Fasting....the only way to starve!

Ok so I'm looking into fasts. There already seems to be some controversy as to weather or not this is a healthy practice or not. Here is the first of many links that I have read on the matter:

http://altmedicine.about.com/od/detoxcleansing/a/juice_fasting.htm

And from that article here are the most relevant points:

Proponents of juice fasting suggest fasting only during the warmer months of the year. Spring is thought to be the best time of the year for juice fasting.
Seven or more days before the fast, alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, sugar, dairy, wheat, animal meat, fish, and eggs are typically reduced or eliminated from the diet. This preparation diet often consists mainly of organic fruits, vegetables, and beans.
Between 32 and 64 ounces of juice is usually recommended per day during the fast. The juice is sipped throughout the day. Typical fruits and vegetables include celery, carrot, kale, cabbage, apple, pineapple, cranberry, spinach, beet, and greens. Citrus fruits are often avoided.
Approximately 6 glasses of room temperature or warm filtered water is often recommended in addition to the juice.
Organic fruits and vegetables are usually recommended. If organic produce isn't available, practitioners suggest peeling the skin off fruits and vegetables or washing vegetables with a non-toxic produce cleaner, usually available at health food stores.
Freshly juiced fruits and vegetables are preferred, but if unavailable, practitioners suggest buying it from the health food store or juice bar as fresh as possible.
Green vegetables and sprouts contain the pigment chlorophyll, which juice proponents believe are especially beneficial during a juice fast.
A combination of fruits and vegetables is recommended.



Spiritually speaking:

http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/detox-diets-cleansing-body-feature

Ancient Tradition Meets New-Age Needs
Strychacz vividly remembers his first fast -- 17 days long. "It was extraordinary, a mystical experience. I felt like I'd figured out why Jesus and Plato and Socrates and Gandhi did it -- the clarity of thought, the peacefulness."
Fasting indeed has a long-standing spiritual tradition. "Almost every religion has some type of fasting ritual -- Lent, Ramadan, Yom Kippur ... the Hindus and Buddhists fast, too," says James Dillard, MD, assistant clinical professor at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. He's author of Alternative Medicine for Dummies.
"There's definitely a spiritual factor," Dillard tells WebMD. But he's among the skeptics. "Whether [fasting diets] have any physiological benefit, I'm not so sure."
A study of anthropology gives plenty of evidence, Page says. In Chinese medicine, fasting is part of preventive health care. For many ancient cultures, fasting helped people "lighten up" after a long winter, shed the extra winter fat layer that provided warmth.
Our bodies naturally detoxify every day, Page tells WebMD. "Detoxification is a normal body process of eliminating or neutralizing toxins through the colon, liver, kidneys, lungs, lymph glands, and skin," she writes in her book. "Just as our hearts beat nonstop and our lungs breathe continuously, so our metabolic processes continuously dispose of accumulated toxic matter."



OK this is interesting:

Eating less -- that's definitely known to extend life, Dillard says. "The only reliable way to extend the lifespan of a mammal is under-nutrition without malnutrition. Studies show that if you cut back on 60% of the calories mice eat, they will live almost twice as long with much fewer tumors."

WTF??? Is all the disease in this country caused by calorie overload??? Mice food is high in calorie??? JK.

As I sit here chowing down on my Delicious PHO soup, I'm entertained by thoughts of fasting. Hee hee...I'm sure I won't be thinking it's so entertaining when I am in the midst of it all. Anyway It seems there are a few diff rent ways to do this. I like the idea of drinking the juice throughout the day and then perhaps having some broth of sorts in the evening, I think I will incorporate that. Also I like taking the spiritual approach to it so I will be looking up different spirituality's who have practice fasting. More to come....
Alright not bad for a days research. One thing I want to do is point out that I am not doing this for the weight loss factor, and in fact i know that more than likely if there is any difference that it will come back quickly, but it doesn't matter that's not why I'm doing it and I wanted to stress that after reading a young ladies blog about fasting which ended up to be more of an eating disorder than a spiritual experience or an exercises in self discipline. Why I am doing this is to detoxify my innards, everything from my lungs to my liver and all those wondermous things inside me that have taken some abuse in my life....I want to give them some hope! Another reason I am doing it is to examine my own self disipline or weather or not I have any or if I can set my mind to something and see it through. Also, almost two years ago I had a colonoscopy done which requires a liquid (no juice...mostly water or broth) diet for two days before hand and then the day before you drink PhosphoSoda it is this terrible tasting stuff which virtually turns your ass into a firehose :) It was not a pleasant situation and I struggled so hard with not eating...it wasn't my choice to do this I was told by the Dr to do it! It was suffering! My beautiful girl friend of nearly 6 years was by myside the whole time fasting too...she seemed to struggle less with it because maybe it was her choice to do so. Thank you Rose! Anyway the way I felt after the fasting and severe firehosing was a very peaceful empty harmonic feeling inside me. I'm looking forward to that.


So things that are recommended for Juice fasting:
1. For the week before my fast I will reduce dairy, caffine, meat, wheat and sugar from my diet. Sticking with mainly veggies, fruits, lentils, beans organic as much as possible.
2.In the week before fasting I will come up with a variety of Juice's veggie and fruits and plan out my days consumption in advance.
3. I will also allow broths like miso soup with nori for dinner time.
4. I will also include a spiritual practice such as yogic breathing and or meditation, or evenhot baths to sweat out impurities...no worries though I will be consuming enough water to remain hydrated!
5. I will fallow this fast for 5 days.
6. I will document these events for you and me.
7. I will start a week from tomarrow October 10th 2008 until then I will be researching and reporting my findings! So I will be eliminating all of the harsher foods starting tomarrow, I will savor tonights Mexican food...yummmers!