Re: 16.5 Days
"Yes, you nailed it when you said getting bogged down. Just an over all feeling of lethargy. I shall incorporate the juicing, I would not have thought of stepping backwards like that in order to move forward."
With immensely high nutrition and very low digestive challenge, you should quickly see the lethargy vanish in a live juice diet (and fresh veg broth). After 14 days of water only, that's where the fasters body belongs for a few days. I would recommend 3 or 3.5 days of juice... then 3 or 3.5 days of fruits and vegetables (predominately raw and beginning with juicy fruit) before you should be completely digestively prepared for nuts and other foods.
"You mentioned having experienced quite a few fasts of various durations. Is it beneficial to fast repeatedly and habitually? Is it something which should be incorporated into a health promoting lifestyle?"
Since our bodies are consistently gaining toxins faster than we can eliminate them, i have to say yes
. With this in mind, Paul Bragg fasted one day per week and 7-10 days 4 times per year. It's certainly possible that this was more than necessary. Chrisb1 has expressed that after "fasting to completion" many years ago, he needs only to fast for 4-5 days at a time... but i don't remember the frequency he mentioned. An immensely nutritious diet with a lot of raw fruits and vegetables along with consistent exercise will help keep us relatively clean in between fasts and indeed this lifestyle adaptation is key.