Dreaming of Pizza

Food Network is not a good channel to watch if you are on a veggie-juice fast.

On the evening of our third day of fasting, we were hanging out as we usually do, after the kids went to bed and we thought we'd watch some Food Network shows on the computer.  We had already downed our third veggie drink for the day and although I didn't feel hungry since my stomach was full of green juice, I was pretty tired.

We decided to watch a show called "The History of Pizza" and that was a big mistake.  Images of pizza, with gooey cheese and shiny, meaty toppings continually flashed before our eyes, brainwashing us to believe that nothing could taste better in that moment than eating a slice of loaded, greasy goodness.

To cope with our cravings, we began to compose a list of all the foods that we wanted to eat when we were done our cleanse.  It includes: Fried Chicken, Thai Food, French Onion Soup, Pizza (of course), home-made cheeseburgers and maybe even cinnamon buns.

That night, as I tried to fall asleep, I was plagued with images of pizza slices and other fattening foods.  My stomach growled and I just wanted to pass out and sleep so I could begin to countdown another day.

Day 4 was uneventful, but there was a serious lag to my energy.  Gone was the excitement associated with "trying something new" and putting together combinations of green healthy vegetables to create a healthy veggie juice.  Instead, they all were tasting pretty much the same, the only difference being the degree of yucky-ness.  (Some were much more bitter and gag-reflex worthy!)

One of the things we were looking for in this fast was a sudden onslaught of "cleansing".  We had heard tales of people having some intensely gross bathroom moments during a cleanse, and wondered if we also would be participants.  Nothing abnormal resulted - other than a very green colored poop that reminded me of when my kids ate lots of blue icing at a birthday party - only we'd been eating green veggies, not artificially colored icing!
        
I didn't have any more headaches, and I didn't notice anything other than feeling weak.  However, we were counting the days and wondering whether it was profitable for us to continue to... well... starve ourselves.

Reaching Day 5 was certainly a milestone, but that day we began to review our reasons for doing a 7 day veggie-juice cleanse:

1. To blast our bodies with nutritious greens
2. To re-program our brains to desire healthy foods
3. To give our digestive systems a break

Aside from the physical benefits, the bonus is that there is always an enhanced spiritual aspect to fasting because you are denying your body and you are not stuffed with things which are "carnally" satisfying.  It often makes meditation, prayer and hearing from God much easier and was commonly practiced in both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.

As we looked at all of our reasons for doing this cleanse/fast, we concluded that the results had been accomplished.  Obviously our systems were cleared out.... we had both lost about 6-7 pounds and we no longer had symptoms of detoxing or cleansing as many sources suggested.  Therefore, we deemed it unlikely that we would benefit from the continued low energy - especially with 6 kids to take care of and my husband working full-time!  So towards the end of Day 5 we decided that instead of our usual "bedtime snack" juice of cucumbers, kale, celery, rapini, lemons and green apples, we would have a salad.  We basically were eating the same thing that we've been eating all along except we included a ripe avocado and a tomato.  I also made a simple balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

At first, chewing seemed a little bit foreign, but the flavors were incredible!  The natural fats in the avocado were overwhelming, and tasted so heavenly!  I was amazed how after just two small bowls of salad, my stomach felt full.  And I felt quite satisfied!

To transition out of the juice fast, we decided to spend the last 2 days eating a vegan diet (with no dairy, meat or grains) instead of juicing.  For one thing, it will help us get back into eating real food, and it will also keep us moving slow and steady with introducing things like dairy, grains and meat.

If anything, doing this cleanse awakened my taste buds to all the incredible flavors that are wholesome and natural - no need for processed, junky food!  It will be interesting to see how this will affect our diet longer term, but that's a topic for another blog posting!