Day 5 of Recovery

I woke up today feeling every move I made yesterday in all of my muscles. My calves, quads, and hamstrings were all so sore from the hilly walks; it was the type of sore like I had killed it at the gym the day before. Dr. Graham assigned Mei and I to walk a little further beyond the gate, up to Hotel Pelicano, and be able to tell him the color of their pool by dinner, which we did. I have really been enjoying "earning my meals" which at this point simply means walking for 15-30 minutes before I eat.

Me on my walk this morning. Mt. Chirripo is the highest peak in the background

When we broke our fasts, Dr. Graham said that we will eventually find ourselves only wanting to eat 3x per day at mealtimes, which happened for me two days ago. This is a big change for me as I had grown accustomed to grazing throughout my days at home when stressed at work. I've noticed I feel more hungry and therefore more satiated by the food I eat when I actually eat in meals, versus grazing. I am able to gauge my hunger much much better post-fast.

Breakfast Buffet

On our lunch-walk, Mei and I were on the property but exploring parts of the forest that we hadn't seen yet...when we came upon this guy! He's called an "agouti" and is one of the largest rodents, easily at least 3x bigger than a house cat. It looked like a giant squirrel with a stub of a tail. I had to zoom in to take this picture, so it's not the greatest quality.

An agouti munching on some sort of fruit

We had banana-celery smoothie for lunch, which was a nice change. They used the Cavendish variety [the "normal" banana you see in the grocery store] which wasn't anything out of the ordinary, besides that it was much more fresh. 

Mei and I ate every course at dinner with the group, which felt extra special today. Celery was the main item on the menu, which was excellent for us post-fasters. The sodium and other minerals are what our bodies are starting to crave as we continue to refeed, so it really hit the spot. 

Course #1. Bottomless orange-mango-celery smoothie

Course #2. Tomato-celery soup

Course #3. Celery slaw with cucumber, lettuce, tomato, mango, and cilantro

The smoothie was of course, lovely. The soup was what really hit me as incredible. After tasting so much sweetness for the last few days, the saltiness of the tomatoes and celery was perfect. I ate the entire bowl with my eyes closed almost the whole time, savoring every moment. Every bite packed such a huge punch to my taste buds! The slaw was almost too much to handle after so much volume, so I didn't have much, but it was very tasty too. Katy is an excellent chef!

Cheers to health!

Incredible soup

 celery slaw, yum! 

We have permission to start working out our arms tomorrow at the Flinstones Gym; just some light lifting to start getting our upper-body involved. It will be good to move more and more. As much as I think I am ready to jump into action, it doesn't take much movement to remind me that, nope it's not time for that yet.