Day 13: It's officially over

Yep. Slept over it. Thought about it a lot and I have to end it. This fast attempt was a failure. I'm stopping it here since it is obviouse from reading the previouse entries that I was not committed to a)not smoking b) juicing consistantly.

It's back to fully solids for me. Until I fast again.

Day 12: Discouraged

Woke up in time to get to work on time. Worked from 9am to 4pm. The only juice I had was from 3 limes and one orange. Tart! Drank lots of water and smoked throughout the day. I was fine with everything until I was heading out the door...and got really hungry and all of a sudden I had the strongest "FUCK IT" sensation. I ordered a burger medium rare with fries. Ate that sucker when I got home. Just weighed in at 180 lbs.

I think I need re-evaluate whether or not this is really a time for me to be going into a fast. As far as cleanses go this one isn't going too well. I'm hardly juicing. I eat intermitantly. I'm not sleeping enough to compensate for less food intake. Maybe I can't do it the second time or maybe I don't have the self control to do it like this right now. Or maybe I shouldn't have done it immediately after school ended since this is normally a time to cut lose and relax and drink and unwind from the year. Whatever it is if I can't make more progress, in terms of resisting solids and or tabacco, in the next couple of days I think I should call it quits and try again in another six months.

Day 11: Atlantic City and work a bad mix

John and I rolled into A.C. around 9.30 pm Friday night. We left, as agreed, at 6 am Saturday morning so that I could go to work at 9 am. I slept an hour in the car on the way up. Munched on one carrot to get the all-nighter casino breath out. It was a good thing that the poker room was no smoking because I only ended up smoking once during the night and a couple of times on the way home. I came home and heated up some left overs and ate rice and fish and some other leftovers and hoped that would get me through the day. Worked from 9 am to 8pm. Came home and passed out. That's right no juicing at all.

Day 10: way laid by Atlantic City...again

Went to bed really late...the sun was just about to rise. Got up around 2pm putzed around the house. Weighed in at 179. Had the day off and eventually decided to do something. Called my friend John who was on his way to A.C. I told him to turn around and get me. Did not juice at all. Ended up munching on carrots on they way down. Started my smoking when I got into John's car.

Day 9

Got up at 1:30. Weigh in at 179 lbs. Had 8 oz of orange juice. Went to work from 5pm - 1.30 am. I felt no dizziness or hunger pangs at all today. Unfortunately I decided to go to the diner with the co-workers before going home and ended up having a 2 eggs over easy with french fries and brown gravy. It is now 3.30 in the morning and it wants to come out. I can feel it butting up against my throat. I'm resisting the urge because given my failure rate that would just make this fast an eating disorder. I've been smoking throughout the day. I would say I had about 6-8 cigarettes.

Tomorrow/today I really need to be more diligent about this fast.

Day 8: Oh how I've sinned

Phone wake up call at 9.20am at Laura's got up immediately to head down for the charity event. Drank about 3 oz. of Vruit juice and drove home to change for the charity cook out. Ended up eating a hot dog with ketchup and sourkrout and a cheeseburger with sourkrout. They sat in my stomach like rocks. Had 2 movements today, probably due to the increased intake of solids.

Around 6pm I ate a quarter of a baguette and some of my stinky cheese. I smoked all day. I weigh in at 18l lbs. I smoked all the live long day.

Day 7

I woke up at 9 and got up 10am. I'm seeing a trend of liking to lay about a bit before going about me day. Weighed in at 180 lbs. Have not juiced. Ate lunch, a little eggplant parm with a side of speghetti, bought a pack of cigarettes. Hmmm...

Wow did I ever stray. Around 7.30pm I got a call from Laura to come out for drinks. I was going to demure because of the fast and because I wasn't sure I wanted to make the effort and felt immediately bad about the effort part. So off I went. Long story short I had 3 Malibu Bay Breezes and a Grey Goose L'Orange and cranberry. The only juice I had today was processed, pasturized and mixed with alcohol. I don't think that juice recipe is on ANY cleanse, no matter how hard you google it. SMOKE WAY TOOO MUCH...

Day 6:

Today was glorious I did not wake up until 12pm and and I did not get up until 1.30pm. Weighed in at 176 lbs.

I had 10 oz of orange juice. I ate 3 carrots and some bread and cheese. I had 1 movement. No cigarettes. I really want one.

Day 5

I was so exhausted yesterday I didn't even have the energy to post here before going to bed. I finally had a good night's rest.

I woke up at 6 fell back to sleep and woke up at 7 went to work at 8am. It was another busy day. Didn't manage to have anything to juice at all until I got home at 6pm. I had 13 oz of orange juice. I got lazy and didn't feel like preping for the juicer so I just used the manual orange juicer.

My friend and I went to Asbury Park, found a carnival and took some pictures. We walked around and watched people. He stopped somewhere to get some Papa John's pizza. The smells coming from his pizza were both enticing and gross to me.

A little bit into the drive home I found myself having a hard time keeping my eyes open. I ended up taking a nap. But felt pretty energized by the time I walked in the door. I watched a little tv with the my sister and bro-in-law. Then they had ice cream sandwiches and I had one too. Then I was told that my other sister had made some pansit and couldn't resist. But something was wrong with this batch of pansit it tasted gross so ended up eating only a bite or two.

At this point I noticed that I was freezing! It had been in the 90's all day but the temperature had definitely dropped. I asked my family if they were cold and they said tehy were fine. I don't know if it was the fast or my period but suddenly I was shivering like I was in 10 below temperatures.

Weighed in at 178. I had no movement yesterday either. I think that's 2 days in a row but I don't feel umm...I don't know like that's a problem....is it?

Almost forgot. I had 8+ cigarettes

Day 4: and a slip and slide

Woke up at 6am. Got up at 6.30 am. Went to work from 7am to 6pm. I packed up my juicer to take to work but never had time to juice. Got a the start of a dizzy spell and a headache around 2.30 pm. Managed to hand squeeze 2 oranges and 2 lemons for a quick pick me up. They only yielded about 4 oz of juice. Throughout the day I was never really tempted to eat. The sheer abundance of food surrounding me was a repressive in itself.

Didn't have a movement today. Worrisome but probably due to lack of solids yesterday and very little juice to aid the voiding process.

Came home and immediately juiced the other half of the large cantaloupe. It's the same yield as yesterday so no picture necessary. It was delicious and refreshing! Then my family ate. I had no desire to eat the very heavy looking steaks but I was enticed by the lovely Greek salad. In the end I had a portion of that and it was really flavorful. I notice that my sense of smell (despite the smoking) and taste are adapting to juicing again. As I remove all of those overly flavored foods from my diet I am getting a better appreciation for what would have been subtle flavors. The cantaloupe juice for instance was so sweet! I am aware, especially in the restaurant, of a heavy smell coming off of fried and overly sauced foods. It is definitely becoming easier to go without.

Perhaps now I can focus on the cigarettes. I had 7 cigarettes today. I weigh in at 180 lbs. On the matter of weight, I fully expect to lose 10 lbs within the first week and half of full juicing. This will be due to no extra effort on my part. It is simply a consequence of having nothing in my alimentary canal. The average person carries around about 10 lbs of waste in their body. Once I return to solids this weight will quickly return within days.

I got my period today. This should mean that I'm safe from the crazy animal cravings and can expect to battle the fast on its own terms. I keep thinking about parasites parasites parasites and the fixes or cleanses that are being advertised on the obligatory google ads on this blog. I think for now I will stick to just the juice and in my next fast I will try some of the cleanses.

So it looks like I am weakest at home where I am relaxed. I'll have to keep myself busy when I'm home.

Day 3: First full day with no solids

I woke up at 10am. Got up at 11am. Juiced, had a movement (the usual) and went to work from 12pm - 10pm. I just weighed in at 181 lbs.

I juiced half of a large cantaloupe which gave me about 19-20 oz of juice. It was much yummier than this picture would have you believe.


Had about a liter of water all day. That is definitely not enough. I started getting hungry around six. I thought I might crumble when I got home and have some sort of snack but despite feeling the empty stomach I really don't want to eat anything. I am very burpy. Unfortunately, I had 7 cigarrettes. I can feel it in my lungs. I'm going to have to bring my juicer to work tomorrow. I have to be in by 7am and I don't want to wake up my sister or brother-in-law with the loud juicer so I'll have to juice there.

So far this experience is nothing like my last fast. I'm surprised that I haven't felt dizziness all day. I think it's because it was a relatively calm shift.

That's all for now.

Day 2

Woke up at 11am got up at 12pm. Oh I do relish these days. I know I don't have many of them left. I really loathe the idea of going back to a "normal" schedule.

Juiced
13 oz beet, cucumber, wheat grass juice
- 1 whole beet with greens
- 2 cucumbers
- .09 lbs of wheat grass (I hear you need a special juicer for these. I don't have it)



Weight: 180 lbs

I woke up really craving a cigarette. That will be the temptation of the day I think especially when I get to the restaurant later.

Had a soft movement about half an hour after juicing.

1.59 am Friday morning.
I had a total of four cigarrettes at work. I was very cranky but I don't know if that's because I only drank one juice or if its because I'm beginning to dislike everything about the restaurant right now.

I think I've figured out why this is so hard for me this time around. I have unfortuantely timed it so that I started my fast right around the time when I should be getting my period. BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD idea. No wonder I've been getting these insatiable cravings. So it looks like I'll have to suck it up and just keep trying and weaning myself off of solids, but I do have to acknowledge that the period is bigger than I am. Until it gets here and until it's done I am at its mercy.

What a cop out.

Day1: continued

12.30 pm - Shortly after posting the last entry, 15 minutes after I started drinking the juice and as I was finishing it, I had another movement, normal soft stool.

2.10 pm - Started to get hunger pangs. Haven't been drinking as much water as I should be. Got really tempted to have a cigarette and to eat. So far haven't done either. Instead I made a strawberry lemonade.

13 oz strawberry lemonade
16 oz strawberries
4 peeled lemons (you have to peel them the body can't digest the oils in the peels)



The juice was very tangy. But I love all things sour so it was fine for me. For those with less tolerance for sour I would recomend adding some honey.

I'm trying to decide whether or not I'd be overdoing it by going for a quick mile run.

7 pm - AAAAK I fell off the wagon, AGAIN. Sometime mid-day I got really tired so I took a nap and woke up around 7 really hungry. I resisted it for a little while then talked myself into being ok with having some organic tortilla chips and tabouleh. Then my family decided they wanted to go out for dinner and at that point I just shrugged and said what the hell I'll go too.

We went to Pizzaria Uno. I had a side of broccoli and a side of twice baked potato with cheese and bacon on top. I had one of my sister's ribs. Overall I've had 4 cigarrettes for the day. I weigh in at 180 lbs.

One good thing is that I did manage to lift some weights. I'll probably lose muscle mass with the fast so I'm trying to counter it. I did arm curls, 3 reps of 10 with a 10 lb dumbell.

I'm really surprised that I haven't seen evidence of the beets yet. I'm trying not to think of today as a failure or of yesterday as a failure. Instead, I'll consider this my gradual settling into the fast. These past two days, however, make me suspiciouse. I wonder if my memory of my last fast is a little more idealized than the reality. I remember last time being a lot easier. Maybe because I was busier. I thought that starting the fast during when I had 2 days off from work with no school would be better but maybe I have to much time to focus on being hungry.

Tomorrow might be easier. I have to work from 5pm to around 1am. It seems like my weakest point is around 7pm. By that time tomorrow I'll be in the midst of a dinner rush and won't really have time to think about food.

I've been reading today about some commercial cleanses and I'm beginning to wonder if I should be taking something to break down the mucoid plaque. I'm not really for taking vitamin supplements or pills during fasts. It seems like cheating. But the stories about parasites in our bodies is kind of freaking me out. I have had periodic episodes of sharp abdominal pangs that have come from no where and then quickly go away. I wonder if its the parasites. How very Aliens.

Well, here's to a more successful day tomorrow.

Day 1: For real now

Woke up at 10 didn't get up until 11. I woke up with the usual congested feeling. I had a cigarrette. I felt gross afterwards. Went to the bathroom. Went to the bathroom again, had a movement, normal color, nothing to report. Juiced.

12 oz
1 whole beet with greens
10 leaves of cabbage
4 stalks of celery



This wasn't a very deliciouse juice. But that's because there wasn't a lot of sugar in it. The only sweet thing was the beets and I'm not a big fan of beets. I sit here typing and "chewing" my juice and it's getting better with every sip. Maybe I just need to re-aclimate to the flavors of all those enzymes.

If my last fast is any indication I will be in the bathroom in less than an hour voiding out red fluid (beets)along with whatever is being flushed out of my intestines.

Day 0: THE FALSE START

Let's get the vital stats out of the way:

Cigarrettes smoked: 3+
Reason smoked: 1. sisters are annoying
2. eh...i had one already what does it matter
3+ see above

Weight: 181 lbs

Activity:

1. Woke up at 12pm
2. Juiced (cabbage & carrot 9 oz)

3. Worked in the garden for 1.5 hours

4. Did some work on the computer
5. Drove Rosie to Maplewood
6. Drove to Wegman's to stock up on fruits and veggies
AND HERE IS WHERE I STRAYED!!!!!

I didn't really prepare to be away from home today. I had just enough veggies to make the 9 oz. of cabbage and carrot juice then I was going to go shopping during the day to stock up. Then my sister threw me the curve ball and we drove about 45 minutes away to Maplewood. After meeting up with an electrician in Maplewood and getting everything straightened out there we headed home around 6 pm. I had already started to feel hunger pangs at 3 pm. So we decided to go to Wegman's on the way home. I had not been to the one that just opened near us and I didn't know where it was. I was overtly hopping that they would be so fancy shmancy as to have a fresh juice bar, but no. My mouth literally watered at the prepared foods area. I swallowed and kept moving. I walked by the cheeses. I walked by the breads. We were almost at the produce section (which they cleverly hid! Then, I hit the bar of all things salty-sour. Olives of every variety abound. Hummus, tzatziki sauce, stuffed grape leaves. And I was lost.

I went on a binge. I bought my produce for tomorrow. As for today all I can say is that it was a false start and made me realize just how mentally and literally unprepared I was for this fast.

Lemme splain

I am documenting my second fast so I can look back whenever I'm ready to do my third fast and see how things went. My fast is of the juice variety. From today on I will not be taking in any solid foods. All of my nutrients will be derived from the juice of fresh fruits and vegetables consumed immediately after juicing on my Juiceman II juicer.

During my first fast I quit smoking the day my fast started since the intent of the fast is to cleanse out my system it doesn't make much sense to keep putting garbage in it. I found that much of the frustration I would normally have felt at quitting was balanced by the shift of so much of my focus my food situation.

What I found most difficult on that first fast was trying to balance a full life that involves a full time work schedule in a stressful environment and a full college course load that involved a 2 hour roundtrip commute each day. On many days I would drink 15 oz. of juice before leaving for school. Then I would go directly to work at the restaurant and not be able to juice until well after midnight. I compensated with about 3-4 liters of water per day. Eventually, what I ended up doing was carting my fruits and veggies and my juicer in to work and juiced as needed.

This time around, with school over, it should be better since I won't be an hour's drive from my juice source.