Day 49…So close!

Mary here… Woke up feeling terrific today. I’m finding that once I drink a juice, I’m OK regarding feeling hungry or having cravings. Yesterday, I was able to have a real heart to heart with Christine about my concerns over what we will be eating when we finish on day 60. I know we have to very slowly add back into our diet things like fiber, and other foods. But it seems to me that Christine is more excited about eating just fruits and veggies than I am. I am so tired of fruit, and in fact was never much of a fruit eater when I was growing up. I could care less about sweets, natural or not. I’ve been trying to figure out why I have been having such a continuous craving for red meat while on this juice fast. When we were leading up to the fast, I was a total vegetarian, almost vegan, and had NO cravings for red meat at all. Why now? Well, Christine figured it out, as she always does! It’s the fat that I’m missing in my diet. When I think of the things I’d really like to eat, it’s red meat, fish, shell fish, spinach sauteed in garlic and olive oil, salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar..the list goes on and on..but every single craving contains fat. I know some of you will say, but that’s ok bcause it’s the healthy fat!  Unfortunately, according to the major docs in alternative health, all fat is a major no no. So I will have to be extremely careful as I add that back into my diet. This may be why some vegans have complained about gaining weight while eating vegan. It’s the oils!

Christine here…Mary’s right, I am excited about eating after we finish the fast. I’m looking forward to, not only the fruits and veggies, but the beans, nuts and seeds and grains as well. I am going to try to follow Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s “Eat to Live” plan. He suggests eating as much raw veggies and fruits as possible, especially having a big salad for lunch and dinner. He says that raw veggies have a negative calorie effect so the more of them you eat the more weight you can lose. I really want to keep eating clean after the fast because I know I won’t be finished losing weight. I broke into the 130s today at 139.5. This is the first time in many years that I have been under 140. It all feels so great and I have no fear at all about falling back into bad habits. I feel I’ve really changed and I’ve learned so much while on this fast. Mary’s right, the oils are considered a processed food and should not be eaten. Other fats that are good come from plants like avocado, walnuts, olives and coconuts, but you should eat the plants and not the oils and keep your fat intake to a minimum. Dr. Dean Ornish says it should be below 20 grams a day. Olive oil has 14 grams of fat in one tablespoon! It would be easy to eat twice that amount on one salad! My goal now is to find lots of good vegan recipes that don’t require using oil. I’ll start with Dr. Fuhrman’s book and Dr. Ornish’s book, “The Spectrum”.