Juice Fast Progress

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Day 21: Final Third

Today is the first day of the last third of my fast, and also the last day of the third week.

It's getting to the point where I don't really even know how to keep this interesting... I feel like it's just more of, "I feel great, I'm wearing clothes from 10 years ago (the stylish ones), I am more positive and happy, why don't we all do this all the time"? 

I am thinking more and more about how to make this feeling last beyond the fast, while still getting to embrace the loving preparation and sharing of food.  I don't have any answers yet.

One humorous thing that I've noticed is what I call, "subconscious eating". Yesterday I went to the grocery store to get butcher bones to make bone broth for a friend who just gave birth.  While I was waiting for them to package things up, there was a display with samples of chips & salsa.  And then suddenly I had one in my mouth. From a consciousness point of view, it was an immediate jump, as though my brain was like, "Right, so - the conscious part keeps thwarting my attempts to get us food, despite all the extra focus and alertness I gave it. Time for plan B. We need to turn off the conscious part for a few seconds - long enough to get chips, but not so long as to end up walking into traffic."  I'm not trying to shirk responsibility for phantom snacking, I just think it was funny that the willpower part seemingly got circumvented.  Very sneaky, brain...

4 comments:

Kris Ardent said...

Joe and I did a no-sugar contest once and I remember a few times where he would pop a piece of chocolate (samples are the worst) in his mouth and just have no idea what he just did. Kettle corn was my blind spot. I put it in my mouth, realized I was eating something sweet, but had almost blacked out of the automatic decision making process that resulted in putting hand-to-mouth.

Kris Ardent said...

Also, I can totally relate to the "us" concept of self awareness. We want different things, all these parts of "me". And sometimes the part of "us" that wants sugar or fat or liquor can be really sneaky about just turning off the power to any part that could say no if we had any idea what was happening. It's terrifying and reassuring all at once.

Joe Ardent said...

Man, mindless eating. Kris got, and I still have, a book on that, with the obvious title. I think about it often, and I think breaking that habit is the hardest thing I'm currently trying to do.

Just this past weekend was completely insane in terms of how much I ate, mostly on auto-pilot. I was still full Monday afternoon. I'm trying to be more mindful about what I'm eating, and how much, but it's an uphill struggle.

So, you have my sympathies :)

Nicole Gesher said...

I've done that, on yom kippur, no less. Super hungry, around 5pm, wandered into the kitchen, and had like a cheerio or something before I even realize what I've done. It's the weirdest thing!