Juice Fast Day 21

Day 26 of this 35 day journey. 09 Days left

Well I am still in this third world nation, cracking on with my lemon juice. Still feeling good overall, lots of energy, which I put to good use in training. Looking forward to getting home and getting some nutrient density into my system. The good news is that my flight has been brought forward one day as such I leave tomorrow morning. By the afternoon I could be tucking into my first green juice. Can’t wait Lemon Juice and clay is getting pretty old. Straight Lemon juice can be pretty hard to drink.

Something I have been thinking about today is; Metabolism. A lot of people worry that juicing will slow their metabolism.  Well it will, the truth be told if you are not eating a lot of high calorie foods you metabolism does not need to be as high. By easing up the stress of digestion your stomach and colon get a rest, and you are able to gain better nutrient absorption. Long term fasting actually improves metabolic function. When you return to eating your metabolism will increase. I cheat the system a little bit; I consume supplements (green tea and chili) to increase my metabolism, I have juices that increase metabolism grapefruit and pineapple, and I exercise which also increases my metabolism. By training with relatively heavy weights my muscles grow, the more lean muscle we carry the more calories we burn in a day. The added bonus of using heavy weights is that it forces the body to grow, this prevents my muscles from being reduced in order to break down calories. Obviously on a high protein diet I could gain more muscle however I need to loose this fat first.

The human body is an adaptive beast. Say for instance you control your calories throughout the week and you have one day when you have a cheat meal (high calorie meal), your body realizes that you don’t need that many calories and in fact your metabolic rate increases to burn the extra calories. Back in 2011 when I was in pretty good shape I spent 2 weeks basing my diet on that of early man an adaption of the Paleo). On the Monday I juiced, imagining that I was gathering the overripe fruits off the forest floor, the next day I ate only raw food, I then juiced again,  had a raw day again. On the fifth and sixth day I allowed myself a cooked vegetarian meal based on paleo diet, and on the seventh day I only ate meat, a day of meat for every meal. This last day was to symbolize early man catching his prey and devouring it (no refrigeration then, so ate what he could before other predators arrived). Early man would have literally gauged hi self on the meat as he wouldn’t carry it. Across all days I trained hard and got shredded. This diet worked because the body is made in a way that adapts. Our bodies are made for days of famine and days of feast. Early man could go days or even weeks before he could have meat.

Nowadays people get too hung up on daily calorie intake. I prefer to look at weekly intakes, one high calorie day followed by a lower day evens itself out, if you have more lower days you will lose weight over the week.You can even look at monthly calories.

I have deviated from my point a little however I do think generally it demonstrates that our metabolic rates are adaptive and if healthy it will increase and decrease dependent what we put in our system.

For further on metabolism and juice look at these links:

http://www.thesweeterthejuice.com/will-juice-fasting-destroy-my-metabolism/

http://www.healthrecipes.com/fast10.htm

 

Exercise

Chest day today so I decided to incorporate some of the compounds architecture to assist (a platform to use as a bench and some stairs to use for an inclined press up.

Once again using the items around me meant that I could do a full session.       

• 30 mins skipping (jump rope) sprints – split into 3 minute working sets with 1 minute active rest

             During  rest period:

• Bench press (using a bucket of sand and bench width concrete platform as a bench) -continuous for 1 minute holding bucket of sand (10-15kgs) X 5 sets (probably close to 50 reps at a time)
• Inclined press-ups (using the steps, placing feet on second step up and pressing against floor)  – continuous for 1 minute (about 50 – 60 a minute, more in the early sets) x 5 sets.

Juices, Nutrition and Supplements.

Menu for Today:

Warm Lemon and Ginger Water (pint)

Juice 1 – Apple (with Psyllium husk, bentonite clay, and zeolite clay) followed with an additional pint of water.

Juice 2: Lemon (with Psyllium husk, bentonite clay, and zeolite clay) followed with an additional pint of water..

Juice 3: Lemon(with Psyllium husk, bentonite clay, and zeolite clay) followed with an additional pint of water.

Juice 4: Lemon (with Psyllium husk, bentonite clay, and zeolite clay) followed with an additional pint of water.

Juice 5: Lemon (with Psyllium husk, bentonite clay, and zeolite clay) followed with an additional pint of water.

plenty of water drank throughout.

Supplements taken:

• None available

Another good day I can wait to drink some proper green juices inside me. Although it has been nice to vary my training it will be great to get back in the gym.

Juice Fast Day 20

Day 25 of this 35 day journey. 10 Days left

Another day in hell. Been drinking my fresh lemon juice with my cleansing powder. Feeling good, I feel and look much leaner today. My energy is great, just wish I was at home. When I woke up there was no fresh lemon juice so I managed to convince the guesthouse owners to make plenty, this is what kept me going all day. I managed another training session in my make-shift gym. I even managed to add another piece of equipment.

My skin looks good and my eyes have a sparkle that you only get when you are juice fasting and cleansing.

I realize that maybe I should change the title from juice fast to juice feast as this is the premises of the juice fast (if doing it properly). Due to the calorie density of the regular juices (ignore my current lemon juice issues) your boy is getting more living nutrition than ever before. People get too hung up on calories. Calories are a unit of measurement only. Yes you can loose weight by burning excess calories (3500 calories to 1lb), however how we get calories in our body does vary greatly. It would take a lot of vegetable juice to reach 500 calories. In fact we would get too full when getting to the 200 mark. This is the joy of the juice feast we get maximum nutrition for minimum calories. This is what allows people to loose weight. There should be no empty calories when juice feasting, hence why it is a feast. We are allowing our bodies to take on maximum nutrition, for most of us this would be the first time that the body has got what it really needs. For more about varying nutrition to calorie content follow this link: http://m.vod.io/tknYb/

To find out more about getting maximum nutrition from your juices follow: http://www.juicemaster.com/

Exercise

Legs day today so I went about finding additional

Additional gym equipment         

 

When looking for the additional equipment it made me think, a big part of training is adapting. By adapting we keep our muscles thinking, getting better gains. It isn’t just about this. A lot of people site equipment as an excuse not to train. It would have been easy for me to say today I can’t train. However this trip I really went about making training happen. However equipment should be no barrier for anyone. I have seen first hand the lengths that the less fortunate go to to train for particular sports (football, boxing etc.).If the less fortunate can adapt then we all should be able to. Follow the following link, it shows the lengths some people have gone to, to train:http://rosstraining.com/blog/2013/08/01/what-really-matters/.

• 30 mins skipping (jump rope) sprints – split into 3 minute working sets with 1 minute active rest

             During  rest period:

• Squats -continuous for 1 minute holding bucket of sand (10-15kgs) X 5 sets
• Walking lunges – continuous for 1 minute holding bucket of sand (10-15kgs) X 5 sets

 

Juices, Nutrition and Supplements.

Menu for Today:

Warm Lemon and Ginger Water (pint)

Juice 1 – Apple (with Psyllium husk, bentonite clay, and zeolite clay) followed with an additional pint of water.

Juice 2: Lemon (with Psyllium husk, bentonite clay, and zeolite clay) followed with an additional pint of water..

Juice 3: Lemon(with Psyllium husk, bentonite clay, and zeolite clay) followed with an additional pint of water.

Juice 4: Lemon (with Psyllium husk, bentonite clay, and zeolite clay) followed with an additional pint of water.

Juice 5: Lemon (with Psyllium husk, bentonite clay, and zeolite clay) followed with an additional pint of water.

plenty of water drank throughout.

Supplements taken:

• None available

 

As said earlier I feel great today and really starting to look sharper. just 10 days left interested to see what happens.

Juice Fast Day 19

Day 24 of this 35 day journey. 11 Days left

So I am back unexpectedly in the troubled third world country. Although I am staying at a different location. I am determined not to let this get the better of me; so I have brought with me, colon cleanse powder. I have found out that the only juice they have is fresh lemon juice. So for the next 4 days I will be drinking lemon juice shakes. This is a little more extreme then I would prefer, however when life gives you lemons you make a lemon colon cleanse. There is outside space to train, and I have brought with me my skipping rope

Exercise

So exercise here is a little limited, as such I have decided to use the next few days to increase my CV (Cardio Vascular fitness). There is two very light dumbbells (made up of a bar set in concrete house in paint cans). These dumbbells way about 5kgs each. I trained my arms during my cv set and lifted both dumbbells in one hand, giving me 10kgs in one hand.

                                              

My Current Gym Set Up

• 30 mins skipping (jump rope) sprints – split into 3 minute working sets with 1 minute active rest

             During  rest period:

• Standing Bicep Curls – 5 sets of 20 reps at 10kgs
• Standing Tri-cep extensions – 5 sets of 20 reps at10kgs
• Press Ups – 50 one set

•  

A lot of people have asked me why I skip and not run or row etc. This is can be answered in two parts. Firstly I am an avid boxer, martial artist, and MMA fighter/trainer so I have been skipping for a long long time. This means I can skip fast and vary my feet positioning and styles. As such I enjoy it. The other reason is the amount of energy used in skipping compared to other CV exercises. 596 calories running at 5 miles per hour for one hour, according to Harvard Health Publications. The same person will burn 744 calories in an hour of jumping rope (taken from http://livehealthy.chron.com/running-vs-jump-rope-1772.html) . Skipping is a whole body workout, it engages the core, and alos works arms and shoulders. Another great thing about skipping it is cheap and can be done anywhere ( I once skipped on an oil tanker iin the middle of the Indian Ocean). I travel everywhere with my rope.

Juices, Nutrition and Supplements.

Menu for Today:

Warm Lemon and Ginger Water (pint)

Juice 1 – Apple (with Psyllium husk, bentonite clay, and zeolite clay) followed with an additional pint of water.

Juice 2: Lemon (with Psyllium husk, bentonite clay, and zeolite clay) followed with an additional pint of water..

Juice 3: Lemon(with Psyllium husk, bentonite clay, and zeolite clay) followed with an additional pint of water.

Juice 4: Lemon (with Psyllium husk, bentonite clay, and zeolite clay) followed with an additional pint of water.

Juice 5: Lemon (with Psyllium husk, bentonite clay, and zeolite clay) followed with an additional pint of water.

plenty of water drank throughout.

Supplements taken:

• None available

Here are some of the health benefits of Fresh Lemon Juice:

pH Alkaline State – It is vital to maintain a slightly positive alkaline state in order to fight off tumors and other illnesses. Although acidic to taste, lemons are one of the most alkaline of foods and help push our bodies to the required pH alkaline state of around 7.4. See this page for a large list of alkaline forming foods. Please also see the following page for another very good list of alkaline foods. http://rense.com/1.mpicons/acidalka.htm

Blood Purifier – Lemons are a blood purifier and help the body to remove toxins.

Blood Sugar Balance – The acidity of raw lemon juice lowers the impact of any meal on your blood sugar.

Detoxification – Raw lemon juice cleanses the kidneys and the digestive system. It helps the body in the removal of toxins and provides you with a great overall detox.

Weight Loss – The pectin in lemon peel is a great source of fiber that is thought to help overweight people lose weight.

Osteoporosis – Lemon juice is rich in Vitamin C and helps the body to absorb calcium and fight osteoporosis. Two tablespoons of raw lemon juice diluted in a glass of warm water is good for pregnant women, as it helps build the bones in the unborn child.

Insomnia – in case of insomnia, raw lemon juice helps improve sleep.

Brain and Nerve Food – The potassium found in raw lemon juice helps the brain and nerve cells, improves concentration, memory and calms the mind.

Immune System – Raw lemon juice strengthens the immune system which in turn helps fight many illnesses including tumors.

Infection – When sickness has developed raw lemon juice is an excellent fighter of infection, as it is rich in citric acid.

Cough and Cold – Lemon added to a little hot water with some honey is one of the most effective remedies known for a cough and cold.

Asthma – Having half-teaspoonful of fresh lemon juice, washing it down with luke-warm water before each meal provides quick relief to Asthma. Repeating it as the last dose of the day and starting the day with it also gives very positive results.

Corns – Apply lemon juice a few times a day and see the miraculous results. Bind the corn and leave it overnight and get rid of the trouble soon.

Nausea, Vomiting and Travel Sickness – Take a glass of lemon juice diluted with some water to help with travel sickness and nausea.

Rheumatic and Bone-Related Diseases – A few glasses of diluted lemon juice is the surest remedy for rheumatic fever, painful joints, lumbago and sciatica.

Acne, Spots and Pimples – Applying raw lemon juice to the face is a popular remedy for acne and pimples.

Hair – The external use of raw lemon juice makes hair shinier and stronger.

Low Vitality – People suffering from low vitality should have lemon and honey mixed water for an immediate cure.

Radiation – As lemon juice is excellent at cleansing the blood and removing toxins, it is a great way of removing radiation from the body. If you have had Chemotherapy, regular lemon juice drinks can help rid the body of any remaining radiation.

You can read all about it here: http://www.budwigcenter.com/blog/the-amazing-health-benefits-of-raw-lemon-juice/#.UuNWHhDfpdg

Current Measurements:

Weight: 180 lbs. (81.65 Kg)

Height: 5 feet 9 inches (175 cms)

Chest: 43.5 inches

Waist (measured across stomach): 35 inches

Hips: 32 inches

Arms (biceps): 15.5 inches (left) 15.5 inches (right)

Thigh:  25.5 inches (left) 25.5 inches (right)

Calves:  16 inches (left) 16 inches (right)

      

Not the best photo, this was taken on Wednesday, so a few days old and was taken when I got back, however there is progress, I think i currently look a lot better.

The only measurements that have seen an effect this week are weight and stomach circumference. At this stage they are the key figures. In 19 days I have lost 16lbs, i thought it would have slowed a little bit, but that is still good going, I expect to see real progress whilst sticking to lemon Juice. The reason my muscles haven’t seen much increase is probably due to consistency. With this travelling it has been hard to get to the gym. However I do look better and can’t wait to measure myself again next time to see the progress.

Juice Fast Day 17

Day 22 of this 35 day journey. 13 Days left

Sorry that I haven’t put a post on over the last few days, I have been away working. This had its own difficulties I was in a very very poor third world (developing) country, this meant no vegetable juices or even fresh juices. I continued with juices however I had to rely on the packet type. These were supposedly no added sugar types. However the fact that they are just fruit juices mean that they are naturally high in fructose without the fiber. Due to this fructose abuse of my body I have decided to spend the next three days being drastic to get myself back on track. I have decided to do an Apple Juice based colon cleanse. This is drastic and not for the faint of hearted, I will explain more under nutrition.

Exercise

Hit the shoulders today pretty hard. Harder than the previous time. As they say you need boulders for shoulders.

Today’s training:

• 9 mins skipping (jump rope) sprints to warm up –

• Seated Shoulder Press – 3 sets of 8 reps at 28kgs (1 Min rest between sets) plus rest pause.

• Standing Lateral shoulders raises (split lift) – 3 sets of 10 reps at 12 kgs (each side) also 3 sets of 6 reps at 34kgs (partial lifts) – This works: You do your lift with the light weights and when you finish the set you do partial lifts on the heavy weight (partial lift is a 1/4 to half lift range) (1 min rest between sets).  I

• Upright standing barbell rows –    3 set of 10 reps at 40kgs + light bar (10kgs) = 50Kgs   plus rest pause

•  Standing front delt cable  raises – 4 sets of 10 reps at 40 kgs  plus rest pause
•  Bent over rear delt dumbbell flies – 3 sets  10 reps at 20kgs
• Trap Shoulder shrugs  – 4 sets of 12 reps at 36kgs   

A lot of people have asked me why I skip and not run or row etc. This is can be answered in two parts. Firstly I am an avid boxer, martial artist, and MMA fighter/trainer so I have been skipping for a long long time. This means I can skip fast and vary my feet positioning and styles. As such I enjoy it. The other reason is the amount of energy used in skipping compared to other CV exercises. 596 calories running at 5 miles per hour for one hour, according to Harvard Health Publications. The same person will burn 744 calories in an hour of jumping rope (taken from http://livehealthy.chron.com/running-vs-jump-rope-1772.html) . Skipping is a whole body workout, it engages the core, and alos works arms and shoulders. Another great thing about skipping it is cheap and can be done anywhere ( I once skipped on an oil tanker iin the middle of the Indian Ocean). I travel everywhere with my rope.

 

Juices, Nutrition and Supplements.

Menu for Today:

Warm Lemon and Ginger Water (pint)

Juice 1 – Apple (with Psyllium husk, bentonite clay, and zeolite clay) followed with an additional pint of water.

Juice 2: Apple (with Psyllium husk, bentonite clay, and zeolite clay) followed with an additional pint of water..

Juice 3: Apple (with Psyllium husk, bentonite clay, and zeolite clay) followed with an additional pint of water.

Juice 4: Apple (with Psyllium husk, bentonite clay, and zeolite clay) followed with an additional pint of water.

Juice 5: Apple (with Psyllium husk, bentonite clay, and zeolite clay) followed with an additional pint of water.

Juice 6: Apple (with Psyllium husk, bentonite clay, and zeolite clay) followed with an additional pint of water.

plenty of water drank throughout.

Supplements taken:

• Green Tea and chili capsules

 

So that is a lot of apple juice. I just felt like I need a clear out and also get the fat loss back on track. We have done colon cleanse lots in the past with great results. We used to spend a fortune on kits now i just make my own powder. See this link for a little information: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Homemade-Colon-Cleanser

Lets see what tomorrow brings. I will doo my measurements tomorrow and photos.

 

 

Juice Fast Day 11

Day 16 of this 35 day journey. 19 Days left

Feeling really good today, I am now at that point of the detox where it is second nature, I have stopped feeling hungry and I feel healthy and positive.

•  

Exercise

Feeling strong and my leg strength is definitely coming back now, even on a reduced calorie and protein detox.

Today’s training:

• 5 mins skipping (jump rope) sprints to warm up – I didn’t want to do too much CV on lg days as I wanted max strength (hard to achieve at the start of a fast).

• Hamstring Curls – 1 giant set of 70 curls on 20 kgs. These are a killer and really have the hams aching and the legs firing on all cylinders

• Knee Extensions – 3 sets of 10 reps at 80 kgs (1 min rest between sets).  I decided to do the knee extensions as a means of pre-exhausting the muscles. See this link for further explanation; http://www.musclemag.com/muscle-building/pre-exhaust-your-muscles-to-awaken-new-growth/#.UsxTrPQW2yo

• Squats –                                                                                                            1 set of 15 reps at 100kgs + Olympic bar (20kgs) = 120Kgs                                                                                                                                        1 set of 10 reps at  140 kgs + Olympic bar (20kgs) = 160Kgs                                                                                                                                   1 set of 8 reps at  160 kgs + Olympic bar (20kgs) = 180Kgs                                                                                                                                          1  1 set of 6 reps at  180 kgs + Olympic bar (20kgs) = 200Kgs                                                                                                                                    2 minutes rest between sets

•  Calf raises – 1 set of 10 reps at 135 kgs                                                                                                                                                                                                           1 set of 10 reps at 155 kgs                                                                                                                                                                                                          1 set of 10 reps at 165 kgs                                                                                                                                                                                                            1 set of 10 reps at 175 kgs                                                                                                                                                                                                            1 minute rest between sets

Juices, Nutrition and Supplements.

Menu for Today:

Warm Lemon and Ginger Water (pint)

Juice 1 – Pineapple, apple and grapefruit

Juice 2: Green Juice: Apple, Cucumber, sikuma wiki (a Kenyan spinach cross between spinach and kale), broccoli, celery rocket and lemon juice.

Juice 3:  Carrot, apple, beetroot and ginger

Juice 4: Green Juice: Apple, Cucumber, sikuma wiki (a Kenyan spinach cross between spinach and kale), broccoli, celery rocket and lemon juice.

plenty of water drank throughout.

Supplements taken:

• Green Tea and chili capsules
• Hemp Protein
• Spirulina

Juice Fast Day 9

Day 14 of this 35 day journey. 21 Days left

Lots of juices today, starting to feel really good and feeling well nourished. My skin seems to be having quite a lot of spot on my head, quite possibly the body pushing out the toxins.

Exercise

Today I managed to have a very productive gym session. Today was arms day (biceps and triceps). When you are training biceps it is very weird. There are lots of exercises that really we don’t need. It is a simple thing curling your arm to your chest whilst holding a weight. Yes you can target different parts of the arm, but essentially it is a very simple exercise. Due to this I kept my session quite simple. Te thing to remember is that it isn’t about how much you curl (weight-wise) it is about the connection you have with the bicep, the squeeze, and the pump. How ever there is a lot of ego involved with biceps, you see all sorts of people throwing weights around with poor form, which will cause an injury. If you can’t lift under control the lower the weight and lift properly. With all sessions live your ego at the door.

 Juices, Nutrition and Supplements.

Menu for Today:

Warm Lemon and Ginger Water (pint)

Juice 1 – Pineapple, apple and grapefruit

Juice 2: Green Juice: Apple, Cucumber, sikuma wiki (a Kenyan spinach cross between spinach and kale), broccoli, celery rocket and lemon juice.

Juice 3:  Carrot, apple, beetroot and ginger

Juice 4: Green Juice: Apple, Cucumber, sikuma wiki (a Kenyan spinach cross between spinach and kale), broccoli, celery rocket and lemon juice.

Juice 5: Pineapple, apple and hemp protein, with coconut fat/cream (post exercise)

Juice 6: Apple (with Psyllium husk, bentonite clay, and zeolite clay) followed with an additional pint of water.

plenty of water drank throughout.

Supplements taken:

• Green Tea and chili capsules
• Hemp Protein
• Spirulina
• pro-biotic powder

 

Weekly Measurements

Weight: 184 lbs. (83.46 Kg)

Height: 5 feet 9 inches (175 cms)

Chest: 43 inches

Waist (measured across stomach): 36.5 inches

Hips: 32 inches

Arms (biceps): 15.5 inches (left) 15.5 inches (right)

Thigh:  25.5 inches (left) 25.5 inches (right)

Calves:  16 inches (left) 16 inches (right)

  

 

Since the beginning I have lost 12lbs (5.4kgs). I think the best measurement is the fact that my stomach has lost 2 inches in a week. That is pretty pleasing. Looking at the photos I can still see that the fat needs to come off the “love handle area”. Overall pretty happy as it seems like we are heading in the right direction overall. I still have 3 weeks of juicing to go, so will keep pushing on and try to dedicate more time to the gym, as I missed a couple of days last week.

 

Juice Fast Day 8

Day 13 of this 35 day journey. 22 Days left

Firstly I must apologize I haven’t been able to blog for a few days. Even this one is a day late. Anyway let me give you a run down of the days you missed; not much happened lots of juicing, no exercise due to being super busy. Sunday was a hard day, went to a baby shower with my wife and little girl. It was hosted at our friends’ family’s Lebanese restaurant.  The food there is amazing, to cap it all off they had an amazing cake baker make two amazing cakes. However I held firm and kept to my juices as I watched all others tuck in. At the time it felt pretty awful however the feeling of knowing I stuck at it outweighed all this in the end.

Exercise

I hit the gym for a hard but rapid gym session (shoulders).

Today’s training :

• 9 mins skipping (jump rope) sprints to warm up

• Dumbbell Shoulder Press –    4 sets of 8 reps at 26kgs plus rest pause                                                                                                                                           1 min timed rest between sets

• Dumbbell Split Lat Raises –  3 sets of 8 reps at 12kgs and 28kgs then as soon as each set of 12kgs is finished I do same exercise with super heavy weights for as many as i can lifting as high I can (usually 5 reps half way up.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  1 min timed rest between sets

• Upright Barbell Row – 3 sets of 1o reps at 30 Kgs    + Olympic bar  (25kgs) plus rest pause                                                                                       1 min timed rest between sets                                                                                                                                                        

Juices, Nutrition and Supplements.

Menu for Today:

Warm Lemon and Ginger Water (pint)

Juice 1 – Pineapple, apple and grapefruit

Juice 2: Green Juice: Apple, Cucumber, sukuma wiki (a Kenyan spinach cross between spinach and kale), broccoli, celery rocket and lemon juice.

Juice 3:  Beetroot,carrot, apple, and lemon

Juice 4: Apple, pineapple, coconut fat, hemp protein, psyllium husk (post training)

Juice 5: Green Juice: Apple, Cucumber, sukuma wiki (a Kenyan spinach cross between spinach and kale), broccoli, celery rocket and lemon juice.

Juice 6: Beetroot, carrot, apple and lemon.

Juice 7: Green Juice: Apple, Cucumber, sukuma wiki (a Kenyan spinach cross between spinach and kale), broccoli, celery rocket and lemon juice (with Psyllium husk, bentonite clay, and zeolite clay)                                                 followed with an additional pint of water.

plenty of water drank throughout.

Supplements taken:

• Green Tea and chili capsules
• Hemp Protein
• Spirulina
• Dash of Maple syrup after training
• Psyllium Husk

A simple post today, as short on time. Next post will give my measurements.

Juice Fast Day 4

Day 9 of this 35 day journey. 26 Days left

Feel better today, a little tired still but much better than yesterday.

Today I have been very busy with work, it is days like these when you would skip lunch anyway, however the convenience of having a juice with me helps a lot. Every night I go to the trouble of preparing the following days juices and then freezing them in the glass bottles (the bottles are pre-frozen to speed up the process). I take them out and if in the office they stay in the fridge and about 30 mins before drinking I take them out to defrost. This convenience means that I always have a juice close at hand, which also prevents the need for snacking and helps fight the hunger.

Exercise

Today I felt good in the gym, the old strength is slowly coming back, and I am definitely getting into that training groove. As such I was able to push myself harder than previous sessions.

Today’s training (Chest Session):

• 9 mins skipping (jump rope) sprints to warm up

• Lat Pull Down Machine – 1 set of 20 reps at 60Kgs                                                                                                                                                                        1 set of 15 reps at 70Kgs                                                                                                                                                                          1 set of 10 reps at 75Kgs                                                                                                                                                                          1 set of 8 reps at 80kgs plus rest pause x 2 and then drop sets x 4                                                                                          1 min timed rest between sets

I kept my hands wide and realy focused on my overal Lat spread trying to hold each contraction for a one count. Follow this link to understand what drop sets are: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drop_set

• Seated Close Grip Cable Rows –  1 set of 25 reps at 50Kgs                                                                                                                                                                        1 set of 20 reps at 70Kgs                                                                                                                                                                        1 set of 15 reps at 84Kgs                                                                                                                                                                          1 set of 12 reps at 94kgs                                                                                                                                                                          1 min timed rest between sets

• Bent-Over Barbell Rows (wide grip)  – 1 set of 15 reps at 40Kgs                                                                                                                                                                        1 set of 12 reps at 60Kgs                                                                                                                                                                          1 set of 8 reps at 70Kgs                                                                                                                                                                            1 set of 8 reps at 70kgs plus rest pause x 2 and then drop sets x 2                                                                                          1 min timed rest between sets                                                                                                                                                        
•  Unilateral Bent-Over Dumbell Rows – 4 sets of 12 reps at 34 kgs (each side) plus rest pause x 2

• Cable Lat Traction (whilst balanced on a basket ball) – 4 sets of 15 reps at 30 kgs (each side)

The above exercise is performed using the cable machine (view here to see what machine;                                   http://www.technogym.com/gb/products/strength-training-equipment/multi-gyms/selection/cros/407)

You stand in the middle of the machine (on the basket ball – optional) grab the handles in each hand              squeezing down your elbows towards the side of your body, focusing on squeezing the lats as you go. I stand on the ball to work my core, I am lucky I have good balance and I have spent much time training and lifiting weights balance on a ball.

Back has always been one of my favorite training days, it is a large muscle group, with lots of areas to target. The fact that it is a large muscle group means that by training it you increase the amount of growth hormones floating around the body, resulting in larger muscle gains.

Juices, Nutrition and Supplements.

Menu for Today:

Warm Lemon and Ginger Water (pint)

Juice 1 – Pineapple, apple and grapefruit

Juice 2: Green Juice: Apple, Cucumber, sukuma wiki (a Kenyan spinach cross between spinach and kale), broccoli, celery rocket and lemon juice.

Juice 3:  Beetroot,carrot, apple, and lemon

Juice 4: Apple, pineapple, coconut fat, hemp protein, psyllium husk (post training)

Juice 5: Green Juice: Apple, Cucumber, sukuma wiki (a Kenyan spinach cross between spinach and kale), broccoli, celery rocket and lemon juice.

Juice 6: Beetroot, carrot, apple and lemon.

Juice 7: Green Juice: Apple, Cucumber, sukuma wiki (a Kenyan spinach cross between spinach and kale), broccoli, celery rocket and lemon juice (with Psyllium husk, bentonite clay, and zeolite clay)                                                 followed with an additional pint of water.

plenty of water drank throughout.

Supplements taken:

• Green Tea and chili capsules
• Hemp Protein
• Spirulina
• Dash of Maple syrup after training
• Psyllium Husk

I have realised that I need to increase my fiber intake. I will be quite open and honest I haven’t had a bowl movement for two days. When making the juice I remove the filter, this should mean it has natural fibre in the juice (many juicers have filter to give nice clear juices) The clear juices are not good, they look nice but have less nutrition. I today added the fibre to an additional juice today.

Here is the evidence on some of the benefits of healthy fiber for digestive health:

• Regularity. Let’s start with the one you knew already. Fiber, particularly insoluble fiber, can help people prevent constipation. It bulks up stools and keeps food moving through the digestive tract.
• Healthy bacteria. You might have heard of probiotoics — healthy bacteria that live in your intestines. Some types of soluble fiber are considered a prebiotic — a fuel that feeds these healthy bacteria and increases their numbers, Tappenden says. What do these bacteria do? They boost digestive health. And some studies suggest that they might have far-reaching effects, perhaps improving the immune response and preventing allergy development, Tappenden says.
• Diverticulitis. This painful condition is caused when pockets in the intestines rupture and become infected. One study found that a diet high in healthy fiber — insoluble fiber in particular — could reduce the risk of diverticular disease by 40%. Other studies suggest that a high-fiber diet can ease symptoms in people who have the condition and prevent future exacerbations.
• Gastroesophageal reflux disorder (GERD) and ulcers. The evidence is not clear yet. But some studies have suggested that a high-fiber diet is associated with a lower risk of GERD and duodenal ulcers. Some soluble fibers have been linked with lower levels of gastric acid.
• Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS.) There is some evidence that certain types of fiber supplements – such as those containing psyllium, guar gum, and methylcellulose — could help with IBS. However, high-fiber wheat bran seems to worsen symptoms.

Other health benefits. Fiber’s benefits aren’t confined to digestive health. Studies have found that healthy fiber can also lower cholesterol, promote healthy blood sugar levels, reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, and help people lose weight or maintain a healthy weight. (information from: http://www.webmd.com/diet/fiber-health-benefits-11/fiber-digestion

Juice Fast Day 3

Day 8 of this 35 day journey. 27 Days left

Today has not been the best day, I have felt tired all day and a little hungry. This probably ties in with the healing crisis I spoke about yesterday (read yesterday’s post – see below this post).

With feeling tired and a little hungry it would have been tempting to cheat and break fast. This is especially the case as my wife and I decided we would go out for dinner. There is an Indian shopping center in Nairobi call Diamond Plaza, it does the best Punjabi food, and I love the tandoori meat (I like tandoori meat so much I built a tandoor in the garden). Anyway my wife ordered her food and I order two juices, and kept to my fast, and I am pleased I did. I just reminded myself these feelings will pass soon enough and I will start feeling great in no time. I did however let myself daydream about eating tandoori chicken once I break fast (looking forward to it). It was nice to know that I was able to get healthy juices at Diamond Plaza and was happy drinking them as my wife ate her food, proud of myself for not buckling.

Exercise

Another quick gym session today.I am enjoying my 45 min focused sessions. Back in the UK when I was in good shape, people would ask me how long I would train for, I used to reply 2 hrs a day (6 days a week). However I also used to say all you need is 45 mins. The fact is my wife was at the gym working and as such it was an opportunity to spend time with her. this meant I could train at my leisure waiting for her to finish. My sessions were still intense and I was probably over-training. People would chat to me and delay me. Now I am keeping focused and direct, I do not have time to chat. I put my headphones in and get to business, and people seem to know not to interrupt me (probably due to my growling at people if they look like speaking). I have always used a timer to time my rest periods. This helps to keep the period to the minimum and speeds up your whole session. I used to take a magnetic digital egg timer and I used to stick on the equipment I was using. I now use the timer on my Ipod as it is one less thing to carry.

I was a little diappointed that my DOMS (Delayed onset muscle soreness  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delayed_onset_muscle_soreness) was not that severe today. Don’t get me wrong I have some soreness, it jut isn’t as severe as I would have hoped for. I am not a sadist but there is a slightly proud feeling when you have trained so hard you can barely walk. It makes you feel like you put it all in. Therefore when that feeling isn’t as strong you are left questioning if you could have done more. Next leg session I will try even harder.

 

Today’s training (Chest Session):

• 9 mins skipping (jump rope) sprints to warm up

• Chest Press Machine – 1 set of 15 reps at 70Kgs                                                                                                                                                                         1 set of 15 reps at 80Kgs                                                                                                                                                                         1 set of 15 reps at 85Kgs                                                                                                                                                                         1 min timed rest between sets

By doing this high volume heavy warm-up i was hoping to pre-exhaust my pecs. This I hope will shock the                   muscles into growth. I think I did it too well as for the next exercise I was knackered.

• Bench Press – 3 sets of 7 reps at 60 kgs + Olympic bar (20kgs) = 80Kgs (1 min rest between sets).

I felt particularly week during these sets, the chest press took it out of me. I did push on though and believe i              benefited from this.

• Cable Pec Butterflies (low to high)  –4 sets of 12 reps at 20kgs (each side)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      I was using these to train the upper and inner upper pecs in isolation. This is a great exercise and I can really  feel that it has worked.

•  Cable Pec Cross-overs – 4 sets of 12 reps at 30 kgs (each side)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Another exercise for isolating the pecs. This time the aim was to isolate the lower and inner lower pecs. The     lower pec has always been my chest weak part and as such i do like to try and push it.

 

All Chest exercises were completed with the rest pause on every set. Rest pause is where you reach a sticking               point you pause (I count to 10) and then lift again for as many reps as possible then pause again and do the                 same. This is a great way of getting past your fatigue and can often result in great gains.

Juices, Nutrition and Supplements.

Menu for Today:

Warm Lemon and Ginger Water (pint)

Juice 1 – Pineapple, apple and grapefruit

Juice 2: Green Juice: Apple, Cucumber, sukuma wiki (a Kenyan spinach cross between spinach and kale), broccoli, celery rocket and lemon juice.

Juice 3:  Carrot, apple, and ginger

Juice 4: Green Juice: Apple, Cucumber, sukuma wiki (a Kenyan spinach cross between spinach and kale), broccoli, celery rocket and lemon juice.

Juice 5: Pineapple and Mint

Juice 6: Beetroot, Carrot, Lemon and pepper (no idea what the pepper  was as this was purchased from the restaurant).

Juice 7: Apple (with Psyllium husk, bentonite clay, and zeolite clay) followed with an additional pint of water.

Sorry it seems yesterday’s post i accidentally missed off two juices, see day 1’s juices and it mirrored these.

plenty of water drank throughout.

Supplements taken:

• Green Tea and chili capsules
• Hemp Protein
• Spirulina
• Dash of Maple syrup after training

Maple Syrup health benefits: Some of you reading may think that this was cheating, however on the contrary Maple Syrup is an amazing health product (also I only had a small amount). if you have proper natural maple syrup these are the health benefits: as the same calcium content as whole milk, it has niacin, biotin, folic acid, potassium, magnesium, phosphorous, iron, thiamin, copper, and vitamins B2, B5 and B6, Zinc and manganese . The list goes on. It is also great at being a post training vehicle for carrying protein to the muscles as it is a simple natural carb.

Weight: 188 lbs. (85.27 Kgs)

Lets hope tomorrow i feel more awake and less hungry. If needs be I will have more juices to stave the hunger.

Juice Fast Day 2

Day 7 of this 35 day journey. 28 Days left

Another good day; feeling energized and very motivated. At the moment I am not missing food, however I’m sure this maybe different by day 27 on-wards.  I am also anticipating a juice cleanse healing crisis. In the early stages of cleansing the body goes through a number of changes which could result in the following:

• Stage 1 (Day 1 to Day 2) – Headaches, dizziness, nausea, bad breath, glazed eyes and a heavily coated tongue can be signs of the first stage of cleansing. This is caused by; the blood sugar dropping below 70 mg/dl. To get the blood to its normal glucose levels, the liver glycogen store is converted to glucose and released into the blood. Glycogen is the energy source used by muscles and is stored in all our muscles in the body, glycogen is slower to be converted into energy than simple glucose, which is used for sudden activity. Glycogen is used for longer periods of activity. This reserve is enough for half a day. The body then reduces the bodies metabolic rate. The rate of internal chemical activity in resting tissue is lowered to conserve energy. The heart slows and blood pressure is reduced. Glycogen is pulled from the muscle causing some weakness.  This is why in the first days weight loss is less dramatic. It is also why it is important to try and increase your metabolic rate with exercise and diet support (pineapple, grapefruit, chili and green tea etc.). It is important that juicers remember this is normal and don’t think they are becoming ill.

• Stage 2 (Day 3 to Day 7) – The breath is still foul and the tongue coated, skin may become oily as oils are purged from the body. Within the intestine, the colon is being repaired and impacted feces on the intestinal wall start to loosen. Whats happening within the body; Fats, composed of transformed fatty acids, are broken down to release glycerol from the gliceride molecules and are converted to glucose, to give energy to the body. Ketones are formed by the incomplete oxidation of fats. It is suspected that the ketones in the blood suppress the appetite by affecting the food-satiety center in the hypothalamus. This means juicers may not feel hungry after the initial days. White blood cell and immune system activity increases. You may feel pain in your lungs. Due to the lungs being in a process of being repaired. Periodically, the lymphatic system expels mucoid matter through the nose or throat. The volume excreted of this yellow-colored mucus can be shocking. The sinuses go through periods of being clogged, then will totally clear. As humans we are alergic to wheat and dairy, with no exceptions, some people handle it better than others, the reaction to this is an increase in bodily mucus which can be stored in the lungs or sinus passages, these will clear. 

• Stage 3 (day 8 to Day 15) – On the latter part of an extended fast, you can experience enhanced energy, clear-mindedness and feel better than you have felt since childhood. On the downside, old injuries may become irritated and painful. The pain is good as the body is completing the healing process. The muscles may become tight and sore due to toxin irritation. The legs can be the worst affected, as toxins accumulate in the legs. Whats happening in the body; Lymphocytes enter the older, damaged tissue secreting substances to dissolve the damaged cells. These substances irritate the nerves in the surrounding region and cause a re-occurrence of aches from previously injured areas that may have disappeared years earlier. Like all the downsides these don’t last for too long, and are a sign the body is repairing.

• Stage 4 (Day 16 to Day 30) – The body is completely adapted to the fasting process. There is more energy and clarity of mind. The healing work of the organs is being completed. After the detoxification mechanisms have removed the causative agent or render it harmless, the body works at maximum capacity in tissue proliferation to replace damaged tissue. The lymphatic system is clean except for a rare discharge of mucus through the nose or throat. After day 20, the mind is affected. Heightened clarity and emotional balance are felt at this time. Memory and concentration improve.

The above information comes on the whole from this website: http://www.izocleanse.com/article/different-juice-fasting-stages-detoxification-0. I have seen these for real and can testify that this staging is quite accurate. My wife cleansed for 6 weeks and we saw all these at roughly the same times as reported above. The trick is, when you feel the healing crisis this is the body healing and as such no reason to stop. When you see these symptoms they should spur you on further.

Exercise

Today I got to the gym finally and it was great. I kept myself strict on time so there was no getting distracted (45 mins in and out). Today I focused on legs, I am a firm believer in starting with legs, as they are a large muscle group which can increase growth hormones throughout the body. I targeted the legs using heavy weights to try and shock them into growth (although I have no problem ever growing my legs).

Today’s training:

• 5 mins skipping (jump rope) sprints to warm up – I didn’t want to do too much CV on lg days as I wanted max strength (hard to achieve at the start of a fast).

• Hamstring Curls – 1 giant set of 70 curls on 20 kgs. These are a killer and really have the hams aching and the legs firing on all cylinders

• Knee Extensions – 3 sets of 10 reps at 60 kgs (1 min rest between sets).  I decided to do the knee extensions as a means of pre-exhausting the muscles. See this link for further explanation; http://www.musclemag.com/muscle-building/pre-exhaust-your-muscles-to-awaken-new-growth/#.UsxTrPQW2yo

• Squats –2 sets of 10 reps at 40kg warm up sets.                                                                                                                                            1 set of 8 reps at 100kgs + Olympic bar (20kgs) = 120Kgs                                                                                                        1 set of 7 reps at  140 kgs + Olympic bar (20kgs) = 160Kgs                                                                                                      1 set of 6 reps at  160 kgs + Olympic bar (20kgs) = 180Kgs                                                                                                      2 minutes rest between sets

•  Calf raises – 1 set of 10 reps at 135 kgs                                                                                                                                                                      1 set of 10 reps at 152.5 kgs                                                                                                                                                                  1 set of 10 reps at 162.5 kgs                                                                                                                                                                  1 mnute rest between sets

Juices, Nutrition and Supplements.

Menu for Today:

Warm Lemon and Ginger Water (pint)

Juice 1 – Pineapple, apple and grapefruit

Juice 2: Green Juice: Apple, Cucumber, sikuma wiki (a Kenyan spinach cross between spinach and kale), broccoli, celery rocket and lemon juice.

Juice 3:  Carrot, apple, beetroot and ginger

Juice 4: Green Juice: Apple, Cucumber, sikuma wiki (a Kenyan spinach cross between spinach and kale), broccoli, celery rocket and lemon juice.

plenty of water drank throughout.

Supplements taken:

• Green Tea and chili capsules
• Hemp Protein
• Spirulina

Weight: 189 lbs. (85.7)

Tomorrow I am looking forward to doing it all again, with a different gym session.