Grape Fast -Start

We decided that Thursday would be the start of our grape juice fast. (Grapes speed up the cleansing process.) Tonight, we stopped in at the wholesalers where a Susie has a contact who provides her with organic food at wholesale prices. The catch is we have to buy it bulk quantities. Nott a problem today, however, because we're going to need a bunch of them.

The good news is that this is the last day for grapes until March sometime; the bad news is that the grapes are not in the greatest shape. I stay in the back and pick out the best four cases (12 bags/case) I can find while Susie goes out front to pay. She's gets them for a rock bottom $20 for about 80 pounds of organic grapes. We feel delighted with the great deal. At least until we get home.

It turns out there's a bit of mold in every bag. Not a lot and if you were eating a handful here and there not a problem. Just wash and dry. Thing is we're going to be eating  about 4  pounds a day. With that kind of quantity there's no way we can be eating the grapes without a thorough cleaning.

Out comes the fruit and vegetable soap. Rinse. Wipe down each grape and inspect for bits of mold, etc. Cut off the offending bits. Bag and refrigerate.

Take my word for it.  Cleaning 80 pounds of grapes one at a time is a monumental job! I love grapes, but I must say I was sick and tired of looking at them, and hadn't even started eating them yet!

Donut Daze

I went to my office, Tim Hortons, again today. I set up shop at my usual table, reading glasses, a couple of books and a cup of mint tea. Actually, it was green tea. It seems there's been a run on mint tea lately, so there was none available.

There I am minding my own business, reading Eckhart Tolle's latest, and highly recommended book, A New Earth. In walks a middle aged lady. She sits down next to me purse in one hand and a tray in the other. She settles down. She starts in on her coffee and first pastry  -a scrumptious looking, chocolate smothered, piece with a silky-smooth, cream-filled center.

In a Tim Hortons restaurant that's an every day occurence, but this wasn't just any day. This was the 17th day of my raw food diet! I was hungry, irritable, suffering withdrawls from sugar and caffeine and God knows what else. Didn't she know better than to sit right next to me.

Her enthusiam knew no bounds. She wrapped her lips around that pastry like she was kissing some long, lost lover. Ahhhhh!!! Get me out of here.

I wanted to tell her that all the sugar was wreaking havoc with her insulin levels, the food coloring was overloading her liver, the white flour was being transformed into a sticky paste that would end up lining the walls of her intestines, interfering with food absorption. All of this being washed down with a cup of caffeine which was increasing her blood pressure. This was a serious situation. What to do?

I decided that I would save her from this nutritional disaster by offering to eat the remaining pastry. Unfortunately, my French is still pretty rusty and I couldn't get the words out in time.

I continue to be amazed at the power that food has over me. I'm sure I'm not alone. I'd love to hear your favourite food story. Just hit the comment link below.....

Fa So La

Last week I accompanied my sister to her music lessons. It was interesting to just sit and watch. She's very good and learns fast.

As I was sitting there watching and listening, there was this slight shift in perception -I was still in the room, but the sunlight shining in the room seemed to take on a mystical quality, the room became more cozy, the notes more melodious. It was as if the beauty of the music was opening up a space in my heart.

The following week....

I just got back from my first lesson with my sister's instructor, Michel. Very interesting. He spent about 10 minutes showing me the notes and how to move my fingers to hit the various keys. (I didn't realize there was a proper way.) Then we went right into playing major chords: C, D sharp, E sharp, F and G, all in the space of 45 minutes.

His approach is to get the student playing as soon as possible and get them hooked. The theory will come later. Next week we start on a tune of some kind. This could be a lot of fun....

Week Two Summary

 Here I am at the conclusion of Week Two. I'm glad I've made it, but there isn't the same sense of celebration as last week.

Overall the week went well, but yesterday and today I've been struggling. I'm tired. I ache. My back is bothering me, something I've (thankfully) never experienced before. There' a kind of brain fog that makes thinking difficult.

Yesterday it was raining hard but went out for a walk anyway. Got to Tim Hortons pretty much soaked, and cold. I really wanted a bowl of hot soup and a cuppa coffee to warm up. It really got on my nerves that I couldn't. I settled for a cup of mint tea and some grapes I brought along, but it wasn't the same, not by a long shot. It's funny -or not so funny- how some things, even small things like not getting to eat soup, can get on a person's nerves.

I feel more irritable, short tempered, out of sorts.  I've gone from about 8 hours sleep a night when I first arrived to about 11 hours recently. Even so I can feel myself getting tired around 5 or 6 p.m.

Quite frankly I'm tired of the pills and potions, the restricted diet. I just want to sink my teeth into something decadent. A latte would be nice, too.

                         11/05/09                  11/15/09       Change

Weight            157.2 lbs.                        152.6        -4.6 lbs.

Almost five pounds is great. Significant without losing weight too fast.

Body Fat          35.7 lbs.                          32.4        -3.3 lbs.

That the large majority of the weight loss is fat is another good sign.

BMI                    22.6                                 21.2         -1.4

The weight loss is reflected in the Body Mass Index.

Body Fat           24.6%                            23.9         - 0.7

Same as above but as a percentage.

Water                56.5%                             57.5       + 1.2%

 Up slightly which is great. Drinking sufficient water has always been an issue, and there hasn't been much of a change in behaviour as yet. The modest increase is most likely because of the water content of the vegetables I've been eating.

Bone Mass         6.6%                                6.6      No change.

Bone mass takes time to modify.

All the indicators are going in the right direction, so that's encouraging. Not that any of these have much to do with the cancer per se. Still it's good to see some results for my efforts.

I planning on doing a 3-day grape fast, possibly longer. That should be interesting....

Do Re Me....

When I first signed on for this raw food experience, I figured I´d be cleansing, learning what foods to eat, maybe get into a little "cooking." Singing didn´t even cross my mind.

I´ve only been here a little over two weeks and I find myself enrolled in a voice class. How is the world did that happen? 

It turns out that my sister is taking singing lessons. While I was looking through some of her material I came across a promotional piece from her school, Centre Option-Voix. It appealed to me on some level, so I asked my sister about her lessons. She was quite impressed with their work.

A few days later I had an introductory appointment with Daniel, the instructor. It was in interesting class. He put my body in a variety of awkward positions and had me sing "yeh, yee, you, yaa" over and over again. It sounds odd, but it felt right, in large part due to both the instructor's passion for his work and his compassion for the student.

Their wholistic approach resonates with me. I quote from their material which speaks of their approach.

"Beyond breathing, there is the deep breath, source of life. The Optio-Voix method uses specific, tailor-made exercises to help you experience the increased power of breath and sound....

The Option-Voix method also helps participants find and maintain a presence to themselves, a balancing and centering weight (strength in the hara) which gives birth to a truer posture and leads to real comfort.

A global undertaking of mind, body and soul harmonization, source of an increasing and accessible well-being. The voice then becomes the tool for our reconstruction and the living witness of our development."

Given that my cancer is located in the throat, one could argue that a blockage of energy in that chakra may have contributed to the cancer. (Certainly expressing myself in my family of origin was an issue.)

At worst, I will be able to sing "Happy Birthday" without feeling embarrased; At best, singing lessons may be -strangely enough- a significant part of my healing process....

Week One Summary

Made it. Seven days! A whole week! Feels good to look back and know that I stuck with it.

The first day, (See "Day One") was a difficult day, especially physically. Interestingly, the physical aches and pains that were so "in my face" at the time cleared up almost over night. It turns out, the physical challenge morphed into a psychological one.

Every Dunkin Donuts, Harveys and McDonalds sign seems bigger and brighter than I remember them. Even though I rarely frequent these places, they seem to jump out of the background and wave at me, inviting me to come in for a bite, or a cup of coffee.

Food is a very powerful symbol of so many social gatherings and connections:

• be it a babe nursing at their mother´s breast,
• a family picnic with hot dogs and piping hot corn on the cob,
• a birthday party with cake and ice cream,
• pizza with the office staff on a Friday afternoon,
• a cold brewski with the boys after the game,
• a cup of coffee with a good friend,
• celebrating a special event with a steak dinner and all the trimmings,
• chicken noodle soup when you´re not feeling your best.

Food, especially home-cooked food, is paired with comfort, good times, friendships, celebrations and so on.

Eating raw means that a lot of the time, I´m eating on my own, or watching others eat all those foods that are associated with the good times mentioned above. I feel left out and alone. (Thankfully my sister is accompanying me, but she doesn´t always eat at the same time.)

I still feel hungry from time to time, but that is remedied easily enough. The psychological withdrawl from cooked food and all it stands for has -and continues to be- the biggest challenge.

Baseline Stats

Today, I took my measurements.
Chest     40 inches
Waist     37 inches

The Chest-to-Waist ratio should be a minimum of 1.0. At 1.08 I´m doing OK, but like most guys my age, it would be nice to move a couple of inches from my waist to my chest. A chest measurement of 42 and a waist of 35 would give me a much better ratio of 1.20.

I also picked up an electronic scale to keep track of my progress. Four days into my program here´s where I´m at:
Weight            157.2 lbs.
(A drop of about 6 pounds since I left Edmonton 10 days ago.)

Body Fat          35.7 lbs.
(Tracking body fat in pounds makes it easier to see one´s progress.)

BMI                    22.6    
(Body Mass Index)

Body Fat           24.6%

Water                56.5%

Bone Mass         6.6%  (On the very low end of the range for my age.)

All of these values fall within the normal range (for my age group) according to the information provided by Weight Watchers. It appears I´m normal. 

Not everyone would agree, but here´s proof that I am. (smile)