Re-feeding Days 1-3

Well, the big day had come, the one you lay around and think about- the day you start eating again. I will describe the first three days because they were the transitioning days.

My body had been in ketosis for three weeks. I was getting my fuel from my fat. My digestion had been completely turned off and from my mouth to my hind end there had been no action. No juices flowed anywhere, nothing moved, everything shrunk. I had had no bowel movement since the first day of the fast in the morning. Although I was very weak, it was a weakness I had lived with for a while and felt I understood, it was familiar. I am not sure what I expected, but the first three days of re-feeding were the hardest ones of all.

Elchanan and I had talked about the first two days of re-feeding as far as what and when and how to eat. The first day I cut a 1" slice from the watermelon and cut it into six pieces. That's a big round circle, cut in half, with the halves cut in thirds. I was supposed to eat two segments every two hours the first day- which ended up being two whole slices for the whole day. He told me to have whoever brought the watermelon on Sunday cut two pieces so they would be ready for me. I thought I could cut my own and later wished I had let them cut it for me. By the time I got my first two segments prepared and sat down on the couch I was exhausted.

But the first segment touching my tongue will be a feeling I will never forget. The sweetness of that watermelon exploded in my mouth and I felt an appreciation for that bite of fruit in a way I have never appreciated food before in my life. I ate my two segments very slowly with a big smile on my face. The second two segments two hours later were also consumed slowly and I found as small as they were I could not quite finish them. My stomach had really shrunk. I kept at it all day, every two hours two segments until it was time to go to bed.

I had a different kind of weakness now. I felt less light headed but that gave me the false impression that I was stronger than I was. I would feel better and think I could easily walk somewhere but I had a feeling in my legs like unresponsive rubber. I think my body was switching over to using glucose and didn't have much to work with yet. It was like my brain was using some of the glucose and my body had no reserves so there was a lot of sitting down in the hallway on the way to the bathroom.

The second day I made thicker slices- like 1 1/2". And I ate twice as many of them. I had four larger segments every 2 hours (sometimes I went longer). I was still feeling better in my head, able to get up without holding on to something- but there was no gas in the tank yet. This was my hardest day, at one point on my way to the bed I had to lay down on the floor.

The third day there was a change in my chemistry that I could feel. I was still weak, but I knew I'd turned a corner and would continue to get stronger. By now I was eating a whole thick round of watermelon every three hours or so. When I needed to walk to the other end of the house I could. At two that afternoon I smelled smoke and went outside and saw the crest of the mountain that our park is on was burning. The sheriff's cars were coming by saying to prepare for a mandatory evacuation. I had the strength to load my dog and my new food- it never even occurred to me to grab my computer back up or something nostalgic- I wasn't going anywhere without my food!

I made four trips out to the car with my new food and my dog and by then they were saying it was a recommended evacuation. I went back in and watched the news and the sheriff's cars left and I brought in the perishables and slept for two hours. My friends had contingency plans to come and get me if it got bad- while they were all a pain in the ass while I was fasting- for re-feeding they were very handy- they go to the store for you and don't let you burn up in a fire!

By this time I am tiring of watermelon. What was a sparkling sweetness on Monday had turned into a taste I had enough of by Wednesday night. So I started eating fresh figs. Every new food I added had a delightful first bite. I also ate some lettuce that night. My whole digestive track was coming alive, starting to make its juices- from my mouth all the way to my large intestines. There were rumblings and grumblings down there and I knew a bowel movement was not too far in the future.

That story is for tomorrow-

Seena