Thoughts two months after my juice fast.

Its been a while since I completed my juice fast, so I wanted to share some of my thoughts on my previous juice fasting experience.

Here is how I honestly feel about it now.

I absolutely believe in the benefits of a juice fast.  The problem is that you don't only have to be able to get through the juice fast, you also have to end the fast correctly and control the cravings while introducing healthy food.

I had completed my juice fast successfully, all I drank was freshly made juice for 10 days.  I never cheated, not once.  Now where I went wrong was when I broke the fast, my first meal was a fruit smoothie but after that it all went down hill.  Within a few days I was satisfying every craving I had had for 10 days!

So all the benefits from fasting were quickly gone.

The most amazing feeling I felt while I was fasting was a lightness that I haven't felt in years probably since I was a child.  I felt so light and clear. The worst thing I felt during the fast was the intense cravings for food. I felt so deprived from what I wanted (not physically) and since that is a emotional trigger for me as well it was very difficult to deal with.

I don't regret doing the juice fast even though all that hard work went right down the drain once I broke the fast, I know I learned a lot about myself through the process of the fast and more than anything I learned to believe in myself.

A very good friend of mine just gifted Albert and I a juicer as a wedding gift,  so I plan on doing a shorter fast this time and seeing if I am able to break the fast slowly and with healthy foods.

We move into our house in about two weeks and once we are settled in, I will do the shorter fast then.

I plan on educating myself more on juice fasting and proper ways of breaking a fast from now until then.

Enjoy!

After Juice Fast Update!

Well I must say that the juice fast definitely did not do what it to do for me mentally.

Physically it was everything I wanted and more. My body felt amazing, slim, healthy, and physically the fast was  a piece of cake!

Mentally on the other hand it kind of back fired a little for me. At about day 3 the cravings started and the intensity of them increased every day.  So when I broke the fast, it felt impossible to stay away from all the foods I had been craving for over a week!

I have heard people say that after a juice fast you become very conscious of what you put into your body.  I thought this would be the case and more importantly I was hoping it would be the case. But it wasn't!  Before the juice fast I was already eating very healthily and I had eliminated almost all toxin foods from diet.

I hate to it admit it but now I have been eating all that bad stuff.  I still make sure I have my smoothie for breakfast and I take vitamins with every meal but my food choices are not good at the moment, I was hoping they got better not worse.

Hopefully once I satisfy my cravings I will get back to eating healthier more than not.  I really do want to eat healthy and feel good physically.

We'll see!

Day 2 after the juice fast.

Throughout the morning my stomach felt fine until mid afternoon.  A little bit if stomach cramps and urgency to use the restroom. Or maybe, I am just more sensitive to my digestive system since I didn't have to experience it for 10 days.

I eat as healthy as possible most of the day and allow myself to have whatever I want for one meal.  I like that balance it feels right to me. I plan to go back to the gym today to start walking on the treadmill and see how my body takes that.

I stopped taking all medication, vitamins, and supplements while on the fast so I am having to get back into the routine of taking everything again.  Yesterday, I remembered to take a little more than the day before.  Hopefully within a few days I will have the routine down again.

I also do my best to get at least one cup of green tea in a day.  I was still drinking decaf green tea while I was fasting but now that I am not fasting I feel like I need to be drinking more of it.

I was also considering doing another juice fast in 3 months or so.  Since I was only willing to go the 10 days I think another fast would be do within a few months.  From what I understand each fast is very different.  All I know is that from what I experienced physically juice fasting is very good for my body.  I could feel it, its a dramatic difference and I want my body to continue to detox on a regular basis.

I do worry that I am not going to be able to keep the balance with my food. I tend to be an all or nothing type of person. I either eat extremely healthy without going off of it at all or I eat all very unhealthy meals.  I would be very surprised if I am able to keep the balance I feel is right for me.  It is my intention that the majority of my meals and choices be healthy with a few yummy choices a day.   That is balance a good balance I believe but we'll see how that works out for me.

I don't think I'll have much to write about the fast until I weigh myself again on Monday.

Enjoy!

The day after my Juice fast: I can eat!

I woke up to a thoughtful card my mom had left for me which was very loving.

I was a little hesitant to eat because I wasn't sure how my body would react.

I started to feel hungry about the time I would drink my first juice, so I had my smoothie instead.  Luckily the smoothie was pretty watery and not too thick today so it would go down smoothly.  The smoothie tasted extremely good compared to my juices and I surely did miss my smoothies.   I only had about half of what I would normally drink and then I felt full.   A little while later my stomach did become a little hard and I had some cramps but I figured it was my digestive system turning back on.  I couldn't have eaten anything healthier than my smoothie.  It is a very green smoothie.  :)

I also weighed myself this morning and I have lost a total of 15 pounds!  3 to 5 pounds is water weight and will return within the next few days.  But that is still 10 to 12 pounds lost.  Which is good.  I look forward to losing more weight.

I picked up my sister so that we could spend the day together.  I had some more of my smoothie a few hours later when I felt hungry again.  But before too long I was very hungry in a way I haven't felt for over 10 days.  Once that digestion and metabolism turns back on, you can definitely feel it.

So, I was sooooo bad.  I gave in and had Jack in the Box.  I got one of their breakfast sandwiches with no bacon or yolk on it.  So it was pretty much bread, egg whites, cheese and ham. I even had a some hash brown sticks.  I know it wasn't healthy but I surely enjoyed it!  This kept me full for quite a long time.

Later on in the day I had crazy stomach pains and I had several bowel movements.

My sister, my son and I then went to have dinner with my brother at his favorite vegetarian place.  I had the best time.  We laughed, had very deep conversations, we made future plans, it was just pure joy.  I love all of them very much.  I didn't eat much of the food though, I didn't order anything and just tried a bite off of everyone's plates.  I still wasn't hungry.

My sister and I then went to Dave and Busters which was fun.  I started to get extremely tired towards the end.  We didn't eat anything there and I had no desire to either.

When I got home and started getting ready for bed, I had a few organic raisins which were delicious!

It was a great day!