A few days ago, I decided to try out a 10-day juice fast as I’ve heard so much about how they can help rejuvenate you and cleanse toxins from your system.  I’m currently in day three of this fast where I’ve been consuming nothing but fresh fruit and vegetable juice (that I make), and green tea.

My main influence of this “reboot” as it’s often called in the juicing community, is the documentary “Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead“. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a documentary about an Australian businessman who was very type-A and nearly worked himself to death by sacrificing nutrition and physical condition so to put more time into his business dealings.  Once he reached a point of being 100 pounds overweight with numerous health ailments, he decided it was time for a drastic change and he went on a fruit/vegetable juice-only diet for 60 days.  In doing so, he was able to drop 80 pounds, with proper exercise, and get off of all of the prescription medications that he was on.

So how’s my experience going so far with a fruit/vegetable juice-only diet? Not so good.  All I want is some solid food and fast-food at that. I wouldn’t mind heading to Chick-fil-A and dropping twenty bones all on waffle fries. I’m obsessing about food nearly every 3 minutes.  This must be the feeling that a food-addict feels.  With that said, I will no longer judge those who are food addicts. I almost need a support group to go to. Um…yeah.

Besides the constant craving that I’m mentally becoming strong enough to block out, it’s not that bad.  So far, I’ve noticed that I’m a bit more lethargic than normal.  I’ve been taking mad naps. But I read that such feelings are par early on and will fade after day 4 or so.

What does this juice-fast have to do with my cross-country bicycle trip, you may ask?  Welp, I’m just conducting an experiment that I feel may just help detoxify my body before clocking 100 miles a day.  But more importantly, this is a strength-training of sorts for my mind.  Any physical feat that one seeks to accomplish is 99% mental.  I know if I can mentally stave-off solid food cravings while completing the last 8 days of two-a-day workouts (21 consecutive days total), then I will be fine on the road when I’m in the middle of nowhere, such as the Great Plains of Kansas…and I’m tired…and I’m getting rained-on all while changing a flat tire…and it’s getting dark.  So instead of pursuing panic and curling into the fetal position while waiting for help…rather I’d remain cool and embrace every single experience.  At least that’s the plan.

Months following this post, I successfully completed a 10-day juice fast. You may read all about the details, the recipes, the hunger, etc.