calmNot-so-quick explanation: Starting after a light dinner on thursday, I went on a juice fast. Yes, it's one of those hippy-natural-medicine things. It's impressive how well the body does on just juice -- I feel fine, although I know I'm not drinking as much water as I should. I'm not very hungry at all -- I feel like I often do before breakfast, when I'm not especially hungry, but not un-hungry, either. What I am is *lonely*. Now, granted, I had a migraine last night (which started before the fast, and was PMS-predictable), so I wasn't feeling social, but I am tonight. Problem is, I wouldn't be comfortable at a grilling party without bringing and eating food. And I'm enough of a foodie that I don't think I could resist eating, either. Sigh. Double sigh when I note that I've still got a cookbook on vegetarian grilling with some kick-ass recipes out from the library. (must-write-LaTeX recipe class!)
The good part about not being social tonight is that I'm actually getting another resolution I made done, too -- cleaning my room. Dunno how much I'll get done, but at least I've started. Resolution #3, as of yet unimplemented, is to cozy up to Quicken for a few hours, but the room is more important right now.
I think the best thing I'll take away from the fast is a renewed ability to completely ignore hunger pangs -- they don't faze me now, when they occasionally show up. (Thinking about food enough to write this entry is starting to bring them up. But I can ignore them.) I've also realized I could never go long-term on a truly healthy diet -- I'd have to give up too many textures and tastes that I enjoy, and I'd have to give up eating restaurant food/other people's cooking as often as my social life would like. I think I'll revisit the cleansing diet/fast idea, but only as I can wrap it around my life. A lot of the books/web sites on the concept emphasize how diet and stuff can extend your life, but I'd have to say that a long life without flaky pastry dough would be worse than a short life of decadence. That's a valuable thing to know about oneself. (I might change my mind if I came down with a serious degenerative disease and/or cancer, but not when I'm in my current state. Which can be summarized as a sucky but existing immune system, migraines, and occasional heartburn/indigestion, along with a metabolism that would kick ass if the USA ever had a real food shortage.)
(Note: I will be at potluck tomorrow -- I'll probably bring sushi, since rice and half-cooked vegetables are on the okay list for the day of breaking a fast. Especially since they'll be mostly organic ingredients. And it will only be a 56-hour fast, so my stomach should be ready for almost anything, as long as it's in small quantities.)
