I know it's been a while since the last time I posted, but my internet at the house was in bad shape. A lot happened the first week mostly for the better and a little for the worse. The biggest change is that I moved from 100% soylent to a 75%/25% ratio where I have 500 cal a day in "real" food. This immediately subdued the headaches, and I was able to lower the amount of extra sodium I was adding down to about an 1/8 of a teaspoon. This has helped me adapt both physically and mentally, but let's start with the physical changes.
Physical Synopsis
Over the course of the last week I have been less tired in the middle of the day, and if I start to feel weak, I just grab some more Soylent. I have noticed that I need a full nights sleep however. If I go under 7 hours and 45 minutes, I am sleepy all day. I'm not sure how to circumvent that as I am also trying to drop the caffeine out of my diet. I will have to experiment with my dinner food to see if the solid food is triggering some sort of extra sleep requirement.
Food tastes amazing now. I love food, and I can't really argue that. The surprising thing is that some foods I thought tasted one way taste a different way now. The realization came over me after I had some raw mushrooms on a salad. All of a sudden it didn't taste like dirt. They were great. I had Tara try some to make sure they tasted the same and she complained they were too earthy, so I know I am tasting them differently. Foods I used to find bland are coming alive with flavor. On the other hand however, food I used to eat all the time is increasing in potency. Spicy foods and garlic are now extremely potent to my taste buds. It's great because they taste more powerful, so I am able to use less and thus add less empty calories for flavor. Also having less acidity in my stomach is keeping my stomach aches to a minimum. All in all, food just tastes better.
I get asked a lot about "missing food" or how I deal with not eating normal food 75% of the day. The answer is pretty simple. I'm never hungry, so my cravings are almost nonexistent. I used to have cravings for certain foods because "my body knew what it needed." Whether that was true or not is a different story, but needless to say, my body didn't need orange chicken and pizza every day. With my craving levels down, I can choose better options for my "real food" meal. An example is that I used to go to Panda Express and have orange chicken and beijing beef with chow mein. That right there is like a 1500 calorie meal. NO WONDER I'M FAT. Now I still go because it's convenient and Tara likes it, but I get vegetables and the items off their 250 cal or less menu. That totals up to about 600 cal for a meal. I compensate by eating 100 less ml of soylent for my evening meal. Being able to really eat where I want but just choose smarter choices really helps out with my cravings.
Mental Synopsis
I have been having less down days than normal, but they are still there. I know soylent won't cure my depression, but it seems like the better diet is keeping something higher than usual. I notice that in the mornings I have been very cranky, but I'm not sure if that's the soylent, or the sleep. Everything else is about the same. Mid morning to evening temper is stable and I'm generally happy. Sorry there is not a lot to report about my mental status. Then again, if there was something of interest, I probably wouldn't be in the mood to share it.
WARNING WARNING TMI INFORMATION TIME WARNING WARNING
It is unbelievable how much better my stomach is right now. I'm consistently rating about a 6 on the bristol scale. No stomach cramps, no soreness. It's wonderful. With all of the problems I used to have, this is great. Now, the days that I kind of cheat and eat food that's not good for me, I still react the same, but the reduction in heartburn and 1-2 ranked poops when I eat right is really a good sign.
TMI SECTION OVER
So in conclusion, I'm 3 days in to my second week, so I will post as much as I can. As always, you can message me with questions, or ask them in the comments and I would be happy to talk with you about it. Thanks and have a great day!!!
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