Juice-ly 20th: Some thoughts to remember from "Juice-vember..."

Day 20: Stones of Remembrance. From when the Israelites crossed the Jordan in the book of Joshua. The Lord commanded them to gather stones from the dry river bed so that they could tell their children how God had provided for them in their time of most desperate need. These were not little skipping stones, mind you, but large boulders that required the person carrying it to hoist it up on his shoulder (Joshua 4:5, ESV) to carry it across to safety. Yeah, that sounds about right - especially with my struggle against food addiction.

This is actually my third extended juice fast. I did a 21-day fast at the end of February through mid-March, and my first 30-day fast in November. In order to keep myself accountable, I resolved to post my thoughts daily on Facebook in what I called "Juice-vember." Some of the posts were very short (though still valuable); and some were a little more lengthy. Even blog-length.

The shorter posts are good where they are on Facebook, I think, but I'm re-publishing the longest ones here, starting with the earliest one today. Just so that I might be able to help at least one more person meet their addiction issues head on. Even if that means identifying their problem with food as an addiction and going from there.

If you're here for the first time, welcome. Please let me know what you're struggling with as well!

If you've been with me since I started on this journey, welcome back. You are a valued friend.

Well...here goes nothing!



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NOTE: The first few posts were super-short, so I just lumped them together in one place. The rest of the posts were much more substantial than this first third, but I wanted to give you an idea of where I started, especially with the results of my sleep study on the night of the 6th. 


(Posted October 30, 2014 at 7:30pm) Juice-vember starts Saturday. Who's with me?


(Posted November 2) Juice-vember is going to be very, very difficult - but well worth the effort. Once you make it past three days, it gets easier. I know this from my own experience and the experience of others, but that doesn't make it any easier. Pray along with me (and for me) as I cut down this deeply implanted Asherah pole in my life, with the help of the Holy Spirit.


Juice-vember 3 - Lesson re-learned, for the umpteenth time: when I wage war against my base instincts, my body rewards me. Bring it, Juice-vember!


Juice-vember 4: four days in, still feeling mentally sharp (but very, very tired after a couple of sleep-deprived nights with my 4-month-old son). Long after the physical battle has been won, the mental struggle persists. Anyone who has struggled with any sort of addiction knows exactly what I'm talking about.


[No Post on November 5^th]


Juice-vember 6 - all is well. Got lost without my invaluable GPS on the way home from the doctor, ended up going an unfamilar way and, of course, getting pulled over like two tenths of a mile from my exit. Then I went to the bank to get my debit card replaced, and found my debit card stuck in my wallet. I told the teller, "I wish I could give you the last five minutes of your life back." She smiled, wearily.

Also got the results of my sleep study today, and it was shocking. The first night, without the CPAP, I woke from deep sleep over 200 times in less than 7 hours of sleep. Tonight is the first night at home with the CPAP. I took pictures of what I look like with the device, thinking I would publish them on Facebook, but the Elephant Man was like, "GAAAAAAHHHH!!!" I am not an elephant! I am...a man.

Juice-vember 7th: let the cravings begin. Rebecca made an amazing dinner for the girls that made the whole house smell like a restaurant. As I sip my juice.

Juice-vember 8th: dandelion, carrots, gold beets, cucumber, celery, jalapeno, ginger, apple, red cabbage. This beautiful assemblage of greens became this double batch of juice tonight. Yum!

Juice-vember 9th: having some pretty hardcore cravings today. The end of the month feels extremely far away! I know, though, that my most persistent issue has been giving in to a large percentage of those cravings, rather than denying myself and treating my body a whole lot better than I have in the past few years. In order to prevent myself from ever being this unhealthy again, I need a complete transformation in the way I deal with these very cravings. Let the battle continue!

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Look for more of these posts in the coming days! Two more relatively short posts from the 10th and 11th tomorrow, in which I reveal the motivation behind juicing for the entire month of November (including Thanksgiving), and then I get to confess to my readers the depths of my food addiction. I think this post is what really blew the lid off, as far as writing goes. Thanks once again for reading...