[jyl]

Thought I'd mention something that might be interesting.

My wife decided to go on the so-called "Lemonade Diet" aka "Master Cleanse" for a week or two. Some of her friends did it, usually as a way to kick off a weight loss effort, and recommended it. So, she's been on the diet for 13 days now, and is about ready to come off it. She has been bouncing with energy, feels great, has lost something like 18 pounds, although presumably some/most is just water loss.

Naturally I looked into the diet aka cleanse. I am highly skeptical of the purported cleansing effects. I think it is basically just a partial fast - you're consuming 600-800- calories/day, all in liquid form, and most of that is sugar and carbs. But I don't see anything wrong with a brief fast. After all, homo sapiens used to subsist on whatever roots, bugs, fruits, berries, small rodents, etc he could forage - surely a lot less than 800 calories/day - between successful hunts or lucky scavenges.

So, I decided to try the diet too. I'm on day three.

Not much to say yet about the physical effects, if any. The psychological ones are more interesting.

It turns out that eating is one of the main ways I pass time and mark time's passing. Without meals and snacks, I'm not especially hungry, I'm simply bored.

Also turns out that cooking is one of my main recreations and relaxations. With nothing to do but make kids' meals, I have too much time on my hands.

However, I did find that even simply making mac and cheese was pleasurable. The sight and smell of food was satisfying. I've decided that, just because I can't eat, doesn't mean i can't have fun cooking. So I'm off to buy a deep fryer and make some tempura.

Well, I'm interested to see what happens over the next week or so.