WARNING: This blog posts contains pretty disgusting photos of intestinal mucoid plaque!

Last week I spent 7 days fasting from any kind of solid food, 40 minutes per day lying on my back for intestinal cleansing, got introduced to Tai Chi and a masseuse called Kook who found knots in places I didn’t know existed.

Needless to say, this was no ordinary holiday in Thailand.

No this was a 7 day detox and cleansing experiment at the Atsumi Healing Reservation in Phuket.

Why on earth would you want to not eat for 7 days?

Believe me, fasting in the greatest country in the world for food still sounds crazy even to me, but there was work to be done.

Whilst I have ate a very clean diet for 3 years now (including the odd ‘cheat’ meal) and dramatically reduced my meat intake, I was still suffering from bouts of gas (both ends) and periods of fatigue which, quite simply, didn’t make sense.

Whilst I am prone to stress like any business owner, something just didn’t seem right.

I came to the conclusion that I must still be suffering the effects of years of meat, meat, starchy carbs, meat, starchy carbs, starchy carbs and more meat. This is a recipe for a clogged up digestive tract.

No matter how great your current nutrition is, you cannot expect to digest food and absorb the nutrients if your intestines  are clogged up and coated in mucoid plaque which builds up in the same way as plaque does between your teeth if you don’t clean them properly.

Unfortunately, Western diets turn your intestines from being a well-functioning sewer system into a festering cess pit. Not only does this result in poor assimilation of food, but you’re also at risk from a myriad of health problems from IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) and diverticulitis right through to more serious development of cancers of the bowel.

There are also strong links with your mental well-being and mood – clean your bowels and you help clean your mind and regain clarity of thought.

And so I found myself winging my way to Atsumi armed with little more than a notepad a couple of vests and Frankie Boyle’s audio book to get me laughing – all part of the therapy!

I’m a big believer in training for specific things and having the right program at the right time. I’m not one of these tree-hugging, vegan Shakra lovers, neither am I the testosterone-fuelled muscle monster who eats kittens for breakfast for extra protein.

Neither was I there to lose weight like many people I met there, given that my body fat is permanently below 10%.

There is a time and place for everything and it was time I allowed my mind and body time to relax – so there was also an internet ban for 7 days.

This may well have been the hardest bit.

So below is the day-by-day account of what happened.

COLEMA DEFINITION:

Before we start here’s what a ‘colema’ is as you will hear lots about them!

1) Enter private toilet room

2) Prepare tube with ‘lube’ ready for insertion up the bumhole

3) Lie on back on colema board and insert tube

4) Turn lever on and off to force fluid into the intestines.

5) Repeat until bucket is empty!

Each day we were given a coffee colema in the morning as these are the more aggressive and really get things moving.

In the afternoon, we had the choice of coffee again, garlic (very effective at clearing out any parasites which may be present in the intestines) and Vitamin C – the key of all things health and detox!

This is the daily routine which only varied by 30 minutes or so depending on massage and colema times:

0700 – Herbs

0900 – Bentonite clay and pysllium husk drink

1030 – Herbs

1200 – Bentonite clay and pysllium husk drink

1330 – Herbs

1500 – Bentonite clay and pysllium husk drink

1630 – Herbs

1800 – Bentonite clay and pysllium husk drink

2000 – Veg broth (imagine the water left over after making soup)

Pre-bed – Probiotics

Also during the day we received 2 coconuts from which we drunk the water and the ‘Liver Flush’ drink consisting of olive oil, garlic and lemon – not the best tasting but if I was here for tasty food, I’d be down the road with my face in a plate of Pad Thai sipping rum and coconut!

Day 1

Woke up to the sounds of early morning prayer at a nearby mosque and the insects around the Bamboo House (which was actually made of brick and very nice inside!) Waking up by sunlight without an alarm is always a great feeling!

Had our fasting and program talk which pleased me immensely as it brings together everything I’ve already researched, but also includes some herbal supplementation, the twice daily colema’s to progressively flush the intestines deeper each time.

Day 4 onwards is when you are expected to reach the nasty stuff which has been sitting in the deepest, darkest depths of your bowels – will look forward to it….!

Had the first two colemas which really only produced waste from the bowels which is what would have been passed like any other day. This is a weird experience.

Thai massage and 2 hour visit to Nai Harn beach in the afternoon with a sauna to increase the detox effect.

When detoxing there are 4 important processes for optimal effect:

- Perspiration (sweat)

- Respiration (breathe oxygen)

- Urination

- Defaecation

You should do all you can to increase the rate at which these occur.

The day finished with 1h of yoga in the Sala.

Can feel myself slipping away from stress already which is a great feeling – just 6 more days to go without internet or phone!

Day 2

Feeling a bit empty today but sleeping well so pretty refreshed!

It’s Thai New Year today (April 13th) which brings the Songkran water festival. We headed out in the Atsumi open mini bus not really knowing what to expect but armed with supersoakers.

I had no idea just how amazing this festival is. Picture EVERY PERSON in Phuket lining the streets with huge buckets of water, supersoakers and talcum powder to rub on your face as a sign of friendship. Throw in the Fire Service with their fire hoses, people riding scooters without helmets through the water throwing mayhem and some free food (YEAH GREAT….!) and you’re almost close to what this is like.

Colemas and and reflexology massage through the day.

A few minor hunger pangs but nothing major to report.

Day 3

Had a bad night’s sleep. This may be due to watching an exciting DVD straight before bed which I never usually do but can’t say for sure. I feel really withdrawn today and can’t be bothered to speak to anybody so I’m not!

Ipod on, sunbed on…relax…..

My dreams have suddenly kicked up a gear which we were told may happen, although I can’t remember what happened!

There was a definite change in the ’structure’ of what came out in the colema’s moving from what you expect to see after a good crap to more putty-like rubbery looking plaque. I think the game’s are about to begin as it’s gone to a black colour and in quite large amounts!

My legs feel tired today but I am more awake.

Good yoga session with Hazeena who randomly knew a guy I used to go to school with in Guernsey – small world!

Today’s massage was a targeted abdominal massage to get even more stuff moving so tomorrow could be interesting! Apparently it is also good for your ’sexual palace’. I don’t know what this is but would like to go there…!

Day 4

VERY vivid dreams including:

- Chasing a bull with a friend I haven’t seen in 5 years. Eventually some hillbillies caught it before us and chopped it in to steak. Hunger?!

- Eating cereal on a roller coaster

- Playing football in a ladies cup final – allowed as I was injured.

- Lecturing my fitness campers on the perils of white bread.

- Being chased by a gorilla with my cousin Lee Merrien who came 14th in the London Marathon. He was fine due to high endurance levels.

If anyone can interpret them – go ahead!

Hit the beach again today and listened to Dale Carnegie’s “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living” which has served up a timely reminder to just start living one day at a time and enjoy what’s happening right now.

Great Thaiatsu massage with Kook today which loosened up a lot of areas!

Also did Thai Chi for the first time tonight which was a good eye opener to a new approach to facing and dealing with resistance.

Toby the instructor gave a great analogy at the end.

He said, in a storm it is better to be the blade of grass rather than the strong, rigid oak tree. The grass can bend and flex and move with the force of the wind whereas the oak tree will snap and end up broken no matter how hard it fights.

Think about it. So long as your balance is centred and you are in control of your base of support, the more you tense up, the easier it is for someone to push you over. If you can learn to bend, flex and move against their aggression it is very difficult for them to do it.

Food for thought which can be applied to both mentally stressful situations as well as in physical confrontations.

Day 5

Some more weird dreams but not as extreme as the night before!

Started the day with a beach walk and saw the Rawai Muay Thai camp in action. I’m told Tiger Muay Thai is better as it doesn’t try to combine so many levels in one class which is what seemed to be happening here.

I’m going to come back next year for 8-12 weeks to train properly in Muay Thai (and eat some food, although I’m not finding it that tough to not eat to be honest!)

Colema’s still coming thick and horrible although second one today was fairly empty.

Oddly I seem to have picked up a cold today. Not sure if this is a detox reaction or whether I’ve picked something up off someone else here.

Hit the night market in Naka which was more torture as loads of food about especially fantastic looking fruit. Really noticed the poor air quality in the town compared to the Atsumi Reservation.

Day 6

More strange dreams involving buying a boat, befriending a huge Bulgarian weightlifter and trying to buy a shop.

Sleep is still pretty crap as I just can’t drift off until about 2 am.

Yet more plaque coming out in the colema’s which is pretty minging sometimes but nice to know it’s coming out!

Finished the evening with a meditation class which was good just to learn the breathing. I need to learn how to NOT think and just let my brain rest – that will take some practice!

Day 7

Better sleep and lots of dreaming but can’t remember what it was about.

Gave the plaque a poke today (with gloves on) to see what it was like. It’s much more rubbery than typical poo and you can see how it would easily clog up the intestines and make a huge difference to energy levels and well being – really opening my eyes to what long-term poor food consumption does to you beyond the obvious we all know.

Feeling tired today and just want some food now.

Went up to Big Buddha (the biggest in Thailand) which will look fantastic when complete. Shame the UK can’t come up with such cultural gems to be proud of!

It’s like Christmas Eve knowing there is food coming tomorrow!

Day 8

Only about 3 hours sleep which is annoying but time for final colema.

This one is water only followed by an ‘injection’ of probiotics to start replenishing the good bacteria in the intestines.

FRUIT PLATTER AT THE BAR!!!!!!! Tasted so good! Followed this up with some brazil and almonds we had brought with us.

We are to stay on raw food for 3 days to ease back into food and alkalize the system again.

Also ordered some amazing looking raw snacks which are made by dehydrating food such as coconut, flax seeds, nuts, carrots, dates and bananas. They taste so good and I’ve already ordered a dehydrator to start recreating them back at home!

Summary

This research project has really opened my eyes to what goes on in the human body. No text books can educate as much as seeing the process in action.

I feel tired but am sure that after getting some quality food in, I’ll be much better than I was pre-detox (Note – this has been confirmed now!)

The experience has also shown me how having the odd colonic here and there just won’t do the job as it takes until Day 3 or 4 to reach the real impacted mucoid plaque in the intestines and get it moving.

It’s also critical to get the ‘pushing and scrubbing’ effect from the top down with the supplements combined with the ‘pulling’ effect from the colema.

I believe this should be done once per year for 7 days to keep the system clear. Anything less just isn’t doing the job.

This becomes more important for those engaging in higher intakes of animal proteins as this, along with processed food, is the main culprit in ‘clogging the sewers’.

At the same time, I will continue to eat meat particularly on 8 week muscle gain programs but will always ensure I employ principles to maintain the integrity of my digestive system during these periods and have a period of detox and ‘flush’ afterwards.

A massive thank you to all at Atsumi Healing for the way the program is put together.

The massage and extra classes help keep you busy and really add to the physical and mental detox experience. I’ll definitely be back next year at some point to stay on top of results achieved this time.

I’ll also be performing regular 24 hour intermittent fasts throughout the year as well as one or two 3 day fasts.

Waking Heart Rate

Day 1 – 56 bpm

Day 2 – 52 bpm

Day 3 -46 bpm

Day 4 – 46 bpm

Day 5 – 46 bpm

Day 6 – 46 bpm

Day 7 – 46 bpm

Blood Pressure

Day 1 – 116/74

Day 8 – 111/65

Weight (Taken before first colema of the day)

Day 1 – 80.7kg

Day 2 – 79.6kg

Day 3 – 79.4kg

Day 4 – 77.4kg

Day 5 – 78.2kg (not sure how this happened)

Day 6 – 76.8kg

Day 7 – 76.5kg

Day 8 – 74.6kg

I also compared my weight on the scales in my training facility before and after the trip

Before – 81.5kg

After – 77.5kg

Unfortunately I was unable to have my body fat taken before and after so the following observations are purely subjective based on my knowledge of my own body.

I clearly reduced the bloating in my intestines as my board shorts, which I always have as tight as the drawstring will go were comfortably snug on Day 1, but evidently looser by Day 8.

Given that I have virtually no ‘fat’ to lose, this can only be explained by a reduction in material in the intestines which goes to show that even if your current diet is great, you can still be suffering the effects of past nutritional misdemeanours.

I think I lost 1-2 lbs of muscle and my body fat certainly dropped around my ‘love handle’ area.

To summarize, here are the key points I took away from Atsumi Healing and which you should seriously ponder whether your goals are to lose weight, add muscle or improve your health and energy levels:

1) No weight loss program can help a person reach anywhere near their physical potential if they don’t pay detailed attention to first cleansing the ’sewer’ system that is the bowels.

2) Someone who ‘needs’ food 3 hours after eating breakfast having been sat on their arse in an office is dillusional and needs to address their stress levels – not visit the vending machine.

3) Clean bowels = vivid imagination and brain power!

4) There is no better therapy than being around happy people

5) There is a time and place for every kind of program. A truly great coach should know when and how to use each method for maximum effect. The body needs challenges and changes in what goes in and what comes out so it’s important to alter dietary principles to varying degrees, just as you do with your training.

6) Coconut water, picked off a REAL coconut tree 5 minutes ago is one of the most refreshing drinks you can enjoy!

7) Talking with strangers about poo and sweating is strangely easy when you’re in the right environment.

Learning to bend and flex like a blade of grass in a storm is more effective than trying to be a big hard oak tree all the time.  Learning to react to certain situations with a calm, flowing manner will yield great results in your personal, business and sporting life.