Day 6: Soylent

So yesterday, I was trying to drink my Soylent dinner, and I gagged and threw up half of it. Oops! Let's just say I am not as fond of the taste at this point, but also I tend to need meat in my diet. So we are adding creatine into the mix now.

Last night since we went to meet people for a social gathering, I ate a normal dinner and had some bread. My body's reaction confirmed the gluten allergy, so yay ... I think.

A week in and I'm less thrilled about the taste of Soylent, but after eating a meal last night, I noticed that I was hungry shortly afterward. I didn't have that fullness I'd had the rest of the week from complete nutrition. A normal meal and I instantly gained weight again too ... yay ...

Today will be the first creatine mixed Soylent so we'll see how that changes things, hopefully for the better. I've never done well on diets. They generally make me sick. Atkins, I threw up bile. Go too long without meat, I get sick. So hopefully creatine will balance that out and I'll be fixed up. Here's hoping!

Day 5: Soylent

After being awake for 2 days straight, I completely crashed. My husband let me sleep in, since our daughter kept me up last night. When I woke up and stretched my arms, I realized instantly that I had lost weight this week. After weighing myself, I'd lost 5 lbs already. This is significant for several reasons. The only time I've been able to truly lose weight since my thyroid was removed (and I instantly gained 40 lbs after its removal) was when I was pregnant and threw up every day for 9 months.  Even when dieting, if I was working out, my body would think it was starving and save what I did eat to fat. It's been a frustrating and never ending cycle.  

I've mentioned before that there is a connection to gluten allergies and Hashimoto's thyroiditis, and I'd never been able to fully go gluten free even though the indicators were there.  Finding the food and just daily life became such a pain in the butt, that I just said "screw it" and went on with life.  Soylent is gluten free, although it is not Vegan. You can order a Vegan version though. So anybody with a strange diet need that's hard to find, this is the way to go. 

To cope with my crazy allergies, I've been living on Claritan D to survive for years, but sometimes it causes trouble sleeping. I'm going to experiment and take myself off it to see if sleep patterns will return to normal and see if Soylent has any effect on my immune system being stronger.

One other thing I've noticed is that I feel stronger.  My body has always had issues absorbing iron. Many vitamins work in conjunction with other vitamins to make them absorbable. For instance a lack of Vitamin C will make your body less able to absorb iron, so even if you take iron supplements, it won't do any good without the Vitamin C. Seems like since all those needs are balanced now, my body is getting what it needs, and I feel so full that the thought of eating "real food" even if it smells good is almost an aversion now. It's that feeling of being so stuffed, you couldn't possibly eat another bite.

So I'm remaining hopeful and pleased so far. I hope that this is the start of a healthier life.

Day 4: Soylent

I remember one fellow saying about Soylent that by the 4th day he had all sorts of energy. Well mine must translate into no sleep. Part of that is being constantly woken at night by my daughter coughing for the past week so the mama worry instinct has me ready to jump up. But my mind did not want to slow down last night. I'm not entirely sure that I slept at all, and I'm not sure how I'm awake at the moment. Considering how tired and bad I felt the other day, this is new.

Past 2 days I have not been able to finish my daily allotment of Soylent. I've been able to down 3 of the 4 glasses from the pitcher, but I'm so full still that the fourth has just been too much and I haven't needed/wanted it.

In the realm of TMI, that's a lot of fiber. If you know anything about gluten allergies one of the symptoms is bowel problems. So I guess I'm getting a taste of what it's like for them to operate normally.  It's a clue that this might have been the problem all along. Also the way I bounced back from being sick was encouraging.

As traditionally, I took Morgan to MacDonald's yesterday after gymnastics. While she ate, I drank my coke and although there was a moment where a leftover fry looked good, I felt full and less interested in snacking.

Socially it's a bit strange. Going out to eat was the thing we did with friends. Now it's become "I'll watch you eat", which is honestly far better on my wallet which can only stretch so much when I've got to buy my daughter new clothes because nothing fits anymore, like yesterday.

So far I'm pleased, and no weird dreams about food when you don't sleep. We'll see if I have any more energy at the gym today. It will be easier to recognize changes when we get back to our normal schedule.

Day 3: Soylent

Because my daughter so loves the boxes.

Yesterday was rough, however the culprit was not Soylent, but the remnants of the bug my daughter had last week hit me. Some extra sleep and I'm actually feeling okay today. This is something to note because I have always had a crazy immune system. My immune system attacked and killed my thyroid. If someone around me is sick for 3 days, I'll be sick for 3 weeks. I spent most of this past winter sick as a dog.  So the fact that I'm feeling pretty okay today is a bit miraculous. I'm tired still, but not the horrible that I had yesterday, including a notable absence of cough which I normally have even when "healthy".  Whether the credit goes to the Soylent or the extra sleep is debatable, but I'm glad to feel better today. This gives me hope that maybe some of my crazy allergies are food allergies and can be avoided. *crossing fingers*

One thing I have noticed is that I almost never dreamt about food, but now I am, which is rather amusing. Cue the cartoon Pinkie Pie drooling over a cupcake. Although the dream actually involved waffles so I guess the cartoon mascot should have been Donkey from Shrek. Apparently my subconscious misses the variety, but my waking self is satisfied and quite alright with the new diet. My wallet is quite happy about the change too! It sure has cut the budget on food down, and goodness knows in this economy that saving money is a must.

Yesterday was the first day I truly had nothing but Soylent, and I'm feeling content about it in general. I've noticed that the daily allotment is actually about 4 glasses a day instead of 3, but that works out okay, since I tend to get hungry around 3pm so it works out fine.

My husband took an extra thermos into work today to let some of his fellow code monkeys taste it. One of my friends said it tasted a bit like almond milk. In truth I could care less about the taste, since I try to drink it fast and move on. It's not something I would sit around and sip, although I've jokingly called it "Mudder's Milk" in reference to the Jayne's Town episode of Firefly. But I can't see it served at a bar.  Although it would be certainly nice for some restaurants to start carrying it. Talk about fast food!

Soylent: Day 2

Husband, Trenton, proud #SoylentPioneer

Yesterday we had company come in from out of town, which meant that at one point we had to feed them. It was our first day of Soylent and my husband and I have 2 completely different approaches. I'm expecting a lifestyle change that needs to be integrated into my life, but my husband is in full scientific experimentation mode.  We both had Soylent before we took our friends to one of our favorite local restaurants. I shared an appetizer of cheese with my friends, but I was stuffed afterward. Trenton only had water. So it will be interesting to see if easing into foodlessness is better than going cold turkey.

Our plan to start a new schedule was thwarted however by a virus. Maladies have no respect for routine. Our daughter was up most of last night with coughing fits which meant nobody slept well. It's hard to get a baseline for energy or other changes when things are already abnormal. But so far nothing unusual, it's not much different than Slimfast. There's nothing out of the ordinary to report, but then that might be because I had some solid food last night as well, even though it was minimal.

Nothing unexpected so far. I haven't spontaneously dropped 30 lbs but I haven't gained either. And I am used to feeling like crap thanks to my thyroid so if there's any change there, I wouldn't know. My husband has a far more extensive blog on the experience, which you can see here http://experimentaloutcome.tumblr.com/. He used his google glass to record opening the boxes and other processes that might interest others.

Addendum 6:00pm: I am not feeling so well at the moment, but I've heard that the first 4 days are the worst.  However my daughter had a fever of 104 last week, so not sure what the culprit is also combined with lack of sleep. So that might be completely unrelated.

Trenton and I have both noticed that our general body odor is different and we feel like we are detoxing, sweating more, etc.

Soylent: Day 1

OMG! It's HERE!!!!

The long awaited Soylent has arrived. Different from Soylent Green, it is not made from people. Instead it is made from fish oil, rice protein, and oat flour. For those concerned, you can look at the list of ingredients here.

One of the things I am most excited about is that it is also gluten free and it has been theorized that many of my health issues are gluten related.  If you have ever tried to go gluten free with a normal diet, then you know the frustration at gluten being added to the most random things like Soy Sauce. Things you wouldn't imagine having it, have been added for flavor. So it's nice to have that portion of my life be simplified. I don't have to wonder what I'm going to eat, or take some long break from working to prepare and consume.

My skeptical foodie friends cannot comprehend my excitement over Soylent.  My daughter Morgan exemplifies that excitement in the picture to the right, even though she will not be partaking in it. She was just excited that the boxes made her a nice stage. We've offered her to taste it, but she has no interest and adult nutrition is different and more consistent than that of a growing child.

In some ways Soylent reminds me of the black broth that Spartans lived off of, although it was made from pig's blood, which I can't see being incredibly appealing.

After eating my last meal for a month last night at the Cheesecake Factory, my husband and I waited till today to start Soylent together.  We mixed it up last night in a container to chill over night, so this morning I had my first taste of it. It wasn't bad, but the rice protein does give it a chalky texture.  However neither of these things matter much to me as I'm used to sucking down Slimfasts whose tastes I hate with their sickly sweet or strange overkill flavors. At least there was none of that, and my body is used to liquid diets thanks to Slimfast too, so I doubt that I will have the greater transition like my husband. In fact my body seems to have far more issues when not on a liquid diet like Slimfast. So I have high hopes for Soylent, which is basically like formula for adults.

Several of my curious friends are watching me as their Soylent guinea pig, while others who have far more refined diets are I think watching to make sure I don't keel over dead. It will take time to see what the final verdict is, but so far it's doing pretty good.

I am still drinking Coke for a while, although drinking more water. I plan to get used to giving up food before I quit Coke.  One thing at a time.

It will be interesting to see the differences between my husband and I. So far my appetite is fully quenched and I have no residual hunger after the first dose this morning.  I keep staring at the jug I have it in, wondering how I'm going to get all of that in me by the end of the day, but it went quicker than I thought. I've used the same container for tea in the past and emptied it in a day so I think it just looks like a lot. Divided up into 3 meals it looks like it will be one full glass at a time, which is no big deal.

So here's hoping that Soylent is the key to healthier living at a reduced cost.  If it is, it could help a lot of people stretch their paychecks without having to worry about food. It could help others make speedy meals and get back to work, knowing that they were getting everything their body needs.  Who knows maybe this will be the future for hospital food, airlines, or even welfare instead of food stamps.  Most people are attached to the classical forms of feeding, but if people can move past that it might be the key to some of society's problems. Perhaps that's too optimistic at this point. So we'll see in a month if I'm still as hopeful for it. So far, so good though.