Determination is the Key

Thirty-one days ago mom, Stephanie, Emily, and I all embarked on a new adventure. Well, it wasn't new for anybody else but me. A juice fast. Yeah, unheard of, right?
Well mom read this woman's blog post, A Wise Woman Builds Her House, on how her husband had lost sixty-four pounds in sixty days. Mom bought his ebook and read it quickly. She was instantly interested. She decided that her and Emily would go on the juice fast for sixty days. Well then Stephanie and me told mom that we wanted to do it as well. She agreed and we all decided to start the day after Mother's Day.

That whole week before, we loaded up on all of our favorite foods. The idea was to get so sick of food before we went on off of it completely. It worked. By Sunday night I couldn't even think about food without getting nauseous. When Monday morning rolled around I was more than glad that I didn't have to worry about eating!

I didn't know how long I would go. I wanted to go thirty days. Maybe more if I could manage it. Mother dearest, however, told me plainly that she doubted I'd make a week. The reason being that I had never fasted before. I was determined to go more than one week. Call it defiance, or perseverance, but I was going to make it for however long I needed to go.

Here is our before/starting out picture:

The first three days were the worst. I admit it. My body was going through a detoxification period. I had a headache for three days straight. I felt really irritable. I didn't want to be around anyone, least of all around people who had food. I was weak, sleepy, and exhausted. I didn't feel all that terrible actually. At least, not as terrible as I thought I might. By day four, I was good.

The first two weeks seemed to drag on. When I made it to day seven I remarked to mom
"Mom, it's been seven days"
To which she just smiled and said, "Yep"
Day by day I drank my juice and lived life. Day fourteen rolled around. I grinned a little haughtily and told mom, "Mom, you said you didn't think I'd make it one week. Now it's two!"
She just smiled and replied, "Yeah, I didn't think you would make it this far."
By two weeks, I had decided to go a full thirty days. I didn't go the full sixty days because I didn't have sixty pounds to lose.

On Memorial day we went to a friend's house for a cookout. The smell of hamburgers grilling was really, really enticing as I stared down into my bottle with basil flavored watermelon juice. However, I quickly fought the urge to forsake the fast and go dive in to the food.

After the third day, cooking didn't become a problem. Preparing food wasn't a chore anymore. It was more like a delight, which really helped considering the fact that I have my own baking business to keep up. It was like aroma therapy. A lot of people felt sorry for us and apologized for mentioning how good this dish, or that dish was. I told them not to be sorry, it was enough to smell it.
I, well we all noticed it, but when you are on a fast you suddenly become way more benevolent. If the kids were hungry we were all quick to give them something to eat. It was quite comical.

The changes I noticed in my body as the fast progressed were quite amazing. I felt more energetic. We had mental clarity. As bad as this is, I could go to bed extremely late then get back up really early and feel fine. I don't recommend doing that three times in succession though. I no longer had panic attacks. The pain in my right leg vanished. I was/am able to run with no problem. The swelling still hasn't gone down, but the pain is gone! The acne on my face cleared up. My piano teacher told me that my skin literally glowed. I was excited when she told me that. :)

We didn't just drink juice per se. We were allowed to have fruit and herbal teas. We were even allowed to have certain sweeteners such as Stevia, vegetable glycerine, and a small amount of honey. Oh, and spices! We were allowed to season our juices. That was awesome.

Last night, me and Steph, she only went thirty days as well, were literally squealing and jumping up and down because we were going to be eating actual food today.

So this morning finally arrived. It could not have dragged out any longer. Mom wanted to take our group picture and then she would take a picture of me and Steph eating our apple. Well some things came up and we didn't end up getting the picture taken until noon.

As you notice, Emily is wearing mom's clothes, Mom is wearing Steph's, Steph is wearing mine, and I had to borrow a shirt out of my 12-year-old sister's wardrobe. 

Finally, the moment had arrived....

An apple never tasted so good in all of my life. I downed my apple within five minutes. After that it was like my body was yelling at me to put more food in it. 

Of course, when you come off of a fast you have to ease back into regular food. All I've eaten today is two apples, a pear, a half of a cucumber, and some carrot slices dipped into some seasoned plain yogurt. That was divine! 

The changes I am making in my diet are quite drastic, er, well sort of. I am going to be juicing once a day. I'll be eating a lot of vegetables. 80% raw and 20% cooked. I'll have grains, nuts, and yogurt. Yes! Yogurt!

 I won't be drinking coffee everyday. I firmly believe that caffeine was what was causing my panic attacks. I'll have coffee as a treat. Surprise, surprise.

 Two meals of the week I will have whatever I want, in moderation, of course. And! I'll be exercising and losing the rest of the weight I want to. (I lost twenty pounds)

I hope that I have encouraged you to go on a fast, if possible. Some people can not fast to save their life. I didn't think I could either, but I went thirty days with nothing but juice. 

Determination is the key!