Quitter Chronicles #5: The Cleanse

 Ok, so the cleanse didn’t work out like I expected.

I had grand plans for this.  Initially, I wanted to go several days without any food at all, drinking only water, and letting all the icky stuff get flushed out of my system.  Then I would gradually start phasing in foods.  I would start with only fruits and vegetables, slowly adding starches, oils, dairy and meat.  The final stage of the process would be (after a few weeks) to begin eating sweet stuff again, but sweet stuff sweetened with natural raw sweeteners. 

On August 24, I ate my normal breakfast and lunch, but I skipped dinner.   I had every intention of going without food for at least five days before beginning to phase in simple stuff.  But on the evening of the 25^th, I caved.  I woke up in the middle of the night feeling super jittery and faint.  It seemed weird that I would wake up from slumber only to pass out.  After this happened a few times, I finally got up and stuffed my face with a handful of almonds, some cheddar cheese, and a spoonful of peanut butter. 

Boy was I glad I’d taken the preliminary steps of cleaning out my pantry of sugary stuff, because I guarantee you I would have gone for banana bread or something.  

So, at this point, it seemed silly and perhaps reckless to try to do an extended fast.  Instead of fretting about giving up on the harsh cleanse plan, I just began my refined-sugar free life on August 25.  I had eggs for breakfast that morning, and some tea with honey.