Day 17

Ha- I'm writing a blog at night!

I have two more lessons learned. You guys don't know how lucky you are not to have to live my learning experiences!

• Sitting. On the 15th day of a 15 day stay I was making the dogs last meal. I couldn't stand any more so instead of laying down in the living room I grabbed a nearby bar stool and dragged it over and sat. I could then take my time and finish their meal at my leisure and not rush through it. I have great endurance sitting. I am comfortable sitting. I can't believe I went two weeks without figuring out that I could do a great many things without tiring if I could figure out how to sit and do them. Today I washed my kitchen floor with a hand scrub and a bowl of warm water. I sat on the floor and did circles with the scrub and used almost no energy.
  
• Temperature. I have been home for two days where it is much hotter than the other place, which is closer to the beach. I thought I was wiped out at night because I used up my reserves. That might in part be true but a friend brought water over in the afternoon and said "It's too hot in here!". Well, it was, about 87 degrees. My dog has been panting since we have been back. By the afternoon I can hardly stand. I turned on the AC and I perked right up! This was a demoralizing oversight on my part because I was beginning to think I was so weak and felt so bad that I would have to pull the plug on the fast. Now I am good to go.

My friend's are more alarmed than ever. I fear they will gang up on me and force feed me watermelon. I guess 17 days without eating is an alarming concept to most. I just don't listen to them and tell them I am almost done, whether I am or not. Elchanan says they feel a combination of fear and caring- so I keep this in mind and don't hear anything except that they care.

Yesterday I read "Fasting-And Eating-For Health: A Medical Doctor's Program for Conquering Disease" by Joel Furhman. It was quite good. Actually his dietary recommendations are pretty much 80-10-10 - he understands the bad health effects of eating high protein and fat. He does steam some veggies and eats some whole grains. I gave the book to a friend who thinks what I am doing is too restrictive for her so this may be a happy inbetween. He explains why we should not eat protein and fats very well and if she could make that move it would be a great start. And this guy is an MD. Some people just need to see the degree to attach the credibility to the work before they believe. He also did a great job with the fasting part of the book. Today I started "Fast Food Nation"- I have already seen the movie.

That is it- I'm off to read.

Seena