The Time I Did a Juice Fast/Juice Cleanse

If you haven't stumbled upon the ridiculous healing powers of fasting yet, wait for it. I've always poo-pooed the idea of voluntarily fasting. I mean, what's the point?? I've been hardcore conditioned to believe we NEED multiple meals and snacks throughout the day, right? And protein...gotta keep it coming in or else you shrink. And carbs..keep em up or your blood/sugar levels will drop! I had NO IDEA how cleansing and healing fasting really is and how it's been done throughout history. There's a reason why some religions include fasting as part of their program.

After hearing about it enough, oddly enough from @jeffberwick of @dollarvigilante, it finally dawned on me to actually try it. I figured I'd build my way up to it and start with a juice fast. No solid food, just fresh pressed juices all day. That would alleviate my mind that at least I have calories coming in and I won't fall over.

I've learned enough over the years that juice has to be drunk immediately after juicing in order to feel that energetic lift. If it stays out for 20 or 30 minutes, it still retains all the nutrients but that energetic buzz is no longer there. So mass juicing everything at once and storing it away is no good. Store bought bottles are definitely out. No problem, I'd juice every two hours.

Amazingly, my girlfriend jumped on board and committed to join me! She's so awesome :) She's done a full 5 day juice fast before so she was the "veteran" here.

10:00 am

As expected, after my first juice (celery, cucumber, ginger) I felt the usual energy. All my cells tingling and coursing with energy. Most of my mornings start like that. It feels amazing. After about an hour, I felt kind of lazy. I could use some more substance.

11:30 am

I was looking forward to getting some carbs in so juiced up carrots and downed that. Honestly, the energy is unlike anything else. It's not like an artificial caffeine high. It's the body's own energy, at a mitochondrial level. Laziness is all gone!

The coolest part is the stimulation of the brain. My brain feels alive, active and charged. It's amazing! There's lots of research on how fasting improves mental clarity. Absolutely!

2:00

We decided to head out to take care of a couple of things. We walked since everything's close. After a 10 minute walk we stopped. For the first time I felt shaky and weak. Not pleasant. It passed after about 10 minutes and I was back to game on. But I was pushing into foreign territory. By body's telling me there should have been food by now..

4:00

Back at home, my girlfriend has been feeling low. She's actually been low the whole day so far. She said that mentally or physically she didn't prepare. She was a good sport to join in the challenge at the last second but she was going to call it quits for the day. No point in feeling like crap all day. She started preparing a meal.

Oh man.... she started making guacamole...so delicious! Nori sushi paper...so good! Like a hangry caveman, I paced around and eyed my prey. Tried to shake it off.

That's it.. gloves are off. I can't take it anymore..the hunger..

I had a really interesting experience, having fasted the longest stretch of my life but at 4:20 pm I broke my fast with her raw vegan taco filling. Everything went into slow motion..my taste buds went into orgasmic bliss.

For the next HOUR AND 45 MINUTES, I started eating, cooking, downing everything in sight. Raw vegan taco, yams, bean salad, green beans, sprouted lentils, pineapple, watermelon, kiwi, massive smoothie loaded with bananas, hemp, spinach and more. (btw, I'm vegan). Total damage: 1,800 calories. 65 grams of protein hahaha

Failed mission? I don't think so. I got to see what it feels like not to have any heavy digestion going on and only feeling pure energy for half a day. I want to build up more next time and do some better "environmental engineering", ie. eliminate obvious temptations!

After I improve my juicing duration, I need to do a water fast. That will force me to face another layer of fear. Decades of programming that I need a constant inflow of calories.

But more importantly, I hit up youtube videos about intermittent fasting and specifically one-meal-a-day diets. I LOVE the energy and feeling that came with the first part of the day. So how can I maximize that, enjoy the heightened growth hormones from fasting, etc. and still be able to enjoy food and get calories in?

This has opened up a whole new possibility for me. So exciting. The learning and growth ever stops!

9:00 pm

Typing this right now. I'm hungry and about to launch into my second and final meal of the day. I think this may be my new routine. Intermittent fasting with only two meals.

What are your experiences? Any tips? Can you relate??