Week Eleven Summary

Week Eleven and I'm back into the swing of things eating raw 100% of the time.

Psychologically, weaning myself off the Brie cheese, etc has been difficult. (My grandmother was very French and when visiting her as a kid, Brie and Camenbert were served on special occasions.) Every time I go by the coolers where they're kept, I just want to reach in and grab one.

Getting into the routine of taking my drops, etc. has been even more challenging. It's amazing how quickly one forgets what one doesn't like doing. Just before I left Montreal, the naturopath added two tablespoons of Vita Spec each evening to my list of "medications." I'm wracking my brains trying to figure out what it was for, but don't recall at the moment. (I will email my sister to find out.)

He also added 2oz. of Essiac daily. Essiac (link) is proported to be an Ojibwa remedy composed of burdock root, slippery elm bark, sheep sorrel and Turkish rhubard. Rene Caisse, (link) (Essiac is Caisse spelled backwards), a Canadian nurse, obtained the recipe in the 1920's and promoted it against much opposition from the medical establishment of the day.

Her story makes for a fascinating read. There are a number of books out on the market that chronicle her experiences with successfully treating cancer (and diabetes) patients.  Today, partially as a result of her secrecy, there are also many suppliers, each claiming to have the original/best recipe. (The two links above are a couple of entry points into the controversy.)

The Essiac I purchased at the naturopath's clinic was $4/oz. Not cheap. There are do-it-yourself recipes where one can brew up the herbs at home for a fraction of the cost. Unfortunately, I've heard it can be quite a smelly process, so I'm hesitant to take that route at the moment.

I was also able to get a lead on organic, juicing carrots and will follow up with that in the coming week.

The stats for this past week:

                             01/11/10             01/17/10          Change

Weight              130.2 lbs.               129.0                -1.2 lbs.
A much smaller drop this week from the almost 5 pounds last week. I never imagined I'd drop under 130 pounds, but here I am. Looking at myself in the mirror, I notice how thin I am. I feel fine, however, and am happy with my progress, so I'm going to continue.

Body Fat           18.1 lbs.                 17.2                   -0.9 lbs.

Virtually all of the weight loss is body fat. A good thing.

BMI                     20.4                        20.2                 -0.8

A reflection of the weight loss.

Body Fat           13.9%                     13.3                 -1.6%
Same as above but as a percentage.

Water                62.9%                     62.9                   0.0

Water content is holding its own.

Bone Mass        6.4%                       6.4                     0.0

The bone mass seems to be holding its own.