The Fast: Day 7 - Deleting Facebook Friends

I cannot tell you how good this cinnamon tea smells right now.  It has been a full week since I stopped eating solid foods.  I find myself walking around my neighborhood smelling the fresh tortillas being cooked just for the pleasure of it.  This weekend I’ve watched numerous individuals eat delicious food while I sat back sipping my lemonade, admiring the texture of the food; noticing how people were eating way too fast and feeling very curious.

People have been asking me exactly how I’m able to not eat for long periods of time.  I’m not sure how but I can tell you this: I HATE everyone on Facebook that feels the need to post pictures of their delicious amazing food!!  F***ERS! Seriously?!  Does everyone find it necessary to take pictures of their food before eating it?   Those are the people that will soon be deleted from my friends list.  You’ve been warned.

Just kidding, I mean, I’m like Jesus when he fasted, experiencing nothing but moments of clarity and epiphany.  I haven’t been dreaming of pasta with scallops, shrimp and a spicy marinara sauce.  I haven’t been missing my regular whiskey or red wine.

Why do I torture myself by adding this picture?  I am a serious masochist..

I’ve actually been doing really well – in the past when I’ve done the Master Cleanse the detox symptoms were very unbearable.  I would experience headaches from the lack of caffeine the first day, extreme fatigue, extreme hunger pains etc.  This time around I’m going to parties until 2a.m. and dancing while watching people eat pizza and chips with hummus.  I’m working out every single day and trying new machines at the gym because I have so much energy.  I’m staying up late and getting up early.  I’m focused and my mind is very clear.  My olfactory sense is sharpened.  Colors seem brighter.  In short, I feel fantastic.  A little hungry maybe, but I feel good.

One of my yoga teachers will make us get into the most uncomfortable and difficult positions and then hold it for 5 – 10 breaths.  Usually, this is the part of the class that I’m silently cursing her very existence in my head and asking myself why on earth I decided to come to this stupid class anyway while my whole body begins to shake.  This is when she says to “smile through it.”  Having no other resort I listen and smile.  Then it doesn’t seem so hard after all.

I’m not saying this hasn’t been hard.  It is hard, but I guess I’m taking my yoga teacher's advice and smiling through it.  Taking it one breath at a time and deleting friends on Facebook.  J  Just kidding.

33 more days to go!

THE PLAN: 40 Day Fast

THE PLAN

I haven’t eaten solid food in four days.  That’s right, no morsel of cheese, fruit, rice, chocolate or even coffee has passed these lips in four days.

My plan is to fast for a total of forty days.  Maybe I have a Jesus complex or maybe I’m just crazy.  Perhaps I should explain myself.

I started doing the Master Cleanse Fast about five years ago when I first started getting into alternative health practices.  The Master Cleanse is essentially this:

• Raw lemon juice
• Organic grade B maple syrup (more nutrients than Grade A)
• And cayenne pepper

All mixed with natural spring water or filtered water with as much non-caffeinated herbal tea as you want and a laxative taken every morning and every evening.  Sounds delicious no?  The master cleanse is to be done at minimum 8 days with a recommended 10 days.  My plan is to do 10 days and then an additional 30 days of juice fasting.  I would like to clarify that this is not a water fast where you consume no calories a day.  This is a fast where you are consuming between 1,000 – 1,600 calories a day – it’s a liquid diet.  This is how I’ve been able to go to work, exercise and participate in social and business events/meetings without any adverse affects for the past four days.

Juice fasting is a less severe version of the Master Cleanse and nutritionally robust fast.  It will be my first time doing it and as such I don’t know too much about it other than the basics which is this:

• Buy a bunch of fruits and vegetables
• Put them in a juicer (but don’t mix fruits with veggies or vice versa and voila!  Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served – in a glass.It’s essentially like eating all raw – in liquid form.

The longest fast I’ve ever done was 13 days and my blog originated from documenting the fast.  We are coming full circle.  No doubt fasting for 40 days will challenge me in so many ways.  This is like a death wish to my social life.  Ever notice most of our social activities revolve around food or drinking - both of which I can't do?

Whenever I tell people I am fasting, they get tense and ask me all sorts of questions and then tell me that what I am doing is unhealthy for me.  I’m not a doctor and neither are they usually, but I can tell you this:

• I feel amazing when I fast.
• I have so much clarity.
• I have a lot of energy.

Best of all, I enter into this zen-like calm; a euphoric state where I forget my body and become closer to all that is consciousness and more than that, all that is love.  I start to see my higher self. (whoa, Jen come back to earth) – nah, it’s much nicer here…

A disclaimer: I am not doing this to lose weight.  Before starting this fast I had lost twenty pounds through changing my diet and exercising.  The weight loss of course, is definitely nice side effect, but overall I am doing this for me.  I can’t take off to Mexico to meditate in a cave for three days straight so maybe this is the next best thing.

P.S. I know people think they are looking out for you when they try to tell you what is “healthy” and “unhealthy” but before you start typing comments below regarding what you THINK – do some research – some hard, cold research.  People have been fasting for thousands of years (not to mention in prehistoric times food was not readily available and our bodies are adapted to be able to support fasting).  Animals fast naturally when they are sick.  You might take off on a vacation from work to clear your head.  You might sleep or rest your body after a grueling work out but what about our digestive system?  Doesn’t it seem unnatural to NEVER give it a break?