I’m finishing up my 25th day of the fast. I spent the afternoon…baking. Actually, I started last night by mixing up the refrigerator bran muffins. Today, Annika and I baked those, then I made two batches of cookies and some Nanaimo bars. Do you know how hard it is to bake when you can’t lick the bowl, spatula or even your fingers? I began the baking last night because I wanted to try to make some bread out of my wheat. I used whole wheat flour because I couldn’t grind up the cracked wheat well. The bread could definitely use some sugar, but it tastes OK otherwise.
I also did a little bit of research on how to end this fast. Those who do the more complete fasting (juice- or water-only) recommend taking 5-6 days to gradually reintroduce foods because the digestive system has shut down. If I don’t, I could be really miserable for a couple of hours. So, I’m thinking smoothies! I think it’s too thick to count as breaking my water-only pledge. 
I must say, though, that I was a bit disappointed to think that the fast doesn’t really end on Thursday; it just begins to taper off.
One of the blogs mentioned “the feeling of euphoria” that you get when you fast. I don’t know that I would call it euphoria, but I can say that I have felt really good the last week or so. Still light-headed (BP is 110 or 73, so a full 20 points lower than normal) and feeling cramps in my side after eating and feeling cold all the time. But my emotions and assertiveness have been up. I put a book on hold at the library called, “Depression-Free Naturally.” I think I will try to make my diet in the future one that will allow me to continue the emotional strength while increasing my physical strength and metabolism.
