Why Am I Doing Another Juice Fast?

I wouldn’t care so much about being overweight if it wasn’t for how much it negatively impacts my energy levels and mental focus. It means I get less done, and my motivation for work and hobbies declines significantly. I’ve been trying to gain control of my weight for the last five years, and it is beginning to remind me a little too much of my battle with alcohol addiction. I don’t have any problem losing the weight (I’m up and down between 86kg / 190 pounds and 75kg/165 pounds like a yo-yo) but it is keeping it off that is the problem.

Final Attempt to Bring My Weight under Control

The problem with all my attempts to keep the weight off so far is that it has required fighting my food cravings. This type of battle requires willpower, and I this is not something I can depend on long-term to keep me on the right path. As soon as my life becomes challenging, I tend to turn to food for comfort. I always mean for it to be just a blip in my good behavior but before I know it I’m back to being a lard-ass.

I struggled for almost two decades with my alcohol addiction until I finally had the good sense to stop fighting. I was like a 10-stone weakling trying to take on a UFC champion – I kept having my arse handed to me on a plate. I stopped ‘trying’ to control my drinking and instead threw in the towel. I gave up my alcoholic identity, and it all became incredibly easy after that. This meant that I didn’t so much break free of my addiction as fall out of it by becoming a person who doesn’t drink.

My battle with food is just a rerun of the game I was playing with alcohol – the only way I can win is to stop playing. It’s not as simple as dealing with alcoholism because I can’t just give up eating, but I can become somebody who doesn’t use food like a junkie. I can do this by mindfully acknowledging how much better I feel when I’m eating sensibly. This means that instead of trying to fight my mind, it cooperates because of the obvious rewards of a healthy diet.

I say that this is my final attempt to bring my weight under control because I’m tired of fighting. It’s a game I’m never going to win, and it just requires too much energy and effort. I’m done with dieting and other approaches that can only bring short-term benefits.

Why Am I Juicing Again?

I’m now on day 11 of a 30 day juice fast. This might seem a bit of an odd thing to be doing given that I’ve just said that I’m done with dieting. I do expect to lose a significant amount of weight due to this fast (I’ve already lost about 5kg), but I know that any weight-loss is only going to be temporary unless I change my approach to food. The real goal of this 30 days of juicing is to reboot my system, and to increase my energy levels and mental clarity – my work has been suffering due to lack of both of these recently. I felt physically and mentally fabulous for about two-months following my last 15 day juice fast, and I’m expecting a repeat performance at the end of this one – I already feel much better and have more energy.

Permanent 18:6 Intermittent Fasting

I’ve tried 5:2 intermittent fasting in the past, but it hasn’t really worked for me – it requires too much of a sacrifice to be sustainable long-term. I do still like the idea of fasting, and this is why at the end of my juice fast, I’m going to start 18:6 fasting. This basically means I can eat every day but only during a six-hour period. If this works to stabilize my weight, I’ll continue with it indefinitely, so it’s not going to be just another fad diet. The monks here in Thailand follow a similar type of daily fasting schedule because they don’t eat after noon, and it doesn’t seem to do them any harm. My approach is going to differ from the monks because my feeding time will probably be between noon and 6pm.

I’m confident that within a few months my body and mind will have adapted to a more sensible approach to diet. I’ll also begin to favor nutritious food naturally as I witness how much better it makes me feel.