S1E3 40-Day Water Fast & Post-Fast ReFeed Journal

[Compdude]

Day 3 of Rebuilding the Body (Continued - Detail)

Notes:

1. Yesterday was my toughest day. Body was still transitioning from ketosis to glucose burning so slept really bad. On top of that, my body went full in on rebuilding the major organs so I had no energy at all. Then I had to take a car trip into Pasadena, CA from the outer suburb where I’m currently in exile. Luckily, I had my sister handle the driving.

2. On the way back, we stopped at a Mexican restaurant owned by one of my clients. For the holidays, I got a free bag of newly toasted tortilla chips, salsa and a tray of shredded beef tacos. Her restaurant is very health oriented as she also offers a Vegan menu. So the oil is changed out every day and is healthy. Since we did the pickup an hour before they opened my food was among the first made since all her offerings are made fresh daily.

3. This was my transition from soup to solid food. So on the way back home I munched on the chips, sans salsa, to prep the stomach. Needed the carb boost and the fats from the oil helped to wake up my brain. Later I had 2 shredded beef tacos. Each taco had fresh beef, freshly chopped iceberg lettuce, tomato bits and cheddar cheese. The good quality protein is the most important because that’s what needed most to fuel the conversion of the all the stem cells produced from my long fast into new cells to repopulate the major organs whose dead and senescent cells were cannibilized during the fast.

4. After slowly consuming the tacos I set the timer on my iPhone to ensure i sat upright in my office chair for an hour and a half to help the G.I. Tract in the digestion. I can report that everything worked out fine. No indigestion. No heartburn. No regurgitation. However, I did fall into a food stupor and did not eat anything until this morning. 20 hours later.

[Compdude]

Day 4 of Rebuilding the Body

Highlights:

1. Gained 0lbs
2. Blood sugar: 100 - 3rd day in a row of NORMAL!
3. No exercise: Forced - no energy

Notes:

1. Started the day experimenting with my taste palate. Tried to nibble on a Sesame Seed muffin. Yuck! Tasted like sawdust so threw it out. Ate a fortune cookie I saved from my birthday. I could taste the staleness but still liked the taste. Had a couple of bites from leftover Cherry Pie from Thanksgiving. Fruit filling tasted good but do not care for pie crust anymore. Tried my old addictive coffee additive, French Vanilla Coffeemate, with my coffee. Prefer my coffee black sweetened by Stevia now.

2. Instead with the coffee had the healthy oil fried tortilla chips with salsa from the Mexican restaurant from yesterday to prep the stomach and wake me up. Yummy.

3. 2 1/2 hours later had 2 shredded beef tacos. Went down easier this time around. This time I only timed 1 hour sitting upright in the office chair before lying time. Felt good.

4. Hunger mechanism re-activating. Got stirrings of hunger before I noshed on the tacos. Then just about an hour ago got hungry again so noshed again on the salsa and chips.

5. Today answered the question which I had about what happens first at the end of a prolonged water fast which is this:
   Which would the body privatize first, rebuilding the major organs or fat storage when first presented with food. When you consider I’ve only gained 1 lb over the last 4 days in this phase I think the answer is obvious.

6. I’ve postponed my labs from this Thursday to Wednesday next week in order to buy more time to repopulate my major organs with new cells. I’m especially interested in the results regarding my kidneys to see how far I’ve come in reversing my Chronic Kidney Disease. As for the T2 Diabetes, I’m pretty sure I’ve taken care of that. My blood sugar readings so far into this ReFeed are 90, 101 and 100, which are normal. The A1Hc will hopefully confirm this next week.

[Nikki2020]

Thanks that sounds like a great plan!

[Compdude]

Day 5 of Rebuilding the Body

Highlights:

1. Gained 3 lbs (2.2 to be exact)
2. Blood sugar: Forgot to take it
3. No exercise - Still not enough energy to walk

Notes:

1. Body is beginning to stabilize. First time I would rise out of bed to walk to the kitchen and not immediately get hit with a dizzy spell.
2. Meals: Coffee with Stevia and polished off the remaining Chips and Salsa 6:30am, 3 hours later had 2 Shredded Beef Tacos and final meal 3 hours later was 2 cans of Elite Campbell’s Chicken Soup with a 1/4 cup of coffee w/Stevia.
3. Timing of Time Restricted Eating. I’ve been playing it by feel because there’s not much out there, in terms of good documentation on other people accomplishing a 40-Day Water Fast. HOWEVER, one of the researchers I follow is Dr Saatchin Panda of the Salk Institute of San Diego. He’s considered one the leading experts on Circadian Rhythms. From his research, he’s discovered that our bodies are most insulin sensitive in the morning. Also that at least 2 hours before our normal bedtime, the body begins shutting down insulin production.
   As a result, I try to begin my Time Restricted Feeding Window first thing in the morning. The 1st 5 days, the Fasting/Feeding period seems to be around an 18:6 Fasting/Feeding schedule.
4. Still can’t depend on hunger telling me to feed the body, yet. Though it reawakened after a long slumber yesterday it didn’t help this morning. I didn’t get hungry until I started in on the chips and THEN I got hungry. However, last night I did GET tempted to get that last piece of Cherry Pie out of the fridge! LOL
5. It’s been 35 days. It’s been 5 days in the Rebuild the Body phase. FINALLY, had my first bowel movement. It felt weird. Best analogy is think of opening a rusty garden gate that hasn’t been open for awhile. Still works functionally but it takes awhile. LOL. I’m sure it will get easier with more use.

[Compdude]

Day 6 of Rebuilding the Body

Highlights:

1. Weight gain: 3lbs
2. Blood sugar: 90. STILL NORMAL!
3. No exercise (Still too weak)

Notes:

1. No dizzy spells. Little bit more energy. Sleep is still a work in progress at this point. Digestion the same way. Had my 1st case of constipation in I don’t know how long. Felt much better afterward.

2. 16:8 feeding/fasting from yesterday to today. Began 6:30am with coffee w/Stevia and the last slice of Cherry Pie (Decided to celebrate 5 straight days of Normal Blood Sugar). Then at 8:30am 2nd meal of the last 2 shredded beef tacos and then finished up at Noon with 3rd meal of 2 cans of Vegetable Beef soup.

3. Not worried about the weight gain. Since I started my program on August 9th I dropped 81lbs. The Rebuild the Body phase has seen a gain of 7lbs back. I always figured I’d gain back between 10 to 15lb due to regrow of the major organs and water weight. Also weight loss was NEVER my primary goal. Reversing the T2 Diabetes, Chronic Kidney Disease and curing the Hypertension was.

4. Everything going well as still taking NO medications. The blood sugar readings so far seems to confirm I’ve reversed the T2 Diabetes. Have to wait until next Wednesday’s lab tests to see where I stand on reversing the Chronic Kidney Disease.

[Anna]

I’m glad it’s all improving slowly! It’s incredible what fasting can to for health!
I’m excited to see what the test results will tell!

[Compdude]

Day 7 of Rebuilding the Body

Highlights:

1. Weight loss: 2lbs
2. Blood sugar: 96 - Still NORMAL!
3. Exercise: Cooked breakfast

Notes:

1. With the 2lb weight loss, I guess my constipation yesterday WAS holding things up. LOL
2. Energy continues to improve. So I was able to cook breakfast for myself after a wake up cup of coffee with Stevia and some lightly salted Tostito tortilla chips to get me going and sustain me. Took me an hour and a half to cook because I cooked scrambled eggs with caramelized onions with cheddar and jack cheese, Italian sausages and hash browns with Himalayan salt and black pepper. Now I’m done eating until tomorrow as I haven’t been this full since before the 40-day water fast. Oh yeah, I also fasted 20 hours between my last meal yesterday and today’s morning coffee and chips.
3. I was planning to go for a short walk to the end of the residential block I live on. However, its been a week since I’ve exercised and when I cooked this morning its been the longest I’ve been on my feet. As a result, when I sat down a couple of times I suffered pain from the recirculating of blood into my left foot because I didn’t realize that standing for so long on feet was cutting off the blood circulation. The last attack was really painful. In addition, a city worker came by early this morning saying they were refinishing the street so no cars would be allowed until 5pm this afternoon. Breathing in fresh asphalt is probably NOT the healthiest thing in the world so I’ll delay my brief walk until tomorrow.
4. Last night I noticed a lessening of the neuropathy symptoms in my feet. Appears that the repopulation of new cells in my major organs is pretty much done and the body is now shifting the conversion of stem cells to 2nd tier priorities. Interested in seeing how much of the neuropathy will be addressed before I take my labs Wednesday next week.

[Compdude]

Day 8 of Rebuilding the Body Phase

Highlights:

1. Gained 1lb
2. Blood Sugar: 90 (1 Week STRAIGHT of NORMAL Blood Sugar!)
3. Exercise: Walked to the end of my residential bloc and back. Also cooked breakfast and did laundry

Notes:

1. Last night confirmed my hope that my body would tackle my neuropathy after regrowing my major organs. Don’t feel the sharp tingling in my feet at night anymore starting last night, more like a dull sensation that something is happening. HOWEVER, felt arthritic symptoms in my right ankle and foot. Hopefully, that’s the next thing on my body’s repair list after the neuropathy is done.

2. Fasted 20 hours between yesterday’s last meal and this morning’s coffee w/stevia and lightly salted Tostitos after my walk. Had my main meal 2 1/2 hours later and then back into a daily fast until tomorrow.

3. To address the issue of cutting off the blood circulation in my right foot by standing too long in one place while cooking breakfast, I made sure I took frequent breaks by having a chair close by. That strategy worked because I never experienced a repeat of the extreme pain attacks that I suffered from yesterday.

Finally, SPECIAL TREAT for my loyal readers. Recent short interview with Dr. Valter Longo, Director of the Aging Institute at the University of Southern California. He’s considered a world recognized authority on prolonged fasting. He’s also one of the research scientists whose work is a key part in designing my own custom treatment protocol. It’s well worth a look:

[Bri]

very cool! do you know what diet they gave the mice during the refeeding phase? This reminds me of an anecdote from the fasting talk podcast, he did a DEXA scan before, immediately after, and a few weeks after a prolonged fast and said that immediately after the prolonged fast he had lost some muscle mass along with fat, but in the last scan a few weeks after it showed all his muscle mass had been restored.

[Compdude]

No. But you may find the info in his book about his research and recommended alternative to water fasting, fast mimicking:

The Longevity Diet [Paperback]

[donna]

Do you know if it’s the same premise as Dr. Steven Gundry’s book, The Longevity Paradox?

[Compdude]

Day 9 of Rebuilding the Body Phase

Highlights:

1. Weight gain/loss: 0lbs
2. Blood sugar: 94 - (8 straight days of NORMAL readings!)
3. Exercise: Doubled my distance to .2 miles

Notes:

1. Slept 6 hours uninterrupted sleep. Longest I’ve slept since before the 40-day. In spite of that, my walking stride is only 75% of what it was during the fast. Also yesterday was about 50%. Aerobic endurance is NOT the issue. Apparently the body is still converting those built up stem cells to new cells so is still utilizing the majority of my energy.

2. The neuropathy symptoms continue to lessen. Will not know about any improvements in retinopathy until I get my Physician’s Assistant to request an eye exam when I see her this Friday. Then I can ask the optometrist to compare her exam results from the one I had earlier this year in February.

3. I did a daily fast of 20 hours since my last meal yesterday and my morning coffee w/stevia and lightly salted tortilla chips after my walk. Today was the weekly church potluck. I did NOT put any restrictions on what to eat as I wanted to see how much more change in my taste palate happened as a result of the 40–day water fast. First, I had another cup of coffee w/stevia (I carry packets in my computer backpack everywhere I go) and the first donuts since before the fast (a maple bar and a buttermilk). Still like the maple bar, though it tasted really sweet. The buttermilk I could really taste the flour, so I won’t be having that one anymore. Second, at the potluck the only thing that appealed to me was the shredded beef chili. Had 2 helpings. Turned down the fried chicken (all I could think about was grease) and the white rice. Felt good about the results of my little experiment. After the potluck, went immediately into my fast so I won’t have anything (except water) until my 1st coffee after my walk tomorrow.

4. Had my 3rd bowel movement this phase. My last was on Day 6 so it’s been a couple of days. This would be my first “normal” one since Oct 31st. I should note that you are sore back there from lack of use. LOL!

[Compdude]

No. Right now Dr Longo’s work is going through clinical trials at USC.

[Compdude]

Day 10 of Rebuilding the Body Phase

Highlights:

1. Weight gain: 1lb
2. Blood sugar: 85 - Lowest since the day before I ended my 40-day water fast!
3. Exercise: .6 mile walk

Notes:

1. Neuropathy symptoms in my feet are almost gone now. No more sharp needle like pinpricks at night from damaged nerve cells. Still some numbness and I can feel something happening in the toes now. Arthritic conditions in the right ankle and foot are improving also.

2. I’ve held off reporting this since I wanted the confirmation of 3 days running to be sure. I now can confidently say that in the 2nd tier of stem cell restoration that its also been addressing my ED (Erectile Dysfunction). Diabetes causes ED because it damages the blood supply to the penis and the nerves that control an erection. Also for the last 2 nights running I’ve felt numbness in my testicles. The numbness, from the neuropathy healing, is a sign that the stem cells are growing to replace the dead cells cannibalized during the fast. So it appears that reproductive organs are in the 2nd tier of healing.

3. Here’s an informative video on the benefits of 10-hour time restricted eating for managing metabolic syndrome in a tweet from Dr Saatchin Panda, considered one of the leading experts on Circadian Rhythm and whose work is the basis for my starting my time restricted eating time right after my daily walk. Here’s the medical definition of metabolic syndrome for those of you who don’t know what it is: a cluster of biochemical and physiological abnormalities associated with the development of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.

Satchin Panda (SatchinPanda)

4. Final thing. Was rummaging through old clothes that fit better due to all the weight I’ve lost. Look what I found! Forgot I bought this during my last trip to Disneyland in the late 2000s. The free admission was a birthday gift from one of my closest friends.
   
   

[Compdude]

Day 11 of Rebuilding the Body Phase

Highlights:

1. Weight loss: 2lbs
2. Blood sugar: 79 - Hasn’t been this low since Nov 22nd, Day 32 of the 40-Day.
3. Exercise: 1.8 mile walk

Observation:
Just realized I have done 6 straight days of 20:4 fasting/time restricted eating pattern around 2 meals. I’m speculating this all comes from the 2 week transition period (18:6, 20:4 and OMAD) between completing the initial 14-Day Potato Diet and starting Prolonged Water Fasting. I think my body got so used to doing 20:4 and OMAD that it became the default for when I’m in ReFeed. Remember when I started the Rebuild the Body phase after the 40-day I did not settle on any specific fasting/feeding schedule since I wanted my body to dictate what it needed.

Notes:

1. Big jump in walking today due to having a big jump in energy level starting last night. In spite of only sleeping 4 hours (due to the unexpected energy jump), I felt so good I decided to do a trial walk to my doctor’s offices that is only .9 miles away. On the way back I decided to get a jump on my monthly grocery and Costco run set for tonight by stopping at the local grocery on the way back and pick up some items that were on my list. I’d say the backpack weighed in about 15lbs. It was only the final .1 miles that I slowed down from fatigue.

2. I’ll be breaking my fasting/eating pattern tonight. This is a planned break because its my monthly grocery/Costco shopping run. I have on my membership, my sister. In return she does the driving. We’ll be going after she arrives after she finishes her work day. I’ll be eating at the food court some of my favorites. So I’ll be eating outside of my usual time restricted eating time, I’ll be eating past 3pm and I’ll probably be eating some junk. It’s a test to see how my blood sugar will respond when I measure tomorrow morning.

3. The bump in energy is my body telling me its wrapping up converting stem cells to new cells. I’d say right now I’m about 85% back to where I was at the end of the 40-day. When I have all 100% back is when I’ll switch to a new phase.

4. Been testing my mental capabilities increased by the 40-day which began on Day 8 of the current phase. That’s the day I had enough energy to start walking again. I’m a fan boy of computer strategy games. One of the first ones when I bought my 1st pc was a game called Warlords in 1990. At the time, the game company was known for creating the best A.I. for computer games. Luckily, a couple of guys got the rights to re-create the game for the IPad and it was available for free. They made some tweaks to the AI and game pieces to make it more balanced but its still the same game I spent a lot of hours on. I can tell you from playing the game that I’m mentally back to where I could probably go back into computer programming/software engineering if I wanted to.

5. Finally, this is the last time I’ll be talking about bowel movements. That’s because I went again yesterday right after my walk. Can’t remember the last time of having consecutive day bowel movements because its been so long. Everything worked normal though still a bit tender back there afterwards. LOL. Since things are back to normal, I probably won’t be bringing this up in future posts.

[Compdude]

Day 12 of Rebuilding the Body Phase

Highlights:

1. Weight gain: 7lbs!
2. Blood sugar: 92! STILL NORMAL after the Costco Test
3. Exercise: 1.8 mile walk
4. Blood Pressure: 155/92 - See explanation in notes

Notes:

1. Costco Test:
   Goals:
   A, Test Theory of Increased Insulin Sensitivity early in the day
   B. Test Blood Sugar response to late night eating with lots of
   Carbs will provide further proof if I cured my T2 diabetes or
   not.
   C. What happens to weight?

   Results:
   A. This is a valid test because we can do a comparison to the
   Previous 11 days of the current Rebuilding the Body phase.
   Specifically I’ve been consistent on having chips (carbs) with
   coffee to start my time restricted feeding either 1st thing in the
   morning or 1st thing after my morning daily walk. Second meal
   is heavy on protein with some carbs and fats. Also the
   previous 6 days I’ve been on a 20:4 fasting/eating plan. The
   previous 6 days before that were also consistent with keeping
   feeding to early morning start and finishing by 3pm.
   B. Here’s what I ate yesterday and approximate times:
   8:30am. Chips and Coffee
   11:30am 2 cans of Campbell’s Hungry Man Country Vegetable
   & Beef
   7pm: 1 Costco Beef Frank Hot Dog w/Ketchup, Mustard, Pickle
   Relish and Onions. 1 Churrro. 1 cup of Nestle
   Raspberry Iced Tea.
   8pm: Some Costco Krinkle Cut Himalayan Salt Potato Chips
   w/1 cup of Nestle Ice Tea Raspberry, 1 Costco Croissant
   & 1 Costco Vanilla Ice cream bar with Dark Chocolate
   Shell w/Almonds
   I guess my body’s still busy converting stem cells because
   once I had my 1st bit of the hot dog, I just wolfed it down. Body
   Still craving that protein. When I was choosing what to drink I
   Just naturally chose the Iced Tea, didn’t even think about it.
   Also when I ate all the processed carbs and sugar, I didn’t have
   any cravings for more. RESULT: Took my blood sugar reading
   Only 9 1/2 hours later and it was NORMAL! Whoo hoo! It
   means I really have cured my Type 2 diabetes since I had a
   normal person’s reaction to eating junk late at night.
   C. On the other hand … I figured I’d gain weight but to gain 7lbs in
   one day! Whoa. Remember I ate the majority of my carbs the
   previous 11 days first thing in the morning to start my time
   restricted feeding window and I never gained more than 2lbs in
   a single day. The Insulin Sensitivity Window is FOR REAL!

2. The walk this morning was tough. Feet and right ankle were stiff from arthritis. Also noticed during the walk this morning and yesterday that I was feeling that harbinger of stem cell activity of numbness then alternating flashes of hot and cold in both my knees which were injured during sports activities when I was younger: left knee - pickup basketball game, right knee - volleyball game when I went all out for a pancake flip of the ball that was successful though my right knee wouldn’t agree LOL.

3. The neuropathy symptoms are almost all gone. Haven’t had that prickly feeling in the feet for 2 days running now. There’s still stem cell activity down there but its ebbed to only the ends of my toes now.

4. Still dealing with fluctuating energy levels. Only slept 4 hours last night. So when I started out this morning to run errands: lab tests, Walmart to check BP and then home I was light headed.

5. Did some research after getting my BP results at WalMart. Found that it may take up to 2 hours after exercise elevates BP to get a normal reading. Before I got there I walked .6 miles to the bus stop to get to the lab, then another .6 miles walk from the lab to WalMart. With lack of sleep and the walk from the lab to WalMart all uphill explains the higher reading from the last one, I believe a month ago.

[Compdude]

Day 13 of Rebuild the Body Phase

Highlights:

1. Weight gain: 0lbs
2. Blood sugar: 77 - Still NORMAL
3. Exercise: 2.6 miles (longest I’ve walked since 2010)

Notes:

1. Went back to my early time restricted eating pattern. Because of the lateness of the last meal during the Costco test I had to go to a 16:8. Yesterday I had for my 1st meal at 10:30am after returning from my morning walk: coffee w/stevia, a cinnamon/raisin bagel w/cream cheese, a croissant and some potato chips. My full meal was 4 hours later at 2:30pm which was 2 cans of Campbell’s Hungry Man Country Vegetable and Beef, before my normal cutoff of 3pm.
2. The weight gain of zero was another confirmation of the increased insulin sensitivity of the morning hours over the rest of the day as it appears I “burned off” all the carbs consumed for the 1st meal. The lower blood sugar reading over yesterday was another data point.
3. I started this morning with my 1st meal of coffee w/stevia, a croissant and potato chips. As I noted this is the longest walk I have done in over 8 years so I needed the carbs. I did break it up though. The 1st .6 miles was a walk to the restaurant where my weekly Toastmasters meeting is held. There I gave my “first cut” of my contestant speech where I will be competing in Toastmasters Annual Contest for the World Championship of Public Speaking starting in February next year. I got excellent feedback and will be making the suggesting changes and give another presentation probably at the beginning of next year.
4. The next .7 miles was a downhill walk to Dunkin Donuts which is next to the Sprint store, There I had a large coffee w/cream and stevia, with a Cinnamon Roll because I knew I was going to need fuel to walk the entire 1.3 miles of which 1 mile was uphill.
5. Did my business at the Sprint store when it opened an hour later after I got to Dunkin. The first .7 miles of the walk back home I was fine, then it got harder. Had to take 6 breaks to finish the final .5 miles. To get me through I used my old Jedi mind tricks: Counting steps, You’ve done this a million times, imagining how good finishing would feel.
6. When I got home I immediately had water, a croissant and potato chips. I was exhausted and needed the energy boost because I had tasks I immediately had to get done for clients. Took care of the clients and had my main meal of 2 cans of Healthy Choice Vegetable and Beef soup. Went back and took care of more client stuff. Then a hour later had to have a cup of coffee and chips because I still felt exhausted.
7. Tomorrow’s the doctor’s visit where I will walk the .9 miles to get to. It’s also the day the lab said the results would be available online.

[Compdude]

Day 14 (2 week mark) of Rebuild the Body Phase

Highlights:

1. Weight loss: 2lbs
2. Blood sugar: 79
3. Exercise: 1.9 mile walk
4. Blood Pressure: 121/81 - NORMAL - Yippee!

Result of Doctor’s Visit:
I began my self-developed treatment protocol back to August 9th. I had 4 Victory Objectives:

1. Be Medication Free. At the time I was having to take a daily Insulin injection, 1 diabetes medication, 2 hypertension medications, 1 cholesterol medication and 1 gout/arthritis medication.
2. Cure my Hypertension - aka: Have a normal blood pressure
3. Reverse my T2 Diabetes to Normal
4. Reverse my Chronic Kidney Disease from Stage 3a to Normal

Results from doctor’s visit and review of Wednesday blood test:

1. It’s Official. I’m medication FREE! Yippee!
2. It’s Official. Cured of Hypertension. Began at 192/101 to 121/81.
3. Almost there. I’m on the border of Normal and Pre-Diabetes.
   Top of Normal is 5.6. My HA1c is 5.7. So close yet so far…
   Still it was 6.2 as of 9/10/19 so the doc said I had made amazing
   Progress in such a short period of time.
4. Almost no progress on the CKD is the only bummer.
5. Dropped a total of 71 lbs.

Notes:

1. Another data point for the case of starting time restricted eating during insulin sensitivity part of the day. Remember yesterday I gobbled down extra carbs due to the long walk BUT I ate those carbs during the insulin sensitivity window I’ve established for myself which is when I wake up in the morning to 3pm. Because of that I dropped 2lbs of water weight as my body burned off glycogen stores from the exercise and restoring the body’s energy level.

2. I only did 16 hours of fasting this time due to the lateness of my last meal from yesterday to getting an early start due to my walking to my doctor’s office for my appointment.

3. Still felt a bit of exhaustion from yesterday, so I started my 1st meal, while the coffee brewed, with a half a coffee cup filled with cranberry/raspberry juice. It did the trick as I could feel my insulin levels rise in response. Then had a croissant and chips, followed by coffee w/stevia. 6 hours later I walked from my doctor’s office to a Chipotle which was on my way home. Celebrated my achievements with a Double Carne Asada burrito with guacamole with chips with tomato salsa and Diet Coke which I last had before I started the 40-Day. Mmmm. That made the journey well worth it.

4. Had 6 hours of sleep. Energy level is almost back to normal. The neuropathy symptoms are gone. Getting the doctor to request an eye test to see if any retinopathy symptoms have been healed. The arthritis in my feet is finally being healed by the stem cells. So it appears soon I’ll wrap up this journal and start my new one focusing on restoring core strength and adding lean muscle mass.

[Anna]

I’m really happy for you, the results are amazing! Such an achievement!

[Compdude]

Day 15 of Rebuilding the Body Phase

Highlights:

1. Weight Gain: 2lbs
2. Blood sugar: 89
3. Exercise: 1.5 mile walk

Notes:

1. Walked over to the park right behind my house. I live in a cul de sac so I had to take the long way around. I was checking to see if they had any chin up bars or any other outdoor fitness equipment available. Unfortunately, I stumbled on a protruding piece of pavement and fell. Still have some athletic reflexes so I was able to turn my body so the side of my hip took the brunt of the impact instead of one of my damaged knees. The only thing I walked away with is a nasty bruise on the hip. Will be interested how long it will take to heal with my body still converting stem cells to new cells. I know the process is still running because the arthritic conditions that I’ve been experiencing in my right ankle and foot are going away. Also still feel the healing going on with both my knees. Unfortunately, the side trip came up empty. The only things in the park are soccer fields, picnic tables with metal open air barbecues and a large children’s gym setup. So will just have to workout from home.

2. Only gaining 2lbs after my major feed celebration at Chipotle feels like a “moral” victory as I’m pretty sure most of that weight gain came from the burrito. Anybody’s whose had a Chipotle burrito knows what I’m talking about, LOL.

3. Today I’ll be going through all my old dress clothes to find a pair of dress pants and shirt that fits. Reason is I’m performing my annual “A Storyweave for Christmas” at my church tomorrow. I performed it last month at my Toastmasters holiday party. A storyweave is an advanced storyteller technique I learned when I was a member of the Seattle Storytellers Guild during my 4 year stay in Seattle. I use it to interweave 3 distinct stories around a single theme. I’ve performed it annually at TM clubs and churches for over 20 years.

4. Energy was higher today on the walk. Did 16 hours fasting between last meal from yesterday and 1st meal this morning. Now that I have all my obligations that require my walking done for awhile I can go back to doing my daily walks at the end of the fast and before my 1st meal. Today 1st meal was coffee w/stevia, a croissant and chips. My 2nd and last meal was 2 cans of Campbell’s Hungry Man Country Vegetable and Beef. This standard 2-meal plan has proven to be my “go to” to get me back on track after a weight gain from a big meal or breaking my eating within the insulin sensitivity zone of the day.