Have I lost my hunger?
Yesterday was the last day of my ten day fast. I completed ten days without solid food! If you knew me well, you might realise how incredible this feat is! I LOVE my food! Whether its poached eggs on hot buttered toast or gravalax dipped in dill sauce; oysters , spiced with tabasco or a large spinach salad with avocado, red pepper, black olives and pine nuts, drizzled with olive oil, I can always find some tasty reason to eat. The idea of going without the bliss of these culinary experiences would seem to me to be at the very least "crazy" and at the worst, I would question the very point of living! Gosh, did I really say that? Yup.
A liberating experience
Well , the experience of ten days without food has been totally liberating. As I wrote out above some of my favourite foods , foods that would normally have me salivating at the thought of them . I was Ok. I didnt feel any urges or physical responses. I didnt feel the rush to stock up my fridge and start "stuffing my face "again. I apologise for the rather vulgar expression. However when I think back to how I would eat , its not really that far from the truth.
In the morning I would grab my cereal of homemade granola , but then I would sit in front of either the TV with the morning news or in front of the computer, and I would "unconsciously" shovel the food down, whilst distracted by the screen. Lunch wasnt much better. If working from home, Id take a break at lunchtime and eat my lunch whilst "glued to" "Loose Ladies" on TV. The large bowl of green salad would be "demolished" without even realising it! In fact sometimes I d think I was still hungry afterwards, no doubt because I hadnt paid any attention to the fact that Id already eaten!!
Free from the Tyranny of Food
These last ten days have freed me from the tyranny of food. As I mentioned in an earlier blog , I have had more energy and I feel much more focused. I have found levels of concentration and perserverance that have been absent for a long time. I am getting so much more done in a day and I really feel that I am living life to the max again! I havent been slowed down by food. I havent checked my weight again but my friends are starting to comment on how well Im looking. In fact , quite a few of them are now thinking of giving the ten day fast a go themselves!
Stanley Burroughs Master Cleanse
If you fancy doing the same thing ,the technical name for my ten day fast is the Stanley Burroughs Master Cleanse. Its been around since 1941 and so you ll find plenty of info on it when you google it. (Incidentally, I wasnt a big fan of the salt water flushes - they were the only times that I didnt feelwell on the fast)
The three week Fast
So what now? Well, the original plan was to come off the fast very slowly , drinking orange juice for the next couple of days, easing into a vegetable soup broth by the third day....but why would I do that when I am feeling SO good on this fast? Stanley Burroughs suggests that the fast is follwed for a MINIMUM of ten days and it can be followed for up to thirty to forty days. Im not ready to stop it just yet. I feel too good ,and Im getting too much achieved!
So , after some consideration, I am going to be continuing until the 15th March. That will make it a total of 21 days. Three weeks can be enough time to break a habit. Three weeks will leave me with five clear days to return to normal food in time for a couple of major social functions week commencing 21st March. And, lets be honest here, three weeks might lead to further weight loss!
So watch this space ...there'll be more blogs as I continue my journey!
PS If you are following this blog , please do sign in. I thought I was only writing to an audience of one (thank you Helen for logging on to the blog) but then several of you have since told me that youve been following. Please do make yourselves known. Its so much nicer when you can see the faces of your audience!!
Thank you ,
Marie-Claire
