(Partially) Juicin' Juice: Day 8 of 10

Eight a.m. came like Christmas morning. The wife and I arose, dressed and headed to the car for our trip to the Shoney's Breakfast Buffet. She had already warned me this was a bad idea, because my stomach would not easily accommodate the usual amount of grub I eat there without cramping up and making me sick. And that was just the immediate effects. She predicted that I would see other effects later, in the poop closet. She said she spoke from experience, because her first session of salmon and veggies was met with such effects, and she'd only eaten half of it. I feared not, and marched confidently into Shoney's and had a seat. Other than ordering hot water and lemons instead of coffee, this was going to be a normal day.

I loaded up one plate of breakfasty goodness, staying clear of anything sugar-based. Basically just some scrambled eggs, a couple strips of bacon, some breakfast casserole, some dirty rice and a bowl of grits. I then got an additional salad bar plate with some melon, grapes and cherry tomatoes. I sat and ate my first bite of solid food in an entire week. It was not the bacon, as I've been dreaming, but instead one of the cherry tomatoes, just to be cheeky and to ape the actions of the guy who started all this, Joe Cross, who (SPOILERS) ate an apple as his first solid food in 60 days. The tomato was terrible. Not even ripe. I cast the uneaten half of it down and proceeded into the grits.

During the meal, the wife would pipe up every few minutes and ask how I was feeling. I felt fine. This is not to say, though, that the food didn't feel different as it landed in my stomach. It didn't feel bad, but something definitely felt different about it. Kind of like the extra sensitivity you can feel through your skin after you break your arm and finally get the cast off. I could feel the food filling up my belly. It felt odd, but not bad. Normally, I'm a two plate man at the breakfast buffet. I get all the stuff I want on the first trip, then head back for probably a half-plate worth of the stuff I really like, such as more bacon and breakfast casserole. However, as much as I like the idea of going back for more, I decided to just sit there and let things settle a bit and see what happened. If I was going to be seized with cramps, might as well not waste any food for the trouble. After a couple of minutes, though, I realized I felt fine, but also satisfied and didn't feel a need to return for any more. I'd had more than I normally eat for breakfast already.

And that was really the worst thing I ate for my first day back on solid food. Sure, I'd been having fantasies of hitting McDonalds or a pizza buffet all week, but it's that kind of eating that got me into the shape I'm in and while I'm on the way back down the scale, it'd be a good idea to keep tight limits on that sort of behavior.

For lunch I drank a glass of fruit and veg juice. I even enjoyed eating a few raw grapes as I fed their siblings into the hopper. And then for dinner, we had some chicken stew that the wife made using some of the other veggies we had on hand. Normally, I'm not as big a fan of soups where the veggie to meat ratio is skewed in the veggies' favor, but this was really good. It was nice to be able to taste the individual vegetables without it being a mixture.

But making daily juices is the way we plan to continue using our juicer--as a supplement to solid food and as an occasional quick meal replacement. My guess is that this will not only keep us healthier, but will further encourage weight loss.

As to the poop closet ramifications to returning to solid foods and loading up on greasy bacon as a first meal... yeah, there were some. Nothing too awful, though.