Day Four (and Most of Five)

I've survived another day and a half, and my optimism about this routine is slowly beginning to fade. I'm really looking forward to my next opportunity to eat solid food again, although there's no question in my mind that I'll easily make the ten day deadline I'd initially set for myself. Since Monday afternoon, I haven't really experienced any more boosts of energy, and my nose has remained about as clogged as ever. I'm not sleeping any less, although to be fair, last night was actually a bit more restful than usual. It's been five days since my last full meal, and I don't truly feel all that different at the moment. My stomach's stopped bothering me, the occasional hunger pangs have subsided almost entirely, and I'm visiting the restroom much less frequently. Almost disturbingly so, in fact. After two and a half days of hourly visits to the toilet, my "output" has slowed drastically. It's a little worrisome to have such a sporadic change in my system without any change in my diet, so I'm working my way through an early evening salt water cleanse at this very moment. I'm going to crap, by god, whether my intestines like the idea or not!

It's funny, I remember absolutely despising this same salt water beverage just five days ago, but today it's almost delicious. It's probably got a lot to do with downing a pitcher of thick, spicy lemonade every day with nothing to cleanse the palette, but I'm actually enjoying the taste of this stuff. I can only imagine how good "real" food will taste, upon my triumphant return in another eight days. While I've reached the halfway point of the actual fast, I'll need to prepare my innards for a return to solids immediately afterwards. The first day after, I'll be kept company with a few tall glasses of orange juice. The second and third days, it's any kind of fruit juice and a special kind of vegetable soup. On day four, Friday, the 26th, all bets are off. I've already begun discussions with Autumn about our menu for the evening. I thought about coming off the diet a day early, so I could celebrate in style with the rest of the GravityFree production department (we traditionally order Rico's Pizza on Thursdays, as the grunts hang around for an extra hour and discuss the direction we see the company taking and its means to get there) but quickly decided that an enormous helping of infamously-greasy Italian food is probably the wrong way to dive back into that pool. Autumn had mentioned Sushi... that sounds nice and light.

At this point, I'm still glad that I undertook this fast. I don't regret a moment of it, and appreciate the experience. I'd have hated myself if I hadn't tried it out at least once, but at this stage I don't know that I'll be doing it again. Thus far I've gone through what's supposedly the toughest part (actually beginning the diet) and have yet to see more than a passing glance at the benefits. Maybe something drastic will happen in the next few days and open my eyes once again. For the time being, my anticipation of that miraculous return to cooked meals will have to be enough.