I believe intermittent fasting is for everyone. I don't think everyone needs to practice the same kind of intermittent fasting. Anywhere between 13 to 18 hours of fasting before your first meal can be very effective for your body, as long as you don't have a medical condition that supersedes this. I’ll write a separate blog post on why intermittent fasting doesn't work for everybody.
Why Did I Decide to Do a Juice Detox?
Your mind is something you have complete control over (unless you have a condition that doesn’t allow you this privilege). For most of us, we are in control. If you find yourself falling victim to every comment, craving, or urge, then you need to train your mind.
Fasting and detoxing have been ways for me to train my mind and work on my self-discipline. Having gone to boarding school, I consider myself more structured than most in my everyday life. I make to-do lists for my weekends by Friday afternoon. I know exactly what I'm going to do, and I don’t take kindly to interruptions—sometimes.
I knew I needed this detox, not for weight loss, although that happened, but as a way to take back control. I struggle with really bad anxiety, something I developed in the past couple of years, and I have struggled with insomnia since I was a child. I can remember being really little, living in New York, roaming the house at night, unable to sleep.
Detox Day One
I did not make my own detox juices; I purchased pre-made ones from Pressed Juicer. I have done their cleanses in the past and was a huge fan of their wellness shots. I started on a Friday because Friday is usually a chill day, and everyone is trying to leave early, so there would be no temptation to go off anywhere to buy food. Day one was a breeze.
Detox Day Two
Day two is where I struggled. I did my morning workout, and when I got back home, I felt my skin tingling. It was the strangest sensation. I drank the first juice and sat on my couch. I was exhausted, but I literally said to myself, "You aren't going to die. Relax. If this is something that could kill you, it wouldn't even be allowed." I fell asleep on my couch for two hours and woke up even more tired.
Going into the Detox
Going into this detox, I wasn't getting any sleep. I was sleeping for two hours and waking up, just lying in bed every night. I would wake up, take my prescribed medication, and head to work. The detox did its thing and regulated my mood and sleep. The celery and cucumber mix in my juices was cleansing my body of all the medication and other random stuff, resetting my system, and in turn, resetting my sleep.
72 Hours Into My Detox
By the third day, I was in my zone. I felt amazing knowing I had two days of this detox under my belt and got six hours of sleep on the second night. By Sunday night, my weird sleep pattern was gone (for now). My detox ended, and I went straight into my intermittent fasting. My first meal was Monday at 1 p.m. I got a pre-made vegetarian burrito from Trader Joe’s, and it was disgusting—biggest regret of the year.
Because I did not want to tempt myself, I decided not to meal prep on Sunday. That burrito had my stomach in chaos. Overall, the detox was amazing, and I think because of my mindset going into it, it felt spiritual for me. Whenever I had done it in the past, it was purely to see if I could lose weight. This time around, I wanted to lose the noise in my mind, and I would say I accomplished just that.
In Conclusion...
Mindset is everything, and most times, you get out what you put in. I went into this detox seeking clarity, and I think while I was doing it, it did quiet my mind. For three days, my mind was at peace. I wasn't worried about any of my everyday problems; I was focused on completing this task.
Would you do a detox like this? Why? What would be your reason? Is it weight loss, clarity, or something else?
I will post a follow-up blog detailing my weight loss results and what I have been doing to maintain them.