Day 1

So, I'm starting my juice fast. It's kind of a hippy thing to do, as it's sort of natural/alternative healthsy, but I'm really excited.

I will have 2 - 3 cups of fresh fruit/vegetable juice per day, and as much tea as I want, unsweetened of course. No solid foods, nothing, for 30 days.

Because my digestive system will be given a rest during this period, my body can focus its energy on repairing other damages throughout my body. I can expect my asthma symptoms to decrease, and possibly a decrease in my back/shoulder pain as my body stops worrying about digesting solid food and starts worrying about healing its cells. I will probably also experience an increase in mental clarity, memory, etc. One awesome thing is that once you stop giving your body outside energy sources, it turns on itself and uses its own resources for energy... which include viruses, dead/dying cells, cancer cells, and fat. So another effect of the fast is, obviously, weight loss. The weight loss estimates vary wildly from website to website, but I'd be happy with a 15 - 20 lb loss and overjoyed with more than that. There are negatives though... as the body excretes toxins from the body I can expect more BO, more acne, bad breath, occasional "low" periods of no energy in between other "high" periods where I am energetic and positive. This is all stuff I've read, though, and nothing I've experienced yet as it's my first day. So I guess we'll see.

My plan is to fast for 30 days -- depending on how I feel, I may switch to a water fast, or continue as a juice fast throughout, or if I'm feeling very sick I may end up eating whole fruits/veges because I'm doing this for my health, and I'm not willing to compromise it. I do hope and plan to stick to the 30 days, and I'm very excited to see what changes I notice in my body, if any.

I will be trying to track a few things throughout this:
weight: 97.7 kg
back pain: very painful right now. 8/10, 5 being the normal pain I experience, 10 being I-can't-get-out-of-bed, and 1 being no pain at all.
knee pain: a little sore if not held straight, creaky
asthma: Will track less than the others -- currently, I can't run/walk fast in cold air at this point because my breath becomes so restricted. Will test again at around 15 days, and then again at 30, by walking briskly at night time and measuring my endurance.

And because I won't be able to eat, or cook, during this period, I'll need to do something to fill my time.. so I've come up with a few projects and hopefully I can share photos of what I've accomplished during the month, or at least after. :] I won't be at home as much as I anticipated, though, because work has been popping up for me quite nicely, but hopefully I'll get a FEW things done at least!

so... yep! that's me. Wish me luck, give me support, I'll need it -- I love food and it kind of sucks that I won't get to have any for ages, but I expect the benefits to be worth it.

:D