I still think my example is very simple and very apt.
I can give you a perfect case of what ex-belief is like.
Remember when you were a child and used to believe in Danta Claus with all of your heart?
I do. I even remember trying really hard to stay awake to listen for the reindeer hoofs stomping on the roof.
Now that you are an adult, you don't believe in Santa anymore.
That's what it's like to be an ex-believer.
Now, would you now say that you never really "actually, truly" believed in Santa?