Reflections From A 7 Day Juice

General Reflections

• The fast is as much a psychological journey as it is a physiological one.
• Doing it with Antonia, my spouse, was immensely helpful: feeling accountable to each other, and also taking turns on the juice making, and doing shopping together (I confess that Antonia did more of both of these than me - which helped me a lot).
• Having teens in the home eating food as normal made it more challenging, but in some ways beneficial as it raised the bar early and forced an higher level of commitment... which tends to make things easier.
• Choosing a week when I had no in-person meetings and working entirely from home was hugely helpful.
• Juice ‘fast’ is a good term as, though a fast suggests no food at all, juicing certainly is a commitment to abstinence, and all the challenges and insights that come with that.?

Exercise Reflections

• I planned on reduced exercise, but in fact did very little except walking dogs
• Being generous and kind to myself in this regard was important: listening to my body and doing only what would help me to maintain my primary focus which was to complete the 7 day juice.
• Day 1: Started with crossfit. Didn't have the usual coffee. Slight decrease in performance but feeling good.
• Day 3: swam ? of my usual 1k distance as I felt pretty weak, but did it comfortably. Was a but shaky afterwards.
• Day 4, 5, 6: No exercise, other than walking dogs. This felt like a good call.
• Crossfit on morning of day 7: cardio intensive and went for it - probably not my usual capacity, but realised I was as close to vomiting as I have been at crossfit, so eased back a bit.
• Morning of Day 8 (Before breaking-fast): Swim: see Day 8 reflections below - it's interesting.

Day x Day - General Recollections

• Day 1: started well, but by evening I was crashing. Night 1 was brutal: Hot and cold sweats, migraine, vomiting, and eventual light sleeping. I put this ‘detoxing’ experience 90% down to coming off coffee. And in fact it’s how my body tends to process toxification, be that a virus or too much alcohol - burst of severe migraine, vomiting and sweating… and then it's over. I’m grateful to have a system that processes this way: harsh but effective and quick.
• Day 2: fragile, slow, but the worst was over. Not a super productive day, but gave myself leeway to ease off - "If I only accomplish this fast this week, that's enough" I reassured myself.
• Day 3, 4, 5: Feeling pretty good. Various pangs of desire and craving, and boredom with repetitive juice flavours, wondering whether the vaunted ‘no more cravings’ was just a myth. But also periods of finding it easy. Being more productive in work, as I re-learned how to sit down to meetings and design without a cup of coffee. Never really hungry. Very aware of how psychological my relationship with food and caffeine is - so much about comfort, boredom, desire for stimulus etc. But also, a sloooow week.
• Day 5 was a Saturday (we started on a Tuesday) - a somewhat more challenging day to be juicing, as it’s usually a day of home comforts, so abstinence felt like something of a greater sacrifice. But with the end in sight, we took heart. Also increasingly aware that the real gain is not in the 7 day fast itself, but in what habits I might adjust going forwards. Antonia and I also reflected on how, though challenged with cravings, we were very aware of how very free we were of all the usual guilt and self-judgement that is wrapped up in our relationship with food and drink. So it’s a mix of feeling both frustrated and liberated, with the latter more than compensating for the former.
• Day 6: The first day that felt truly easy. No cravings!
• Day 7: Home straight. Excited about completing and, later in the day, a few moments of ‘I’ve pretty much done it, so maybe I could just sack it in now’. Began to start fantasising about breakfast on Day 8. Held firm!

Morning of Day 8 Reflections

• Before breaking-fast, I comfortably broke my record for 1k morning swim, without especially swimming for time. Surprised. Felt easy. Started with ‘see how I go, and it’s ok to quit halfway if I want to'. Interesting. Thought: I’d like to experience more of this.
• Broke-fast with 2 fried eggs, sourdough, avocado, smoked salmon, salt, pepper. Wasn't hungry or craving (truly), but loved the sense of celebration and reward.
• Added a coffee afterwards - but threw it away because it was too bitter! That really surprised me.
• Feeling pretty darn good, I think as a result of:
• A) No alcohol or coffee for 7 days (I did have a cup of earl grey tea each on days 3-7)
• B) Digestive reset, with loads of nutritional goodness - and no junk at all, just healthy juices (I did eat a banana on a few of the days, and 2 dates on day 3!)
• C) The sheer self-confidence gain of simply completing what we said we would do.
• Very aware that I am absolutely not craving, and in fact really don’t want foods that have been staring at me all week and I had thought I’d be thrilled to dive into once fast was over. Eg mince pies, croissants, cake etc. Again, interesting.

Final Thoughts: Going Forwards

• I don’t plan to make any major new commitments, but I would like to maintain the general sense of self-discipline: to be aware of what I need for healthy nutrition, vs what I’m reaching for out of comfort, boredom, craving. That’s not to say that I plan to be militant. I’d just like to stay aware, and choose well, with room for treats. I think it’s probably the small adjustments, made consistently over time, that create the really lasting outcomes.
• Pitfalls to watch out for: coffee and sugary foods have been big ones for me in the past, and the couple of bottles of beer in the evening. I’d like to be able to dip into these when I choose, without them becoming daily habits, which has tended to be what happens in the past. I’m aware that what I call 'a lot' may for others be very little. It's not a moral judgment. It's just so obvious that, for me (not necessarily for others), these offer only very short term gain and always a longer term cost. I don’t do well on any of them. And I’ve tended to gradually increase each once I get going. So, in relation to these, ‘awareness’, ‘moderation’, and ‘occasional’ will be my watchwords going forwards.
• I do plan to do more juice-fasting: I think it's a great way for me to physically and psychologically reset. For me, it’s as much about the demand it creates to turn and look within, which is actually really good for me, as it is about the nutritional and physical benefit. Besides all the ways I do this in general (mediation, sculpting, running etc), there may be other ways of doing this in relationship with food (like intermittent fasting, which we have practised, or straight up full-on fasting - only done once, not very well). I’m also reassured to know that, if I do find myself straying too far off what feels healthy for me in relation to food/caffeine/alcohol, I can always refer myself to a few days of juice-fasting as needed.

Hope this has been useful for you as you think about your own journey of health and vitality. I think the big takeaway is to be kind to yourself. Any kind of fasting only makes sense if it is done in a spirit of kindness with self, which is the central tenet to take with you after the fasting too.

(PS - the juice fast we followed is Jason Vale's 7-Day fast - there's an app which is great)