Last night I did a lot of reading about how to wean off of a fast. Longer fasts are more intensive, but for a fast as short as mine, the basics were:

• Start with eating fruit only the first day, because fruits are the most easily digested.
• Slowly add in fresh vegetables, vegetable soups, broths, etc.
• Add dairy starting with whole milk plain yogurt and cottage cheese.
• Continue to add in healthy grains, meats, nuts, and other dairy.

My body hasn’t been digesting food for a week, and needs time to slowly integrate whole food back into my system. Certain digestive enzymes have been diminished or have ceased production while on a fast, and they need time to build themselves back up slowly. Probiotics should be introduced during this time as well. My husband and I decided to take acidophilus and eat yogurt with live cultures. It is crucial that you don’t overeat too quickly after a fast. Because of the sensitive state of your digestive system, overeating can do more damage after a fast than any other time. Eat small, frequent meals, and take it easy for a few days; always listen to your body and eat what feels right.

This morning I slowly ate a banana (over the course of 45 minutes or so while making our morning juice). I then drank a glass of juice as well. It was strange to chew the banana. I was completely aware of what I was doing in that moment, and had to think about it while it was happening. This is a way of eating that I have never experienced before, but it was exciting. Mid-morning I had a diluted juice and some grapes. The grapes were so sweet that they gave me a tiny stomach ache. Before this experience I ate grapes frequently, and they were good. Tasting them again now, however, was mind-blowing. They have SO MUCH natural sugar in them, it was unbelievable. I couldn’t eat very many. I tried again later in the day, with the same result. I diluted another juice at lunch time and ate some cantaloupe. I had an apple later for a snack, and it was also very sweet and difficult to eat because of all the chewing it required. I drank a little of my husband’s juice at dinner, and made a quick vegetable soup (never boiling the veggies- they were still crunchy) with some chicken stock, carrots, celery, cauliflower, parsley, basil, and a bay leaf. It was simple, but filling.

It was a weird/experimental day. I wanted to grab everything and eat it. I restrained. The most tempting thing for me was a bagel. I thought that I wanted some toast or something in my body! From the weekend previous, I knew that all of my “sources” were right in suggesting a gradual adjustment back to eating those foods that are harder to digest. So I did well and stuck to just fruit/soup.

Things that are horrible for me still sound good. . . I didn’t erase how good all of those additives, preservatives, and chemicals actually tasted to me. They do their job; they hook you and you want more and more. I’m no different. My husband had a random Reese’s pieces in his bag from school and tossed it to me to throw in the garbage when he got home. I smelled it; I’m not going to lie. It smelled great too, but then I threw it away. I remember all the junk that I just got out, and I don’t want to nullify what I went through by one piece of candy that wouldn’t even taste good once it was actually in my body. It’s not easy to make big changes, and that’s probably why most people just don’t do it. We’re generally lazy as a whole, and don’t want to make the effort. What I’m learning is that some things that we think will take a lot of work don’t, in reality. It’s more of a choice than anything. Which brings me to this fabulous poster I found on fitlife.tv:

Will we choose to change, or remain the same?