Life After Fasting (Video)

Today marks 3 1/2 weeks since finishing my fast.

On June 12th (day 84 of my juice feast), I ended my fast. Here was my Facebook post:

I broke my feast/fast on my earthday birthday. Wow!!!! I feel amazing. It’s so great to have my body back. I’ve been running again the past 2 mornings and feel fantastic! What a ride.  🙂

It’s so true. I’ve never felt better since breaking the fast. The last week of the fast was rough as I decided to do a 3-day water fast earlier that week and spent most of those days either in bed or on the couch feeling very weak. My body went really deep into healing mode.

That was Saturday through Monday. Then I went back to drinking green juice and grapefruit juice for the rest of the week. On my birthday, June 12 (the following Saturday), even though I was drinking plenty of juice, I felt extremely tired and lifeless.

I was at a Vastu workshop in Patagonia that morning and was having a really hard time paying attention or even sitting up. All I could think about was going home and going back to bed. So by 10 am I left.

As I lay in bed a thought came in very strong (more like a voice), and it said, “Today is the day you break your fast.” So I got out of bed and made myself a meal of a baked corn tortilla, pinto beans, salsa, avocado and lettuce. I know, not your typical fast-breaking fare. I was supposed to have something blended.

But beans and everything they had to offer my body were drowning out any other rational thoughts. My meal was so tasty. I savored every bite. After eating I felt amazing, even invincible! I was high on joy. Whatever was in those beans was going straight to the parts of me that needed it. I continued to feel awesome all day.

Later that night, Chris took me out to a movie, and we went out for vegetarian sushi for my birthday dinner. I was shocked and amazed at how great I felt and how well my body was handling the re-introduction of food. Over the next few days, I went back to a very simple mostly raw diet.

Since then I have been eating about 95% raw as the thought of most cooked foods or anything unhealthy is extremely unappealing to me. I still drink 2 quarts of celery-cucumber juice plus 1 quart of grapefruit juice every day until 1 or 2 pm, then have a big salad for lunch and another salad for dinner.

It’s interesting, because one of my goals when I started was to get my body back to a simple diet and to stop eating sweets and things that didn’t serve my body. This fast has achieved my goals and more. I feel lighter, sexier, happier, more energetic, freer, more stable and more centered.

My body has stayed at its optimal weight of 116 pounds. I know now that fasting is a way of life for me. I will continue to fast for the rest of my life, whether it’s a 1-day water fast once a week, 3 days of juice fasting a month, or an extended juice fast every other year. The benefits far outweigh any hardships I experience.

As for my other goals of fasting, the biggest one was to help me with my grieving process of my son’s passing in January of this year. My fast was immensely helpful with letting me feel deeply without wondering if I was just having a reaction to something I ate. This might sound funny to someone who has never fasted, but I can tell you as an experienced faster that food greatly affects my emotions.

Before the fast, I would feel depressed after eating sweets. When I was fasting I felt grief, but it felt real. I would cry for 2 minutes (hard) and then it would pass. I haven’t felt miserable or sorry for myself, just sad from time to time. I miss my boy and our relationship, but I don’t feel that my life is in any way less good or that there is anything wrong.

People come and go in our lives when we least expect it, and I can either feel let down, pissed off and victimized, or I can learn and grow from what they came to teach me, and let my life be better as a result of having experienced a relationship with that person. I choose to see Dominic’s life as a Victory for him and for all those he touched. Because he was here, the world is a better place. I will continue to remember him forever and all the joy he brought to my life.

This past weekend was the 4th of July and I had a raw, vegan food booth here at the Patagonia Festival. It was a lot of fun, and I got to meet more of the community. Here are some photos of the event. I made: Raw, Vegan, Toona Sushi, Low Glycemic Berry Cobbler, 2 sugar free beverages (My Blue Heaven and Hibiscus-Lime Cooler) and Big Green Salads.

Article by Elaina Love, Faculty Member here at the BodyMind InstituteElaina Love’s Raw Chef CertificationElaina’s Website: https://elainalove.com/Elaina’s Live Classes: http://purejoyplanet.com/