Physical Side
The juice of one large pineapple, two oranges and a large sweet potato; two cups of veggie juice with added swiss chard. This green leafy veggie is soft and easy to juice.
As I intended at the outset of the fast, I have resisted focusing too much attention on weight loss. But it’s clear that 22 days of juice fasting has melted away the pounds. I now have a flat stomach, and cuts are starting to appear. Dropping another 5 pounds would unveil well defined abs, which I expect to happen during my subsequent 15 day raw diet when I will resume my body building program. I will weigh myself on day 25 and publish how many pounds I have lost. There has been some reduction in muscle but I’m pleasantly surprised how little. Most of the lost has been fat. The reason for this could be I was more physically active during this fast. Also, I body-built right up to the day before the fast, something I have never done before.
I can honestly say that the physique reflected in the mirror is that of a 25 year old body and not 50. My skin has a glow of health, eyes white and clear. All five senses are sharp; I no longer need to use reading glasses. It’s a remarkable transformation.
Spiritual Side
It’s after work, tomorrow’s juice is made, juicer cleaned, emails returned. Today it’s chilly, cloudy and dusky outside but in spite of the uninviting weather I decide to leave the comfort of my sofa and drive to the conservation area to write under heavy sky. As I walk out the door it starts to rain, the wind is damp and cold—not fasting-friendly weather. I go anyway, electing to write under the shelter. It occurs to me that in a non-fasting state I would never have come here. The rain and cold would have turned my legs around, back to a warm, cozy apartment. But as I sit with the sound of rain on the tin shelter roof, there is no place in the world I would rather be. God’s voice whispers in the animated air.
Rain turns a public place into a private space. I have the whole conservation area to myself. The trees, flowers, grass, rain and wind are all mine. And I am overwhelmed by its solitary beauty.
I remember a few years ago a family member stated in an accusing voice, “Fasting is just an altered state, that’s why you like it so much. You went from drugs to alcohol, and now it’s the whole fasting thing.” Like alcohol and drugs, fasting does pull you into an altered state, but this is where the similarities end. First of all, drugs and alcohol are used as a way of escaping emotional pain. If you become an alcoholic at the age of 20 and drink until you are 45, then you will be a 45 year old with the maturity level of a 20 year old. Fasting is not a way of escaping pain, but facing it head on. I find that years of maturity can be accomplished in a 30 day fast, by way of self-honesty, confession and spiritual sight, helping you to make wiser life-choices.
The positive emotional effects of alcohol and drugs only remain for around 4 hours and then you are forced to ingest more to maintain the buzz. The aftermath is ruined health and addiction. While after the fasting buzz has worn off, the aftermath is renewed health, weight loss; in fact years of addiction damage can be permanently undone during a juice fast.
Next Article: Fasting: Day 23 – No Pain and Fully Alive