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?
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