Ten Days Without Food: Notes from a Fast

I can remember the last time I ate food.  It was Sunday night, March 15th.  253 hours ago.

My last bite was a spoonful of Ben and Jerry’s ice-cream, what I considered a fitting end to a “last supper.”  From that moment until this one, I have not had a single morsel to eat.  (And I must say off the bat, this process should probably be called “slowing.”  It’s certainly not high-speed.)

There are many reasons why I fasted.  The most tangible motive for me was my own personal interest in this phenomenon. Fasting plays a role in many diverse cultures and traditions across the globe–and it has for much of human history.  I wanted to learn what it felt like–literally–to go without food.  In the end, I hoped to gain some perspective on eating and bodily health.  I had not expected that fasting would teach me so much about the physical and mental aspects of commitment.

Here are some of the questions others have asked me about this experience–and questions I asked myself before I started and along the way.

How can you go ten days without eating?

I must admit that while I was on a fast, I did not go completely without nutrition.  I followed a regimen that many people refer to as the Master Cleanse.  It goes something like this:

*Wake up.  Mix 32 oz of filtered water with 2 teaspoons of non-iodized salt.  Drink it.  This is called the salt water flush (SWF).

*Throughout the day, drink 6-12 8oz glasses of “lemonade”, which is made of filtered water, organic grade B maple syrup, freshly squeezed lemon juice, and cayenne pepper.

*Drink as much filtered water throughout the day as desired.  The regimen also allows an occasional mug of organic herbal mint tea.

*Before bed, drink a mug of organic herbal senna tea, a known laxative.

*Repeat all of the above steps for 10 days.

What’s the point of drinking all those liquids?

Each component of the regimen played a unique role in this cleanse.  The enzymes of the lemon juice helped break down the layers of “plaque” encrusted on my intestinal walls.  So did the cayenne pepper, which also had the added benefit of dilating the blood vessels (making me feel alert/awake) and speeding up absorption of the sugars in the lemonade.  The maple syrup provided these sugars, as well as other minerals. I calculated that I received about 800 calories of carbohydrates from the maple syrup alone.

If the cleanse were a washing machine, the lemonade would be the agitator cycle. The senna tea and the salt water flush are the rinse cycle.  The senna tea helps your body contract and the salt water provides the “motivation” to “eliminate” the material in your system.  One feature of this brand of cleansing is that you find yourself talking about bowel movements with a new vocabulary.  Since things are not as solid as they once were, what comes out needs new descriptors–such as “butt pee”, “flaky stuff”, “poop balls”, and “greasy sludge”.   Hey, sue me–my last name is Stuhl.

Why did you choose this cleanse in particular?

I also must admit that I did not do this cleanse alone.  My fiance did it too, walking next to me every step of the way.  We have shared a curiosity in fasting for the last year.  In that 12 months, we have done much research on various types of fasting.  We stumbled upon the Master Cleanse and decided it met a few criteria:  it presented a significant challenge, it provided a substantial support network through an online forum, it had the potential to create enhanced mental and physical health, and it had been practiced since the 1970s, a with a deep track record of success.

Was it difficult?  Did you have cravings?

Yes. And Yes.

For three days, I swore I smelled garlic bread.  I woke up in the middle of the night on Day 3 and thought someone was in our kitchen cooking it.  My fiance helped me realize it was only a craving–an intense one at that.  The next morning, while walking our dog, I was sure a neighbor had prepared garlic bread for breakfast.   Turns out, there was no garlic bread smell.  It was in my head.

Some proponents of the cleanse suggest that these cravings are the result of the body detoxifying itself.  I’m not sure if I completely believe that.  I think cravings are natural, to some extent, and need not be thought always as toxins.  In another direction, both my fiance and I noted that our senses of smell were much stronger while on the fast.

In many ways, this cleanse is like a marathon.  You know from the outset where the finish line is.  Ten days and 26.2 miles is a long way from square one.  Mentally, you know the only way to reach the end is to take the next step–you can’t just jump there.  This is both disconcerting and comforting.  On day 2, one step doesn’t seem to make up much ground.  Somehow, the steps start to add up and you find yourself at day 8.  The next step brings you much closer to the goal.

About commitment

With the marathon metaphor in mind, this fast taught me powerful lessons about commitment.  The first take-home message is that a strong mental dedication to a certain goal can help you buffer moments of weakness.  For me, these moments of weakness came on day 7 and day 9–when I had day-dreams of eating Philly Cheesesteaks, Thai food, and guess what–garlic bread.  Day 9 was actually the hardest day–I had already gone 9 days, why not just do a 9 day fast instead?  But I had told myself I’d do 10 and that’s what I wanted to do.  I would not break the contract I signed with myself. Knowing there were no ifs, ands, or buts, for this aspect of my self-confidence made it easier to turn my back on temptations.

The second lesson I took from this 10 day fast is that a support network is essential in persevering through personal struggles. As I write this, my inner voice is saying “This is common knowledge, Andrew.  Everyone knows a support system is helpful.”  Yet, another voice is telling me, “That’s true–but how many people take advantage of it?  Who among us is confident enough, yet humble enough, to call on others when in need?”  My gut feeling is that we understand the importance of support networks, but rarely put them to our use.  At least that’s what the voices in my head tell me.

So today is day #11.  And oddly enough, I’m not eating today.  We have to be very gentle in reintroducing complex foods into our bodies.  Today I am enjoying a mix of grapefruit and orange juices, freshly squeezed.  Over the course of the next few days, we will gradually try out more and different kinds of food, until Sunday, when we can finally go “back to normal.”

That’s when I’ll finally be able to sink my teeth into that piece of bread, slathered in garlic and butter.