And so it begins...

First thing to drink in the morning salt water made with uniodized salt to clear the system. 1 quart. This actually wasn't so hard, it was the volume of liquid to get through. I drank 3/4.

I calculated 8 times the lemonade recipe to create 80 oz of the stuff, which meant 16 tablespoons each of maple syrup and lemon juice. I had no idea how much 16 tablespoons of anything was. Apparently, it's one bottle of maple syrup. OK, no wonder people can go through their day, it is nearly 3 times your carbohydrate intake on a normal 2000 calorie day. The nice part too is that you get more than enough of your daily requirements of calcium and magnesium and while brewing mint tea in iron kettles, I should have a good deal of my neccessary minerals. I really shouldn't call it a fast considering how much sugar that is. The kicker is the near teaspoon of cayenne pepper that gives it it's iced tea look.

But the real test, this morning we went to farmer's market with A, who cooked a not-from-the-box pancake breakfast. Now A is absolutely a fine fine cook and I had to simple enjoy the smell of not-from-the-box pancakes. I'll have to take a raincheck and get the recipe later. The fiance (ooh look, I get to really call the SO my fee-ahn-say) always willing to put his body on the line exclaimed that he would eat for the both of us.

"A" introduced us to the woman at the Vallejo farmer's market who sold handmade longganisa and baby bangus marinated the Illokano way. But alas, Seafood City, with its styrofoam/plastic wrapped convenince killed her bottomline and she could no longer be found on Georgia St. Thus, the idea came to "A", maybe she moved to another farmer's market where Filipinos would appreciate and purchase her wares. Thus today's bangus hunting trip to Fremont Farmer's Market. "A" had tried Union City last week but no luck.

All the while I'm lugging this plastic pitcher of the lemonade. Everytime I feel hungry, I take a couple of sips of the lemonade. Then as the cayenne pepper burns my throat, I decide I'm not hungry afterall. It's quite the appetite suppressant.

Fremont farmer's is not as big as we thought, only a dozen stands, which of course includes the organic Filipino farm of Ibarra-Cruz. Let me tell you they must have everyone in their family working the farmer's markets: cousins, aunties, nieces, cuz they are in just about EVERY farmer's market I have ever gone to in the Bay Area from Vallejo to Fremont. But alas, no baby bangus.

On the way back we hit up San Leandro farmer's market where some of the best balut is found (both chicken and duck). No more than 10 days old. So no need to worry about seeing a beak or feathers. Sigh. Summer is the peak of fresh fruit: strawberries, blueberries, nectarines, peaches, apricots, cantaloupe, watermelon. Truly my favorite food group. The egg farmer is from Pangasinan and knew Macaraegs from my parent's town. I'm sure if I went back enough, we'd be related. He's from Rosales. His wife used to tend with him, but since she has passed you can see in his eyes, it's just not the same. He's considering selling the business and retiring.

I help "A" pick cantaloupe for his wife, "H." It's fragrence permeates the skin. The SO asks about whether I would like to have some. He forgets I started the diet. It seemed like a bad day to start a diet, then again, I don't know if there's any day that would be good. I buy a couple of bunches of sunflowers and we head back. We leave A & H with a bag full of their organic lemons to hold me over for a few more days.

We drive around Berkeley doing errands. Finding the SO (fiance is 4 more letters to type), a papyrus plant for his office, we stop by East Bay Nursery. The people in this place know just about every type of plant you could ever want just by you describing the leaves in your not so garden vocabulary way. I pick up some bamboo to plant in the herb box where herbs don't do so well.

Up and down San Pablo, you start to notice all the restaurants and food stores: bbq, burger king, thai, indian halal market. The fiance and I had some very delicious vegetarian meals this week. Just yesterday, I would highly recommend Indian Palace in Alameda on Buena Vista near Constitution. They spice food to your liking and even then in the mild range, food is very flavorful.

It's funny, when I'm at work, I hardly think about food, and sometimes I forget about eating. But now, now that my list of consumables is down to 4 things: water, lemonade, salt water, and mint tea, I find myself preoccupied by the memory of food. I look at food cans and store signs and imagine their textures and how it might combine with other dishes.

By mid-day, my tongue is feeling a bit pasty, which the book said might happen. When we get home I brush my teeth. And can I tell you, I don't think I've ever enjoyed the flavor of toothpaste so much before. I even resisted the lemonade a few more minutes just so I could experience this different flavor a bit longer.

What I realized is that I'm not into simply consuming food, the way some people like eating, but I like tasting just enough to satisfy curiosity and to give my brain a different sensation. At the Indian restaurant, I picked the Thali dinner just because it allowed me to taste 5-6 different dishes as opposed to only choosing 1-2 larger dishes. I'm sure in a a couple of more days, hunger will win over boredom. Today, I look at the lemonade and still think, "I'm not THAT hungry."