Day 2 – Monday, 11 February 2013

I wake up at 7, still – or again – full of energy. It might sound like a total paradox, as I'm giving my body barely any calories, but think of it this way: around a third of your body's energy is usually used for digestion (pretty ineffective, if you ask me...). When there's nothing or very little to digest, that energy is set free.

… and used for a miserable 20 minutes of yoga in which I establish that my upper back and shoulders are tense like those of a 55 year old civil servant. This is what happens if you drop yoga for over a year, even after 8 years of daily practice.

More tea and it's back to work, which seems to flow much faster than usual. My concentration has definitely improved and I get the same amount of work done in 3.5 hours that would usually take me 5-6 hours. It's noon and my work for the day is done!

Yet, I still don't feel any effects of 'detoxification'. After my lunch - Whole Foods Parsnip and Ginger soup - I lie down with a hot water bottle on the right side of my stomach, which supposedly helps to expedite the liver functions and flush out all the toxins.

I can only nap lightly as my flatmate is having an operatic Italian crydown with her boyfriend in Rome over the phone (really, I'm sure he can hear her well without her shouting into the phone), so I flee to Tesco to buy some more tea, and yes, a Starbucks Espresso (at Starbucks, not Tesco). Caffeine used to be forbidden for any kind of cleanse, but recent studies show that a little, without the dairy, is only beneficial. So much for 'toxic' coffee.

The rest of the afternoon and early evening is spent with another round of yoga, another guided meditation and a lot of reading.

At night, I have another scrub and shower. And then, doubts start creeping in on me. I'm feeling great, but also feel that I have already achieved most of my goals (on Saturday, I wrote down a list of things I want to achieve, which seemed crazy at the time. 48 hours later? All done). But I don't seem to be detoxifying. Why am a doing this? Plus, my feet are really, really cold. While I plot to break the fast, I somehow fall asleep just past 11 pm.