My latest journey - 33-Days, 0 miles.

I have fasted many times, but not more that 3 days at a time. Although I once juice fasted for three months straight on orange juice and some cantaloupe juice; but that is a different ball game because you are taking in nutrients and calories. During those three months my energy level was quite high. But on a water fast you're taking in nothing, so your energy is low.

I always wanted to do a big fast, for various reasons, but never seemed to have the time. Well, coming home from my Alaska trip and resting a few weeks - getting caught up on work and etc - I finally was able to devote a block of time to this worthwhile project.

This time I wanted to fast to clean out my body of all the convenience-store food (and their related toxins and sludge) that I had been eating for the last few years on the road. And also to loose a bit of weight associated with that food.

Day-1 of the fast started out unceremoniously, and I was able to keep working throughout the day as usual. But I sure was hungry. Then that night the detox began with a low-grade headache and general malaise.

Day-2 was rough, with increasing headache and discomfort. I began to feel so bad that evening I debated stopping the fast, or at least slowing down the detox with a baked potato of some such. But I managed to persevere.

Day-3 was not quite as bad, as the detox seemed to be slowing down. And by that evening I was back to feeling fine. And that is also when the hunger left me.

During the next three and a half weeks I felt fine. No discomfort whatsoever, no hunger, but also very little energy. I was able to work half days, and then I spent my afternoons and evenings napping or just plain resting. Then about 3:00 AM a little bit of energy would kick in, so would get up and get back to work. Four times during that period I managed to ride my motorcycle around the bock, but on the fourth ride I was a bit too wobbly for comfort and safety, so I had to stop that.

Throughout the fast I was drinking only pure water with nothing added. For a few days at the start I tried soda water but that only tended to upset the stomach. During the day I had to drink a whole lot pure water. And at night also, due mainly to the low humidity of this region. I found myself wakening up cotton mouthed several times a night to drink more. Finally I bought a cheap humidifier and placed it beside the bed, and that made a world of difference in my sleeping patterns.

One month went by without incident, and I had a feeling that I could do this for at least another month, although I was by then shooting for 40 days total.

Day-31: My energy began to drop, and I started feeling a general aching all over.

Day-32: more of the same, intensified. This is when things starting falling apart.

Day-33: highly intensified, and that night I began to realize that this was not something that I could easily punch through. My stomach was nauseated and my body's every cell felt like it had a headache. And I had no energy whatsoever.

Day-34: at 4:00 AM I awakened Jenny to discuss the problem, and in a few hours we came to the obvious conclusion that I needed to stop the fast. The problem was, the very thought of food - any food - nauseated me.

Eventually I decided on a piece of whole grain toast covered with applesauce. So setting at the table, looking at that awful piece of bread - for 15 minutes - I finally forced a small bite. It tasted like cardboard, with no flavor at all. Nevertheless, in the next half-hour I managed to eat 3/4 of the piece, small bite at a time. And one fresh blackberry - again cardboard.

An hour later Jenny offered a small glass of orange and banana blended smoothie. And that's when my taste buds kicked in. WOW! I had never tasted something that good! I told Jenny that it tasted like a cement mixer full of 50 varied flavors.

My stomach had shrunk so much that it could hold only 4 or 5 bites at a time, but as the day wore on I ate a few bites every hour or so, and my body began to come back to life. In the days that followed my energy returned, but surprisingly slowly. But my insides received a huge cleaning, not just the stomach and intestines but the arteries too. And man, do I feel good!!

Caution: please don't do something like this without medial supervision. There are several fasting clinics around the country, with doctors in residence. For a good idea of what's involved, watch the DVD video "Fasting Can Save Your Life!"