My butt, January 2009

My butt,  January 2009
(who could miss it)

My butt, January 2010

My butt, January 2010
photos by Tom Peal

Welcome to You and All your Brilliant Parts!

In 2009 I lost 40 lbs and I got a new butt. How? Diet and exercise, that's the short answer. But all of the things I learned that made it emotionally possible, that allowed me to succeed when I had failed before - that will take longer. This blog celebrates the intelligence of the body. Please leave me a note to let me know what you think of this writing, if it's been helpful. I welcome your input and experience.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Pre-Fast Day One


Hello, Transformational Specialists!

We're right on schedule with our weight-loss plans, and it's time for the exciting preparation for cleansing with the juice fast.  If you've obtained the book 3 Days to Vitality by Pamela Serure, I'm sure you've gotten lots of great ideas about how to use this week's activities to make positive changes in your life.

Eating is only a part of our lives - we can make it into as big a deal as we want.  Eating, sleeping, shitting - that's the mundane stuff, right?  The basic housekeeping of your brilliant body.  Unlike one-celled creatures, we have developed to seek, secure, and prepare nourishment for our complex omnivorous systems.  Because it is our dreamy nature to do so, we've built a lot of history and culture to support that task.  But let's let go of all of that baggage for now - the good and the bad - and put eating in it's proper place.  Under our control.  I mean under the control of our higher, un-fettered, divine, wise, adult self.  Believe me, you'll enjoy all the great and beautiful things about food and cuisine even more after you gain control of it.  This is only one week in your whole beautiful life!



Just to make sure we're on the same page about this, dear readers, I'll quote Serure directly from chapter 9, The Prefast:
To help your body adjust to the changes in your diet and ease you into this program gently, it is essential that you follow a prefast for at least two or three days before your three day fast begins ...
A proper prefast will ease your body through the transition from solid foods to juice, and it will do this with a minimum amount of discomfort and shock to the system.  A prefast will also ease your mind and contribute to your emotional and spiritual state of readiness by getting you focused on the many changes that are soon to come ... 
If, for whatever reason, you cannot meet this minimum requirement, do not proceed with the program at this time ...
Note the grown-up gravity in that last statement.


So here's what we're going to let go of in the next three days, in preparation for the juice fast:


sugar (you and I have already done that, right?)
caffeine (I've eased down to green tea - no more for this week)
oils (starting today for me)
wheat (I've already given up white flour, but whole wheat abstinence will start today ...)
alcohol (I will be remembering every day ...)
meat (starting today ...  I also add eggs to this list)
dairy products (that means yogurt abstinence for me, because I've cut out cheese and milk)

Maybe you've lost some weight during the pre-pre fast - I lost three pounds.  Remember - I believe in slow weight loss, so I used my discipline to eat only good food, cut out sugars and other problems, re-dedicate myself to healthy exercise and other routines, and be mindful of and shave off portion sizes.

Waking up in the morning with an empty belly is such a reward.  I just feel better all day.  I hope you have shared this outcome with me through March!


Serure leaves the nature of our prefast in our hands, with guidance.  She instructs us to eat vegetables, dairy-free soups, salads and fruits.  We are to eat vegetables and fruits at different times, at least two hours apart.  Fruits (excluding high-acid fruits) are recommended for each breakfast of the prefast.  Likewise, she suggests raw vegetables for lunch and steamed vegetables for dinner (seasoned with fat-free tamari.)  She also provides a discussion of mono-diets, for those who are interested.


A minimum of eight 8-ounce glasses of water is recommended per day, and Serure instructs us to abstain from carbonated water or other beverages, even naturally carbonated, because carbonation is hard on the stomach and we want to make things easy for our stomach.


I have some of my own ideas about healthy eating, so here's my prefast plan:

Breakfast: fresh fruit
Mid-morning or noon: steel-cut oats with a tablespoon of walnuts and stevia
Lunch:  cooked, raw, and fermented vegetables (including dense veggies like potatoes, in small portions)
Dinner: miso soup with seaweed and fermented veggies
Non-caffeine tea and lots of water through the day; fresh fruit at any time that is distanced from meals by at least two hours and not too late at night.

I do not skimp on portions - I eat as much as I want.  Considering everything in my diet for three days except the oatmeal, walnuts and potatoes is water-based and non-dense, I think that's appropriate as long as I reject compulsive or fearful eating.  I also avoid artificial sweeteners, candy, gum, etc.  They're not food.

Stay positive!  Write to me about your excitement!  I'm so happy we're doing this together.  I plan to post every day this week, if possible.

Later, Jenni





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