DAY 16: THE SANATORIUM

March 25, 2022 ~ Friday

Fasting Update: Day 11 of fasting. I did not sleep last night, well I slept some maybe 4 hours. I woke up in such pain. This is the result of the liver detoxing all those statins I took for years. When the body runs into a toxin, it will coat it and hide it away in a fat cell. As I lose fat, those toxins are released. It was a miserable morning but the day got better as it wore on. Still, I was crying because of the pain and the fear that “I hope I did not just buy a snake oil treatment”! I wanted a hug. I am sure someone would have given me one if I asked. And then, Hilary, my niece called. That call was a hug! Just when I needed one. My liver numbers would scare any doctor if they saw these numbers in a feeding person. Here, they are not worried because I am a fasting person. The world of the fasting body is very different. Sometimes I am sensitive to sound. I have a little headache in the back of my eyes as looking at a computer screen hurts. I have shifted to audio books to stay occupied. I am listening to “Lifespan, Why we age and why we do not have to”. No, I could not just listen to a novel. It is read by the author David A. Sinclair, PhD. A Harvard professor and researcher from Australia. His voice is nice. His life’s work has been on how to slow down the effects of aging. He really believes we can live to be as old as Adam and has a scientific theory that thus far is backing up his scientific theory. Very fascinating.

Daily fasting numbers: Weight-190.1 NEW STAT Weight lost during fast-15.9 Weight loss since adopting diet-44.9 BP-131/80 Heart rate-83 Oxygen level-95 Temperature-97.6 Glucose-73 Sleep-4 hrs, NEW STAT 1 minute pulse rate-73 and steady.

My Comments: Since all this pain surfaced about 10 years ago, I have wanted to go somewhere and just rest. Have people cook food for me, do the cleaning, and the laundry. I just get to sit on a lounge chair under a tree in a white flowing dress with a white straw hat. I can just watch the green mountains and blue sky with fluffy clouds. All this just so I could heal. I can tell you that sitting in a lounge chair looking at the blue sky so you can heal is anything but romantic.

Sanatoriums and Sanitariums were places that people used to go to heal. However, the two words are slightly different in meaning. A patient in a sanatorium was always sick, usually with a specific disease. Think hospital. Think of TB patients sent there for complete rest to heal. A sanitarium was used like a health retreat. Think hot springs. Well I am in a sanatorium, even though they do not use that word anymore!

I have a friend who has done some fasting on his own. He says I am at water camp under lockdown where they treat piles, vapors, and humors (hemorrhoids, mental issues, and bodily fluid issues).

Cooking Demo: Today was a demo by Chef Bravo. And he did not disappoint! He makes it look easy, pretty, and I do not know about taste as I am not allowed to try it. The ingredients are anything you might use in your kitchen but comply with my dietary needs.

• Japanese eggplant
• portabella
• tomatoes
• balsamic
• Italian seasoning: parsley, oregano, thyme, basil, onion, garlic, and a touch of red pepper.

He explains why this recipe on paper was useless and showed us the theory behind how to cook it. Tips and tricks of the trade so to speak. He does all the other things a chef might do when cooking but at the top of his list when putting a dish together is flavor balance and color. He wants his dishes to pop when put on a white plate and have at least 3 distinct colors present.

This is an amazing factoid about his kitchen. All the vegetable scraps are turned in to vegetable broth that they use for cooking. He says if you don’t have enough scraps to make broth for the week you are not eating enough vegetables. Everything is cooked in broth. Even the beans they start from dried beans. There is a soak, a rinse, and then into broth they go. My first thought was for my worms. What will they eat? I may have to just buy extra veggies for them.

Below is a link to his cooking courses. The best cooking course I have ever viewed but you do have to buy them.

I am only in the first one but if that is any indication of the other two, I will end up knowing how to cook this way! Click on the picture to go to Chef Bravo’s website.