Physical Side
One glass of grape juice; two small cantaloupes juiced; two glasses of veggie juice with a head of broccoli added; six rice crackers; three small pieces of cheese; four cookies with organic peanut butter. One small tummy ache.
Spiritual Side
I was minding my own business, just coming back from a foodless lunch, parked in my car under a large maple tree, with nothing but juice, laptop and good intentions. If you strain your juice from fiber, this allows the digestive system to shut down resulting in little to no hunger. But over the course of a long juice fast you can experience short periods of extreme hunger, which, if not mindful, can put the fast in danger. Under the maple tree today was one of those times. Hunger rolled over my guts like a runaway mac truck. Add to that, it was our annual pot luck at work. When returning to work I had the unlucky privilege of being assaulted by the sight and smells of delicious foods. There they were laid out before my empty belly, and voracious hunger generated potent animal desire. Somehow I reasoned that breaking the fast, just for this moment, was ok. It must have been convincing, because I did.
What I find interesting is to go back and try to find the moment of decision. Even though the pain starts in the belly, choice happens in the brain. I have resisted many times before, why this time? Answer: I indulged in food fantasies while under the tree.
So now what? Fifteen years ago this would have been devastating, I would have been asking for forgiveness. Also I would have dialed the fast back to day one again. How discouraging is that, as if a few hundred calories of food can undo 13 days of juice fasting. That kind of legalism would lead to a gorge-fest or quitting all together. Instead of overreacting, I have regrouped and am back on track. It’s not the end of the world.
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