Yesterday marked 10 days since I quit the juice fast “reboot”. I have to say, the 10 days after leaving the “reboot” have gone by much faster and much more pleasurable than the 10 days I was actually on it. It’s been awesome in the days since I wimped out – in fact things are much better as a result.

First of all I want to say that while I have no desire to ever “juice” or “reboot” again, I think ultimately I’ve taken away mostly positives from the experience. Like I said last time the “reboot” got me off of caffeine and soft drinks (though in the last week I’ve had 2 Diet Cokes) and it’s made my appetite smaller, energy level higher. I wanted to keep that momentum since I was doing well so my meals became lighter and we moved on.

I’ve also added some physical activity since I’m now ingesting enough calories to stand it. My friend Allison has hooked me up with a spin class at her gym at 6AM on Mondays and Thursdays and I’ve grown to really enjoy it. Today was the third class I’ve attended and I can already tell that I’ve gone from “That sucked but it was fun” to “That was awesome, I can’t wait ’till Thursday”. In addition I ordered this free-standing punching bag from Amazon and will be starting some boxing training on Monday and Friday afternoons. I tested my Monday workout on Saturday in the garage and was sore all day Sunday – I think it’s a winner and it’s something I really enjoy doing though I have no desire to do any actual boxing because I don’t like hitting people and don’t want to get hit, myself. Go figure.

As if that wasn’t enough I’m hoping to start running at 6AM on non-spin days (Tues, Wed, Fri) and some weight training on Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings. In addition to my changed eating habits I think doing exercise six days per week – four of which as “two-a-days” I hope to reach my health and fitness goals in short-order.

Make no mistake – I want this fast but I don’t expect miracles or over night success. This may change but as it is right now I fully expect to put the sweat hours in to make it happen. Being lazy will never work – praying for it won’t work – starving yourself won’t work – busting your ass will. I know because I’ve done it before.

My current weight loss is now 16lbs. 20lbs is within reach in the next week or so. I told Erin recently that I’m going for broke and shooting for 40lbs before we go on vacation in October – that will make me 221 lbs. Ambitious? Yes. Possible? Hell yes.

I read some things about folks who have tried the “reboot” and they speak of gaining their weight back and then some immediately after stopping. I know things are different for different people but I have to wonder if these people are just not putting any effort into maintaining or not using the “reboot” as a spring board and simply fell back into their old bad habits. Thus far I’ve seen nothing but success and won’t stop until I get “there”.

On a separate but related note: I will be cooking again starting today. For the last week or so I’ve been making myself a nice breakfast but for the most part we’ve been making reasonable decisions while eating out. After I got back from spin this morning I put together this Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup from BudgetBytes. Packed with veggies and my favorite legume this will be a great way to start the week of my first two-a-days, make me feel great about being in the kitchen again and provide some (hopefully) great content for a #meatlessMonday post!