Here's a little bit of background on me. Around the end of February I weighed 205.5 lbs, hadn't exercised in a good three months, and was seriously in love with caffeine. I was drinking two Monsters a day, several cups of coffee, two or three cans of Mountain Dew and occasionally I would top it off with a cup of black tea, just for good measure. Despite all this, I would still get fatigued any time my caffeine level dropped below my standard, heart pounding dosage.
My dad had been trying to talk me into this 10 day cleanse for a while. It was supposed to help me get healthier and lose weight (which I clearly needed to do) so I decided to give it a shot. I was excited about it at first, right up to the point where I realized I couldn't have caffeine on the cleanse and my total calorie intake would be around 600 a day. I figured I would not only be falling asleep at work but I would be practically starving as well.
I was a bit skeptical to say the least. To my surprise, from day one, I wasn't hungry at all. I was, however, really tired. I hadn't taken the brochure's advise about cutting down on caffeine a few days before and I was paying for it big time. On day two I actually did fall asleep at my desk about half an hour before my shift ended, lucky for me, my coworkers were nice enough to wake me up in time to go home (thanks guys).
By day three I was feeling better and managed to stay awake through my shift. From day 4 on I felt great. I had more energy and never felt fatigue setting in. I didn't even have to avoid the coffee machine, I just didn't want or need any. The last few days I actually started working out again. Not much mind you, but about ten minutes a day of Tai-Chi, which was more than I had done in a long time.
At the end of the 10 day cleanse I had lost 10 pounds. It was the first time in a long time I had seen the scale dip below 200. Right now I'm about two thirds of the way through the 20 day continuation. I do one day on the cleanse and one day off. I'm down to 194 pounds as of the last time I stepped on the scale and I still don't crave caffeine. Not to mention, I started seriously working out again, I alternate running and walking around 30 minutes a day using the Zombies 5k app (there's the zombies!) and I just started doing kettle bell work outs.
So, if you're still wondering why I named this blog zombie nutrition, I'll tell you. Prior to getting off caffeine, I was a zombie. I got through the day but it took a lot of extra help. Now, instead of being a zombie, I'm running from zombies as part of a gamified workout. As I am changing things in my life I'm keeping a record to show where I've been and help other people get away from being zombies themselves. Moral of the story? Don't be a zombie, run away from them!
