravings, this must be what hunger tastes like; I’d better get used to this. This morning I have to walk to the film lab to get my film roll processed; it’s near work, hence about 4.5 miles from home.

Those are this morning’s pictures, there’s absolutely no change from a few days ago, this is probably due to the elasticity of the skin (which is why the body fat percentage isn’t changing yet), which will take a few weeks to “resize” itself. Time will tell.

2pm update: I got my film roll developed, 2 pictures of which will go in a Mother’s day card that I will be sending to my mother in law. I’ll go watch a movie this afternoon with my wife. I keep myself busy so I don’t really have the time to think about food. I’m starting to enjoy the fast, it’s rewarding and easier than dieting, I don’t have to count calories, cook or even worry about portion control, there are no portions. I’ve walked about 9 miles this morning.

8pm update: The movie wasn’t terribly great, although it helped me stay focused on my goal, the worst part is that I went food shopping with my wife afterwards, seeing all this food undoubtedly raised the dopamine levels in my body, I could just smell the ripe fruits and bread being baked. I have bought some Moroccan mint tea (it wasn’t so great) which I had for “dinner”; while my wife had some celery sticks, fish and tomatoes. I still do not feel weaker, and the hunger is tolerable although I have to admit I think about food very often; as I should.

9pm update: I’m slowly realizing what is my current attitude towards food, where taste matters more than nutritional value, this is something that I will have to work on. While this fast is certainly a proof of willingness, I’m also learning about myself.

Weight: 167.4, Fat: 21.2%, Steps: 20793

It’s just a matter of willingness. I’ve added my weight chart in the tab above. I’ll add some new pictures this weekend, stay tuned!

I bought a book today, it’s titled “How and when to be your own doctor” from Dr Isabelle A. Moser. It relates (amongst other things) the story of a 56-days fast and how to break the fast and not regain the weight (I will need to come up with a solid plan for this later). I’ll read it this weekend and tell you about it.

10am update: Wow, I’m feeling great today, maybe because it’s Friday, maybe because my wife is 17-weeks pregnant! I’m thinking by now I’m going to lose about 2/3 pounds a day (2500 calories). I walk to work and back for a total of 9 miles a day. I’m going to maintain the same amount of exercise during the weekend. I’m not terribly hungry today.

11am update: I’m wondering what to expect from now on? Hunger, weight plateau, dizziness, ketosis; this is an uncharted territory; if you’ve been there before, I’ll be following your footsteps.

8pm update: I was under the impression than fasting would slow my metabolism, I don’t feel cold and I walk 9 miles a day, I’m not noticeably more tired than before my fast, although I do sleep better. This may be explained by the fact that I don’t have to digest dinner while I sleep. I did drink more than yesterday, maybe 3 quarts of water, and some tea and coffee during the day, without any sweetener or milk, needless to say.

Weight: 168.8, Fat: 21.3%, Steps: 21338

I have the feeling that my gastrointestinal tract has shut itself down, I wonder if this is going to make things simpler or harder. I understand that most of the weight lost so far is water weight; according to wikipedia, the human body is composed of 60% of water.

10am update: I was somewhat worried about publishing those “before” pictures, but things have changed, and I think they remind me what I’m fighting for. I have to admit that I often think about food and my olfactory sense is acute, when I left home this morning I was looking at those 4 ripe bananas in my fruit basket, which I hope my wife is going to eat soon; but I have the willingness this requires.

10:30am update: Work provides free lunch today; thanks, but no thanks.

3:30pm update: Work also provides free dinner tonight and free lunch tomorrow. A lot of great food will be served. I’ll pass, but it’s annoying to work in a place where food is so abundant, and free; not the worst food either, it’s catered.

7pm update: I think this is the most difficult part of the fast, the first 100 hours. I’m hungry, I can’t deny this; this is normal in this process and make me realize that I will have to re-learn how to eat, this time moderately, after I’m done with the fast.

Weight: 171.8, Fat: 22.3%, Steps: 21582

The mild headache is gone, the back pain that I had last week is gone and I breathe better; oh, and I slept like a baby.

11am update: I feel great today, I walked to work, as usual (4.5 miles each way), I’ve noticed some interesting facts. I had dandruff for months prior to the fast, now it’s almost gone, this can’t be just a simple coincidence. I’m not too hungry, I had a few cups of coffee and drink a lot of water (half a gallon a day). The taste of bread I had in my mouth is gone. I will keep posting those non too flattering pictures every few days.

1pm update: I was asked what was my last meal: Almond butter on raisin-pecan bread with honey, shredded carrots with raisins and quinoa with sesame sauce; very unhealthy.

2pm update: I measure the fat ratio with an Omron Body Logic Fat Loss Monitor (model HBF-306C). It’s not as accurate as a fat caliper, but it’s good enough for me.

8pm update: I’m starting to feel hunger, but it’s not unbearable, I walked back home, listening to an audiobook, then I had a cup of tea for “dinner”.

Weight: 176.8, Fat: 22.1%, Steps: 21161

10am update: I walked to work, which is 4.5 miles each way, I’ll walk back home and do this 5 days a week. I have the taste of bread on my tongue, it’s not unpleasant and I’ve cured it with 2 cups of Guatemalan coffee.

12pm update: My coworker is eating some chicken at his desk, it seems that my olfactory system is on steroids, I had a few cups of sparkling water for “lunch”; surprisingly, I don’t feel very hungry yet.

3pm update: Thankfully, I’m really busy at work today (as usual), so it keeps me focused. I’m sipping on a cup of tea as I write this.

8pm update: I have a very faint headache, but I’m still not too hungry, in fact, I feel rather good.

I’m 38, 5’8; and weight about 180 pounds.

Somehow, something went wrong; what happened? A good denial strategy would be to blame this on free corporate lunches, stress and overworking. Regardless of all this, I have a goal and a plan.

The plan is simple: I’m not good at dieting, all those diet books are contradictory and I just don’t have much time for exercise or calorie counting. My plan is simply to water fast for 50 days (1200 hours) and we’ll see how much weight I’ve lost at the end of the fast.

I’m allowing myself tea and coffee, I’ll drink a fair amount of water and report on this blog my daily weight, body fat and distance walked; I’ll also post some pictures when time allows.

I’m starting tomorrow, wish me good luck!