It has been an interesting week as I have been taking on the task of doing anything and everything to lose the weight that I need to lose to rid myself of both the sleep apnea and type 2 diabetes.

Much of this week has been admittedly doing everything to get rid of this lingering cold. I have been sleeping a lot and eating salads etc. My plan was to start my weekend with an internal cleanse to hopefully flush out whatever was hanging on keeping this cold going.

I waited until 10pm Friday and took a bottle of lemon-flavored Magnesium Nitrate , an oral laxative which was recommended by “Jazzy J” when I was in Philly. (Please know I am not on any medications so please do not blindly follow anything I am doing or write about doing without first consulting your primary care doctor etc.)  I spent much of the evening oiling my hair with the hair growth oil I made before my trip to the east coast, while I watched youtube clips for inspiration on how I was going to lose weight. I stumbled upon a clip where a gentleman talked about walking 10,000 steps a day. Something in the back of my mind said, let’s give that a try before my 4pm zoom chat with Deb.

Visiting Burbank Farmer’s Market

Without being too crude, I was up half the night due to the laxative effect of the Magnesium Nitrate.  Saturday morning, however, I woke up feeling better. I went to the Burbank Farmer’s market to pick up my fresh rosemary, thyme, sage and lemon thyme as well as the new crop of fresh basil which I love. When I got home, I thought I would follow up on the idea of getting 10,000 steps in.  I thought I would walk from my apartment down the Chandler Bike Path to the Burbank end and pick up some extra virgin olive oil from Aldi’s market to make some pesto with my fresh basil. I figured I would get in most of my 10,000 steps and not feel like I was exercising as much as running an errand.

Listening to my Intuition

It was a nice overcast Saturday afternoon as I strolled the path. The great thing about walking is it quiets the mind and allows me to relax and listen to my inner voice or intuition. As I strolled the path, I noticed various realtors putting up signs of open houses of many cute small sized homes for sale along the path in Burbank. I realized that with my student loan debt a thing of the past, I am finally in a position where I can consider buying a home as a realistic possibility, if I saved aggressively. This thought in turn reminded me that one of my goals with my Buddhist practice was to merge my work as District leader with my desire to succeed with my blog so that be so that spiritually speaking, as I spread happiness and love through my district leadership, I would also find prosperity in my business life as a writer which in time would allow me to be able to afford to buy a house which I would call “my house for Kosen Rufu!” I call it that because it would be a nice sized house with a front and back yard where I could invite fellow district members to come over for barbeques and district events to bond us and share in the joys of friendship.

Burning Calories as I walk

Continuing my stroll, I felt so in sync with the idea that I could make home ownership a possibility, I started taking pics of homes that inspired me so I had something to visualize as I saved money toward this new goal. I was so filled with joy and enthusiasm on this walk, I quickly found myself at Aldi’s picking up my Extra Virgin olive oil and heading back home with most of my 10,000 steps already walked.

On the journey back, I also realized that I had been going all day without eating. Yet I was feeling great. I figured I would just look at it as intermittent fasting and have my meal of pesto when I got home. When I got home, I had clocked about 14,495 steps. I decided, I would chat with Deb at 4pm then go back out and visit my favorite Illiad Bookshop so I could get closer to 20,000 steps. 

Suffice to say, I had a great convo with Deb as usual and headed out to the bookstore, surprisingly not hungry. I was simply having a wonderful Saturday allowing my intuition and inner impulses guide my path.

Stopping by the Illiad Bookshop

As I entered the Illiad the first book I saw was “Year of Yes” by Shonda Rhimes. I immediately took this as a sign from the Universe I was on the right track with my life. The title of the book seemed to encapsulate exactly how I felt my day was going. I was just saying YES to thoughts and feeling really great about it. Of course, I bought the book.  

The fact that the book was by the amazing writer/producer Shonda Rhymes, I stood in the bookshop acknowledging to myself (mentally) that while I am blogging about my journey from actor to future fiction writer, my current experiences were not including much time devoted to my writing studies. I immediately decided I would use this visit as my opportunity to kick start developing my inner writer. I walked through and out of habit I went looking for a copy of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel “One Hundred Years of Solitude.” I have for the last year been looking in the Illiad for a used copy of the book to read. My friend Rollin Binzer, recommended I read that novel when I first told him I wanted to become a fiction writer. I have no clue why he thought it was a novel I should read but because the book was never available when I visited the shop, I developed a habit of searching for it every time I visited the place. This visit was no different. I went to the spot where most of the authors works were shelved. I didn’t find it as usual. I continued on my way when a clerk asked if I needed any assistance. I said well I was looking for a copy of One Hundred Years of Solitude. He immediately walked to the very Aisle I just left and pulled off the shelf a copy of the book. Now, you know I had to buy the damned book because the Universe was letting me know it is time I read this book. So my first act as a self-guided writing student is to read “One Hundred Years of Solitude.” As you can imagine I left the bookshop beaming with a renewed sense of purpose and energy.

When I got home, it was now 7pm, I still hadn’t eaten anything yet. I flipped off my shoes and clicked on YouTube for inspiration. I somehow found myself listening to one of my favorite podcasts. The host was interviewing a Doctor who treats patients with metabolic disorders like type 2 diabetes with a treatment protocol centered around fasting. He went on for about an hour and a half talking about the various benefits of fasting. You know I was sitting there thinking okay, Universe, I get it! I will fast just for today and have a meal Sunday afternoon after I get back from the May Kosen Rufu Gongyo (World Peace meeting held the first Sunday of every month) at the SGI San Fernando Valley Buddhist Center.

Sunday arrived, I went to the KRG meeting, had a wonderful time. For the first time, actually, I didn’t feel as exhausted as I usually felt. I engaged in some enjoyable conversations with fellow members before heading home.  

I decided this would be a relaxing Sunday. I made a small salad and some chicken soup using some bitter melon leaves I also picked up from the Burbank Farmer’s market on Saturday. I ate lunch and watched some episodes of the mystery series “Harry Wild” starring Jane Seymour on Amazon Prime video.  I found myself going to bed early Sunday just having that one meal and doing a little reading of “Year of Yes” by Shonda Rhymes. 

Monday morning and got on the scale. It read 219lbs. I lost about 9 pounds from the Magnesium Nitrate, walking and fasting over the weekend. I didn’t even feel like I was exercising or starving myself. Maybe it was a fluke, I don’t care. It was motivating.

Week of Fasting

Since Friday is my birthday, I decided I am going to fast for as long as I can from now until Friday to see how much fat I can burn between now and then as a gift to my body. I see it as a gift because I am giving my body a break from eating so I can lower my Insulin levels in my blood, lower my blood sugar levels in my blood and potentially move dramatically closer to my wight loss goals. Now, I am not being foolhardy about this. I will be drinking plenty of water. If I feel the need to eat, I will have a small salad of some sort then go back to fasting for as long as I can until Friday arrives and I see not only how much weight I have lost but how I feel given my insulin levels will naturally fall without eating. This can only help me in my reversing the type 2 diabetes.

All of this has been a result of simply listening to the positive encouragement of my intuition allowing me to give my body time to heal itself and address the metabolic issues out of whack in my body and get me closer to being fully healed.

Again, do not blindly follow any of the things I have shared in this post. Consult your primary doctor before doing anything that may affect the medication you may be taking.  I have had plenty of experience with fasting. If fasting is new to you, you need to be in consultation with your doctor so you can handle the detoxing process everyone goes through.  

I am excited to see what new experiences await me this week as I undertake this fasting adventure. If it takes me just a few pounds closer to healing my two major health issues (type 2 diabetes and sleep apnea), that is the best birthday present I could give myself!

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