500 days without poison

 Once I hit the age of 50, I realized the actual speed at which time flies. It is absolutely ridiculous! In the blink of an eye, another year had flashed past and here I am on my way hurling down on 52. What I miss most is being active, I page through the pictures of events and people and such challenges sadly just evaporated from my life. I am a challenge type of guy. No absurd task and I lose interest. 

Welcome to my fresh undertaking: 500 days without poison. 

Mission summary:

500 days, one meal a day, train 500 days, no chemically fragranced products, no alcohol, no processed foods, no starch, no sugars, only carbs from mostly green vegetables.

Why:

Most challenges I have found on social media, for example, were done over short periods of time and were mostly created to prove a point or to test a method briefly. I want to commit 100% for 500 days to fully experience the long-term effects and true changes taking place. If it isn't beneficial to my health, then I will scrap it. The word ‘poison’ refers to any aspect of life or substance which can cause illness, possible bodily harm, or hinder our performance physically, psychologically, and emotionally. That which isn't a necessity for healthy living. 

Myself:

As I've said above, I am a 51-year-old male living in SA, I was very active until around 2009 when my circumstances changed and my life went from healthy to unhealthy. I went from playing under 21 provincial rugby for then Transvaal, playing golf off a 4 handicap, doing provincial cross country, being Northern Gauteng provincial duathlon champion, doing a 10:17 Ironman, doing a 2:47 Cape Argus and always weighing between 72 and 78kg, to being an unhealthy, chronically sick 106kg slob. My business' tanked and I was living in extreme depression, masking it up by drinking a lot and consuming a load of weed. 

This changed on the 1st of January 2023. I have watched a truckload of videos on health, read numerous books, and tried a few diets here and there over the last decade, yet I never took a decisive decision to permanently give up the things in life which held me back. Through all this, I've had one issue: who and what do you believe? I just cannot relate to a social media influencer with 20 million followers as we don't live in the same world. They promote millions of supplements and products, and every day there is a new weight loss secret revealed, which makes it seem like a fancy marketing advertisement, rather than being about genuine PERMANENT health solutions. In today's world, it is difficult enough just to buy fuel and pay for electricity, not to mention being able to afford a gym membership, expensive food, supplements, etc.

I am therefore submitting myself to this experiment, this journey in such a way as to keep it easy, simple and affordable. I, a normal overweight dude from South Africa on the wrong side of the aging timeline, will be my own lab rat. You can follow my journey here and decide for yourself. If you feel you don't have the energy to try again, if you are at that stage where you know you've had all these dreams and you have messed up, I was there for the last 3 years straight, then I am doing this for you. I will keep record of how I feel every day, how I change physically, my health, all the food I consume, and also my training journey. If you want to join in at any time during this journey, please contact me and we walk the walk together at trijackal@gmail.com. We can be better. What exactly am I going to do?

The mission:

I am going on a 500-day straight plan. Zero cheat days. Not even a bite of pizza or a sip of soda. On the 1st I started with a 5-day water only fast to reset my immune system and got myself down to a good default level. During this fast, I did light walking, no high-intensity stuff. After the fast, I will keep training easily for a month and then pick up the intensity very gradually. After fasting for 5 days (strictly only water), I have moved on to intermittent fasting, a one meal-a-day eating plan. Of all the diets I've tried over the last decade, intermittent fasting and keto/banting have treated my body very well and made me feel super and strong. I will try to eat roughly at the same time every day around 6 pm, but if I should have a day where I have to eat in the morning because of a function or such, I will do so, but then not again for the rest of the day. Strictly one meal per day not spread out over more than an hour.

I will only consume the following: whole meats (venison, beef, pork, lamb, fish, chicken) with lots of fat. Free-range and substance-free are ideal, but it is also then extremely expensive, therefore if I'm not able to afford free-range, I will buy what meat I can from reputable farmers/shops. NO processed products, no msg, no fake meat. 

I will eat the following vegetables (many of which we grow our selves), all as per the banting green list: green leafy vegetables, green beans, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, garlic, gem squash, kale, leeks, lemons, lettuce, mushrooms, olives, onions, all peppers, radishes, rocket, spinach, spring onions, tomatoes, aubergine, baby marrows, blueberries, strawberries, almonds. Together with this, I will also consume black pepper, ginger, turmeric, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, olive oil, coconut oil, and naturally caffeine-free tea like rooibos and apple cider vinegar. There will be some I have not to mentioned here, but I will name them as we go on. We grow our own spinach, green beans, baby marrows, tomatoes, chilies, cucumbers, and strawberries, all pesticide free. 

I will NOT consume any of the following: no carbohydrates outside of the above mentioned list, no fast food, no artificial sweeteners, no sugar, no pasta, no alcohol, no processed foods, no fruit, no juices, no seed oils, no stimulants like caffeine, etc. 

In my general day-to-day living, I will make the following changes:

No smoking (I was never a smoker), no meds and over-the-counter pills, only those subscribed to me during an unfortunate emergency in an ER or hospital. I will not use any products containing carcinogens like chemically scented soap, shampoo, washing detergent, deodorant, toothpaste, etc. I will swap the products out with safe, homemade products which I will make available as I test and develop them throughout this journey. No tap water, no fluoride, no vitamins or supplements. I will eliminate anger and stress as much as possible.

Fitness and general health:

I will train 500 days out of 500, unless sickness, an emergency, or tragedy prohibits me. 

My training will include weights, HIIT, endurance, and yoga, of at least 30+ minutes every day. More about this as the journey goes on. 

Of all I have said, sun exposure is very important to me. Every day during which we have sunlight, I will lie in the sun wearing just shorts, 10 minutes front and 10 min back, reloading my vit  D stores. 

During all this I will monitor and give feedback on the following: my hair, I will measure and compare the color to the current color. My skin, I have a lot of spots on my skin through years of toxic sunblock and hours of overexposure to the sun due to my sporting background. I will see how it improves if any. Nails and teeth. I have high blood pressure, which I will monitor as well. My lung health isn't the best because of previous bad working environments, I will let you know how it goes. Then obviously my weight and daily energy levels, sleep patterns, etc.

At the posting of this I am currently on day 13. I have not cheated in any aspect and I feel like a new person already! I will post my first weeks experience shortly!

I am looking forward to sharing my journey with you all, lets do this. 

Be strong. Live hard. 

TriJackal