Rewards of Juice Fasting

It is now near the end of day four of my fifteen day juice fast, and I’m enjoying this process far more than I expected to. It is turning out to be much easier than my last attempt, and this is because my intention is clearer this time. I see this as a bridge to a healthier way of living where I will be better able to do the things I want to do. I don’t see juice fasting as any type of sacrifice but as the start of something new and exciting.

Juicing Fasting on My Birthday

I turned 44 yesterday. I usually treat myself to a guilt-free day of eating for my birthday. This means that I end up feeling stuffed and a bit sickly – I call this a special treat. This year I was juicing so I got to miss out on this self-inflicted unpleasantness. I had a nice day. I got up at dawn for a walk on the beach, and it felt good to be doing something positive with my diet. Eating a creamy cake, stuffing chocolate down my throat, or swilling a few bottles of cola would not have added anything to my day – it would only have taken away.

I eat junk food because I’ve learned to associate this type of diet with reward. When I’m in a bad mood or I feel stressed, my automatic reaction is to stuff something into my mouth – this is referred to as comfort eating or feeding my feelings. I would be happy to put up with all the negative effects of poor diet and overeating if this type of coping mechanism actually worked. It doesn’t yet I still continue with the behavior.

The problem here is that having knowledge about the ineffectiveness of comfort eating is not enough to create change. My brain is hardwired to associate shitty food with reward and comfort, and it is not going to give up this association easily. I need to retrain my brain to stop driving this bad behavior, and this juice fast is part of that process.

What I am Doing Different This Time on My Juice Fast

They say that if you keep on doing the same things, you will end up with the same results. I’m determined not to give up half-way through this juice fast, so I’ve made some changes to my approach this time including:

• I’m being more careful about what I put in the juices – I’m using less fruit and more green vegetables.

• I’m treating this juice fast as something to be enjoyed and not just endured.

• I’m engaging in a moderate amount of exercise each day – enough to make me feel good but not so much that it would require increasing the number of juices I need to consume.

• I’m using the Day One app (electronic journal) to track my juice fast, and this is encouraging me to think more carefully about my approach to things (thank you Angelina for suggesting this).

My Expected Rewards from This Juice Fast

I need to be careful around expectations because they tend to get me into trouble. I felt like a complete failure after my last juice fast because I intended for it to last 15 days, but I gave up after 10. If I’d expected for it to be 10 days, I would have been delighted with the result but instead it became a source of shame. The expected reward this time is the actual fast itself – I’m doing it to enjoy the feeling of healing that I’m experiencing right now. By learning to love the comfort of a body that is functioning healthily, I can rewire my brain to want the same.

Other Juice Fasting Related Articles

Fasting to Beat Food Cravings

From Intermittent Fasting to Juice Feasting

15 Days of Juice Fasting and the Gateway Experience

Almost One Week of Juice Fasting

Blowout on Day 10 of My Juice Fast

Fast Diet Review – Evaluating My Fasting Experience