Detoxification & The Master Cleanse: Day Seven
I “Need” Something, Anything, Everything!
I ran out of maple syrup today (horror of horrors!) and as a result didn’t have the right amount to add to the lemon and water and cayenne pepper (and no opportunity to buy some more). I’ve been MASSIVELY hungry ALL day! This is the first time in a week I’ve felt genuinely hungry and I like could actually eat (rather than just think about eating). This, combined with waking up tired led to an overall experience of feeling like something’s missing, my tank is empty and the thought of “needing something” to keep me going was at the forefront of my mind all day.
Flashback to insight from 40 day fast!!! I don’t “need” something to keep going. I “need” to stop and listen to my body. I “need” rest. My God that’s hard to do! There are SO many things I want to do and food is such an easy way to keep my energy up to do them! The question of “needing” something touches on so many aspects of our lives – it seems we are taught to believe that what we need is outside of us, that the answers to our problems can only be found in that cream bun or cup of coffee, in alcohol, in the affirmations of others, in religion, in more money, in results and achievements, in beliefs, in sex, in work, in possessions in everything other than us… This is not a new thought or some twist on a personal philosophy, it’s just something that rings true for me – everything we need is inside us, right now. We are everything we ever “need”.
I made myself stop. I put my feet up. I did some slow, deep breathing for 20 minutes. I felt amazing. My tank is full. I am complete. I don’t “need” anything. Why on earth don’t I do this more often?!?
On a purely physical note I’ve also noticeably lost weight – this is really surprising to me as on my 40 day fast, I didn’t really notice my body getting smaller until after about a month! My simple explanation for this is because my body is still consuming a fair amount of calories (210 mLs of pure maple syrup every day), my body hasn’t gone into full starvation mode where no or minimal fat burning takes place. I’m sure there’s a much more complete and scientific explanation but for where I’m at today, that will do nicely. Losing weight feels kinda nice actually – starting to notice bones that weren’t there before and my pants falling down around my hips. It’s interesting because I don’t actually want to lose weight – I don’t even weigh myself and haven’t since I was 15 or so. I’m not really trying to change the way my body looks and I’m quite happy with its size and shape – it’s more like a fringe benefit but one that I can now understand motivates many people – perhaps losing weight is addictive in itself?