MY WEIGHT LOSS-HEALTH GAIN FAST ADVENTURE

Have you ever done a fast?

Have you ever wondered if you should do a fast?

Have you ever longed for the weight loss-health gain results of a fast?

This week I completed a 3-day fast of my own.  Ahem… Notice the word “completed”.

Now, I realize that in certain religious traditions, Great Fast – or Lent, as it is more commonly called – doesn’t commence until next week.  But, what can I say?  The time was right. . .

WHAT WAS MY MOTIVATION?

1.  I was curious.

Miessence, a certified organic health, home and beauty products company, had recently come up with a new product -- a weight loss superfood, appropriately named… FAST.   As a representative (full disclosure), I thought it only fair to my customers that I should have first-hand experience with this product. Besides, what was all the hype about?  I wanted to know.

2.  I was detox-ready.

Don’t get me wrong.  I hadn’t been making daily trips to our local liquor store. (Who am I kidding?  I live in the middle of nowhere.  In off-season, I don’t even have a local liquor store!)  However, I do have food.  Over winter, I had gotten into the habit of scarfing down too many carbs.  I was beginning to find sugars – even healthy ones – increasingly difficult to resist.  My body was ready for a cleansing.  A reset.  Now.

3.  I was vain.

Last week, I had tried on my bathing suit which I hadn’t worn in three years.  Next week, I will be wearing it at a geothermal mineral spa.  Among people.  Need I say more?

MY EXPERIENCE

DAY 1

I approached this fast the same way I do a confession with my Spiritual Father.  A little nervous.   But joyfully anticipating its cleansing benefits after all has been said and done.

According to the Miessence product info sheet, FAST promises results.

 “After just 3 short days”, it tell us, “you will wake up feeling lighter, cleaner, energised and refreshed with an improvement in digestion, elimination, mental clarity, skin, and sleep.”

Well, heck, who doesn’t want to feel all those things!!!

It also tells us that, in addition to being a weight loss formula, FAST is a:

1. Protein Shake
2. Prebiotic Supplement
3. Fibre Supplement
4. Green Alkalising Supplement
5. Liver and Colon Cleansing Supplement
6. Super Antioxidant Drink
7. Immune Support Supplement
8. Energy Drink

So, armed with nine good reasons to remove all food from my diet for 3 days, save the 4 scoops of FAST mixed in water three times daily, I embraced the challenge.

Auto-playing in the back of my mind were these words: This is very healthy…. This is very healthy… This is very healthy….

I had no delusions about this being easy, however.

Let’s face it, I ENJOY FOOD!  I knew I will miss it.

I also know that many people around the world go hungry every day.  Funny, how easy it is for me to forget this little fact.  I would meditate on that thought later though, when visions of mashed potatoes, hot buttered popcorn, and apple pie danced in my head, and threatened my resolve.  

Also, I had been forewarned by some who had tried FAST that its taste was “chalky” and its texture “gritty”.  Hmm… Not exactly selling points. 

To increase palatability, I used 3 tricks:

1.  Ice cold water with which to mix the FAST powder

2.  Blending the whole thing in my smoothie blender -- until smooth and frothy

3.  Using a straw

This helped.  A lot.

It also helped that I was psyched up.  I wasn’t expecting it to taste the way I imagined a Starbuck’s Iced Vanilla Latte would taste.

And… it didn’t.  It tasted “green”.  But not unpleasant.  And the latte-like frothiness at the bottom of the blender bottle was my reward for being a good girl, drinking it all up!

How did I feel after Day 1?

• Surprise! Not hungry.  

• Thirsty as all get-go. I drank SO much water – 3 - 4 liters a day on average. This was not a bad thing.  Water is cleansing.

• Some queasiness.  Whenever I started to feel like I was being rocked on a boat, I’d drink more water.  Or a soothing organic tea – a licorice, ginger, green tea combo. Ginger is a digestive tonic.  The FAST rules allow herbal teas, and since the product itself contains matcha green tea, I was pretty sure my inclusion of some green tea would be acceptable, too. 

DAY 2

My scale showed that I had lost two pounds, and my measuring tape showed I’d lost two inches off my waist and one inch off my hips.  Now we’re getting somewhere. I was encouraged to carry on…

However, today, my first FAST drink of the day wasn’t so “unpleasant” as I thought the day before.  The smell bothered me.  And my concentration and energy had started to decline.

I have a theory…

It was the liver-cleansing action trying to show me who was boss.

Have you ever been pregnant?  Or around women who were pregnant?  Remember experiencing or hearing about a heightened sense of smell.  (BTW, it was during my own pregnancy when I discovered that raw pasta has a smell!)

In fact, the infamous morning sickness is, at least in good part, a result of liver detoxification. Foods one normally loves become detestable. That’s what was happening here.  Nothing to do with the product, per se.

FAST contains burdock and dandelion roots, spectacular liver cleansers.  It contains assorted dehydrated green grass juices and spirulina which also assist in this process.  It makes sense that there should be some effect.  So… I decided to suck it up.  Literally.

…And to employ 2 new strategies:

1.    Distraction. 

I decided to take my focus off  the drink.  I paired my “meal time” with reading a book or magazine, checking emails, or using this opportunity as Facebook time.  Fortuitously, I came across a post of someone on the Miessence Rep page who had just completed his fast.  I was encouraged by his “survival”… and his results.  He had lost 5 kilograms in 3 days!

2.   Amplification of self-care.

 Day 2 was when I realized that I would need to give myself some extra TLC. 

•        Epsom salt baths

•        Earlier bed times

•        Not placing high demands on myself or my time, remembering that in a couple of days I would be in a better position to pump up my productivity again. 

DAY 3

Day 3. (Deep breath.) Over the hump. 

I took comfort in knowing that by that evening I could eat again if I wanted to, even though I would choose to defer my next meal with “real” food until the following morning. Despite the fact that food fantasies had kept my mind occupied as I drifted off to sleep the night before, (that hot buttered popcorn… creamy mashed potatoes… apple pie), I woke up to find that I wasn’t hungry.  At all.  Go figure.

I was thirsty!  Water became my best friend.  I always felt better after a glass or two of water.  It settled the queasiness.  But it did little for my spaced-out feeling.

Three more FAST drinks to go.  Ugh.

It was time for a self-pep talk.  “Only three more”, I told myself. “You can do this.” “You lost another pound since yesterday”.   “This is very healthy…This is very healthy… This is very healthy…”

“YOU CAN DO THIS!”

And I did. 

How did I do it?

Mints to the rescue!  Natural peppermint oil, xylitol-sweetened mints (3 calories) would soothe my gut and remove the yucky taste in my mouth.  Mints.  Who knew? 

Well, I did, actually.  But I didn’t think of it until I saw a pack of Pur mints which my husband had just brought home from the health food store, lying on the kitchen counter.  Dropping me a hint was he?

Regardless, two teensy “after-shake mints” got me through the remaining two drinks.   Keeping busy, mostly with trips to the bathroom, got me through the rest of the day.  (Heads up:  be prepared for green poop!)

DAY 4

I awoke still weak and a bit shaky.   Hmm… not exactly the anticipated “energized and refreshed” feeling. Time for food! 

 It would take another full day before I would experience the benefits the product promised, but I would experience them, eventually. Maybe I’m a slow learner…  

I stepped on the scale once again to discover that my fast had knocked five pounds off me. Out of curiosity, I tried on my bathing suit… and I smiled.

My breakfast consisted of a couple of glasses of water and a green drink, followed by a bowl of steaming hot homemade borscht.  Mmmm…. Heaven.

Certainly, my desire for high carbs and sugar has lifted. I am in better control of my cravings. Even for apple pie.   

Good thing, too.  Great Fast starts next week. I'll be participating - for a whole other set of reasons...

Want to experience the WEIGHT LOSS – HEALTH GAIN benefits of a FAST adventure for yourself?  You can get more information on healthy fasting by visiting my Miessence site. Click here to learn more.