Oh look. A whole bunch of things I can't eat.

This is part 2 of my notes from my 28-day-long Saturn rite! Part 1 here!

Week 2: No solid food.

Immediately after my No Sex Week Ended, No Solid Food Week began, which was a mixed blessing if there ever was one. Also, I should mention that my Globelines DSL modem died in the middle of Week 1, not to be replaced by Globe until the last day of Week 4. Looks like Saturn took out my net access so I wouldn’t get distracted.

No Solid Food week was hell. I hadn’t counted on how much food was no longer an option to me. Even instant noodles were now out. I had to subsist on plain congee, yogurt, miso soup, and peanut butter.

You can't eat me! I'm solid food too!

I started cooking roux-based sauces and eating them out of a bowl, like really thick soup. Maoi would support me by picking the beef out of my Sliced Beef Congee. I would wander the restaurants in Eastwood, realizing that most of them didn’t serve any non-solid food. Pho has noodles and meat. Italian food is all solid; even minestrone has solid chunks. McDonald’s hot caramel sundae and Red Mango yogurt saved me when the cravings got really bad.

After a while, I started to distinguish between actual hunger and cravings. I realized that I mistook them for one another. Sometimes I craved something to eat because I was bored, not because I was actually hungry.

Day 4 was the worst. I didn’t know if I could make it through the entire week. I would lie or sit down, not wanting to expend more energy than necessary, because it would only make me hungrier.

Even fresh wholesome fruits and vegetables were off the table.

And then, on Day 5, I realized that the cravings had subsided, although I still got hungry, which I would deal with when it occurred. Day 5 was much easier than Day 4. I would go about my day, then I would get hungry, then I would eat, then I would return to whatever I was doing, instead of absently munching on something or the other without paying attention to what I was eating.

I learned to love congee. It was the most fortifying thing I would eat all week. I would feel stronger right after a bowlful, which I would devour in less than five minutes.

Near midnight of Day 7, Maoi prepared a meal of rice, sliced fresh tomatoes, and longganisa for me. While waiting for the start of Week 3, No Entertainment or Stimulants Week, I watched a UFC fight.

Midnight hit. I could eat solid food, but I couldn’t even finish the fight I was watching — Ortiz vs. Griffin.

Another mixed blessing — but I was too happy from the solid meal that I barely noticed at first. At least, until I realized that my home was suddenly eerily silent.

(To be continued in Part 3)

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