My First Day

For the first three days of my initial fast, I felt as if I was having an out of body experience.  As if I was on the outside looking in, watching this 'juicing thing' happen to me.

Day #1:

I felt anxious and scared, actually.  The idea of not eating anything solid created an unrealistic sense of scarcity within me.  I remember periodically reaching for my 'snack drawer' at work, not even comprehending what I was doing... as if it was a normal as breathing.  I would have the wrapper off of a granola bar before I realized my actions.  Quickly I threw it in the garbage before I had time to smell it's chocolaty goodness.

Noon rolled around and I felt as though my stomach was going to literally implode.  I had drank four glasses of water and 3 glasses of juice.  Logically speaking, I had enough calories built up in body for at least a week, plus I had consumed enough calories to support myself for days with the juice I had just drank.  There was no grounded fear for what I was feeling.  I kept reminding myself that the mind is powerful and that I am literally breaking a habit... my food routine.

Mid-afternoon snack time, or as others might call it, 3:00 pm, rolled around and there was nothing I wanted more than one, salty corn chip.  Even a small nibble of one of the corners would do.  I tried all the techniques, drinking more water, drinking more juice and going for a walk.  Nothing could take my mind off of salt.

I noted that my body was going through the flavors.  First sugar cravings, then salt cravings... the next was fat.  I wanted meat... bacon actually.  I felt nauseous and my head felt fuzzy.  I almost felt as though I had drank a huge glass of wine without the fun part of actually drinking it!

What got me through?  It was actually going back to my sports days when I would train my body for athletic performance.  I learned early on that you can work through difficult physical exercises with the goal that 'it will get easier.'  

I kept that in mind and began to think of ways for me to cheat without actually cheating.  Time to trick the mind!  So, I decided that during my lunch hour every day, I would go into town and 'buy lunch.'  This included the trip to one of my favorite cafés, waiting in line, and physically purchasing and selecting a really yummy cup of tea.  I would go through the process of steeping the tea and then my sister and I would explore walking paths in the area.  We would seek out a new one every day.

This technique worked!  I had something to look forward to and a 'yummy surprise' that helped get me through the latter half of my day.

By the end of Day #1, I was completely exhausted.  How was I going to make it through six days?