Compared to my previous attempt at “abstaining” from something where a friend Paul and I just ate fish / fruit / water for about 20+ days (we broke before 30 days), I can actually say this has been easier, less work on my part. The thing I have noticed from these type of trials though is that it really gives you a lot of perspective on life, and a lot of discipline towards many other things. I believe that in my journey now to find discipline, god has been sending me answers…and this being one of the big ones. It’s actually funny now to think about it. For a long time I was searching for energy and motivation, and I was finally given the answer through me quitting my life as a Cutco salesman and starting into the world of online business….programming, blogging, etc..

Now that I am very happy and content that I have found my calling, or at least jumped on the train and am exploring the world of it, I have found that my search has now turned to that of finding great discipline. As I have found, once motivation and energy are discovered it does require some great amount of discipline to carry out our plans of action. So, in that search I have found many resources for helping me. So far I have discovered the power of recording everything I do and evaluating it (I’ll write a blog on this soon). This has helped me really discover where I am at, and what I need to work on. Knowing this key information is probably one of, if not THE most important steps in the process to fixing anything I believe.

Now I have discovered just how powerful fasting can be to QUICKLY developing that discipline muscle. It’s like super training in the gym…or like as if I were just pushing myself to the limit every single day at the gym. I guess that metaphor applies to what TYPE of fast I am on, since I consider this a bit easier than maxing out each day at the gym. Anyway, my point is that if you really want something, and you commit to it’s discovery then god, or the universe, or whatever you believe in will give you that answer. It may not always be immediately clear, and you may even find it without even realizing until months later, (like me) but the point is you WILL find it.

Yesterday was pretty rough on my stomach. It hurt quite a bit, but not TOO much. It was bearable, just a bit uncomfortable. I did some more research on fasting and after reading up on some articles I decided that I think I want to do a combination of water and juice, and try to extend myself to 30 days. This may have been very difficult with a pure water fast, but from what I read if I do a 30 day juice fast I will get very amazing results anyway. I imagine if I do this with a few days of just water also I will get even better results. I went to the store and got some pure Orange juice (not from concentrate) and drank it, I felt fantastic! I actually felt full, and then IMMEDIATELY got a rush of great energy and felt super happy and productive. Also I had to pee like 5 times in about 3 hours, I probably drank too much…maybe? I don’t know. I drank what I felt was right so I am not worried about it, plus it’s orange juice so that cannot be bad

Let’s see…also I have noticed that this really nasty abscess that I had on my gum is now pretty much no longer there as far as I can tell and I’ve had it for several months and it just sits there and fills with puss and busts every day (sorry for that visual). I am glad to be rid of that! Also I usually have some tooth pain throughout the day on one of my two cavities, however I have not felt any discomfort dentally at all. You could argue that this is because I haven’t been chewing on anything…but who knows, perhaps my body is already healing itself of these infections. I also have Myoclonic epilepsy (small seizures lasting no longer than 1 second, but I can have hundreds in a day) and usually have a few seizures each week, however this week I have only had one VERY small seizure that I can recall. This is a huge improvement. I am hoping that after 30 days I won’t even remember that I ever had epilepsy. Perhaps I can start taking showers standing up again

My breath has been pretty damn nasty too, and my mouth has been coated with some thick mucus. My face also seems to be a bit greasier / bumpy and I have a red trail around my sinuses. This is all to be expected, as I have read from other people’s accounts that this is simply a sign of the body expelling toxins through any means available to it and since the skin is the largest organ…well yea. Also EVERYONE reports really bad breath on a fast, I suppose that the mouth is a pretty big way to expel things for our body.

Umm, I haven’t had to go #2 since the first day of the fast…which seems a bit odd. I figured I would at least be letting something go. I may have to try giving myself an enema as was suggested by a large number of articles on fasting that I read, as I imagine my insides need a good cleaning out. I actually looked for one in Wal-Mart the other day but was not able to find one. I’ll be sure to try a pharmacy next time I go to town.

Well those are my observations so far. From the way I feel right now, I would recommend that everybody go on a fast because I simply feel on top of the world. Perhaps a 30 day water fast is not for everyone, but I would say try something else like fasting from TV or fasting from…something. I will be sure to write more as I go along…

Good luck to you all on your path to discovery! If you enjoyed this post, be sure to send it to your friends and Digg / Stumble / etc…

One of my best pieces of advice, is that if you have a spouse / partner / friend that you are close with, is to go on an excercise / diet plan WITH him/her. It is so much easier to lose weight and get healthy when you are doing it with someone that you care about, and that supports you. Not only this, but it gives you a system of accountability also. It is much harder to let somebody else down than you.

Next, you will want to set some sort of goal. Perhaps you want to lose a certain amount of weight. Maybe you want to be able to run 3 miles nonstop, perhaps a marathon! Maybe you want to quit smoking, or eating cupcakes, or stop drinking coffee. Whatever your health goals are, write it out and keep it around somewhere that you can see it often.

Now that you have an idea of WHAT it is that you want to do, and you have the family on board, it is time to make a plan. This will be different for every person based on what it is that they want to do. Something to keep in mind is that this will NOT be easy, there is no real “quick fix” to getting healthy. You will definitely have to make some major changes. Here here is a general list to help 80% of you out…again this may vary for some of you:

1. Get rid of all of the junk food sitting around your house. You cannot eat what you do not have access to.
2. Put together a grocery list of healthy foods that you will want to eat. Go get about a week’s worth. If you plan on eating any cooked meals, try to spend your day off fixing meals for the week. This will prevent you from going out to eat because you don’t have anything to eat and don’t feel like fixing something. The biggest reason for people skimping on their diet is lack of the right thing to eat, and too much of the wrong thing. Keep yourself stocked on good stuff.
3. Start exercising. This can be small at first. If you are a couch potato then simply GET UP and go walk. Start off with some light walking, then move to alternating between walking / jogging / running. Eventually you will get in shape and enjoy exercising. Even if it means getting up 30 minutes earlier in the morning, JUST DO IT. Here is a great article to help you with this: http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml
4. Have fun, and don’t be hard on yourself. You will likely make mistakea and eat bad things or miss excercising from time to time, but the thing to remember is that you are only human and that you are improving. Never look at how much weigh tyou still have to lose, but instead try to b excited about the fact that you are getting better and how much you have already accomplished. Reward yourself often for every milestone that you achieve. (WOOT, I went a day without chips, YAY I went jogging for the first time in 5 years! SWEET I didn’t watch TV all day!)
5. This should be a life change, not a short term attempt to lose weight. Keep in mind that you are being a role model for your kids, and that the healthier and happier you guys become, the more that will impact their futures as well. (If you don’t have kids, then just think about other people in your life)

As far as healthy foods goes, you can probably just search Google for that. I cannot tell you what to eat because everybody is different in this regard, however from my personal research the BEST thing that you can do is go on a raw foods diet. I’d suggest a 30 day trial to test it out and see if it is right for you so that you do not feel “committed for life” but atleast you gave it a chance. This has been highly recommended from many sources including a special on the Oprah show. More information here: http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2007/12/30-days-raw/

Whatever happens, good luck! The fact that you have read this far means that you have a strong desire to get healthy, and that is the most important part. You cannot change if you do not truly WANT to change. Be sure to link this to all of the people you care about, so that they can make a healthy life change as well!

Technorati Tags: Diet, Health, Food, Excercise, 30 day trial, running, life change, breaking bad habits

Now, I am starting to get the polyphasic sleep thing hammered down…it is time to begin focusing on other areas of my health such as fitness and what I am eating. It has been hard for me to get myself to go out and start running again lately, in large part due to some lack of discipline I think. Also, I haven’t really had the BEST diet going on nor the worst…but I would like to do what is best for my body. After doing much research, I have decided that a whole foods diet consisting of basically nothing but fruits and veggies, and a little bit of nuts will be the best diet for me.

A switch in diet like this will be hard, due to emotional and social conditioning that makes me just want to eat lots of junky stuff like ice cream…which I am munching on currently. I found the perfect solution to help me ease into this new lifestyle today while browsing the stevepavlina.com forums. Fasting. I’ve heard about it before, my friend Paul does it every month and has reported some interesting results…although he has a problem going through with it lately and also doesn’t come off of it like people suggest. I will attempt to do 24 days of nothing but drinking water and possibly a little bit of salt water to help me with my electrolytes. I also read something about giving myself an enema every day. I may decide to do that, not sure.

This will help my body to detox all of the nasty and wasteful things that are residing inside, as well as help to break me of all of my emotional attachments to food that does not satisfy my true needs. Once I come off of this fast, I will follow a whole foods diet. I have a cheap blender right now, but I may invest into getting a VitaMix blender which I have heard some really good things about.

Anyways, I will be sure to post details on my progress here so that anyone in the future may learn from my experience. Wish me luck!