Day 8: June 15, 2009

A dreary, rainy day. . . but it has only affected my mood minimally. Largely, I am just so amazed that I have made it this far. The end is in sight. I’m going to make it.

I hit a snag ordering my raw food materials. The credit card we were trying to use had a hold on it, so I will probably not be able to get my stuff until the end of next week. Because I’ve made it through eight days of not eating, I shouldn’t be worried about a week of having to eat minimalist raw food creations. But, I am, somehow. My ongoing problem is that when I get bored with healthy eating and have exhausted all the healthy recipes I know, I start making concessions here and there, and that’s always a slippery slope. Pretty soon, I’m eating a pint of Ben & Jerry’s.

So, my goal over the next few days is to find raw food recipes that don’t require a dehydrator or a super-powered blender. I have another major challenge coming up that I didn’t realize until tonight: I have an out-of-town training next weekend. I will most likely be doing the trip solo, and I don’t want to have to live on salads the whole weekend. Of course, I can always bring fruits, which are an easy raw snack. If my dehydrator comes before I leave, then I can stock up on homemade goodies that don’t have to be refrigerated. I will have to plan excessively and most assuredly bring a cooler, and perhaps even ask for a fridge for the hotel room.

My energy level, while a bit decimated by the weather, was still high enough to get me to the gym. I had a pretty good work out, including warm-up and weights, and was able to get more rigorous on the treadmill. I did a random 40 minute cardio, with a constant 3.5 mph and a varied incline ranging from 2.9 – 5.9. I definitely worked up a good sweat and felt great during and after. Unfortunately, as of 4:00 PM, I had only made it through one liter of lemonade and didn’t bring my second liter with me to the gym. I definitely pushed myself beyond uncomfortable when I went to the grocery store after the gym, still sans lemonade. By the time I got home at 6:20, I was very weak, so weak, in fact, that I couldn’t really string two thoughts together, never mind sentences. I was most definitely working on negative calories; I probably burned close to 400 at the gym, plus whatever calorie burnage happens during normal daily activity, and only took in about 250 with the one jug of lemonade. Probably not the smartest idea.

I had another experience of freaky heightened olfactory sensation. There was a guy that got on a few treadmills down from me who was emitting a very strong offensive smell. No, he had not passed gas, which would be the most logical conclusion on your part. Rather, he smelled mucousy sick, like a sinus infection or an upper respiratory infection. Sure enough, about two minutes into his work-out, he started hacking up a lung and he continued this for the rest of the time that I was next to him. Besides the SWF, I would say my new bionic smelling is my least favorite side effect of this cleanse. (If you’re confused by this, just think how intense poopy diapers and a flatulent husband would be in my current state.)

I had the tiniest of cheats today, so miniscule that it hardly counts, but I’ll include it anyway. I made spaghetti with a roasted garlic, herb, and olive oil sauce. I lightly dipped the tip of my finger in the olive oil blend and rubbed it on my tongue to see what I was missing. Oh boy, it tasted good. But, seeing all that delicious spaghetti soaking in olive oil and garlic was almost enough to drive me crazy. Of course, Kaya only had two bites and was done with it. And Jere got working on projects and didn’t get to eat till very late, which means I had to sit here for hours knowing all that tasty spaghetti was just sitting there. It was the most tempted I have been so far. I was obsessed with thinking about how gratifying it would be to chomp away on the somewhat chewy texture of the al dente pasta, mixed with the savory garlic sauce speckled with those earthy herbs. I prayed for strength, drank my tea and then sulked in bed as I tried to distract myself with a book. It only partially worked since I could smell that garlic sauce all night long. As excited as I am to try courgette (zucchini) strands with sun-dried tomato sauce (raw foodist’s version of spaghetti), I don’t think it’ll ever come close to a big ol’ bowl of spaghetti (the unhealthy white kind) slathered in olive oil, garlic, and parmesan. If there’s anything better, I want to know about it.

Well, just two more days of SWFs and lemonade left. I bought my oranges today in preparation for the next phase of the cleanse. It’ll be a welcome change. I’ll sign off for now, with day 8 conquered.