I haven’t had any soda today and I have tried to think carefully about everything that I put into my mouth. No radical changes yet, just noticing things more. I’m getting ready for the fast already. If it has sugar or a long list of ingredients perhaps I just don’t need it.
I also tried to drink salt water for the first time today. Pretty gross, yo. Several of the fasting plans suggest that you drink a quart of room temp water with 2 teaspoons of non-iodinized sea salt mixed in either as needed or every other day. This helps move everything through if you know what I mean. I think I am going to be an “as needed person.”
A lot of people said they couldn’t force themselves to drink the salt water, or if they could they threw it back up. I was curious what my reaction would be so I tried. I made it about 3/4 of the way through before I’d had enough. I think by not pushing that last bit I managed to hold it down with no problem. It is that gross though. Seems to be working, there’s some rumblin’ in my tummy.
I have been doing a lot of reading and doctors do not recommend doing this often (esp not while fasting) as it can pull water out of your system too quickly and deplete your electrolites. Fair enough. I might stock Gatoraid for the days I feel I need to do this. But if I am uncomfortable at any point and having a hard time going to the bathroom because their just isn’t a lot of food going in I think I would rather have this as a backup than become dependent on laxatives. Something about laxatives really creeps me out.
The point of this entire exercise for me is to think more seriously about what I put into my mouth and clean out my system. I have tried “cleansers” from health food stores. I usually just feel sick while I take them and constipated after my body flushes them out. At the end I feel just as heavy (in a gastronomical sense) as I need before I took anything. I am going to give myself a chance this time to do go it alone this time. No crazy drugs or pills…if that means a little nasty salt water now and then, so be it.
