Food (?) for thought
Oct. 28th, 2010 02:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
batskeetsWell, I'm the last person in the world who expected to be saying this, but: as of Wednesday afternoon, I went 64 hours without solid food.
Part of this group "cleanse" I'm involved was a three-day liquid phase--in reality, more like 2 2/3rd days, because we're advised to give ourselves some steamed vegetables in the evening of day 3--where you consume a homemade anti-inflammatory veggie broth, cranberry juice (no sugar added, of course), herbal teas, and the occasional glass of organic vegetable juice.
This part was completely optional, and at the beginning of the anti-inflammatory portion, I was *very* confident that I'd be skipping the liquid phase, and just continuing to eat clean as we had been for the first week-or-so. But, when this past Sunday's meeting rolled around, I found myself feeling surprisingly froggy about the whole thing. So, I decided that I'd make a small batch of broth and give it a shot, but if I started feeling awful or unable to keep with my normal, active lifestyle, I'd immediately start eating again.
I got up on Day 1, had my morning cup-o-broth, and biked in to work. I sipped on tea and juice, and made it through the first part of the day feeling... perfectly fine, much to my surprise. I got ready to hit the gym in the late afternoon, thinking that surely, I'd be ravenous and light-headed after that. A couple of other folks in our group felt faint and couldn't concentrate as early as the first day, and I expected I'd soon follow suit! But no, I actually felt pretty good. I got a bit growly in the evening, but a bottle of Columbia Gorge Carrot Beet Celery Juice took care of that.
Tuesday went much the same. I did my run-and-yoga in the morning, and even went back to wushu in the evening, and I was a bit sore, but made it through with no real problems. Yesterday, I ran out of broth around mid-day, so I had my steamed veggies in the late-afternoon, and then threw together an awesome quinoa salad for dinner later. I was productive and got a ton of editing done both days, and my concentration wasn't any worse than usual.
I also noticed that my sense of smell with regards to food went completely off-the-charts. Andy and![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
dakania came with me to Amy and Travis' to play Rock Band 3 Tuesday evening, and Andy brought his bowl of broccoli with him. Now, Andy does not cook at ALL, so this was just boiled, previously frozen broccoli, as boring as it could possibly be. But it smelled AMAZING to me. And later, when Amy opened a carton of peanut butter cups from Trader Joe's, dear god, THE SMELL. Chocolate and peanut butter, attacking my nostrils!
The other notable thing was that, well, it was nice to not be thinking about food all the damned time. So much of my energy and thought seems to revolve around my next meal, or what would be a healthy option, or how much I really shouldn't have another donut, that it was strangely liberating to just go about my business, sipping on my various liquids, and not have to worry beyond that.
It's definitely been an eye-opener. There have been many things I've eaten in recent months that were mere Wants, due to tiredness, stress, or even just the right social setting. Still, at times, they feel so much like Needs that it's difficult to know when to stop. Although my relationship with food, my body, and my health has improved considerably, it's still far from perfect, and both the 64 hours of liquids and the clean eating before/since have already started to balance me out a bit, on that front. At the very least, I'm being more mindful about the whole eating process, instead of using it as more of a crutch.
Anyhoo, I'm back to eating again today, and none the worse for wear. I never expected to do that well without food, and it's not something I'd have done on my own. Nor is it something I think I'm likely to do again anytime soon because, well, I LOVE FOOD. But, it was an interesting experiment.
Part of this group "cleanse" I'm involved was a three-day liquid phase--in reality, more like 2 2/3rd days, because we're advised to give ourselves some steamed vegetables in the evening of day 3--where you consume a homemade anti-inflammatory veggie broth, cranberry juice (no sugar added, of course), herbal teas, and the occasional glass of organic vegetable juice.
This part was completely optional, and at the beginning of the anti-inflammatory portion, I was *very* confident that I'd be skipping the liquid phase, and just continuing to eat clean as we had been for the first week-or-so. But, when this past Sunday's meeting rolled around, I found myself feeling surprisingly froggy about the whole thing. So, I decided that I'd make a small batch of broth and give it a shot, but if I started feeling awful or unable to keep with my normal, active lifestyle, I'd immediately start eating again.
I got up on Day 1, had my morning cup-o-broth, and biked in to work. I sipped on tea and juice, and made it through the first part of the day feeling... perfectly fine, much to my surprise. I got ready to hit the gym in the late afternoon, thinking that surely, I'd be ravenous and light-headed after that. A couple of other folks in our group felt faint and couldn't concentrate as early as the first day, and I expected I'd soon follow suit! But no, I actually felt pretty good. I got a bit growly in the evening, but a bottle of Columbia Gorge Carrot Beet Celery Juice took care of that.
Tuesday went much the same. I did my run-and-yoga in the morning, and even went back to wushu in the evening, and I was a bit sore, but made it through with no real problems. Yesterday, I ran out of broth around mid-day, so I had my steamed veggies in the late-afternoon, and then threw together an awesome quinoa salad for dinner later. I was productive and got a ton of editing done both days, and my concentration wasn't any worse than usual.
I also noticed that my sense of smell with regards to food went completely off-the-charts. Andy and
dakania came with me to Amy and Travis' to play Rock Band 3 Tuesday evening, and Andy brought his bowl of broccoli with him. Now, Andy does not cook at ALL, so this was just boiled, previously frozen broccoli, as boring as it could possibly be. But it smelled AMAZING to me. And later, when Amy opened a carton of peanut butter cups from Trader Joe's, dear god, THE SMELL. Chocolate and peanut butter, attacking my nostrils!The other notable thing was that, well, it was nice to not be thinking about food all the damned time. So much of my energy and thought seems to revolve around my next meal, or what would be a healthy option, or how much I really shouldn't have another donut, that it was strangely liberating to just go about my business, sipping on my various liquids, and not have to worry beyond that.
It's definitely been an eye-opener. There have been many things I've eaten in recent months that were mere Wants, due to tiredness, stress, or even just the right social setting. Still, at times, they feel so much like Needs that it's difficult to know when to stop. Although my relationship with food, my body, and my health has improved considerably, it's still far from perfect, and both the 64 hours of liquids and the clean eating before/since have already started to balance me out a bit, on that front. At the very least, I'm being more mindful about the whole eating process, instead of using it as more of a crutch.
Anyhoo, I'm back to eating again today, and none the worse for wear. I never expected to do that well without food, and it's not something I'd have done on my own. Nor is it something I think I'm likely to do again anytime soon because, well, I LOVE FOOD. But, it was an interesting experiment.
