Breaking the fast

[Guest]

I am currently doing the cleanse for the first time and I am about to start my 4th day. I am planning to hold out for the recommended minimum of 10 days. I am a healthy weight and I excercise but I really enjoy junk food (pizza, chicken, beef, french fries, tortilla chips and etc). I am not prepared to stick to a raw foods or vegetarian diet for too long after the fast. Will I ever be able to eat the foods that I love again? I was really hoping to ease into some of my old eating habits by the 3rd or 4th day after the cleanse. Is this the wrong diet for me or are my cravings just getting to me at this point? I thought the cleanse would be good for me considering I have IBS and have other GI difficulties. ???

[emclachl]

Peter said: "My wife and I occasionally do the swf after an evening eating out with friends."

I am wondering if you do the laxative tea the night of an accidental binge and then the SWF in the morning? Or simply the salt water? I thought that you said in the Salt Water Flush forum that people who did the SWF after eating food got very sick? I'm confused.

[TcRejoices]

emclachl,
I'm not sure about whether or not Peter drinks the lax tea the night before. I don't think it would hurt one way or the other. I do remember him saying that he would drink the SWF in the morning after a night eating out with friends. Therefore, his stomach would be empty in the morning and getting sick wouldn't be a problem.

[darlingdd]

Hi all!

This is taken from the book Fasting as a Way of Life, by Allan Cott, MD.

Chapter 6 After-the-fast Menus

When you start to eat again, you must not burden the digestive system--now cleansed and rested--with too much food or the wrong kind of food.
When you have fasted for even a few days, your system will require less food than you had been accustomed to eating. (You will not have accumulated hunger or appetite.)
After a longer fast--of a week or more--the body is enlightened. It puts appetite into alignment with the body's real needs for energy. The probablility is you will now consume only as much food as your body burns.
In the words of a veteran faster, "A fast heightens awareness of the individual's integral relationship to the nourishment that feeds the body."
Gorging food after the fast or trying to compensate for "lost meals" could have lamentable consequences. At the very least you would surely regain weight you had shed. You could also become ill.
The wise person eases into a sensible refeeding program. Easy does it if you want to continue feeling wonderful and to keep your weight at or near itd new low level.
In effect, the body is re-educated by a fast. It "unlearns" bad habits of overeating and'polluting." It is "born again." It inclines toward a natural state. It wants only as much food as is required for maintenance. It prefers the kinds of food that are natural to the taste and harmonious to the digestive system.
My new after-the-fast eating schedule is an agreeable and palatable alternative to the refeeding program that appeared in Fasting: The Ultimate Diet. The menu plans are intended to keep your weight at--or below--its post-fasting level. They are also designed to provide a healthy nutritious, high-energy interlude between the completion of the fast and the resumption of regular meals. They are balanced and complete in all the essential nutrients.
Throughout the after-the-fast diet you may drink as much water as you wish. You should drink at least one quart of water every day.
It is advisable to eat slowly and to chew carefully. (Good advice anytime.)
You should not add salt to your food.
You should adhere to the refeeding schedule for the same number of days you fasted. If you fasted for five days, for example, you should follow the schedule through Day Five.
Most people who fast of course continue their normal work routine. It is suggested they prepare their refeeding meels on arinsing in the morning. Meals to be eaten during the day can be put into thermal containers and taken along to the job.
When you return to a regular eating pattern, the likelihood is that you will be eating more selectively and auterely, which is all to the good.

My after-the-fast schedule is one of several in popular use. Two estimate alternative refeeding programs were kindly supplied for presentation in this book by Joy and Robert Gross, who operated the Pawling Health Manor in Hyde Park, New York. The programs are appropriate for the seven-day refeeding period after a week-long fast. Amounts may be adjusted to individual desire. (I do not use either of these programs fro breaking the fast.)

(by Dana -- I am putting the alternative menus in the third post after this one.)

[darlingdd]

The Day One Menu
The day's menu consists of one pint of boiled water mixed with one pint of grape juice or orange juice or apricot juice.
Sip two or three teaspoons of the mixture every ten to fifteen minutes throughout the day, finishing the full quart by bedtime.

The Day Two Menu
The menu consists of undiluted grape juice or orange juice or apricot juice.
Drink half a cup (four ounces) of the juice on arising and an additional half a cup every two hours until bedtime. You will drink one quart of the fruit juice if you are up 14 hours today.

The Day Three Menu
The menu of five meals consists of one quart of yogurt and one pound of apples.
Wash and grate the apples, and mix with the yogurt.
Divide the combination into five equal meals.
Eat a meal every three hours, preferably at 9:00 A.M., noon, 3:00 P.M., 6:00 P.M., and 9:00 P.M.

The Day Four Menu
The menu of five meals consists of one quart of yogurt, one pound of apples and one half-pound of carrots.
Wash and grate the apples and carrots and mix with the yogurt.
Divide the combination into five equal meals.
Eat a meal every three hours, preferably at 9:00 A.M., noon, 3:00 P.M., 6:00 P.M., and 9:00 P.M.

The Day Five Menu
The menu of five meals consists of one and one-quarter cups of yogurt, one-quarter pound of apples, one-quarter pound of carrots, one teaspoon of honey (by Dana, I'm using maple syrup), a vegetable salad (described below), and two walnuts.
Wash and grate the apples and carrots, mix with the yogurt, and add the teaspoon of honey and the walnuts. Divide the combination into five equal meals. Eat at the same hours as on Days Three and Four: 9:00 A.M., noon, 3:00 P.M., 6:00 P.M., and 9:00 P.M.
At the noon meal, have also a vegetable salad consisting of one boiled potato, one cup of raw fresh chopped cabbage, and one chopped onion--dressed with one tablespoon of vegetable oil.

The Day Six Menu
The menu of four meals consists of one and one-quarter cups of yogurt, one quarter-pound of apples, one-third pound of carrots, two teaspoons of honey (by Dana, I'm using maple syrup), two walnuts, one-third pound of farmer cheese, and a vegetable salad (described below).
Wash and grate the apples and carrots, mix with the yogurt, and add the honey and the walnuts. Divide the combination into four equal meals. Eat a meal every four hours preferably at: 9:00 A.M., 1:00 P.M., 5:00 P.M., and 9:00 P.M.
At the morning meal, add the farmer cheese.
At the 1:00 P.M. meal, add a vegetable salad consisting of one boiled potato, one cup of raw fresh chopped cabbage, and one chopped onion--dressed with one tablespoon of vegetable oil.

The Day Seven Menu
The menu of four meals consists of one and one-quarter cups of yogurt, one quarter-pound of apples, one-third pound of carrots, two teaspoons of honey (maple syrup), two walnuts, two-thirds pound of farmer cheese, a vegetable salad and a cup of oatmeal or buckwheat topped with milk. (I use soy or lactose intolerant milk.)
Wash and grate the apples and carrots, mix with the yogurt, and add the honey and the walnuts. Divide the combination into four equal meals. Follow the same meal schedule as Day Six: 9:00 A.M., 1:00 P.M., 5:00 P.M., and 9:00 P.M.
At each meal have one-fouth of the farmer cheese.
At the morning meal, have the oatmeal or buckwheat topped with milk.
At the 1:00 P.M. meal, have a vegetable salad consisting of the same ingredients as that for Day Five or Six.

The Day Eight Menu
The same menu and schedule of four meals as Day Seven.

The Day Nine Menu
The same menu and schedule of four meals as Day Seven, except for the addition of one tablespoon of sour cream mixed with the day's portion of farmer cheese.

The Day Ten Menu
The same menu and schedule of four meals as Day Nine, plus a cup of vegetable soup at the 1:00 P.M. meal.

The Day Eleven Menu
The same menu and schedule of four meals as Day Ten.

The Day Twelve Menu
The same menu and schedule of four meals as Day Eleven, with the addition of three teaspoons of vegetable oil and a pint of orange, grape or apricot juice.
At the morning, 1:00 P.M., and 5:00 P.M. meals, have a teaspoon of vegetable oil. (You may wish to add the vegetable oil to your vegetable salad.)
At each meal have one four-ounce serving of the fruit juice.

The Day Thirteen Menu and Beyond
Continue the menu and schedule of four meals of Day Twelve for as many additional days as are necessary--that is, if you fasted for fifteen days, you should adhere to the Day Twelve diet for three additional days.

[darlingdd]

Alternative After-the-Fast menus:

First day after the fast:
4 ounces fresh orange juice mixed with 4 ounces water. Sip slowly, every three hours.
OR:
Breakfast: 1 grapefruit Lunch: 6 ounces clear vegetable broth Dinner: 1 grapefruit

Second day after the fast:
Breakfast: 8 ounces fresh orange juice Lunch: 1 small piece watermelon
Dinner: 2 oranges
OR:
Breakfast: 8 ounces fresh tomato and celery juice Lunch: 1 pound fresh grapes
Dinner: 8-10 ounces vegetable broth

Third day after the fast:
Breakfast: 8 ounces fresh carrot and celery juice Lunch: 1 or 2 ripe tomatoes, couple of stalks celery, 3 ounces pot cheese Dinner: Medium-sized vegetable salad, baked potato
OR:
Breakfast: 1 grapefruit Lunch: Several slices ripe fresh pineapple, 8-10 strawberries
Dinner: Green salad, steamed baby peas, 3 ounces pot cheese

Fourth day after the fast:
Breakfast: 8-10 ounces fresh grapefruit juice, 3 ounces sunflower seeds Lunch: 1 ripe banana, 1 ripe pear, 1/2 cup raisins Dinner: 8 ounces carrot and celery juice, medium-sized green salad, baked potato, steamed asparagus
OR:
Breakfast: 1 grapefruit, 1 orange Lunch: 1 large ripe tomato, 4 ounces alfalfa sprouts, 2 stalks celery, steamed whole green beans Dinner: Medium-sized salad, medium portion steamed brown or wild rice, steamed zucchini squash

Fifth day after the fast:
Breakfast: 1 medium-sized piece watermelon Lunch: 8 ounces vegetable soup, 3 or 4 ounces cottage cheese, several leaves of romaine lettuce Dinner: Medium-sized green salad, 1 ripe tomato, 3 or 4 ounces sprouts, 1/2 avocado
OR:
Breakfast: 8 ounces carrot and celery juice, 3 ounces pine nuts Lunch: 3 or 4 large nectarines Dinner: Medium-sized green salad, baked potato, steamed broccoli

Sixth day after the fast:
Breakfast: Fresh strawberries, 3 ounces raw cashew butter Lunch: 1 or 2 ripe mangoes, 8 ounces fresh ripe blueberries Dinner: Large green salad, steamed lima beans, 1/2 avocado OR:
Breakfast: 1 or 2 grapefruits Lunch: 2 ripe bananas, 3 ounces natural dates, 1 pear
Dinner: Large green salad, steamed eggplant with tomatoes, 3 or 4 ounces pot cheese

Seventh day after the fast:
Breakfast: Ripe papaya (as much as desired) Lunch: Fresh blueberries, 1 or 2 ripe peaches, 3 ounces ricotta cheese Dinner: Finger salad -- romaine letuce leaves, celery, carrot sticks, green pepper slices, endive, steamed yellow squash, steamed kasha
OR:
Breakfast: 5 or 6 soaked jumbo prunes Lunch: 6 or 8 ounces fresh vegetable soup, fresh celery sticks, 3 ounces imported swiss cheese Dinner: Large green salad, vegetable casserole -- alternating layers of ripe tomatoes, eggplant, green peppers, potato, parsley, in baking dish. (Soybean oil may be used in bottom of pan and if liquid is needed, celery juice may be used.)

[Resonnant]

Wow!! This is perfect. I scurried over here to ask a question because tomorrow is day 20 for me and then I'm done...and Waa laa!! A menu! ;D (I'm a little excited)

Thanks

[Guest]

just to clarify, a half a jar of peanut butter on day two after a fast is a bit too much. and a full indian meal on day three is also too much.

just to clarify. ;D

[TcRejoices]

I would be very cautious about breaking the fast another way than what Burroughs and Glickman recommend.

Just skimming the menu, I noticed cooked foods and dairy products. Both are mucous forming and won't keep your body clean.

[TcRejoices]

Well Day 10 has come and gone which was my goal this time. Â* Â*Some days I didn't think it was ever going to get here if you know what I mean!

Today is day 11 and I toiled with the idea of continuing but have now decided to go ahead and stick with my original goal of 10 days. Â* Â*So, I just drank some freshly squeezed grapefruit juice and let me tell you, Â*"It was wonderful!" Â*Everything healthy always taste so much better after a good cleanse. Â* Â*I just plan on drinking grapefruit juice Â*and water today. Â*I haven't decided about tomorrow yet whether I will just drink juice or also add a salad. Â*