How I Stumbled Into Juice Fasting

 

 
We all know that a serious illness can bring things right back to reality and enforce a focus on health (although none of us would choose to learn our lessons this way).

But why do some people spontaneously become interested in health while others content their whole lives with eating junk food and feeling pretty damn crappy?

I can’t speak for everyone, but I can share my story with you…

I grew up in the world of normal.

White bread.

White sugar.

Processed food.

You know the drill–food comes in cans, tins and boxes. Frozen, premade, packaged.

I didn’t touch an actual head of garlic until I was 18.

I was an active kid, I spent plenty of time playing sports and messing around outside.

And yet, underneath all of my activity was a lot of sugar, white flour, artificial flavorings and colors.

 
I was six years old. Standing in our kitchen in Orlando, Florida.

In my right hand, I have a big cup full of Coke. My Mom just poured it for me, and it’s fizzing its fizzy sighs calling me to drink up.

Something about that cup filled to the brim with bubbling Coke caught my attention.

And in that moment, as a little six year old kid, I knew.

I knew that stuff was no good. No good for me, no good to use as a fuel for living my life to the fullest.

This was a big moment. A huge insight bubbled up into my six-year-old brain.

 
My Mom looked over at me and called my bluff–”You really think so?”

Well, that was it. The combination of that sudden upwelling insight plus my Mom’s gentle challenge to my ego catalyzed me into a decision:

Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever gone against the grain, but you might imagine that other kids didn’t exactly understand why I wasn’t gulping down soda whenever it was available.

Truth be told, I didn’t really know myself.

I hadn’t read any books on health.

I dimly remember my brother (six years my elder and always my hero) telling me about someone whose kidneys hardened and stopped working due to over-consumption of sodas…

So I wasn’t drinking soft drinks anymore.

I felt better for it, too. (You better believe I did!)

But I did occasionally get asked by friends or friends’ Moms or random strangers why I didn’t want to drink a soda.

I never had a good answer. Because it wasn’t like I was trying to be healthy or anything. I had just made a choice.

Not drinking sodas was more about the challenge and discipline of it than anything related to health.

But not drinking sodas planted a seed.

And later on, that seed sprouted.

If you want to find out what happened next, you’ll have to join me in Part Two.

Stories