Mostly non-fasting post.  I got to the jobsite today and listened to the brother of the guy in the hospital - his brother was involved in a cave-in in a man-hole down in the sewer pipe - go on and on and on, not about his brother, but about current and previous girlfriends.  It was somewhat intersting in that this person availed himself to so much of the kind of stuff that had been dished out and hadn't simply moved on.  Reminded me of me - should have moved on from last relationship long before it happened.

We are picking up 40 foot sections of pipe from their yard in Monroe, LA, the pipe has been sitting there for almost 2 years.  That construction company is going to take a loss on it, the pipe is old and will have to sell for less and the supplier agreed to sell it on consignment.  It's actually a good deal for the construction company, otherwise they would just have to eat it and that's that. It wasn't our company's fault for selling too much to them.  They had a change of plans on the job by the engineers and they were stuck with it.

Anyway, today was the 2cd trip, there are at least 3 more trips to go for there is still alot of pipe there. It's a good run - 1 hour 40 minutes to the job site, 2 hours to load the truck, 2 hours to the supplier, 1 and a half hours back.  That doesn't include the other delivery I had today in Monroe, which always takes ridiculously long, they are never in a hurry.  So I ended up with 47 hours this week which is a heckuva lot better than the 40 we were dictated.

Tomorrow I'm taking the CHL class which is an all day thing and then going to church tomorrow night.  I think, anyway, I'm pretty sure this is the weekend to do the CHL.  I've simply forgotten for sure and will ask her when she gets home.  I got a call earlier to please come to church and help with communion tomorrow evening so I have a full day tomorrow.  Which is good considering the fast and I'm determined to stay on it.  Sunday, different story.  Nothing planned at all. Plenty to do, but may not be advisable to spend the day working around the house.  I want this eye thing gone before I stop the fast.

There is no guarantee, of course, that it will actually go away and frankly, it appears I would have to stay on the fast for 10 or more days for it to actually happen.  Further, there are far greater benefits to staying on the fast longer, the question is: can I handle it?  It would be lovely to just put everything on hold for 21 days and go to a facility and get help and motiavtion with this, but that is impossible, at least at this time.  I'll just have to make that call Sunday night.  Either eat some watermelon, which is what is recommended to come off the fast, or, continue on with it.

One nice side effect I hadn't thought of fasting is that I haven't spent a dime on food this week.  No lunches, no buying dinner food.

Well, I'm pretty tired even afer a good night's sleep and I'm going to rest.

Water Fast Day 5 Complete

I had much more energy today, much better than the last 2 days, which suggests to me that full ketosis has settled in. Feeding off my fat, of which of lates I have sufficient amounts of for an extended fast, actually.  The only thing today that really got me was strapping down a load of pipe.  It was not even close to the perfection of loading that I prefer - but then again I almost always load my own truck so I don't have to worry about that.  I was out at a jobsite - same one as yesterday - and the pipe has been sitting out there forever. It's been moved around, the bundles have been broken so that the pipe is still strapped, yes, but not in the rectangular form it was in when it came from the supplier.

So,  it makes for some interesting loading.  I wasn't loading it, either but at least they had a guy come out that is very adept in his field of construciton of operating heavy machinery.  Still, the bundles beneath the final top bundles had pipe sticking up, leaving the top 2 bundles at angles and partially exposed on the bottom.  I ended up putting a large numberr of straps on that load - much more than it would normaly take - and I had to crank down the winches very tight.  Well, it's quite the physical exertion to press down that hard on a bar to exert enough force to make the winch turn far enough that one on the teeth is able to engage in the slot to hold it in place.  After climbing up on the truck and getting down several times and then that?  I was depleted of energy big time.

I sat in the truck for a few minutes and got enough back to continue on with the day.  I really didn't even think about food until I was somewhere and the smell of meat cooking wafting through the air.  That was a bit much, I got away from there quickly.  I was less thirsty today.  I have been drinking a lot of water the last 3 days because I had an unquenchable thirst, but today that diminished greatly.

I think actualy this weekend is going to be the most difficult part of this fast.  For rest is what is in order, meaning laying around sleeping and watching tv or reading or whatever. Al fine and dandy, but at work and driving a semi truck all day long, that really takes any focus off of food. Sitting around a house where food is in ample supply - I have enough food to last for at least 6 months, did that on purpose to prepare for the worst if such economic projections of doom and gloom actually come true - may turn out to be a difficult thing to resist.  I mean, on other kinds of diets, such as juice only, you can at least drink something to help defer the cravings.

I still have a minor headache going - I don't know if it's caffeine withdrawals or what, but it's been that way since after the first day of fasting.  Regardless, today wasn't exactly magical - Day 5 that is - as some other have reported but it was easier. I much like the idea that my body is feeding off my fat now.  I should be losing a couple pounds a day at this point, I think.  I dunno, I don't have a scale, last weighing was 215 pounds, which is well beyond anything I am even remotely interested in allowing myself to get up in terms of weight, but, factually, I was probably closer to 220.

The motivation to detox and see some physical ailments alleviated is what is driving me.  People going to facilities that specialize in fasting treatment centers probably have an easier go at it because they have professionals that are talking to them and helping them make it through it.  I don't have any of that, in fact, fasting is quite misunderstood by many people and think you are going to die. Fasting is not starvation.  Starvation occurs in a fast when the fast is over.   You basically lose hunger during a fast, it sounds crazy but it's true.  However, your body will signal you, the experts say, that it's over by a extreme hunger setting in.  If you ignore that, then your body starts feeding off of muscle.  In a 21 day fast, less than 2 pounds of muscle are consumed by the body to make up for some systems that need the glucose to work.  A small price to pay to lose 20 plus pounds of weight, bring your blood pressure down and have your body deal with whatever ailments you may have.

I'm not doing 21 days, not this time anyway. I had originally though to end this Sunday, the 7th day.  But I am seriously considering going until Wednesday.  I'm really just trying to go as long as I can while still being able to function in the real world.  Paychecks are important, so I have to be able to get my work done.  So far, so good.  Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were difficult days.  Anyway, I am going with the lady landlord tomorrow to do an all day CHL training program.  Concealed carry permit in other words.  That will be a stimulating day and my mind will hardly be on food.  7 days would end on Sunday at 6:30 pm.  Whether I stop or not, I really don't know.

Halfway through Water Fast Day 5

This'll be a short one, with a more detailed version later.
I slept like a baby last night. I'm not joking and no, that's nor  normal for me. I almost never sleep through the night.  Such a rare occasion that whenever it does happen, I just sit in wonder and try to think what happened to cause that?

I've had a Chalazion that appeared out of the blue in my right eye for almost 2 months now.  Been to the doctor twice and they gave me this and that - and charged me a small fortune - for treatmets that didn't work. Looking at it this morning it has significantly reduced in size.  Yes, if you do any reading about water only fasting you will find that can indirectly cure all kinds of common maladies and even some serious ones.  I read one blog of an organization that actually facilitates fasting.  People come for 7 days.  This is kinda where I established a minimum baseline for water fasting, but going on longer actually may have

My digestive system is certainly going through some sort of change.  My stomach was tight thight morning and something was goingon down there.  That whole system hasn't been right for a while and was another reason I wanted to do this fast.  It will, conceivably, fix your digestive system and whatever ails if it you go on the fast long enough. I'm more resolved now to make it through Sunday evening than I have been all week. I just have to make it through the work day today and then I have the weekend to do much of nothing and rest.  I'm sure I will be tempted to take this on to 10 days by the time Sunday gets here.

Well I feel pretty good - right now We'll see how that works out duirng the work day.