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Diary of a Ten-Day Juice Fast

I decided after much deliberation to actually do it.  A 10-day juice fast.  I actually wasn’t sure I would really do it until I committed to it by announcing it in my Sunday night power-hour class. That was it, committed. I am also committed to sharing my experience with you.

This post will be the longest of them, as I want to be as detailed as possible about how and why I will do this.  The daily posts will be much shorter and more succinct. I say this after having written this and seeing how long it ended up:)

I have tried other fasts before, the Master Cleanse and Kitcharie (never successfully for more than three days) as well as different eating styles:  no carb diets, veganism and vegetarianism.  My quest started when I was getting reoccurring UTI’s that doctors couldn’t “fix”.  They were horrible. Finally I was told I would have to take an antibiotic daily, for the rest of my life.  That was it, I knew right down to a cellular level, that the advice I was given by my doctors was just flat out wrong. I spent all night, till about 4:30am, scouring the internet on alternative health care and with lots of trial and error and was able to control them myself, naturally, safely with NO side effects.  That was 7 years ago. Since then I have completely changed my life. I moved to Albuquerque to study with Dr. Vasant Lad at the Ayurvedic Institute and dedicate my life to learning as much as I can about Yoga, Ayurveda, wellness as a whole, philosophy and the human spirit.  I also aspire to be able to share what I learn with anyone who is interested in taking ownership of their own happiness, health and wellness.

Some General notes on Juice Fasting:

A shorter term fast 1-10 days is considered safe for almost anyone.  You should not discontinue any medications without talking with your doctor. Many people have successfully been able to discontinue their need for their mediations through juice fasting.  If you are not sure if juice fasting is for you, ask your doctor and also take the time to talk with someone familiar with the process.  I am available for consultations and can be reached at 505-331-4537.

Resources:

Movies:

Forks over Knives

Fat Sick and Nearly Dead

Books:

Eat for health by Doctor Fuhrman

Fasting and Eating for Health by Dr. Fuhrman

Eat to Live by Dr. Fuhrman

Heinermans Encyclopedia of Healing Juices

Juice Fating and Detoxification by Steve Meyerowitz

Note:

I got my 160.00 juicer on craigslist for 50.00!  So look on craigslist if you want to save money on the juicer :)

 

My reasons for the fast:

  • Weight Loss
  • Increase my immunity, my vitality and my cellular intelligence
  • Experience. I strongly feel that I need to have personal experience with whatever it is that I am recommending to my clients and friends. So before actually recommending to anyone to do a longer term juice fast, I need to see for myself what that experience is like.
  • Aid in becoming pregnant

I often wonder what it will be that fuels my resolve throughout the process.  I know it’s not weight loss.  I would not be truthful if I left this part out of my goals but it also isn’t going to be the thing that gets me through the really tough times. I look forward to result of having amazing energy and immunity but honestly I don’t plan on reaping those benefits without going through discomfort and struggle. I have had symptoms of endometriosis and really look forward to giving my body the chance to switch to digesting any built up scar tissue and toxicity instead of my meals, improving my reproductive function and chances of conceiving – yay!   Most of my strength will come from doing it so I can know what my clients, my friends and my teachers have and will go through.  After many variations on this teaching I am very serious about trying every medicine before giving it out, so here I go.  (oh yeah, I also heard it can reverse greying hair, and I found my first two!)

 

Content of posts:

In the case that people will have many different areas of interest with this so I will try and divide this up into sections so people can pick and choose whatever they may be interested in reading.

Details of how I am fasting, including recipes, supplements, daily routines and costs

Effects of the fast physically, emotionally and energetically and socially

A daily reflection

 

Supplements for my fast

I think if anyone is considering this type of fast you defiantly don’t need to run out and get these.  I want to see what it’s like to follow the advice that made sense to me though and these do.

  1. Probiotics: For anyone who has ever taken an antibiotic, experienced intestinal discomfort or has low immune system (pretty much everyone). I have done a tone of research and Three lac and five lac are the best I have found, period.  They are pricy and only available online, so a good quality one from a local health food store is great too.  I use these very potent ones to keep my UTI’s from reoccurring.
  2. Laxative:  I chose “Smooth Move Yogi Tea”. It is extremely important to use a laxative when needed to keep the bowels moving, to eliminate the toxins being released throughout the fast.
  3. Fiber: I chose “Bowel Cleanse” by renew life for the nourishing ingredients with the great Flax based fiber.  This is important as I will be juicing everything and removing all fiber from my foods. This will help keep my colon toned and healthy. (and hopefully help me to feel full)
  4. Algae:  It is very helpful to include things like spirulina and chlorella, wheat grass and barley grass for their super nutrient density and ability to oxygenate the blood and give energy during the fast.  I chose green super food as it has all these things in super potent and high quality amounts as well as a long list of very effective spices and herbs to support the fast.
  5. Liver Cleansing Herbs: Milk Thistle caps, Dandelion tincture and NAC caps. NAC is an amino acid that supports liver function. This is important as when the liver is clean and healthy it can switch from detoxifying our blood to metabolizing and breaking down excess fat – aiding in weight loss.
  6. Nutritional Yeast Flakes:  Great source of Amino Acids and B12, increasing energy and cellular renewal throughout the fast.
  7. Herbal Tea: I chose detox tea to gently support the whole body’s detoxification.  I will also include chamomile, mint, and any other non-caffeinated teas that I feel drawn to.

Cost for the above (approximated to the dollar)

Probiotic                              50.00 (you can find them for as little as 10.00)

Laxative                               5.00

Fiber                                    18.00 (You can do Flaxseed for like 5.00)

Algae                                   36.00 (you can get liquid chlorophyll for around 10.00)

Nutritional Yeast                 9.00

Teas                                       5.00

My total – $ 123.00 (though I did have many of these already)

Less expensive version – $44.00

 

Daily Routine:

I have a daily routine I will be adding to (in Ayurveda it’s called a dinacharya).  It does change but this is a list of the things I will be incorporating

  • Oil massage when I’m not menstruation
  • Oil in the nose, or netti pot depending on how I feel that day
  • Breathing practices(pranayamas) I will be doing kapalbhati (2-3 min)and alternate nostril breathing (15 min) every morning
  • Yin Yoga for 30 min
  • Meditation for 20-30 min
  • Yang exercise(Walking, Vinyasa, Elliptical Machine, Weight Lifting) depending on my energy level

 

How I started:

Most people will tell you to start preparing 1 week ahead of time with a fruit and vegetable diet.

On Saturday I had pizza and couple of beers while painting the studio, followed by a shot of apple cider vinegar when I got home and a kitcharie dinner with steamed veggies and tea.

Sunday I had a green juice for breakfast made with Spinach, apples and celery.  For lunch I had vegetarian pho and dinner I had vegetarian pho leftovers and a steamed artichoke with Ghee for dipping – YUM!

 

The Night Before

Sunday night I took a ginger baking soda bath as I keep feeling like I’m trying to catch a cold.  It was weird. I was in the bath and I took in my body, as it is now, before the fast.  I took a few slow breaths and really felt what it felt like energetically and physically.  I even looked at all of myself lying there unabashedly naked, with all my flaws and beauty, and took a moment to love who I am now.  Just as I am. Not wishing I were different. It felt so good to come from a place of self-acceptance and love, about to dive into this experience.

Update on Monday, December 5, 2011 at 7:00PM by Grassroots Yoga

DAY 1

So, I started out my day with an oil massage, kapalbhati breath for two rounds of 300, and 15 min of alternate nostril breath. I showered and weighed myself – 157.4lbs

Then I took my supplements and drank my juice that my husband made for me. He called it Garden Grape. I then sat down to work and made myself a cup of detox tea.

I had a LOT of energy.  I felt great. Around noon I was starved and was on a phone meeting so I ran to the fridge and drank a glass of clamato to tide myself over.  It was really tasty, though not freshly juiced by a long shot- lol. I still was really energetic, even thought I would go to the gym today.

Around 1:00 I felt like getting out of the house so I ran some errands and took my dog to the dog park.  It was freezing. I don’t know if it was due to the lack of food in my belly but I was sooo cold and hungry! I was light headed and exhausted by the time I got home at 3:00. I put away the new veggies I bought and took a 30 min nap, still freezing.  When I woke up I drew a scalding hot bath, put a little oil in it and got in.  So good!  I felt much better.  I made another juice and called off my gym date with my husband.

I settled in with tea and did a bit more work.

The amount of hunger and fatigue made me feel like I should increase my juice consumption, so at 6:00 Luke made me a large juice called Spunky Monkey.  It was spunky alright, and delicious!  But I like weird vegetal tasting things so take this with a grain of salt. I have also had a low level headache all day, but I am guessing this is due to my detoxification.

My sense of smell is really acute too as I smelled whatever delicious thing he so graciously ate for dinner before getting home on himJ

Tomorrow I will divide up my intake of nutritional yeast and super greens for more energy throughout the entire day…let’s hope it works

Before bed I will take my liver cleansing supplements sand drink my smooth move tea.

More to come tomorrow…

Recipes:

Garden Grape: 2 handfuls kale, 2 celery sticks, ¼ cup cranberries, pinch mint, pinch parsley, 1 apple, ½ cucumber (oh yea and a bunch of grapes- lol)

Cran/Orange Cocktail: 1/4th cup cranberries, two handfuls kale, 1 orange, ½ yam

Spunky Monkey: mixed greens (leftover salad), ½ tomato, chunk of onion, ½ cucumber, 2 carrots, 1 apple, ¼ sweet potatoes, 1”ginger, blended – NOT JUICED ½ banana.

Update on Tuesday, December 6, 2011 at 11:12PM by Grassroots Yoga

Day 2

I just realized how much better I feel as compared to yesterday!  I can actually formulate my thoughts to write this post so much more clearly (though not at all at a high level still).  I forgot to mention the amazing white coating on my tongue last night. It was truly shocking.  It came off easily with my tongue scraper.  A good sign of my detoxification, as if my headache, exhaustion and scattered thinking weren’t enough for me

I also want to say that I am not writing this blog to try and prove anything, or to show how “good” I am at this. I really wanted this to be a very real account of what this experience is like for me.  To that end I need to include that before bed has proven to be the hardest time for me.  I felt like I couldn’t sleep without something, so I ate a handful of sesame seeds and a 1”slice of banana.  It was – delicious!  And it did the trick.  I went to bed.

This morning I slept in and skipped on my breathing (pranayama) and oil massage (abhyanga).  I decided to switch to doing abhyanga at night to help ground me before bed. I had a bowel movement thanks to my smooth move tea. I did take my supplements and took half the amount of super greens and nutritional yeast so I could have the other half later. I forgot to take them till 7:00pm, but it was still a nice way to fill up my belly.  I loved mixing them together in water instead of the juice.

For my morning juice I barely had time to juice some mixed greens and an apple.

I did have more energy earlier and really wanted to stretch and do some yoga so I did a 1 hour class at hot yoga with Brian. It was wonderful.  I was really lightheaded, as I have low blood pressure anyways and fasting takes it even lower. But with simple modifications like not lifting my arms over head, moving slowly and keeping my gaze down to the ground, it was no problem. I was a bit dizzy after as I don’t think I had taken in enough juice in the morning and accelerated the detox in the class.  I made the mistake of having a smoothie rather than a juice, in hopes of feeling better.  The smoothie had peanut butter, banana strawberries with rice milk.  It was both good and bad. I felt way more stable and less shaky, but it was too heavy. It upset my stomach, and I wished I had stuck with a juice.  Next time I will modify with a piece of banana or apple sauce, as is recommended.  Or just have more juice.

I continued drinking water and hot tea throughout the evening.

This evening I have been doing ALOT of research on water vs juice fasts.  I almost switched mid fast to water and decided against it.  My husband advised that I stick with this one and maybe do a water fast down the road. There is so much conflicting information out there, but at the end of the day I did that which resonates for me, and that is this juice fast.  Maybe sometime in the future I will attempt a water fast…I also found articles about how you can drink kambucha and how chia seeds are so freakin good for you so I am going to try and drink a chia seed kambucha and see how I feel.

Here’s a few articles about it if you’re interested:

http://drbenkim.com/fasting.html

http://www.vegsource.com/talk/raw/messages/20177.html

Emotionally I have felt great today! Really into studying and researching and staying warm cuddled up on the couch.  I am resting and it feels fantastic!  So glad I am doing this while I can rest.

I have spoken to a few people who are also interested in trying this fast and I would like to encourage you to share here as well!

recipies:

Christmas: Mixed greens and a red apple

Update on Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 11:08PM by Grassroots Yoga

The Day 3

Day 3 was even better than day2.  No need for a nap today.  I took my supplements in the morning and went to Erin’s Yoga class.  It was again, perfect.  Yoga and fasting is perfect.  I slept way better last night.  I had a bowel movement without laxatives and had a fairly productive day.

Today was more interesting on an emotional/spiritual level.  Perhaps because the gross physical symptoms have subsided a bit.  I am still really hungry but the headaches and fatigue are almost gone.  I did rest a lot and the time for study has been truly fulfilling.

I have been doing a lot of contemplating about why I am doing this.  Yes, it’s for the ability to experience what I will be recommending to others, but something deeper has surfaced for me.  It’s about having the courage to experience discomfort in the aim of embracing the highest possibilities for my existence.  It dawns on me that this whole journey has been about that. Leaving my home town, my job, my family-everything I know, to hope and dream of the very best existence and not letting fear or discomfort derail my heart from fulfilling itself.  This journey isn’t taking the resolve that hard physical work does, it’s about the heart.  Opening up, believing, and trusting.  Full of curiosity and playfulness this is like a super fun and crazy science experiment to what its like to open up to all possibilities of growth learning and love.

Recipes:

Quick Fix- Kale, Apple, Cucumber, Mint, Celery and Ginger

Spicy Senorita – Sprouts, cucumber, apple, basil, avocado (blended), broccoli – Would have been great with neutral sprouts instead 😉

Castaway- handful of kale, 2 large carrots, 1 celery stick, ¼ cucumbers, ¼ beet, handful of grapes, splash coconut water and chia seeds.

Update on Friday, December 9, 2011 at 1:00AM by Grassroots Yoga

Day 4

Today I woke up at 7:30 feeling great.  I took my supplements and drank juice I made called citrus slammer.  It was slightly tart but good.   I did a lot of work and even ran to the store for more veggies.

I got finished doing most of my work around 3:00.  I also started spotting as though I would start my cycle.  I am now 1 day last, so I thought it would be a heavier day for me.  Turns out I have been just spotting and cramping.  I got super tired and took a nap from 3:30 to 4:00. The cramps died down a bit with a heating pad.

I also started to feel achey and headachey – again- around 4:00.  This has been a really hard time for me.  I really am not having any kind of a good time right now.  I am fantasizing about food. I think the detox symptoms have come on stronger due to my cycle coming and adding to the detoxification.  I had a cup of chx broth around noon and a ½ and avocado at 4:00 to attempt to lesson my discomfort and slow the detox process down a bit.  I had a Garden Green juice at 5:00.

I will be teaching acro yoga tonight.  I think I will not be able to participate much but we’ll see maybe it will help me feel a bit better. I also am planning to discontinue my fiber supplement until after my fast as I think it may be keeping me feeling more hungry then necessary.  I am also going to take a laxative tonight and hopefully aid in expelling the toxic load that’s making me so bad. I am also going to try to increase my water consumption as I noticed it is now 5:15 and I have only had 1 glass of just water in addition to my teas and juices.

Just got home from acro- I feel waaaay better. I love that about acro- always better after.  Drinking a chamomile tea and going to sleep watching shark documentary on netfilx!  I have drank 3 large glasses of water and I am betting that has done a lot to help me feel better as well…

Recipes:

Citrus Slammer:  3 oranges, 1 grapefruit and ½ apple

Garden Green Juice: 3 handfuls kale, 1” slice ginger, 2 tomatoes, 3 sticks celery, pinch of fresh parsley, handful of cilantro and ½ cucumber.

Update on Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 12:33AM by Grassroots Yoga

Day 5

Today was good.  I was able to work well and stay focused.  I did not do my breathing or my meditation in the morning. I am finding that sleeping in is feeling really good.  I had a juice from the co-op and skipped my supplements today.  Just forgot more than anything.  I took did some great work in the morning, detailed my car and went to the dog park. I really did feel good.

At around 5:30 I taught my power hour.  Right before class I had an Orange Julius juice. It was more challenging to stay on track, but overall was fun to teach.  After class I got home and went with my husband to Tractor Brewery.  He had a beer and a veggie burger with an egg on top.  I was trying to enjoy nasty  tap water. Damn, that was hard! I really won’t be doing that again until I can join him!  I had a hot cup of miso soup broth when we got home.

I was settling into bed when I accidentally spilled hot tea all over myself.  That was it- I lost it.  All the emotions that have been just under the surface came out.  I cried for about an hour – while sipping a new cup of tea;)  It was so cathartic and wonderful.  I was also able to communicate these emotions to Luke in such a beautiful and clear way.  He was wonderful in supporting me through the emotional release I had.

I finally relaxed enough to fall asleep.

Recipes:

Lemony Lizard (from co-op) – carot, celery, beet, parsley, and I added kale

Orange Julius juice – 3 organges, 2 pears ½ yam  – YUM!

Update on Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 1:11AM by Grassroots Yoga

Day 6

When I woke up this morning Luke made me a new juice.  I am finding that I really like the juice Luke makes me more than the ones I do… not sure why, maybe its because it makes me feel so supported and loved. Anyway it was good! It was called Cool Grapefruit.

I drank lots of water today as well.  I worked and then planned out some acro classes.  I was out most of the day.  I got another juice at the co-op called Summer time- seriously – my fave!!!

When I got home around 4:30, I rested about an hour and got ready for a co-workers xmas party we were going to.  I need to say that when I planned this fast I did not know about this.  I really didn’t want to be in a party situation while fasting – but it came up so I went.  Before we left Luke made me a juice – Berry Good – this one was a bust – nasty!  But I drank it.

OMG they had soooo much great looking food and beer- posole, nachos, veggie trays, beans, cookies, wine- it was all there.  I drank 2 bottled waters. At least it wasn’t tap;)  I did notice however, that when I would find myself bored, or socially feeling awkward, that’s when I missed being able to have food the most.  It was really enlightening to see what some of my emotional food triggers are.

I was starving when we left and I had to buy more veggies at the store anyway, so we stopped by a grocery store on the way home.  When I got home I ate ½ and avocado with lime on it. It did the trick! I felt much better, though I still have a headache! Sigh….  I made a cup of tea and am ready to sleep – Bring on day 7!!!

Recipes:

Cool Grapefruit: ¼ grapefruit, 2 apples, handful kale, 1 carrot, ¼ cucumber and mint

Berry good- ½ tub blueberries, 1 apple, ½ sweet potato, large carrot, (please do this next part separate if attempting this )kale, celery and 5 pieces bock choy. Tighter not good!

Summertime – from the co-op – Celery, apple, cucumber, basil and ginger – so far my fave!

Update on Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 10:46PM by Grassroots Yoga

Day 7

I slept in and woke up with great energy. I again forgot to take my supplements – tomorrow for sure!

Luke made me two juices, called good and evil (recipes at the bottom).  I drank the evil first (I liked it;), and saved good for later. I am still having bowel movements, which is great.  I cleaned the house, gave myself a mani and pedi and worked a bit. As I was leaving the house I spilled the good juice right outside my door! So I drank an odwalla green juice instead.  I ran some errands and put on a pair of yoga pants I haven’t been able to fit into in a long time- yay!

I went to teach yoga and was able to be waaaay more focused in my teaching tonight.  It felt really good. When I got home I was starving, so I ate ½ an avocado to which I added a tiny bit of salsa and had a slice of water melon.  I again did not drink enough water today so I drank two glasses, I was so thirsty! I had some gas which I think is from mixing vegies and fruits, I am going to stop mixing them, with the exception of apples as they are supposed to be more neutral and able to mix better with veggies.

I am seriously ready to start eating again.  I was curious about why I had more of a coating on my tongue today…hmmmm, maybe the odwlla or the mixing of veggies and fruits?  Anyway, tomorrow’s day 8- it seems to be going faster since I crossed the midpoint.

I am excited to start planning how I am going to break this fast.  I realize I have been taking more liberty with this fast in terms of augmenting with avocado, chx broth and seeds, but with my level of activity I felt it was best for me.  So it will be a bit easier for me to introduce solid foods, but I am still going to be careful.

Honestly, I am getting sick of juices, but I am liking this experience overall.  I am feeling really inspired to eat very health going forward after the fast, re committing to myself long term. Sooooo, if anyone would like to share their fave healthy vegan recipes with me I am ALL ears!!

 

I finished my night with a cup of detox tea:)

Recipe:

Good and Evil:

Good- ½ blended banana, apple, carrots, cranberry

Evil – chunk of ginger, 1 clove garlic, ¼ onion, spinach, ½ beet and a handful of grapes

Update on Wednesday, December 14, 2011 at 1:03AM by Grassroots Yoga

Day 8

I woke up feeling great again! I started my day with freshly juiced watermelon, sooooo good!!!

I went to the gym and was really motivated.  I did have to back up on the intensity though.  I usually have the resistance on the elliptical at 13 or 14 and I had it at 9, and I was working hard.  So interesting! I went in the morning, had a juice same as the one I had last night. It was delicious.  I drank a lot of water.

I finally think I’m feeling the fasting “high”.  I feel like I really don’t want to eat anymore.  I really didn’t think I would ever experience this.  Until now, it was hard, hard work to do this fast.  I love food! I also noticed my cravings and fantasies of food have dissipated too.  I still need to plan how I will break this fast.  I was invited to happy hour with a girlfriend and was so bummed to miss it- I have really been craving a girls night out…but only 2 days left.  It’s all uphill from here.

I was still feeling good and was really craving a warming yoga practice, and went to Cypresses class  :00.  It was wonderful!  I had tons of energy.  It has been really interesting to notice my breath. I lose my breath easily.  I think this is due to the fact that I would sometimes still smoke cigarettes before this fast and my lungs are probably working hard at ridding themselves of their toxicity, therefore leading to shortness of breath more easily.

When I got home I had some juice and went to be at 12:30am. I had so much energy I couldn’t fall asleep.  A strange thing did happen though is right before I fall asleep I got a huge headache.  I didn’t take anything for it.  It just thought maybe I did too long of a headstand 😉 When I did fall asleep- I slept great!

Recipes:

Watermelon – Juiced 4 big pieces of watermelon

Popeye’s Spinach – Handful of spinach, cucumber, celery and carrots

Update on Wednesday, December 14, 2011 at 1:15AM by Grassroots Yoga

Day 9

I am thriving with energy.  Super clear thinking.  I don’t want to sit still!  I went to the gym and did 20 min of cardio ( I would have done more but that was all the time I had) and had another spinach juice. I then did some running around doing errands.  Got home and had a phone consult, and had ½ a glass of odwalla super greens.  I settled in to get busy on some work that was adding up.

I was able to do a lot with my ability to focus, though my headache started to come back with all the “heady” analytical stuff I was working on.  My pitta was high.  I drank more water and kept plugging away.  I was hoping to make it to Erin’s yoga class before I taught my yin class at 7:15, but I was way too busy.  I got to the studio and had a great class!  I so miss teaching yin.

When I got home I was hungry and Luke had reheated some kitcharie I made and froze before my fast started.  Wow, nothing has tested me this much!  I really wanted kitcharie. I am finding my craving for heavy, “bad” foods is gone and I really want clean fresh foods and well-cooked nourishing meals like that. I was so surprised!

I stole 1 bite of kitcharie and made myself a miso soup. I was craving a sweet taste and so had a few bites of apple sauce.

I still need to plan out what to eat after tomorrow.  I seriously can’t believe tomorrow is day 9. That is Amazing.

Update on Thursday, December 15, 2011 at 2:50PM by Grassroots Yoga

Day 10

Well, it’s finally day 10!

I have to say that I woke up and felt great.  I really wanted to exercise, but didn’t have the time, unfortunately. Luke made me cranberry crush juice in the morning – it was huge and delish!( though even though it was a great juice- (I am admittedly sick of juices all together!)

I worked on my computer all day and had some chicken broth and ¼ cup of kitcharie. I kept working up to the point I had to teach yoga. So all and all an un-eventful day, but my energy was through the roof and I really am so happy I did this.

Looking back the first 5 days were by far the hardest. The last 5 were fun really, a challenge of willpower, commitment, and self-awareness. I am totally into doing this again.

I plan to start the day with whole pieces of watermelon, followed by the rest of super green odwalla after the gym for lunch and a snack of kitcharie before teaching acro.

Here is a pic of my breakfast…

 

I am going to treat myself to dinner after acro- still deciding where – it is really going to depend on what’s open at that time.

Ending weight – 151.00

Total weight lost 6.5 lbs

I had done a 3 day fast in early November that I ended early due to a surprise visit from family, and lost 3 lbs then, so total juice fast weight loss- 9.5 lbs.  I would like to lose another 6 lbs and plan to stick to eating really clean and light and increase my strength training and cardio- also preparing for an intense acro workshop at the end of January.

Recipe-

Cranberry Crush: watermelon, cranberries, raspberries, apple, bok choy, spinach, and an orange

 

After Thoughts:

I like juicing, I even may like the master cleanse slightly more, but I think I will continue using both for the occasional internal spring cleaning. I do hope to be able to try a water fast one day, though I realize I will pretty much need to take vacation do it – maybe in some beautiful coastal town somewhere….hey, a girl can dream J

My plan is to keep my eating clean and healthy and work really hard at the gym and yoga to keep my body vital and feeling this great!  I don’t miss food all that much anymore.  I mostly am excited to start eating again so I can increase my activity level.

The thing I most want to get across is that throughout this fast, I did tailor it to my needs by eating small amounts of while foods like avocados, miso soup, seeds, berries etc.  I think this was good to help keep energy up for my activity level, but I also think it slowed down the time it took for me to get the “fasting high”.  I think it happened around day 8, and usually will happen closer to 5 or 6.  I also think that the little bit of food I was eating made me stay hungrier throughout the fast then if I had not eaten any solids.

Overall juicing, even when not fasting, is great to give your body a nutrient boost and a chance to rest the digestive system.

There are many options out there for cleansing the mind, body and spirit. The way you do this will depend on lots of things like activity level, general state of health, as well as mental and emotional considerations.  Most important I think is to start learning how to listen to your body.  Begin listening to the subtle cue and the soft voice of wisdom inside of us that somehow always knows just what we need at that moment.  That voice is not a demanding bossy voice of addiction or craving or even emotion. It’s like a whisper of pure awareness. It has been a practice of mine in the last few years to start tuning in to that voice and refine my ability to hear it in the first place( as it IS easy to ignore) and then make choices for myself guided by that internal wisdom.  .

I am feeling proud and happy to have experienced this and truly look forward to my next experience.

A heart felt thank you to everyone who shared their wisdom, experiences and support with me.  A huge thanks to my husband who was the creative inspiration behind the best recipes and who was there for me during the hardest times.

If you desire to know more this is an awesome resource on fasting of all types!

http://falconblanco.com/health/fasting.htm

Thanks for reading!

 

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