Fasting
Disclaimer - I know very little about fasting, and I’m not doing any research whatsoever for this, so definately don’t take my advice.
I wanted to write something about fasting, because it has influenced my life in a very positive way. I’m not talking about water fasting, which I have found simply awful…(I tried once, back when I was working at the video store, I lasted approximately 24 hours before cracking open a packet of sultanas and nuts, FAIL)…but juice fasting has truly helped me.
It’s always my naturally thin friends who are a little hesitant when I talk about this, so here we go.
I tried my first juice fast about 2 years ago, at the same time as one of my friends. We were aiming to last a week on juice and water. On the sixth day, I had a gig (and I look great in the photos, woo) (well, not skinny or anything, but great for me! woo!) and it was a beautiful summers day, and I loaded the “Juicies” (those little juice things you could buy at school, and when you freeze them they are like an iceblock) into the car, and we drove off to the beautiful West Coast, dressed in ripped fishnet and polka dots. That was one of the most fun days of my life, partly because we decided just before the gig that “alcohol definately constitutes as a juice” so we got completely blitzed, the poor Juicies left to melt sadly in the sun. We also discovered a “monster”, not unsimilar to that monster that was found recently, and we approached it gingerly, taking photos of it, to discover it was actually a shoe. So that juice fast = awesome. Although later that night we decided 6 days was close enough and I then devoured the most delicious falafel kebab of my life.
Ever since then, I’ve accomplished my goal of a one week juice fast, a couple of times. I’ve done a few 3 day juice fasts, although if you ask me, there isn’t that much point. And sometimes I’ll only last a day or two and quit, and that’s fine. Some days your head just isn’t in it, and there’s no point feeling exhausted.
I think the hardest part of fasting is starting it. I can normally tell on the first day whether I’m going to last or not. If I’m feeling starving, then it probably won’t last. I’m on Day 3 of a Juice Fast right now, and I’ll tell ya, the first day was HELL. Sometimes the first day is fine, in fact I’m sure a lot of us sometimes forget to eat in general and achieve it without trying. But this time, all I was craving was a Subway sub with extra cheese. Not exactly the worst thing I could be craving, but the problem was that Nate wanted Subway for dinner. I was practically rolling around on the ground, salivating, as he left to get Subway and asked me to speak now or forever hold my peace. But I managed to keep on the plan, which meant that the next day I woke up feeling thinner (is there anything better than waking up FEELING like you’ve done a good job and excited to see what the scales say?) and I was proud of my mind.
I know that what the scales say day-to-day is irrelevant, but you can’t deny that if it says something good on the scales, you feel better about yourself. The hard part is when you’ve been working really hard and you hit a plateau, but that’s when you’re at liberty to give yourself the whole “The day-to-day weighing is irrelevant” speech, right?
Day 2 and Day 3 are usually the hardest parts (apart from Day 1, actually DOING it). I feel good, ’cause I’ve usually lost about a kilo overnight. (Yes, yes, I KNOW.) But then my body starts saying “Excuse me? Are you going to feed me anytime soon?” That’s the part where I need to drink lots of water and juice, to make sure I feel full enough. If I can get through that part, it’s seriously smooth sailing. This sounds hard to believe to people who haven’t done it, but Days 4-7 are FINE. I don’t feel hungry at all. I just feel lighter, contented, and in control. I may occasionally crave a food, but I don’t feel like I’m about to break and go get it. And sure I look forward to Day 8, so I can go stuff myself with a Starbucks vegetarian pie (I arrived at 10am the day I finished my fast for the first time, haha), but at the same time, I almost don’t want that pie. (And for best results, sure have it if you’ve REALLY been craving it, but leave it at that! You’re feeling in control of what you eat for once, so you don’t want to go and reverse all your good work!)
I read somewhere that the fast doesn’t REALLY start working until the 3rd day, so the 4th day is technically like Day One of actually working. Which sort of ties into how my body feels about it.
And the weight? The first time I did it for the full 7 days, I lost 3kg. Not a huge amount, but definately not a small amount either. And as with any sort of weight loss program, the important part is keeping it off. One thing I am not good at, but working on. I do find that the fast is the best way to keep weight off, however. It gives me an opportunity to shrink my stomach a little bit, so I am fuller quicker when I go back to eating. Unlike with a diet, where I often feel hungry all the time, I don’t feel hungry on the fast. Therefore I feel happier and better about my abillity to use my mind to control what is going on with my body. That makes me realise I have the elusive will power, and that I can use it for healthier eating in general.
Speaking of mind power, that is a big thing. There is only one thing that can make you eat, and that is your mind. And it is the thing I struggle most with. Whenever I feel hungry or like I might crack, I have to tell myself - it is all in my mind. My stomach is telling my brain that it is hungry, but I know that what I am doing is safe and it will still be receiving most of the nutrients it needs (that is important, I am NOT starving myself when I do this), so it is only my brain that can say what will happen next. It is only my brain that can control my hand to pick up that food and put it in my mouth, or to tell my mouth to call out to Nathan and ask him to buy me food. It is the most difficult part of the whole experience. But if you have control over your brain, you can pretty much do anything. Don’t be weak, be strong.
I really don’t want this to sound like I’m encouraging people to starve themselves, because I’m not. I never ask mine, but I’m betting that checking with your doctor is a good idea. I don’t know about water fasts - you’re not getting any nutrients, and it seems far too dangerous to me. With juice, you can have both vegetable or fruit juice, almost like you’re eating them but without the body having to digest as much.
The best way to do this is with a juicer, and naturally juiced fruit/vegetables each time. I know that, and I think if I did that I would feel even more healthy. But I have to admit, it usually isn’t viable. I do it sort of like the 40 hour Famine…I use Just Juice as much as possible. Nothing with added sugar, the amount of sugar in juice already is ridiculous, and sugar turns into fat. It’s like, the amount of sugar in one orange is healthy. But if you ate a whole bag of oranges, that would be a lot of sugar. And now that equals, say, one glass of juice. So you really want to watch that. Anything without added ingredients is good. Orange juice is not as good for fasts, because the citrus can be hard on the stomach. Vegetable juices are greeeeeeeeat. I think V8 is okay, but not the other flavours, just the plain one. My favourite juice in the world is carrot juice, although I had one the other day from a juice bar that made me sick, so I’m kinda put off it for a while.
And I make sure I drink at least 8 glasses of water for this to work. That’s the one thing I can always do. I have 10 smaller glasses of water a day. And I always have water before I have the juice. I try to have no more than about 6 glasses of juice a day if I can help it, because of the sugar. I try to have 3 smaller glasses of water, then a glass of juice. I’m sure if you’re having vegetable juice, you could increase it a bit.
I’m attempting for two weeks this time, which means I’ll be finished on the morning we leave for Australia, but there’s one other factor that I’m a little worried about - socialising. I simply don’t know if it’ll be possible. Firstly, I am going to see my Dad, my sister and my Nan next weekend, and if they’re eating, I don’t really want to explain the fast thing because I know some of them simply wouldn’t understand. Normally I’d try to arrange the fast around a time where that sort of thing wouldn’t occur, but 1 1/2 weeks would be fine to me in that case, if I’m in a situation where I have no explanation for not eating and I don’t want to worry anyone. Also, I am going to a couple of parties this weekend that I am really excited about, and this is more an embarassing reason because I’ve been going on about brain control, but I simply want to drink. And although I’m sort of okay with that, and I could just keep going the next day (although I probably wouldn’t count it as a 100% successful fast), I’m sure that if I drink, I’ll eat. We’ll see what happens. As long as I feel better in the long run, that’s the important thing. (Isn’t it??? Please someone??? Please tell me I am not an epic fail?!?!?)
