Day 10 of the Lemon Juice Master Cleanse

Well, it is the evening of the last day of the fast. I am so happy it is pretty much done. We were supposed to break the fast tomorrow and Wednesday with only drinking orange juice and vegetable broth, but I went to the grocery store and bought some beautiful vegetables and made a beautiful soup which I ruined at the last minute by adding too much lemon juice (who knew that lemon juice doesn’t really break down in the simmering?) so it was too tart for Mike, but he ate it anyway.

So, while we could have gone for a few more days no problem, there didn’t seem to be any point in doing it. The cleanse didn’t seem to really cleanse us dramatically, and in fact, I felt tired most of the time that I was doing the fast. I am ten pounds lighter but that’s to be expected when half-starving oneself for days. Are my systems detoxed and cleaner? No clue. I went back to read Stanley Burrough’s book and Peter Glickman’s book, and all of a sudden, I read them with different eyes– the information presented seemed pseudo-scientific, and was backed mostly with anecdotal evidence. I feel that perhaps it is dangerous to have these types of books out there that don’t take into account different body types and pre-existing health conditions or contraindications. I went into the fast wanting it to work, and have come out the other side doubting its validity. Which in itself is interesting. I will admit I was susceptible to the lure of a cure-all for the age’s ills. The seductiveness is the simplicity of these fast programs– they ask only for your diligence and stick-with-it-ness, but in the end, deliver up short on actual results. The truth is probably more that we have to make adjustments over a lifetime, not just in 10 days.

I didn’t tell my family that I was doing the fast. I have a father and a brother who are physicians and trained in traditional Western medicine. I knew what their reaction would be, which is (a) rolling of the eyes over this “hippie” nonsense, and (b) anxiousness over whether the fast was harmful. I think that today, if I heard their disbelief in the benefits (and belief in the harms) of the fast, I wouldn’t be bothered by it, and would agree that it was inconclusive whether there were benefits, but for different reasons. I actually did the fast, and that’s what I’m basing it upon, not upon an unwillingness to consider the evidence.

What I do know is that the fast made me feel less human and “on hold.” I was able to work and do all the normal things, except living just wasn’t that fun without being able to eat and socialize with others naturally around eating.

The benefits I think are mostly mental– a switch in the way one thinks, however subtle. I will be more aware of what I put into my gullet. That is just one brick in the wall of discipline that some of us constantly try to build. Are there other ways to build this awareness? Probably.

Anyway. I am looking forward to cooking and eating again. Nous avons faire la cuisine, mon cherie.

Day 7 of the Lemon Juice Master Cleanse

Day 7. No special mental clarity. I got to work in Yahoo’s SF office which was nice because I staked out a cubicle and was able to see Coit Tower and the tumble of colorful houses underneath it on the hill. We had a quorum of cool legal folks in the office today which made for a very social atmosphere. Despite the fast, around lunch time I tagged along with Anita and Susan to Paladar, a Cuban bistro. Anita got the bocadillo cubano (hot pressed roasted pork with ham and swiss) and Susan had the tortilla Espanola, a sort of torta de patatas. I watched their plates come while I sipped my mint tea and didn’t quite salivate, but it made me really miss eating. Everything looked so delicious, so I’m definitely going to meet up with Mike there one of these days for lunch since he loves Cuban food.

So much of our life is built around food, it’s such a revelation. I’ve realized that I really love eating, and that it’s one of the highlights of my days.

Only three more days until we break the fast, at which point we have to go two more days only drinking orange juice and vegetable broth and eating homemade veggie soup.

Here’s my list of things I really want to eat next week once we completely break the fast, prioritized by the importance of tasting these foods again:

1. Pho
2. shrimp and pork spring rolls
3. hot and sour soup
4. fruit
5. sushi
6. pasta with seafood
7. fried calamari
8. soba with ponzu
9. ma-po dofu
10. mushrooms
11. dim sum
12. vegetables (pea shoots, gai lan, spinach, broccoli, napa cabbage, green onions)

Mike said he read in Peter Glickman’s book that if you think about eating something really healthy (like an apple) and that makes you hungry, then you are truly hungry.

I am hungry.

Only five more days to real food…

Day 6 of the Lemon Juice Master Cleanse

I was going to write a post on Cooking Part II that followed up with thoughts from Cooking Part I.  At the beginning of October, I had bought a real wok and seasoned it by heating it over high heat while stirring hot salt inside it for half an hour.  We made potstickers, translucent shrimp dumplings, and I fried homemade eggrolls and banana fritters.  I was on a roll with cooking and it was fun to make things that I hadn’t learned how to make (but ate plenty of) when growing up.

But then in between, I got very busy with work and Mike and I started the Lemon Juice Master Cleanse fast in the interim.  I wanted to do the fast because I wanted to lose weight and detoxify.  Mike said he would do it with me out of curiosity– to see how it feels to go without solid food for 10 days.

So, I’m not writing about food until I get back into cooking and eating it again.  One of the things that happens when you’re on this fast is that you become slightly alien– because food, in all of its variety of textures, colors, tastes, temperatures, and forms, is so integral to being human, or feeling human.  In fact, Mike and I were talking about how the character Sonmi451 comes to mind (Cloud Atlas by D. Mitchell).  Sonmi451 could only imbibe “soap” and would get ill from eating regular human food (the irony was that she worked at a fast food cafeteria).  We’re only allowed to drink the lemon-maple syrup-cayenne solution, and then herbal teas and water.  It is very, very strange not to have any solid food.  The first few days, it actually feels impossible, a little of how you might feel if someone were to tell you that you were going to be exiled for ten days.  That’s what this fast is, an exile from the kingdom of food and all that goes with it (socializing, merriment, community).

It’s made me feel more acutely bound to Mike.  For the simple fact that we’re in it together.

Days 1 through 6 were okay.  We actually made chocolate tarantula cookies last Saturday (Day 2) and didn’t eat them, but instead exercised great will power and brought the plates of spiders to work for co-workers instead.   We were initially going to take them to Patrick and Eddie’s house for their Autumn Comfort Food party, but decided at the last minute that we were not improving our changes of sticking to the fast by going to a delicious food party.  Halloween night we didn’t feel like being around a lot of Halloween candy so we made the house dark and went to the movies instead.  We saw “Eastern Promise,” directed by David Cronenberg, which was actually really great.  Brutal, intense, involving, really good.

I’m surprised that I haven’t really been hungry.  I was so busy with working on a deal for work for very long days that I didn’t even have time to think about missing eating (other than the fact that my co-workers would go get lunch and bring it back to the conference room where we were working), so in a way, it made things easier.  I haven’t actually felt real hunger until tonight, but once I had my juice, the hunger went away. The salt water flushes are another thing.  We get up early in the morning to drink one quart of warm water with two teaspoons of salt in it.  It is getting easier to swallow, but feels a little like some prison ritual, or something an ascetic sect of monks would do each morning.  I may continue to use a salt-water flush in the future after especially heavy meals.  Everything just comes right out of you, tout suite.

It’s Day 6 of the fast, going on to 7.  Not sure if I feel any detox effects, other than being very tired and achy, but that could also be because I have been working crazy hours for most of October.  Mike and I are both dropping weight but not dramatically.  I no longer have my pot belly.  Bye bye pot belly.  Not sure if I’ll miss it!

I’ve read in Peter Glickman’s book that Day 7 is supposed to be the day that people gain “mental clarity” and extra energy, so we shall see.