Fasting Journal: It’s Only My Second Day And I Feel Good Already!

I’m writing my fasting journal to you, to encourage you in your own prayer & fasting this Holy Week. This is my second day of 7 days of prayer & fasting.

This year, I’m taking a lighter–but healthier–type of fast: The Juice fast. (I did a “water only” fast years ago and I loved it, but I think it was too harsh for the body. In a “water only” fast, toxins are released too quickly and it shocks the system. In a juice fast, the toxins bind themselves with the juices and they get gently flushed out of the body.)

This year, I was a good boy and prepared for my fast well. About 3 days before my fast, I began eating smaller meals and avoided refined sugar–ice cream, pastries, etc.–to avoid withdrawal symptoms–which causes headaches, etc.More…

One day before my fast, I ate noting but fruits. As usual, that was difficult. I kept getting hungry and felt weak the whole day. And to think that I had to give 4 talks that day!

For my spiritual preparation, I went to confession with Fr. John Sherlock, OMI, our resident confessor in our retreats. He’s such a lovely man–you feel God’s embrace every time you confess to him.

And when I wasn’t giving a talk, I stole a few moments for prayer and spiritual reading. It was a difficult but good day.

And as expected, the first day of my fast was the most difficult of all. I felt hungry, weak, and at one moment, dizzy.

It was now all juices, nothing else. With a juicer (a little kitchen appliance), I juiced carrots, broccoli, lettuce, cucumber, celery, cabbage, ginger, lemons, apples, oranges, etc. I drank four times–morning, noon, late afternoon, and evening. Hunger was my constant companion. I felt weak in the morning and felt extremely weak after I gave my talk at the FEAST to almost 3000 people. In the afternoon, I studied for my talk for the Easter FEAST (Please come! It’ll be a fantastic blessing to you.) Too weak to do anything else, I said good night to God and slept early at 8:00pm.

This morning, I woke up refreshed at 4:00am. That’s when I discovered that the intense hunger pangs were gone. I drove to another series of retreats in Tagaytay.

By the way, you may be wondering why juice the fruits and vegetables? Why not just eat them? Here’s the rationale: In a fast, you want the body not to digest anything. Everyday, digestion consumes a lot of the energy of the body. So when the body isn’t digesting anything, it can now use its energy for cleansing the body of the toxins we’ve accumulated through the months and years (depending on when was your last fast–and that’s why I recommend an annual 7-day fast).

Today is the second day of my fast and I can’t believe how well I feel.

As I said, I no longer feel intense hunger pangs–just normal hunger once in awhile. My body has now shifted from “digesting” to “cleansing” mode. Today, I gave again four talks in our Holy Week retreat. I’m praying and reading more. I’m really excited for the days to come.

Spiritually, I feel connected. At peace. Empowered.

And I’m praying for all of you in the KerygmaFamily, lifting to God all your needs.

Watch out for the continuation of my fasting journal… Abangan!

PS1. Just in case you didn’t get my invitation to pray and fast with me for 7 days, click here and read about it.

PS2. If you’re NOT yet a member of the KerygmaFamily, you’re missing the mountain load of spiritual nourishment we give away to members for FREE! Monthly Kerygma magazine, daily video talks, daily Bible reflections, and so much more! Click here and join your new spiritual family and support system now!

PS3. We’re moving KerygmaTV to another TV channel. We’ve left RPN-9 (We thank God for all the time we spent there) and we’ll be announcing our new home very soon.

PS4. Do you want a part-time job where you can work from home? WANTED: We need budding school textbook writers. From Kindergarten to Grade 6 subjects. We pay a fixed amount per book project. If you’re interested, email tina@kerygmafamily.com and we’ll interview you to see if there’s a fit in the work to be done.

PS5. Do you have old children’s encyclopaedias, resource books, and story books that you are no longer using and are just collecting dust in your homes–and want to get rid of them? Let other kids read them. Please mail or ship them to CFA c/o Mayette Salvedia, at #60 Chicago St., Cubao, Quezon City (For details, call up Mayette at Tel. (632) 7264709 or email her at catholicfilipinoacademy@gmail.com (Sorry, we have no means of picking them up.)