I have never fasted before, and I was always scared that I would shock my body into completely shutting down, have no metabolism, and gaine twice the weight when I begin eating again.

However, I have finally accepted that I am not big boned; rather, I have eaten the Standard American Diet (SAD) my entire life with no moderation.  It is time for an overhaul.

A little bit about me
I am Masters student studying PR while working full time.  I will go straight into my PhD in communications/PR once I have completed my MS.  Personally, PR is a tool that has been abused by big businesses, including the food industry.  It gives ethical practitioners a bad name.  I hope to use my skills/tools to better inform and help the public. 

On another note, I am an avid cyclist (road and mountain), but a knee injury put an end to that several years ago.  I have undoubtedly gained some weight, and I hope to lose some in order to get back in the saddle again.

Detox
I read a book about the befefits of juice fasting and detox.  Detox?  What's a detox?  I have heard of those hippies detoxing...perhaps that would explain why you rarely see a fat hippie.

I read a book by Dr. Don Colbert about origins of the toxins in body and how juice fasting can help rid them.  He also mentioned signs you can look for to tell if your body is toxic including yellowishness in the whites of your eyes (Check), fatigue/lethargy (Check), depression (Check sometimes-depends on what I eat...go figure), groggy mind (Check) and so on.

And when I really think about it, it is a "detox".  It is the same thing as someone on drugs having to detox.  We, as Americans are addicted to food.  Take sugar for example.  Americans eat ~100 pounds of sugar a year.  According to the book Sugar Blues, sugar is just as addictive as heroine.  With a detox, I expect I will go through withdrawal symptoms.  I tried to cut sugar out once, and it was horrible!  My body freaked out on me shaking, shiverring, hurting.  Sound familiar? Sounds a little like drug withdrawal symptoms (from what I have heard, of course).

How I will measure its success
Dr. Colbert mentions that your body will actually become acidic if it is toxic.  He suggests getting litmus paper and measureing the acidity of your urine, which should be ~7.4 (I cannot remember the exact number so don't hold me to this, but I will check for tomorrow).  Acidic bodies can have a measurement up to ~5.2 (with the lesser number being more acidic).  I have ordered a bottle of litmus papers (which is expensive!). 

In addition, I will be tracking my energy level, my weight, my BMI, some measurements, and amount of sleep I need.  In fact, I currently require at least 9 hours of sleep at night or I am completely wasted the next day.  I will get punch-drunk on only 5 hours.

Books to read while fasting (and to help me not give up)
Because I am working on my MS and then my PhD, I am very much about research and credibility of results.  That is why I will be reading books about the food industry to better understand why I and millions of Americans do what we do when it comes to food.  The books I plan on reading are the following:

Sugar Blues, by William Dufty
Fast Food Nation:The Darkside of the All-American Meal, by Eric Schlosser
Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World, by Greg Crister
Don't Eat this Book: Fast Food and the Supersizing of America, by Morgan Spurlock
Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health, by Marion Nestle

I might also give little tidbits of info I find out while I read the books. 

And this blog is not going to be regimented as this first entry!  I needed to establish guidelines for myself.  Normally I tend to be all over the place.

I hope to hear from fellow fasters and that we can support each other through this.

Disclaimer
This is no way medical advice.  I am not a medical doctor.  This is just a report/journal of what I feel is best for me and the results.  (Can you tell I am in PR?)