This is a blog post from
The first warning sign was when I found myself having great difficulty fitting in to my beloved skinny jeans. The second, and more telling sign, was when I looked down at the box of Diwali chocolates which was given to me by a client barely 15 minutes ago, and finding it to be empty. The festive season had well and truly landed — on my waistline. I decided that I had to do something about it, lest I found myself with an entire cupboard of clothes I couldn’t fit into. After a bit of research, I zeroed in on a “One Day Juice Program” for the simple reason that it was only for a day. The idea behind the juice program was that you had juice six times in a day, apart from unlimited fruits and vegetables, and a few hundred grams of nuts. The program would make you feel lighter, and more importantly, accomplished, all for a day’s worth of discipline. This is genius! I told myself. I shall undertake it tomorrow .
I came back home from work that evening with a bag full of fresh fruit and vegetables, and used dinnertime to mentally prepare myself for the next day’s fitness challenge by watching people do pushups on YouTube.
Here’s how my day went.
The morning is more difficult than I had anticipated it to be. While I knew that I wouldn’t be able to eat solid food, it had slipped my mind that coffee was off-limits as well. This was an issue because I’m the kind of person who needs coffee to just be able to see clearly, apart from function. It’s only been half an hour since I started the juice program, and I’m already ready to give it up.
I’ve had my first juice of the morning — a mix of coconut water and pomegranate juice. While it isn’t as robust as coffee, I have regained vision, and I am awake. At least that’s what I tell myself while deeply inhaling the coffee which is being made in the kitchen.
I’ve showered, and I’m ready for juice number two — a mix of spinach, cucumber, coriander, bottle gourd and mint. It tastes green, which could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your liking of the above vegetables. It takes me longer to finish this juice than it does my usual breakfast, and that makes me feel both optimistic and apprehensive about the day ahead. I’ve also packed two large boxes — one with cut fruit (figs and oranges) and another box with vegetable salad (mushrooms, tomatoes, lettuce) to take to office, lest any serious pangs come my way.
I’ve just told the friendly man who brings my (two cups of) milky, sugary tea every morning that I won’t be having any today. Is there anything wrong with the tea? he asks. Or would you prefer coffee? Neither, I tell him. Just, not today. He sees the cup of half finished green tea on my desk, frowns, and leaves. I can’t tell if he’s confused or offended.
The first wave of pangs begin to hit. Although I’m supposed to drink my next bottle of juice (a mix of beetroot and other vegetables) only at around 12.30 p.m., I open it out and have it an hour early. It feels nice to have something liquid, and I feel more satiated than I expected to be.
The feeling of satiety lasts exactly five minutes as I feel hungry again. I drink water and some more green tea.
Still hungry.
I decide enough is enough and have my fruit. The relief is fantastic — and I’m not just talking about what’s in my stomach — the very fact that I could chew something and feel a mass go down my throat instead of liquid, is amazing.
I’ve been surprisingly productive, to the point where I’ve missed my lunch break (something that never happens) by a whole half hour. I’m not terribly hungry, but have both my bottle of juice (lemon and carrot) and my vegetable salad anyway. I feel incredibly full, as though my appetite has shrunk in a matter of hours. I worry if this could be a permanent side effect of the diet — what if it hinders my capacity for doing justice to a buffet? I assuage my fears by telling myself that this could only be temporary, although I know for a fact that my dental health could greatly benefit from fewer trips to the dessert tables.
I can hear Tea Anna in the office, but he hasn’t come by my cabin. Offence, it was.
My mother calls, asking me about how I feel, and to just go back home and eat rice. Why can’t you just join a gym, she asks. The truth is that I’d rather have an empty stomach than run on a treadmill, so I tell her what I’ve been telling her every other day for the last two years I quit the gym, that I’ll get a membership this week.
Success! I’ve been more productive than usual at work, and it’s time to go home when the pangs start gnawing at me again. It’s never been more acute to me, how awful this feeling of hunger is, and how I can’t put up with it for even a day when there are a great many number of people, including children, experiencing this on a daily basis. That feeling of realisation is even more awful than hunger. Instead of leaving work, I spend half an hour on YouTube watching videos of dopey labradors and cats until I feel better enough to drive back home.
I’ve a handful of almonds and my penultimate juice (another green concoction comprising cucumber, capsicum, broccoli, ginger, a gourd I can’t identify, and mint) for the day. Just when I think that I can take some time off and watch some mindless television to pass the time until my final juicing session and crash, my dog decides that I must absolutely take her for a walk. While walking, I note that I have more energy than usual. I end up using up the extra energy on our long walk, a route that was carefully chosen to not only ensure that our puppy gets maximum exercise, but also because that was the only route in which the giant and mildly aggressive Great Dane (who is also on his walk around this time) on the neighbouring street could be avoided.
Almost there! My last “juice” is actually almond milk and turmeric. Turmeric is known to soothe the stomach, and lord knows that my stomach could use some soothing after everything that it has been through. I’m a little hungry still, but decide to harbour the feeling, for it feels strangely satisfying. I take an hour and a little more to catch up on the television shows I’ve been watching, head to bed, and almost immediately fall asleep. While I can’t recollect my dream in full, it featured potatoes, rasam, and a mountain of rice.
When I woke up the next morning, I felt fantastic. I was lighter! More lithe! I even felt healthy, which wasn’t something that I had felt in a while, and I had more energy! Most importantly, I knew I wouldn’t feel as guilty, or as sick, when I ate the remaining Diwali sweets at home for breakfast.
