I Survived Cycle 1

Today is the beginning of Cycle 2 on my new exercise and diet plan.  Yes, I made it through Cycle 1, though at times I didn't think I was going to be able to.  The Fast day didn't kill me right away, it was the effects the day after that threw me for a loop.  I did okay on the whole water only thing, but the protein supplements got harder and harder to take as the day went on.  I was supposed to down a ton of pills that day, but I started to get sick of swallowing them every couple of hours, so I know I didn't get enough of them in my system.  That night I was so tired and worn out from the not eating, together with the 3 workouts I had to do that day.  Of course Michela was at a party so I had to wait until 10:00 to go get her.  When I finally got to bed I crashed.
Mike had to wake up at 3:00 in the morning the next day for his Marathon, so I got woken up too.  Unfortunately I could not go back to sleep afterwards.  I tossed and turned all night, not being able to get comfortable because my body was so sore and my stomach was turning.  I alternated between thinking I was either going to pass out or throw up.  My alarm finally went off at 6:45 and I laid there thinking there was no way I was going to be able to get up.  I was shaking so badly and was very dizzy.  I dragged myself downstairs and slowly made myself a protein shake.  (The day after the fast day is protein shake day.)  I lugged the blender out onto the patio so I wouldn't wake anyone up and blended up a much needed shake.  I gulped the thing down trying to fill the ache in my stomach and to get something in me.  I had the worst headache that day and felt so weak.  Of course I had to get all of the kids up, fed and ready to go because we were leaving at 8:00 so we could cheer Mike on at the race and then it was off to the soccer field for three games, one of which I was coaching.  As the day went on I felt a little bit stronger but I was so spent.  Luckily Sunday was coming up the next day so I could have a break from the workouts.
This time around I am going to have to tweak fast day a bit.  There is no way I can survive that experience again.  I'm thinking I will allow myself at least some veggies during the day and perhaps a protein shake after one or two of the workouts.  It's not like I can just sit around all day and recoup, I've got 5 kids to take care of and a billion things to do.  Hopefully I can avoid the exhaustion and sickness this time around.  The number on the scale did drop, but scales can be so touchy.  I'll wait to see if it drops again after this cycle is through before I can say if it is really working or not.  The funniest part of this whole thing is Michela's little comments every day.  "What can you eat today Mom?"  "Protein shakes all day!?  That  is so sad."  Couldn't have said it better myself.