Fasting Diary – The Day After

So, I am at the end…but the end of the fast does not signal the end of the complete process.

A one week fast is more like 4-5 weeks when you consider the re-introduction to food. Or, as I often say to clients, don’t see a two week fast as a 2 week process. It is a 6 week process.

In the re-introduction to food it is vital to rebuild the digestive system by providing the right environment for the digestive system to redevelop slowly and steadily. Taking short cuts at this stage can compromise the whole benefit of the fast itself – and the cleanse experienced. Therefore the first few days involve liquids only, such as broths or juices. They just include more overall than on the fast – small amounts, more regularly; i.e. 8-10 times per day.

From there the food is still quite soft and soupy. We really don’t get to chewable foods like salads until after a week. We also start introducing nuts slowly around this time.

It takes 2-3 weeks before fish is introduced and 3-4 weeks before meat is introduced.

The key also in the first few weeks after is also consuming small meals regularly. The stomach will have shrunk significantly and consuming too much in meals puts too much pressure on the digestive system. And will hinder the effective re-population of this system including the gut lining.

A huge trap that many fall into is introducing sweet foods too soon after fasting. This can lead to a nasty little sugar habit down the track which is not good for anyone. A post fast body is super sensitive to many things – especially sugar.

The last night of the fast included an extremely thorough liver cleanse which is not pleasant – t0 say the least. It is a very thorough process that involves activating the liver by using liver herbs during the day and then consuming olive oil at night (which is a real challenge given the quantity we consume), followed by placing a hot water bottle over the liver area of the body and sleeping with it there. If you can manage the olive oil process, the proof is in how you feel the next day. Generally people experience significant flu like symptoms for the day or two afterwards. Whilst it is not pleasant, it is a result of the liver and gall bladder putting out the garbage ‘so to speak’, which then circulates throughout the blood stream – which is why you feel so awful for the next day or two.

In addition, what comes out during the enema the next morning is very surprising given that, for the last few days of the fast there is virtually nothing left in the large intestine and the enema contents are very watery. Pardon me for the gruesome details, but the enema the morning after the liver cleanse has a lot more solid content. And quite pungent!!

This really shows not only the potency of this liver cleansing process, but also how much pressure we put on our liver and how much debris can get caught here and in other parts of our upper digestive system. And therefore the importance of giving the liver and digestive system a good rest and cleanse occasionally.

Once this ‘garbage’ does fully leave the blood stream, you feel incredible. Great energy, mental clarity and focus. And so clean. You feel almost ‘super human’. This makes the whole process more than worth it.

Overall for during the 8 day fasting period (which I cut short from 10 days for logistical reasons), I recorded the following changes in my body using the Bio-impedance testing:

Body composition:

• Weight dropped 7.2kg from the start.
• Fat levels down 1.37kg overall.
• Muscle mass down 2.55kg – this will come back on over 2-3 months with nutrition and exercise.
• Abdominal circumference down 4cm overall.

Cellular health indicators:

• Extra-cellular water down 2.88 litres (or kg) overall – a huge amount of toxins leaving the system!!
• Cellular fluid balance (or fluid retention factor) down 12 points – from good to excellent range.
• Cellular energy production up 6% overall – from above average to excellent.
• Biological Age down 1 year 🙂

My body likes me very much at the moment.