JVG Fastblog

Yep, it's leaving day, and I'm doing....a book entry. Whilst this 10 day period has been great for body (kinda obvs, that, given the fasting and excellent care around it, medical, alternative, yoga and meditation, incredible company etc) and soul too, but has also availed for some quality reading in between all that other...stuff! Three rather wonderful books crossed my path, namely these. Anna Pasternak's "Lara" is the non-fiction account of her great-uncle Boris Pasternak's unbelievably powerful love affair with the eponymous muse for his masterwork Dr Zhivago - indelibly played across from Omar Sharif by Julie Christie. It is fascinating that one of English bridge chums here - Andrew - happens to be married to Ms Pasternak today. "Murder Your Employer" looked like a fun, time-passing piece of cleverness in the Buchinger lending library - and it was! - but also a wickedly admirable piece of satire, social commentary, and (for this reader) lots of m...

From early Saturday morning, when the birds just cut loose and I found myself wandering in the city park in Überlingen at 6:30am...  (Warning: turn down your volume before hitting play - they're that loud, which is a great incentive to get to bed early here, 'cause once they start at 5ish there's no stopping 'em) Some of the flowers in said city park - and this is at 0630. Think what it looks like in the full light of day. Mostly for Mom, but thanks anybody else!

 Wednesday, 10 April 2024 What a change from a year ago! I had the Chi Nei Tsang abdominal massage therapy, which I experienced on Day Seven of the slightly longer fast last year. Whilst what comes here is going to get a little self-referential (not quite Being John Malkovich, no) it's worth digging out the below paragraph from last year since it's more than a little bit supportive of the following thesis: My contention is that as wonderful as the two-weeks experience was in 2023, it really was a recovery from the wickedly intense period of stress, unease, and even malaise that came along with being homeless (literally, even if not living under any bridges) for the first two months of the year. And because we spent the Buchinger fortnight digging out from under all of the emotional mess and wreckage, it's been an bizarrely amazing redo of not just the whole thing, but also each piece, specifically today this abdominal massage. The language below is still accurate, but unfo...

Monday, 8 April 2024 Feeling slightly better after what was a low point yesterday, Monday happily was another quiet (at least from a strenuous exertion point of view) day, particularly for me as I had Zooms to, well, not bother with, since they were such a gas, but address in the morning and the first of several test recordings of the new live show to do with Joel in the midday. The relevant points for the fasting and health regime though were the usual doctor's appointment in the morning to go over all the blood and urine test results, and then, finally, my first ever experience with a "high colonic" or as they so scientifically call it here, ColonHydroFlow therapy, to wit: COLON HYDROTHERAPHY Gentle intestinal cleansing using warm water combined with abdominal massage. A manual therapy which flushes the entire colon. Deposited intestinal contents pass gently out through a closed system. This intestinal rehabilitation and regeneration is used, among other things, for mig...

 Sunday, 7 April 2024 Day three was the lowest energy day so far for both of us,  and in keeping we'll stick to a short entry here. Vicky's blood pressure, never high to start with, has been dropping with each day - as it did last year, sure, but the cure then (salty soup bouillon in the morning) isn't seeming to work as well this time around, and that meant that even a very slow Sunday morning walk along the shores of the Bodensee was hard work, and we spent a lot of the rest of the day...well, resting. Still, the photos aren't bad, and I will leave you with a poem for your consideration as well. Written by Ada Limón , the  24th United States Poet Laureate, it feels like it sums up our approach to this fasting adventure, and hopefully life in general: Indeed. And then a few pictures from the morning's hike to Ludwigshafen : Flowers (they're everywhere!) mostly for Dee Granholm At Ludwigshafen harbor Just some of the local artwork Stats BP: 124/70 Kg: 76.2 HR: 4...

 Saturday, 6 April 2024 Only two main topics for today, as it was busy but also just the first day of the rather symmetrical next four - wake up to dawn chorus of songbirds (whew!), meditate or exercise according to what's on the BW schedule, vegetable consommé for lunch at noon, wonderful nappy time with (no kidding) hot water bottle swaddled up against one's right side to stimulate liver action, group hike in selected (and gorgeous) scenic spot in the neighbourhood, time for relaxing until 6pm dinner (more consommé) and then some kind of optional evening program (we, as usual, played some raucous bridge with friends). That's pretty much it until we break our fast this coming Friday night when everything is the same except that we'll have small calories but significant amounts of all vegetarian and chewing-required (it's kind of a thrill) food for that dinner and then the last day before leaving Sunday. The gang is usually pretty good sized So today only two highli...

Back in harness, and full speed ahead. Although, being rigorously honest, 'full-speed' this year feels a lot slower than it did one year ago. Maybe the excitement and mystery of all the shiny new toy-effect of first-timer syndrome had me missing it, but on this first day of the real fast this time around, I definitely noticed myself feeling more than a little bit slow and heavy in the head as the day went on. And that had nothing to do with the absolutely gorgeous weather, to wit: (pictures chronologically through the day, for those keeping score at home) View from our balcony in the morning - aaaaah! Vicky and our friend Verena from last year in later afternoon Right back to the vegetable consomme - fennel tonight Tourist restaurant on Überlingen boardwalk Friday evening - wowzah! Same lake walk in the other direction Buchinger in evening glory We had lots to do in addition to sightseeing, including on the medical front the big blood draw for full battery of tests (results to...

It's 7:57am at the BA lounge in terminal 5, and Vicky is already starting the "digestive rest day" - before fast proper kicks off tomorrow - with a fruit bowl and touch of yogurt. I'm having my last coffee (she quit that already two days ago) and feeling rather excited about the prospect of 10 days by the shores of the Bodensee. Heathrow vs London City from '23 One big difference this time around is my felt lack of confusion, or mystery. As the uncounted readers of this blog from last year will know, we had the full experience for the first time then, so that today, although I'm just as excited about the process as before, it definitely feels very similar to a christmas present (however prettily wrapped) that I already know the contents of. It's a present we certainly want, but without all the mystery and accompanying suspense of the build-up last year. For some rather lawyerly avoidance of doubt, we are expecting similar physical effects, including (from ...

And we're nearly off to Buchinger again for the at least one-time annual reset - the stage couldn't be much different this time around, given background details that may or may not come clear over the next couple of weeks of entries. Suffice it to say that our souls and emotional bodies are in much more stable - and open to both inquiry and stimulus too - conditions than they were last March after a period of...well, homelessness sounds extreme but is not an inaccurate descriptor, along with  all  of the raging emotions and suppression of same that came along with said roller-coaster. Whew. Two other nice things about going back are both the more knowledgeable (and higher, sure, given how wonderful the experience was last year) expectations about what we'll encounter, and the fact that we already know that a few compadres from last time 'round will be there to greet us. Looking forward to some serious bridge rematches in the library, amongst other small-and-sincere plea...