I have exactly 5 weeks to get ready for a 5 show marathon in 6 weeks which includes 3 three day shows and one four day show. I'm afraid that I won't have the energy to produce enough work to get through making pieces and then the energy to do all that driving, setting up, and selling. And then... I watched two documentaries: "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" 1 and 2.
The result is that to get that energy that I need, I am going to reboot. That is I'm going to start juicing, go on a juice diet of mostly fruit and vegetables for the next 20 days. I've read that doing this will give me the energy that I need.
Let's see if this works.
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Fat, sick, and nearly dead described me last summer. The weight issue has been a struggle since my mid-20's, having gone from 165 pounds as a 5'10" young adult to double that last year. Diets and exercise weren't doing it, and I had a heart attack in 2008 that came damn close to doing me in. I swam, did water aerobics, walked, and free weights. At best a few pounds would come off but never enough to do much good. Knee damage and an incident with a table sliding out of the van that necessitated long term wound care wreaked hell with exercise and the weight issue got worse.
Finally at the urging of several physicians, I went to a bariatric surgeon for a consultation. Contrary to what you may hear, that is not the easy way out as it involves making irreversible choices changes. Hell, I don't even do tattoos. After going through mandated counseling, supervised diet programs with the surgeons, support groups, and so on, the surgery was approved by Medicare (I'm over 65) and it was done back in mid-January.
For the first several weeks after the sleeve gastrectomy, which involved removal of 3/4 of your stomach, meals were served in a couple of 1-oz medicine cups with no refills. BTW, this procedure is supplanting the lap band surgery as it also removes hunger receptors from the stomach. So far I've lost 75 pounds with another 80-90 to go. I'm below the weight where I was 30 years ago.
A few weeks ago I was carrying a boat battery up a set of deck steps to get it recharged. I thought to myself, "damn, this is a pain in the ass to carry up these steps." Then it hit me that was the same amount of weight I've lost.
Last year, I had serious doubts about being able to continue doing art fairs. I've done six so far this year and have far more energy than last year. I don't have to sit and rest frequently like last year, I can mow the yard continuously now instead of stopping because of back pain. I had a vertebrae out of alignment by about 5mm and that has been reduced because of weight reduction and body mass reduction. I can walk a mile without stopping as opposed to a couple of blocks. Some medications have been dropped and some reduced.
My goal of continuing to do shows well into my 70's seems much more attainable now. One comment from the psychologist that I thought was a bit far fetched was where he predicted that creativity would take an upswing after the weight loss. He was right as I feel physically and creatively re-energized.
One thing that interesting was after having a weight loss plateau for over a month, the surgeon's nutritionist went over what I was eating and said I had to eat more. WTH? Yep, the main criteria is to get 60 grams of protein daily or the body thinks it's in famine mode and doesn't lose weight. Eat more to lose more is how it works out. I eat three meals a day, but everything could pretty much be packed into less than a coffee cup at each meal. It was hard getting enough protein until I found the Greek yogurts have 14-15 grams per container, and that is far more palatable than the protein drinks and shakes. Those tasted like hell ;-)
This weekend is the first weekend off in five weeks, then there is a show every weekend until the end of June. I think that would beaten me down into a pulp last year.
This works great. I can't say I've lost any weight because it's only been 4 days. However, it is really filling and I am not hungry during the day, at all. The hard part is getting used to the liquid diet. I need to chew something solid. The act of eating is addicting. I'm mostly doing this for the energy. I have a 3K mile, 5 shows in 6 weeks stretch coming up. It only takes 5 minutes to prepare and drink a meal. It takes 15 minutes to clean the machine.
Your results sound great. will you be able to take your juice machine with you when you do the shows so you can keep consistent with it?
Richard Sherer, you sound like you are an amazing beast! Is there anyone here who can top Richard?
How are things going Barry since you started you shape up plan?
I am on the Prairieville Cajun diet. I stretch and exercise each day, lift some weights, use my elliptical machine and eat Gumbo...lots of Gumbo...
The little bottles of 5 hour energy also make a noticeable difference.
I'm not doing smoothies. Juices are different. First one today had an apple, zucchini, grapes, spinach, and carrots. The worst part was cleaning the machine.
Sure. Just threw that in for those who were interested in something with ingredients you can pronounce and a little more umph than just juice. Sorry to hijack your thread!
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