DAY FOUR
For reasons that will be become apparent, Day Four isn’t really Day Four at all. I felt even fatter – and this was before I had got out of bed. It’s an uncomfortable feeling characterised by avoiding the mirror and the scales (sorry not to be more scientific about this) and dressing in baggy clothes. And, although I didn’t have any abdominal bloating, there had been no sign of a bowel movement which compounded my feelings of heaviness. To think this is normal for many people on the bog standard western diet!
I am going to manage the constipation with enemas combined with salt baths to ease the aches and pains. So, I decided to start the day with a bath but, despite my resolution to eat the gluten and dairy first thing, I simply couldn’t face it. Settling down for a long soak, I postponed my gluten and dairy delights until later in the day.
But as the day progressed, and even though I had been diligent in drinking water, a headache started to develop. Was this withdrawal symptoms in reverse – the accumulation of gluten and casein causing an alarm response? Had my reluctance to eat more gluten and dairy that morning been an early warning sign that my body wasn’t able to cope with anymore? Before embarking on this diet, I had determined to put up with any unpleasant symptoms to elicit the information I wanted, rationalising that a few days of discomfort would be worthwhile for the years of improved health that would follow. But this optimistic view evaporated as migraine threatened. The dark days, literally spent in a blackened-out room with a head thumping so hard I was afraid to vomit or clean my teeth, had receded into the distant past and I did not want to revisit them.
My smoothie had filled me up until 5pm when I intended serving up slow cooked lamb with steamed veggies. But I felt almost as repulsed by that as I had been by the bread and cheese. What I really fancy, I thought, despite the freezing temperature and dark evening, is a crunchy salad with diced avocado, sprouted mung and sunflower greens, grated carrot covered in healthy dirt from the local organic farm, and drizzled with coconut liquid aminos. And when I had eaten it, I felt as if I had consumed a five-course banquet. But I still felt (and looked) like a pregnant seal despite the successful enema earlier in the day.
I couldn’t summon up the energy for a walk. My good intentions were starting to evaporate. I was beginning to question whether I might be able to get enough information from other tests that didn’t require me to poison myself. Could I face going back on the diet tomorrow? And if so, what would I wear?!