Easy Does It

Yesterday, I broke the juice fast. I would have gone longer but the upcoming trip to Las Vegas will make juicing and fasting difficult. I plan on doing it again when I get back.

I will only eat fresh vegetables and fruit for the next three days and introduce other foods back into my diet. Dairy is going to be at a minimum as well as carbohydrates, sugars and fatty foods. I am going to do things smart but not militant. I think making good food choices and being realistic and not fanatical will be the key to being successful.

Over the past 12 days I had a couple of rough spots but it was mostly fun and stimulating. A couple people said to me, "no pain, no gain." It kind of depressed me. Then I had a revelation... I wasn't trying to gain, I want to lose! I also realized that this process wasn't all that painful and I was having a ridiculously good time! I mean this journey is about changing my mind set and gaining a healthier and more positive lifestyle. I am not punishing myself here I am rewarding myself!

My motto is more like, "easy does it" or "maximum return with no pain" This is easy and fun if your mind is set with the right attitude and goals.

Thanks for reading,

Retro Rudy

I'm On To Something!!!

Stepped on the scale this morning and what to my wondering eyes see but a digit that didn’t begin with the number three! I finally broke into the two hundreds. I looked down and saw 297lbs! Now that means I am down 38lbs.

I am excited to say the least but it has not been all fun. Last night I considered throwing in the towel but through encouragement from my wife and decided to look at it through clearer eyes today. Something about seeing a number in the two hundreds breathed new life in me. I have more determination than ever.

Since I began Juice Fasting eight days ago I have lost 17lbs. This short journey has brought me to a completely new way of thinking about how I eat, what I am eating and the amount I eat.

If I can survive on juicing kale, cucumbers, green apples, ginger, celery and carrots why do I need massive amounts of food at every meal? Not only am I surviving but I have more energy, I am sleeping really well and I have a renewed mental clarity. Spiritually speaking brand new revelatory sense has emerged. With that being said, the way I have lived my life in regards to my eating habits have been complete wrong. It isn’t so much about what I need to eat to survive as it is about what I don’t need to eat.

The other thing is that due to a back injury in 2008, I usually have to take prescription pain medications as well as muscles relaxers two to four times every day. Since the fast began I have taken them once…ONCE!

My conclusion here is that if am feeling better and thinking clearing and not having to ingest drugs to maintain then I must on to something! It is all about how I eat.

My life is changed forever.

Thanks for reading.

More tomorrow,

Retro Rudy

I WANT TO EAT SOMETHING!

This had lost its luster. I WANT TO EAT SOMETHING!

It’s day eight and I am not having as much fun as I was. Of course watching three hours of the Food Network didn’t help. I am craving not hamburgers or pizza but Cha Cha salad from The Co-Op and couscous with vegetables. It isn’t that I want to eat unhealthy food, I just want to eat something…chew something. Plus I have come to a complete stand still on the weight loss. Losing a few pounds a day made drinking my green concoction of doom worth it.

I guess I only have six days to go.

Well, I just poured my last glass of Mean Green Juice.

Thanks for reading. Bon Appetite!

Retro Rudy

Milestone One

This morning a milestone has been reached. Today I weight 300lbs for the first time in years. Today I have officially lost 35lbs, 15.8757 kilograms! That’s over 17 quarts of fat! In comparison, 35lbs is the weight of approximately 4 newborn babies or 6 chicken fryers! According to internet sources it takes 17 packs of Jello to make 35lbs of Jello, which is enough to feed one hundred people!!!

I am 35lbs down, 85lbs to go to reach my goal weight of 215lbs.

I started the change my lifestyle on January 15th this year. I changed what I was eating and how I thought about eating. It took 40-days for me to reach my first milestone. I am celebrating today with a “Mean Green Juice” and water, water and more water. I am proud of myself.

Next milestone is 275lbs!

Thanks for reading!

Retro Rudy

Day 3 isn't so easy.

Okay it's the end of day three and I am not feeling so hot. I ache all over and I feel like I have the beginning of a flu. Slight headache and I may have a fever. I feel hungry and nauseated all at the same time. The good thing is I'm committed and the last thing I want to go is go out and eat a big greasy cheese burger...in fact I don't feel like ingesting anything at all. So I drink water...lots and lots of water with my juice and I'm doing okay with that.

It looks like the detox process is hard core. I've have never done anything this radical before. I hate the way I feel but it is interesting to me. My skin is oily, I have a nasty film in my mouth and I go pee 20 times a day! My joints are sore and my muscles hurt. It's the dioxins being purged from my body. It is really cool and worth it! In a way it hurts so frigg'n good!!!

Well I'm calling it a night. Tomorrow brings another day of being healthier!

Thanks for reading.

Retro Rudy

So It Begins...The Juice Fast

I started a juice fast yesterday. This came after changing a few mind sets to prepare for consuming nothing but fruit and vegetable juice. The past three weeks I have eaten only fresh food eating mostly vegetables and fruit. Almost no bread and practically nothing processed. I did this to prepare for the Retrofit. In the process I dropped 16 pounds and when I stepped on the scale yesterday I was 314 pounds.

The only thing I have been eating is "green juice" and water. The juice consisted of kale, celery, cucumber, green apples, lemon and ginger. I drank 64 ounces of the juice and around 4 quarts of water.

Much to my surprise, I made it through the day with ease. Even when people were cooking and eating dinner.

Today is the end of the second day and I feel great so far. My energy is up and I feel amazing. This morning when I weighed myself I was 310 pounds! Down four pounds in a day! That is very encouraging.

I think I am beginning to detox a little because I am getting a slight headache and I am noticing a little bit of acne on my face. I didn't realize I was going to have to reenter puberty to get healthy!

There is the update... thanks for reading and your encouragement,

More later!

Retro Rudy

My Retrofit Project

I remember when I was a kid I loved the television show "The Six-Million Dollar man." Every week the show opened with these words:

"Steve Austin, astronaut: a man barely alive. Gentlemen we can rebuild him.
We have the technology... Better than he was before. Better, Stronger, Faster"

Well now I am in many ways like Steve Austin. It has been a personal revelation to see myself as a man barely alive with numerous heath issues. That is why I am beginning a project with great determination to change myself.

I feel like I have been in process of reinventing myself for about four or five years. I have changed how I think about life. I have been uprooting and destroying negativity, in my life. I have changed the way I think about people, God and everything spiritual. In many ways I am healthier than I ever have been in my life mentally and spiritually. My physical health is the problem.

So this is the beginning of a long-term project. This is the beginning of a life change because what I am about to do is going to change me forever. This is not just about losing a few pounds. This is about changing how I live my life... forever!

Why? I will be 47-years old. I am 6-foot tall and I weigh 330lbs. I have high-blood pressure which I take daily medication for. I have sleep apnea which I have to wear a CPAP mask when I sleep or I stop breathing, gasp and choke in my sleep. I have horrible digestive issues and fighting off heart-burn is a daily battle. I blew my back out in 2008 and was diagnosed with degenerative disk disease plus three herniated disks. I often have to walk with a cane. I constantly have pain in my feet and knees. My energy level is low... I don't feel like going anywhere or doing anything. I am so out of shape that I can't do even the most simple task without getting winded. In the words of comedian Kevin James, "I get winded peeling an orange!" As depressing as this sounds, I am not depressed but I am determined!

So this is my Retrofit Project.

The Definition of "Retrofit" is:

1)to install (new or modified parts or equipment) in something previously manufactured or constructed

2)to adapt to a new purpose or need : modify

I believe that God has created me with all the right parts in perfection. However I have not been a very good steward of this body so is time to make some serious modifications. The Retrofitting of Rudy has begun.

I have three simple goals

1)Lose 100-lbs which include drinking 5-quarts of water a day, going on a juice fast. Then eating radically healthy.

2) Begin daily exercise

3) Run a marathon or maybe a triathlon when I'm 50! (Something awesome like that)

Well that's the idea. You are reading this because I have an incredible amount of respect for you to not only hold me accountable but because I know you will be an incredible source of encouragement to me.

Thanks for sharing this journing with me!

More later,

Reto Rudy