Juice me!

Today marks Day One of a nine day fasting cycle upon which I am embarking. This is something I’ve done off and on in the past but have not done in years. I’ve been working out and training for one race or another for quite some time and have not been willing to reduce calories in this manner. But here I am, with an Achilles injury and several weeks of no running so it seems like a good time. I will still do some exercising for the first few days but will not push things hard at all. I’ve been thinking about this fast and wanting to do it for a couple of years and now I have the opportunity. This is not a weight loss thing so much, though I will undoubtedly lose a few pounds. This is about cleansing my system both physically and spiritually. It will be a time for more prayer and reflection; a time for turning away from the physical and turning more towards the spiritual.

Here’s how it works: three days of nothing but fruits and vegetables, juices, and water; three days of just juices and water; three days of a lemon juice, maple syrup, cayenne pepper, and water concoction. Those last three can be rough. I have it planned out so the final two days fall on a weekend. That Monday I will break the fast with some grapes and maybe some fruit juice. Need to make sure I get that final bit of cleansing, if you know what I mean. Then I will ease back in to “regular” food. Maybe some chicken broth or Chicken and Stars soup for lunch (gotta watch the sodium), plenty of veggies to snack on during the day, and perhaps a small piece of fish with some brown rice for dinner. My intention is to really focus on nutrition after the fast, avoiding high carb/high calories food. I have a major sweet tooth so that’s the biggest challenge.

I decided that I am going to incorporate my fast into 52 Projects this week because we just got a juicer! Talk about timing and serendipity. Jane’s mom picked it up at a consignment shop for less than $5! I have never used a juicer before, and have never used fresh juices during this fast. Now I will! Jane and I went to Produce Junction and stocked up on all sorts of goodies.

I started already with some orange juice using the citrus feature.

This afternoon I went to town with some vegetable juice. I used several carrots, an apple, two tomatoes, and two small beets. It was very good, but a little too carroty. I’ll have to tweak the ingredients as I move along.

This morning I had a cantaloupe a banana and fresh orange juice. Later I had a banana before going to the gym for a swim. When I got home I made the veggie cocktail and had a little nap. Later I had a grapefruit and another banana. I’m kinda hungry now so I think I’m going to make a banana orange smoothie. We do to need to get some more things like strawberries and celery so we’ll take a shopping trip in just a bit. I feel pretty good except for a slight headache which I attribute to caffeine withdrawal. I weaned myself down over the last week in preparation so I didn’t go cold turkey. I had been having 3 to5 cups a day and got down to one cup on Friday. Giving up coffee can be the hardest part.

I plan to write here every day this week to track what I’m eating and how I am feeling.

Weight this morning was 163

Cheers!

(I was a bit apprehensive about my creation hence the lack of smile in this self portrait)