The Fast: Day 23 (Jordan Day) and How to do a Juice Fast

Today is my “Jordan day” of the fast.   My cousin coined the term during his 23^rd birthday.  He said: “This is my Jordan year;” 23 representing the numbers Michael Jordan rocked with The Bulls.  Can you tell we’re Chicagoans?  Anyway, my “Jordan day” doesn’t start with Wheaties, the breakfast of champions (the cheesiness stops here, I swear).  It starts with a green smoothie.

I’ve gotten a couple of requests to share exactly how I’ve been fasting.  Most people are surprised to know that I don’t spend all day at home in bed rest next to my juicer.  I generally have very busy and active days.

A typical weekday for me means I’m up at 6 a.m. and out the door by 7:30 a.m.  I generally don’t see my apartment again until 8 or 9 that night.  This is due to many work and social engagements (I like to keep really really busy).  This might include luncheon meetings during the day, workouts, yoga classes, board meetings in the evenings, networking events or even dinner galas. 

For those of you who have researched juice fasting you know that juicing (not the Arnold kind) is done using fresh fruits and vegetables (organic if possible) and a juicer, but how can you maintain a super busy schedule that include breakfasts, luncheons and yes, even galas while juice fasting?

After only 13 days of juice fasting (23 days of fasting include the 10 day Master Cleanse), I certainly don’t consider myself an expert, but here’s what I do:

I make all of my juice in the morning before leaving and carry it in one or two water bottles to work and stick it in the fridge here while sipping on it continuously.  It’s true that juice is best once freshly made but if you keep it refrigerated it can last up to 24 hours.

This was yesterday’s meal:

Breakfast juice:

5 carrots, 1-2 beets, 1 sweet potato (yes you can juice sweet potatoes)

Big Lunch juice:

7 leaves of dinosaur kale, 3 brussel sprouts (I juice anything and everything), 3 apples.  I juice all of those then I mix the green juice in the blender with three very ripe bananas.  I use bananas because unlike other fruits, their sugars are distributed in your body slowly so you get hungry less.  Another reason I use bananas is because kale and swiss chard and other leafy greens that are super good for you taste like chlorophyll (which isn’t very tasty) and bananas are great at masking the taste especially ripe ones.

Dinner:

Avocado Cilantro Soup (this is all blended and NOT juiced):

2 avocados

Spinach

Juice of one lime

Cilantro

1 bunch of green onions

CHEAT SHEET:

So perhaps a couple of days during the week my crazy schedule catches up with me and I wake up a little late or perhaps I forget my juice in the fridge and don’t realize it until hunger strikes on the bus.  Here are some tips for such occasions:

·         I work downtown and there are a few places that make fresh juice.  I have them memorized and head there on my lunch break.

·         In my neighborhood, the café down the street juices fresh orange and carrot juice.  If I woke up late, I’ll run to the café and get a small orange juice for breakfast and a large carrot juice for lunch.

·         Out and about?  Asian restaurants that offer smoothies generally can make you fresh juice or smoothies with only fruit and water or ice when you’re in a juice bind.

·         Some health food stores have juice bars.

·         Many Middle Eastern restaurants have juicers.

·         Worst case scenario includes you picking up some Naked brand juice – make sure to review all ingredients to make sure it’s 100% fruits and vegetables only.

·         Jamba Juice can make you some fruit juices but they are not the best providers of vegetable juices.

·         Hit up your neighborhoods Farmer’s Market on the weekends so you have ingredients for the week.  Don’t be afraid to juice new things for the first time.  Juicing is a great way to experiment with new fruits and vegetables!

·         Enjoy your fresh juice and the experience!

If you are interested in juice fasting here are some better resources, links and books that I recommend:

Watch this documentary: Fat Sick & Nearly Dead

On Green Juicing

This is a comprehensive site with information on various types of juice fasting including the Master Cleanse which I previously did. The organization of the site isn't too user friendly but if you poke around a bit there's some good information.

These books have provided me with basic information and recipes:

Juicing, Fasting and Detoxing for Life by Cherie Calbom MS

The Green Smoothie Revolution: The Radical Leap Towards Natural Health by Victoria Boutenko

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?

I know it's been a while..

I ate.

I had an orange. I feel so full. I made myself some veggie broth with 5 carrots. I'm stuffed--I feel like I sat down to a five course meal.

Of course, I'm the worst at breaking the fast. I did 13 days. I lost 15 pounds. I could have gone longer but I was really missing eating and having some sort of social life (which is pretty damn hard when you aren't eating or drinking).

What have I come away with:
I think this fast really accelerated me dealing with a lot of emotional issues. I gained a lot of clarity and perspective and I made a promise to take care of Jen first. No one is going to come between my excellent relationship with myself. I'm glad I did this when I did because it boosted my confidence and I feel very in control of myself and of my body. My energy is flowing again instead of this depressed stagnation I was in.

I got the keys to my new place today. I can't wait to move in.

I've been feeling really good lately. I'm amazed at my own sheer strength and capacity to deal with the recent things thrown into my world as of late. I'm quite proud of myself. Now I just need to sum of the courage to pack up the rest of my things here and finally be done with this temporary home. 5 months of my life here. I'm glad I'm leaving because this place just reminds me of him.

New Moon's in the alley and its madness calls to me

It's 4:30 a.m. and I have been trying to sleep for an hour. I'm going to attribute the restlessness to the fast as I usually am pretty good about sleeping. It's not until later on in the fast that I usually start feeling restless--they say that it's because of your body not using you energy to do digest that you have extra energy. I'm not sure that's true since my body should be using it's energy to cleanse my cells and detox me.


Ah well, guess I'm up for the moment. I did tarot readings for this event called Give Peace a Dance. It's this really awesome event every 1st Saturday of the month. There are drum circles, a fire pit outside (which is my favorite thing there), different healers and readers, thai massage, reiki, dancing, etc.


Anyway, for every single person that came in for a reading I kept pulling out The Moon card from my deck. See the definition for it here. but I have The Goddess Deck so the definition is slightly different. My deck is slightly gentler than other decks and that's part of the reason I enjoy working with it. It's a lot lighter and embued with feminine energy.


The definition for The Moon in this deck is as follows:
The Moon is represented by the Roman Goddess Diana.


"The changing moon reflects the cycles of nature, its light influences all growing things--plants, animals, and humans alike--for better and for worse. Diana reminds us of our connections to these cycles and that, like the moon itself, what is empty will, in time, become full if we are patient.
General Meanings:
The receptive, nurturing aspects. Intense emotions. Vivid or lucid dreams. Intuition. An opportunity to work on your relationship with that which truly nurtures you.
Reversed: Uncomfortable emotional states, uneasiness with intuition, maternal figures, women. Feeling as changeable as the moon..."
-The Goddess Tarot


I felt that even though I was giving other people readings and this card kept coming up it was because there was some sort of global consciousness of unrest at the moment that is causing each of us to either really truly listen to ourselves for guidance amongst the craziness or avoid using our intuition at all costs - which unfortunately was true for most of the people I read for. In many ways I felt like the moon was trying to deliver a message to me that night.


I've been thinking a lot about Our Great Mother and the messages she is trying to deliver to us now. It seems the rapid pace of everything is catching up to us with all the earthquakes and natural disasters that are happening. She's trying to wake us up.


It's 5:16 a.m. on a Monday morning. I'm up.