Day 22 of my Modified Juice Fast

photo andrea parrish

I'm on Day 22 of my fast, and I'm ready to slowly start adding foods besides fruits and veggies back into my diet.  (I've written about it here, and here and here.)

I'm leaving to be in a wedding a few days after the end of my fast, and we're leaving from the wedding to go on vacation.  I want to work some other foods in slowly, starting now, so that by the time I get to the wedding, I'm able to eat food without throwing up.  I don't know how readily available fresh juice will be for a few days, until I get my juicer set up at our beach house.  I think it's important that I'm not coming off of a strict fast at that time or I'll feel like crap.

So, after 22 days of nothing but fresh fruits and veggies, I guess it's not really a fast, anymore.  I'm going to start with nuts and seeds, maybe move on to beans and lentils and eventually tofu and gluten free grain.  I'm ready for this, but it's also a little bit sad.  It felt good to exercise so much power over what I was eating.  Having such rigid guidelines made eating easy and instantly healthy.  But, it's healthy to eat other things, too. 

Something about this fast, is that it changed the way I was seeing food, which is what I wanted it to do.  Eating is a VERY mindful thing for me, now.  I would need to think very hard about putting something unhealthy into my body after 22 days of nothing but loads of vegetables.  I don't feel like I'm willing to do it, even.  I have no desire for veggie dogs and candy, right now.  (I'm not saying I'll feel this way forever, but right now, it seems like a terrible thing to eat something that would make me sicker, instead of healthier.)

After being so careful about everything I've been eating, and feeling so good and looking so glowy... I definitely will weigh everything I'm putting into my body carefully.  At the beginning of my fast, it seemed like... on day 31, I would like, run to the frozen yogurt shop, because I mean, holy hell.  Weeks and weeks without a single bite of sugar?  But, I don't feel excited about the prospect of sugar, right now.  I feel excited about being pain free and healthy, instead.  I feel excited that I figured out that I can feel better than I did before.  I feel excited about seasons of healthy food and cooking and feeling in control.  I don't feel tempted or out of control. 

Before, I just kind of ate whatever happened to be in front of me throughout the day, while my mind was on other things. As of this moment, I've spent weeks thinking carefully about different foods and what they mean to me.  For 22 days, I've gotten into the habit of not taking a single bite of food without thinking about it, first.  I feel like this must be a pretty important thing, for me.  I feel like I'm coming from a pretty healthy place.  I'm ready for some almond butter and chia seeds and hemp powder smoothies.  I'll take it little step by little step from here.


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