PRs on an Empty Stomach
by Simon Nickerson
It’s the end of day two of my three day Suero Cleanse (does this sound familiar?) and I am not dead yet. While not a strict fast at all, I have not consumed anything other than Suero-Viv for about 47 hours, so the effects are similar. What am I learning as I starve… uh, cleanse, myself? Well I’m glad I asked. If anyone has ever tried to get you to fast, cleanse, or detox you have heard “after two days I stopped being hungry,” or “you just have to get over the hump,” so I will skip those. True to some extent, but at the same time those people are just delirious with hunger, and are thus, liars.
While working at my computer on day one I felt fatigued and hungry, nothing unusual, but then I realized that there was nothing to solve that problem. Normally I would go eat, not today though. So I was forced to find the energy and focus from somewhere else. I was forced to depend on my mind for those things and not an external source. I found myself irritable a few times as well, usually something I blame on hunger. Well, no room for that this time because the hunger was going to be there no matter what. Without hunger as a scapegoat it was really a small task to reel that sort of unreasonable behavior in. Sweet, I like that.
Another thing that became incredibly apparent was how habitual eating has become. I eat fairly well these days, so it is not really a matter of craving food, but several times I opened the fridge or looked in the pantry before I realized that I had nothing to do in there. Strange feeling. Being committed to the cleanse I was surprised at where I ended up and it took some conscious thought to go back to work, talk about ingrained. I also seem to have quite a bit of time on my hands, cooking and eating takes up a good chunk of my day, especially since training requires some serious intake to keep me going at full steam. We’re talking hours a day on just that. Hmm, maybe this isn’t so bad after all. While brief, at three days, I certainly won’t take for granted what I have learned. It is a strange and wonderful feeling to be unchained from something that is a necessity. Hunger dictates so much of our lives, we plan meals, change our schedule, and blame poor performance on it. Last night I tied my record for a 5 rep back squat (had 10lbs left in the tank too!) and went pretty close to a PR in Nancy. All while I was hungry enough to eat the chalk. No excuses, just perform. I like that too. I guess we can go ahead and take another excuse out of the hopper. Looks like we are down to one passable excuse for not doing what needs to be done now: I’m dead.
Should you do the Suero Cleanse? Sure, but let’s start with something a little easier and get after the Garage Nutrition Challenge first. 30 days of any of the approved diets, Maximized Living, Paleo, Whole 30, or The Zone. That’s 30 days with the full force of the Garage coaches and members behind you, armed with advice and support for this hugely beneficial undertaking. Sign up for a time to get your body fat tested and read up on what you will be fuelling your body with for the next month, September 10 to October 10. It’s time to take care of what God gave you. So, what are you going to learn in the next 30 days?
– Dr. Eric: Simon had some good insight in his post from The Garage site. We start our Total Food Makeover on Monday September 24th, don’t miss it. $49 is a steal, and you need the book no matter what, and the shopping experience. Plain and simple!