N.B. Emma and I drank raw milk for breakfast and lunch and ate a regular meal for supper for three days before we started the milk fast on March 1. We each lost two pounds during this trial run.
DAY 1, Thursday, March 1
I sailed through this day. I drank a quart in the morning and a quart in the afternoon. Any minor hunger pangs went away with just a little milk. I am weaning myself off coffee by adding a little bit more raw cream every day. Other than a cup of coffee, I had nothing but milk. I got sleepy earlier than usual and was in bed by 9:45. I slept well. I could easily drink more milk, but then I wouldn't feel like I was mortifying my body at all, so I am trying to keep my consumption at a level where I am just below satiated. Besides, this milk fast is easier for me than the traditional Lenten fast of one full meal, two snacks.
Emma was not feeling well all day because of the beginning of her cycle and only drank a half a quart of milk. She did have some kombucha also.
DAY 2, Friday, March 2
I felt great when I got up. I thought my face looked less blotchy but wasn't sure. Then later Emma commented that my skin tone looked more even. I drank a quart of milk during the morning and a half a quart during the afternoon. Then Emma and I left for church to go to stations of the cross and the First Friday holy hour of reparation and mass. We took our milk with us to finish after church. On the drive down there, which takes about an hour, I was talking to Emma and suddenly could not speak without mixing up my words. I can't remember exactly, but I think I was switching the first letters of the words in the sentence. I was very aware of it and could not stop it. It lasted a few minutes. I noticed Emma had dark circles under her eyes. I don't know if this is because she didn't get enough to eat the day before and slept poorly or if it is an allergic reaction. She felt better today but still had queasiness off and on. We got through all the kneeling and standing up again of the stations fine, but while I was kneeling during the holy hour of reparation, I started to feel queasy myself, and my head felt odd--I guess kind of light. It was hot in the church. I sat down on the pew for a while and felt better, but I decided not to stay for mass. When I went outside I had a strong craving for really cold water. I didn't have any, and I didn't feel like going to get any, so I went to the car and waited for Emma. I didn't want my now-warm milk, but I made myself drink it. I felt better.
Emma spent 20 minutes socializing after church and seemed to be feeling good. On the way home she told me that she is having a hard time drinking the milk without food. She can guzzle it down when she is eating. By the time we got home she was feeling queasy again.
I was in bed by 10 and slept well. I think Emma stayed up late and watched a movie.
DAY 3, Saturday, March 3
I woke up with a headache. I am still trying to get off the coffee, but my heart is not really in it. I love sipping hot coffee and having my quiet time in the mornings. I have cut back to one cup, and I have given up having the coffeemaker come on automatically in the morning before I wake. It is the enjoyment of it that is my addiction at this point, not the caffeine. I always look forward to getting out of bed in the morning because the coffee is waiting! "This is the day the Lord has made! Let us get up and have a cup of coffee." Ugh! I don't like that in myself. So for the last few days I have been making it when I get up, hoping that having to wait will help me strengthen my discipline and break my attachment. There are so many truly wonderful reasons to get up in the morning. Coffee seems ridiculous in comparison.
I made eggs and toast for my husband. I sipped milk while he ate. It didn't bother me at all. I had a headache all day but felt fine otherwise. I worked in three quarts of water to help get the toxins out of my body in case that was why I had the headache. I took a long, hot shower. Afterward, I noticed that the skin on my legs and feet did not have the mosaic look they usually have from being so dry. I was sitting next to Emma during the rosary, and she remarked that the blackheads on my nose had disappeared. I guess I need new glasses! I wasn't even aware that I had any. I fried a huge batch of grassed beef cutlets and cooked some corn and green beans for Nathaniel and Herb. I wasn't in the least tempted to try them. So I do think this milk fast is helping to break my attachment to food. I am hoping that by the end, my mind will be clearer and I will be able to practice contemplative prayer without getting distracted.
Emma slept late today and yesterday. She still has dark circles under her eyes, but she noticed that her blemishes are healing faster and that two dark, rough spots she has had on her knees are becoming lighter. Worried about the dark circles, I asked her if she wanted to switch to bone broth, but she said, "no".
Day 4, Sunday, March 4
Emma has lost 3 pounds.
I have lost 2.5.
I had a terrible night. That last quart of water I drank at about 9 p.m. the night before demanded to be released around 2 a.m. I still had the headache and was awake a lot during the night. I got up around 6 and made coffee. I decided to cut back some on the raw cream to see if caffeine withdrawal was why I had the headache. It must have been, because the headache began going away pretty quickly, and I have been headache-free since then. I guess I was weaning too fast. I am not going to worry about it. I have cut back on caffeine consumption pretty drastically since Ash Wednesday, Feb. 22, when I gave up iced tea. I was drinking it all day long and found it hard to drink water.
When I was getting ready for church, I noticed that hardly any hair came out in my wide-tooth comb. I have always lost a lot of hair and have to constantly pick it off my shoulders and back during the day. I asked Emma to look at my back and see if she saw hair. She saw one or two. If this keeps up, it will be a major breakthrough for me. I hate having to clean up hair in the bathroom and to always be worrying about shedding hair on my clothes.
I drank a half a quart of milk before we left for church.
Emma, Nathaniel, and I had a great discussion on the drive to church. It started when I suggested that maybe the reason the government makes it so hard to have access to raw milk is because it already knows what we are learning by this fast: a person can live on it alone and be healthy and happy. Healthy, happy citizens might rise up and rebel. The government does not like this. It's better to force the citizens to eat de-natured food that makes them sick and depressed and has the added benefit of enriching factory food corporations and Big Pharma, who in turn make giant donations/kickbacks to the politicians. Emma agreed, saying that all you need to be self sufficient is access to grass and a cow. Nathaniel suggested that the ideal would be to have that and live back in a swamp in Louisiana. He's been watching a lot of episodes of Swamp People, a show about Louisiana gator hunters, and just loving it. Not surprisingly, one of his all-time favorite songs is "Louisiana Saturday Night".
After mass, Nathaniel went home with Herb, and Emma and I stayed for a couple of hours visiting with friends. Fr. Zendejas has added a fountain to Queen of Angels' side "yard" and has installed long metal benches around it, so Emma and her friends gathered there. I noticed Fr. smiled really big when he drove by and saw them, chattering away on a bench. It was about 1:30 when we finally got in the car and drank some milk that I had brought along in a cooler. I was just starting to get hungry. I noticed that the milk made me feel a little queasy. I mentioned it to Emma, and she said it was happening to her too if she drank too much at once. When we got home, Emma took a long nap. I usually take one every Sunday afternoon, but this Sunday I lay on the couch and was wide awake, so I finally got up. I wasn't in the least bit hungry, though I had consumed less than a quart of milk by 4 p.m. Nathaniel set up a target in the yard and shot his bow. Later in the evening, he insisted that I watch "Swamp People", so I curled up on the couch with him and was thoroughly entertained. Emma joined us for the last twenty minutes or so. We tried to watch the The Pearl Fishers opera after that, but it was not a good version, and we switched to The Last Station, a movie about the fiery relationship between Leo Tolstoy and his wife near the end of his life. It was really good. We knew it had some sex/naked parts in it, so Emma had the remote ready to skip over them. Unfortunately, when the first problematic part began, Nathaniel and I squirmed for five seconds before we realized that Emma had been distracted by a text message. I got flustered, but Nathaniel had the presence of mind to call, "EM-MA!" to get her attention back to the screen and her censorship duties. It was pretty funny. I drank a quart of water during the movie. Nathaniel and I went to bed at ten, but Emma was hungry and stayed up to drink some more milk.
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