Number 11

The questions have finally began to trickle in.

Did you get a haircut? Is that a new shirt?

A guy I work with just kinda stared at me funny yesterday.

This morning I had to go poop. That was kinda strange considering I haven't had anything thicker than watered-down-juice in 11 days. I had to go a couple of days ago too.

It was solid.

Makes you wonder just how long that's been up there.

Okay, probably too much information.

I felt kinda bloated yesterday but this morning I feel a LOT thinner. Like I lost 5 pounds in one day.

I looked in the mirror yesterday and thought: concentration camp.

I've been so accustomed to being overweight that now I'm close to what I'm supposed to weigh and mentally I think I'm dying from loss of weight.

I'm going to have to reevaluate at 14 days. I'll weigh myself then and see if I fall in the "ideal" weight range for my height and body frame.

And if it's somewhere in the middle, I'll start eating again. Slowly.

Day 9

Kinda felt hungry yesterday but it passed. Spent the day at the pool with Sawyer. They have waterslides and I must have climbed the hill to go down them 50 times.

Sawyer had a blast and I felt a little less embarrassed wearing a swimsuit in public.

Later last night, we went to Putt-Putt. I had a coupon. When we walked in I noticed that the Dale Junior Pinball game said "Ball 2". Nobody was anywhere in sight. There were 2 credits in it so I let Sawyer play. He was like Tommy the Pinball Wizard. I've never in my life seen a 5 year old play pinball like that. He did better than me.

His Putt-Putt skills weren't quite the same but they were much improved from the last time we played. So much so that it was actually enjoyable. He only launced a few balls airborne and one lady survived sure decapitation by about 4 inches.

I still have a gut. That is good incentive to keep going on the juice fast.

Christian Bale in "The Machinist"

7 days

At 11:00pm tonight, it will be 7 days since I've eaten.

I haven't been completely without nourishment, though.

I've mixed all kinds of juice with water throughout the week. I'd estimate I've consumed an average of about 300 to 400 calories each day and I'm thinking that's a high estimate.

I hadn't drank any full-strength juice until yesterday. Pam and I met some friends for dinner at Ham's and I ordered a V-8. It was a nice treat.

The energy I have is phenomenal. There are no highs and lows--just a very subdued calmness as I go throughout my day.

Walking is a very interesting experience. I'm guessing I've lost about 10 pounds. I won't weigh myself. Walking feels like I've literally put down a 10 pound weight I've been carrying. I almost feel like I'm going to float to the sky.

Nobody has mentioned my weight loss yet. My friends questioned my only drinking a V-8 at dinner last night and I told them I was detoxing a little bit.

I feel thinner but I'm nowhere near where I want to be. I've been heavy for so long that being thinner feels thin but there is no chart on earth that says I'm at my ideal weight.

I've always been one with a flair for the melodramatic and I guess I kinda want people to look at me and say "that guy is emaciated".

How many people even know what emaciated means? I dunno.

I'm not after the Christian Bale look from "The Machinist" but not far from it.

The Juice

Okay. I've become fat again by a complete lack of willpower when it comes to my food.

This happens to me quite frequently. I lose weight and drop bad habits only to allow them to slowly creep back into my life. I have fat clothes and skinny clothes and tend to go back and forth between them several times in a year.

My last diet began as a 10 day nothing-but-water fast and continued with a few weeks of eating healthy food like raw vegetables and fruits.

I went from about 207 pounds to about 178 in about 2 months. I felt great about myself.

Of course, I slowly allowed the pounds to come back by eating whatever I felt like for months.

Now, I begin again.

I'm on my fourth day of eating nothing but watered down grape juice. This is much better than the strictly-water fast. Not nearly as uncomfortable. Every morning I wake up and see a different person looking back at me in the mirror. The guy this morning reminded me of this guy I knew about 5 years ago.

I'm waiting to see the guy I knew 20 years ago. Probably won't happen but if I at least weighed the same, I know I'd feel better. There's something youthful about being able to jump and actually leave the ground.

Here's my plan, though. I do not plan to eat again until someone I know asks me if I've lost weight. Pam doesn't count. I haven't told a single soul besides her (and you) that I'm doing this diet. I want to see how long it will take before people notice.

I'd like to keep at it for 30 days, even if someone does notice. At approximately one pound per day, I'd be very close to my overall goal. I don't intend to weigh myself until I'm done.

The challenge isn't losing it. The challenge is keeping it off.

If this doesn't work, I'm going to try smoking crack.