the master cleanse. day 5.
Thoughts from Note
Sorry about the late post. Pretty tired last night. Anyway, yesterday was, again, pretty uneventful. I spent most of the day at home organizing the items for our massive moving sale. Again, I had some energy in the morning but after that, it came in waves. I feel a bit groggy this morning but then again, it is the morning.
My mouth still feels a bit like hell. I've started adding more herbal teas in the mix to try and make my taste buds happy - some dandelion tea, some chamomile tea. Anything to calm them down. Physically, I feel really good. I feel lighter and more flexible (WiiFit?) and generally much better. Meghan and I both skipped the salt water cleanse yesterday since it was a lazy Saturday but we'll most likely do one today. I don't know though, the senna tea seems to work wonders for me. Not sure if the salt water rinse is really necessary. I just get worried that if my body doesn't expel all that salt water (which it often doesn't), all I'm doing is adding a stupid amount of salt to my diet, possibly dehydrating me and adding more stress to an already stressed out digestive system. But I know nothing about biology so I'll stop there.
So Day 5, good going. Half way there. Not craving food, but getting excited about eating again. Getting tired of the lemon drink. See you tonight.
Thoughts from Meghan
Sorry we forgot to post last night, but its first thing this morning and still yesterday in America, so Im sure this is fine. Day 5 was similar to all the other days. I skipped the salt water cleanse in the morning because I had to get to school a little earlier for the commencement ceremony. I still didnt have to go in at the same time as the other teachers, which was nice, skipping the morning meeting and rehearsal with the 2nd and 3rd year students (note: Japanese High School is only three years- 6 in elementary school, 3 in Jr. High School) where the apparently told everyone that I will be leaving in August. Too bad I didnt know they were going to make that announcement, because I would have liked to be there, but such is life. I had a few students attack me when I came into school, but after I told them I missed my family and they should come visit me in America they understood and began scheming about going to America.
The ceremony went off fine- lots of Japanese speeches- then Christophe picked me up and we went to buy some gardening things (im going to put pansies in the front). After that we came home, hung out a bit, went for a walk, watched the latest 30 rock, played a bunch of Zelda and went to bed. Not an overly eventful day, but hey it's Saturday.
I've started thinking a lot about how many of our social interactions are centered around food. Not entirely on purpose, Chirstophe and I have more or less cut ourselves off from the people we normally hang out with. Aside from work and classes (ballet, Ikebana, privet english lessons) I dont see anyone but Christophe. And that's mostly because I have lost the ability to say "let's do lunch" or "do you want to come over for dinner". I have been invited out to one party, which I turned down because I think going to Ippei (our fabulous pork on a stick restaurant) would be torture if not allowed food. And I also said no to an invitation to Karaoke, because I will admit that is one of those few activities out there that for me are really truly only fun when a bit drunk. So by rejecting all gatherings related to eating or drinking, I am in some ways rejecting most all gatherings. When I mentioned this to Christophe the other day, he said he thought it was mostly because in Japan all get-togethers involve food. But I feel like it is true in America too. When was the last time you "got together" with someone just to talk. Its always, lets go for coffee, or lunch, or tea, or dinner, or drinks. We seem to bond with people best when sharing a time of nourishment, I wonder why that is.
Right now I am reading The Physiology of Taste by Brillat-Savarin, which is considered by some to be the first book to raise gastronomy to an art form, a subject worthy of study and respect. This might seem like a cruel book to read when fasting, but luckily it was written in 1825, and so most of the descriptions fall on the meatier side (suckling pig, shooting wild turkeys...) and at this point my stomach rejects all thoughts of meat, it is no longer at all appealing to me (pancakes on the other hand... I could definitely eat some pancakes right now).I tell you this because I would like to include a quote from the book that pertains to my above comment:
"Read the historians, from Herodotus down to our own day, and you will see that there has never been a great event, not even excepting conspiracies, which was not conceived, worked out, and organized over a meal."
I think it would be a very interesting study to look at that in terms of the great meetings of the modern day. What food did they serve at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, or the Yalta Conference in 1945, or more recently at the G20 meeting? What do those food choices represent?
Anyway, about the fast, yesterday was fine, skipped the salt water but did double the senna tea. Woke up this morning feeling better then I have recently, and happy to be moving into the second half of the fast.
-meghan
Sorry about the late post. Pretty tired last night. Anyway, yesterday was, again, pretty uneventful. I spent most of the day at home organizing the items for our massive moving sale. Again, I had some energy in the morning but after that, it came in waves. I feel a bit groggy this morning but then again, it is the morning.
My mouth still feels a bit like hell. I've started adding more herbal teas in the mix to try and make my taste buds happy - some dandelion tea, some chamomile tea. Anything to calm them down. Physically, I feel really good. I feel lighter and more flexible (WiiFit?) and generally much better. Meghan and I both skipped the salt water cleanse yesterday since it was a lazy Saturday but we'll most likely do one today. I don't know though, the senna tea seems to work wonders for me. Not sure if the salt water rinse is really necessary. I just get worried that if my body doesn't expel all that salt water (which it often doesn't), all I'm doing is adding a stupid amount of salt to my diet, possibly dehydrating me and adding more stress to an already stressed out digestive system. But I know nothing about biology so I'll stop there.
So Day 5, good going. Half way there. Not craving food, but getting excited about eating again. Getting tired of the lemon drink. See you tonight.
Thoughts from Meghan
Sorry we forgot to post last night, but its first thing this morning and still yesterday in America, so Im sure this is fine. Day 5 was similar to all the other days. I skipped the salt water cleanse in the morning because I had to get to school a little earlier for the commencement ceremony. I still didnt have to go in at the same time as the other teachers, which was nice, skipping the morning meeting and rehearsal with the 2nd and 3rd year students (note: Japanese High School is only three years- 6 in elementary school, 3 in Jr. High School) where the apparently told everyone that I will be leaving in August. Too bad I didnt know they were going to make that announcement, because I would have liked to be there, but such is life. I had a few students attack me when I came into school, but after I told them I missed my family and they should come visit me in America they understood and began scheming about going to America.
The ceremony went off fine- lots of Japanese speeches- then Christophe picked me up and we went to buy some gardening things (im going to put pansies in the front). After that we came home, hung out a bit, went for a walk, watched the latest 30 rock, played a bunch of Zelda and went to bed. Not an overly eventful day, but hey it's Saturday.
I've started thinking a lot about how many of our social interactions are centered around food. Not entirely on purpose, Chirstophe and I have more or less cut ourselves off from the people we normally hang out with. Aside from work and classes (ballet, Ikebana, privet english lessons) I dont see anyone but Christophe. And that's mostly because I have lost the ability to say "let's do lunch" or "do you want to come over for dinner". I have been invited out to one party, which I turned down because I think going to Ippei (our fabulous pork on a stick restaurant) would be torture if not allowed food. And I also said no to an invitation to Karaoke, because I will admit that is one of those few activities out there that for me are really truly only fun when a bit drunk. So by rejecting all gatherings related to eating or drinking, I am in some ways rejecting most all gatherings. When I mentioned this to Christophe the other day, he said he thought it was mostly because in Japan all get-togethers involve food. But I feel like it is true in America too. When was the last time you "got together" with someone just to talk. Its always, lets go for coffee, or lunch, or tea, or dinner, or drinks. We seem to bond with people best when sharing a time of nourishment, I wonder why that is.
Right now I am reading The Physiology of Taste by Brillat-Savarin, which is considered by some to be the first book to raise gastronomy to an art form, a subject worthy of study and respect. This might seem like a cruel book to read when fasting, but luckily it was written in 1825, and so most of the descriptions fall on the meatier side (suckling pig, shooting wild turkeys...) and at this point my stomach rejects all thoughts of meat, it is no longer at all appealing to me (pancakes on the other hand... I could definitely eat some pancakes right now).I tell you this because I would like to include a quote from the book that pertains to my above comment:
"Read the historians, from Herodotus down to our own day, and you will see that there has never been a great event, not even excepting conspiracies, which was not conceived, worked out, and organized over a meal."
I think it would be a very interesting study to look at that in terms of the great meetings of the modern day. What food did they serve at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, or the Yalta Conference in 1945, or more recently at the G20 meeting? What do those food choices represent?
Anyway, about the fast, yesterday was fine, skipped the salt water but did double the senna tea. Woke up this morning feeling better then I have recently, and happy to be moving into the second half of the fast.
-meghan
posted by note at 9:06 AM
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