Fast Day 8: 11:15 AM Pacific Time

Off to a very late start today. I overslept by an hour and the doctor on rounds had to wake me. I cherish the night time. I sleep well, feel good and I don’t have to try and force myself to drink water.

I am feeling surprisingly well with a decent energy level. Who would believe that you could feel this way not having eaten anything for 8 days? My lower back aches is gone for now and my only remaining problem is trying to drink adequately in the face of my almost constant nausea. If I had no nausea this would be a breeze. My body is now excreting this unpleasant odor through my skin. At first I thought I was smelling food from the kitchen here at True North. But the smell never changed. When I realized it was me I took a shower of course, but that did not help at all. It just comes oozing out of my skin all day long. It is VERY annoyng, but I am told it is an excellent sign that my body is getting the job done.

I lost more weight and I am now down a stunning 17 pounds. With 3 more days (counting today) left I expect I will top the 20 pound level. I will try and get someone to take a picture of me at my lowest weight. It will not be a pretty sight. My cheeks are sunken and I have lost weight over my entire body. I am on my last hole on my pants belt and even my wrists have become smaller and I have had to adjust the hole I use on my watch.

My blood test came back and everything looks outstanding. I think this would surprise people too. No food for 8 days and an absolutely normal blood test.

In any case, no need to worry about me, all is going well. I am feeling well enough and I am very happy I followed my instinct to proceed with this challenge. I am scheduled to begin eating again on Saturday – wow, I can’t wait.

I had another dream last night and it was not pleasant. I much preferred dreaming about soft Philly pretzels. In my latest dream I bought a car and when I picked it up it was BRIGHT RED. I told the dealer this was a mistake but he showed me the order form and there it was – RED. So I was stuck with this car for 3 years. I can’t stand bright red cars. I wonder what the dream means?

That is it for today, the worse part of the day is ahead of me. The glass of water I have to drink looks as tall as the Empire Sate building, and they say I have to drink the whole thing.