To fast or not to fast, that is the question.

Updated: Feb 9, 2018

Today I want to talk about fasting and plant based diets. There have been many people over the years whom I have known to fast. I have literally ALWAYS thought they were crazy AF. People telling me to STOP eating. Uh, no thanks bro. Do ya even know how heavy I lift everyday or the extreme HIIT cardio I do?? So I always wrote them off as being bat shit crazy folks that didn't know what they were talking about. Vowed to never trust anyone who told me NOT to eat real food.

Fast forward to today. Almost completed my studies in becoming a Holistic Practitioner. I am learning new things about health, nutrition and our bodies every day. I am opening my mind to new ways of thinking and new ideas. To date I have watched a LOT of health related movies, documentaries, lectures and attending functional medical conferences.

“I am learning the many benefits of a more plant-based diet, especially for someone like me. You know, the Ferrari-type. Nice to look at on the outside, but needs lots of engine work?! Lol!

You can't argue with science. Well, I guess you can argue if you want to be a brat but if you open your mind to other ways of thinking, ESPECIALLY if what you're doing isn't working...well then, my friend, you are becoming enlightened! The mere thought of transitioning to a plant based diet was OVER-WHELMING! and was kind of giving me panic attacks. I finally decided to let go and commit to an experiment on myself. I had begun to open my mind to a possibility of a juice cleanse of my own. Something more of a detox, not deprivation.

If you think about all of the years you have fed your body, the process of digestion. What is actually required of your body to break down every single piece of food you put in your mouth-good or bad. Can you imagine never taking a day off of work for your brain to recharge? Well, in the past, I have been pretty bad about that too! (that's a whole other story!) Imagine a machine working day in & day out for decades upon decades with no rest. Do you think that it would start to slow down, or maybe even start to malfunction? Think of your body in that way. It takes quite a bit of energy to power the millions of chemical reactions that take place in your body. I started to think about that and also started thinking of my future, my auto-immune health, all of the medicines that I take but am trying hard to get off of. I pondered & talked to my family, my Doctor and friends.

Finally I decided on a plan. As nerve-wrecking as I had let this decision become. Mostly because I didn't want to alienate myself even more than I already was! I made the choice to do a liquid cleanse, Food Matters had a very healthy 7 day option I chose. A juice, smoothie, soup cleanse actually. I still think the extreme water only fasting is not safe or healthy. I obtained a high quality juicer and started practicing.

Now WHY am I choosing to cleanse?

My personal goals over the next several months will include detoxifying my body as much as possible. My father being a young Dr when I was little gave me antibiotics every time I had a sniffle. I continued that into very recently. This creates a lot of bad yeast buildup and destroys your gut not to mention builds up a resistance to antibiotics rendering them useless when you really need them! I've also had severe asthma since then and have always had to take very strong steroids daily in order to breath. Then there's my good ole Hashimotos for which I take several medications. I refused to start taking RA meds (a recent diagnosis) and my ultimate goal at the end of my transition will be to completely get off of ALL of my medications. Its going to be tough but I know that I am strong enough to do it!

Here's why I am starting the transition with a liquid cleanse, these are just some of the potential health benefits.

Maximize Detoxification
Rest my stomach
Rest my liver
Rest & repair my gut
Eliminate inflammatory foods (coffee, animal products, anything I am personally intolerant to-dairy, gluten, soy, corn)
Flood my system with super nutrients
Improve energy
Heal my cells
Reduce physical problems.
Offer an easier transition of off animal meats **I will occasionally be eating animal products and not classifying myself as Vegan or Vegetarian, just a majority plant based, healthful eater.

((*While doing this cleanse, I will have to reduce my heavy lifting at the gym temporarily. While I will lose a little muscle, I will beast mode right back when I am done!))

After the cleanse I will be shifting to a more plant based diet. I already eat pretty darn healthy but I am going to experiment with plant-based to see if in fact, for me, it helps all of my many inflammatory diseases. I will take you along with me on my cleanse journey! Check back for TO FAST OR NOT TO FAST Part II. Wish me luck! I will be vloging my experiences too! Yikes-not sure we need to see my being hangry but here goes! Lol!