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Trent McNair
Trent’s Day 1 Experience:
Although I didn’t start this project, I am starting todays journal post about our first 5-day cleanse. I think it will be nice for people to see both of our pespectives on the journey.
As a man, what should I expect? Food for both of us is a central part of our lives and Linda and I are not immune to the bad habits that most of us encounter each and every day. I come from a family where butter, fat, and grease were considered a food group (maybe our main one). My tastes for food revolve around it. Like so many men out there I would pass on the fresh salad for the burger and fries. Meat is a large part of my diet. But blindly continuing to eat meat without knowing the process that it took to get to my plate has shaken my kitchen to it’s core. More and more I have learned that this process is making me sick. Sapping my energy and even affecting my mental acuity. Overeating is also a problem of mine. My appearance is deceptive, but I do carry some extra weight and a cholesterol level that is alarming. At 40 years old, I am starting to feel the effects of a diet that might have been okay as a teenager, but at my age has made me feel lethargic as my day progresses. For me, this experiment is as much about feeling better as it is about looking better.
So…day one. I’m almost through it. Feeling very tired, but my dinner has me satisfied (the sushi was REALLY good). I ate slowly and savored every bite. I think my sense of fullness comes from the fact that my stomach had probably shrunk to the size of a walnut by the time I ate dinner. Tea, lemon-water, and blanched spinach for lunch. Breakfast was a hearty, heaping cup of some kind of pureed fuit and veggie combo that Linda set in front of me with the biggest cheshire grin I have ever seen. It might sound like I am complaining a lot, but the experience hasn’t been so bad, and I am proud to have gotten through the first day with only the mildest discomfort.
I am worried about Wednesday and Thrusday (that will be Day 3 & Day 4) because I will have to leave the support of my wife behind to attend my Grandmothers funeral several hours away with my family…and they WILL be eating. Oh, yes, they will…
Linda McNair
Linda’s Day 1 Experience:
I felt deprived all day until now. Dinner was great (homemade sushi!) and I feel satisfied. But I have to admit, today was really tough. Sometimes I felt deprived because I was HUNGRY, but most of the time it was the lack of drinking my favorite friend, coffee.
Coffee at any time of the day would bring comfort into my life. It’s a taste that always brings me pleasure, and tea just doesn’t cut it. But I’m happy to report, I made it through the entire day without a cup of coffee, dairy products or meat! I feel VICTORIOUS!
The one thing I have to say is that these cleanses are not for busy people. The shopping and planning took a lot of time, which I expected, but the prep, cooking and clean up is very time consuming. Fine for 5 days, not forever. But it has shed light on how much we rely on convenience food. And now it’s even more clear why we have a national health crisis.
Besides the hunger pangs and the coffee withdrawals, I feel rather good. I was calmer all day. Things seemed to flow easier. I can already see that the next four days will be monumental in how I look at food and drinks. Put it this way: Weight Watchers is a piece of cake.
My diet growing up was nowhere near as artery clogging as Trent’s, but carbs, wine, cheese, coffee and meat are staples. Interestingly, the only thing I’m missing today was my big cup of java — cream and sugar please. I will replace sugar with agave nectar when this is all over, but the coffee will return. Perhaps just two cups a day, though. I swear…
