Why fast?
I’m fasting for several reasons: to lose weight, to reset my eating habits, to clear out my system, to promote healing, and for spiritual development. And because I enjoy it.
Weight loss
Last year, I restarted my diet/exercise programme and shed about twenty pounds. The weight stayed off even when I began eating “at liberty” again. In fact, I lost a few more pounds between June and mid-October. After that, my weight went up a couple of pounds and stayed there until about the middle of November, when I suddenly started regaining. Altogether, I’ve put on about 12 pounds in the past three months.
During a water fast, I’ll lose approximately one pound per day. This weight loss will reverse immediately once I resume eating. Generally all of the weight comes back in a couple of weeks no matter how I eat. So fasting is not a good strategy for losing weight. But it *is* a good strategy for resetting my eating habits, which is what I want to do.
Resetting my eating habits
When I diet, I don’t just diet, I retrain my eating habits. And each time they get into pretty good shape - small portions, lots of whole grains and produce, light on the “naughty stuff”, etc. But I haven’t been successful in making this change permanent and after a while my diet will devolve into something closer to the Standard American Diet. Which of course makes people fat. I’m not absolutely sure falling off the wagon is what caused my weight gain, but I know I consumed more junk, that I exercised a lot less, and my gf reports that I eat a great deal more than I used to. So it’s a reasonable assumption.
Eating “properly” isn’t too terribly difficult once you’re used to it, but transitioning to it is. It’s really hard after you’ve gotten used to a large calorie allotment to be content with a smaller one. In other words, it’s pretty easy to transition up, but it’s a lot harder to transition down. Fasting resets my calorie norm to zero and gives me a break from the bad habits I’ve developed. This should make it easier to observe good habits when I begin eating again.
Clear out my system
I’m the only one of my siblings who doesn’t have a list of food she “can’t” eat due to some kind of allergy or intolerance. My mother especially has only a tiny menu of foods that she can eat because anything not on that list is likely to make her sick. In addition to the typical GI disturbances and skin rashes, the family suffers from allergy-induced mood disorders. I’m not sure to what extent I do or do not suffer from these allergies on an ongoing basis but I do know that if I am eating nothing, I can’t be eating anything that I’m allergic to.
Promote healing
Most of the information on the web about fasting that isn’t ostensibly religious talks about fasting as a way to “clear out the toxins”. They claim that fasting kick-starts the immune system, dissolves tumors, etc. etc . As far as I’ve been able to tell, there is no verifiable medical or scientific information behind these assertions, and the “medical” fasting sites are as much based on faith as the religious sites. (I would even go so far as to say these “health” sites are religious, albeit a form of free-floating New Age variety that doesn’t want to be described as a religion.) That said, my experience has taught me that fasting makes me feel better. Maybe it’s because of food allergies. Maybe it’s just because I allow my gut to have a rest - after all, if I had strained my ankle, in order to heal it I would have to give up using it for a few days.
Spiritual development
This part is harder to define. Fasting is actually a pretty common spiritual discipline, but I (still) don’t belong to any particular sect or creed. Christian sites talk about fasting as a way to humble oneself and get closer to God. Buddhism talks about fasting as a means of exercising self-control and clearing the mind. I guess I would say that my goal is a combination of the two, although I don’t believe in God as is usually understood in Christian thought. But I have definitely experienced spiritual benefits from fasting. Hopefully during this fast I’ll be able to write a bit about that.
Pleasure
I like fasting. The first few days of "withdrawal" are difficult, but once ketosis kicks in I feel better than I do at nearly any other time in my life. Maybe it’s an absence of food allergies which normally are making me miserable. Maybe it’s the euphoria that comes with fasting. Maybe I just have the sort of body that likes to fast (both my mother and grandmother fasted regularly). The last time I fasted I quit on day 4 because I was not enjoying it and I have not had a fast for a couple of years so maybe I won’t enjoy it so much anymore. But I’m thinking I probably will.
Expected Results
This is what I expect will happen as the result of my fast:
* the eczema that’s been bothering me all year on my eyelids, wrists, inner knees, and underarms will clear up completely
* I will feel satisfied by the “primarily produce” diet that I intend to adopt when the fast is over (right now, it’s really hard for me to eat this way)
* I will lose about ten pounds (I’m at 130 currently)
* My skin will look better
* I will feel healthier
* My mind will become clearer
* There will be some kind of spiritual shift
* It will be an adventure
I’ll go back over these points at the end of the fast and let you know how it turned out.
Weight loss
Last year, I restarted my diet/exercise programme and shed about twenty pounds. The weight stayed off even when I began eating “at liberty” again. In fact, I lost a few more pounds between June and mid-October. After that, my weight went up a couple of pounds and stayed there until about the middle of November, when I suddenly started regaining. Altogether, I’ve put on about 12 pounds in the past three months.
During a water fast, I’ll lose approximately one pound per day. This weight loss will reverse immediately once I resume eating. Generally all of the weight comes back in a couple of weeks no matter how I eat. So fasting is not a good strategy for losing weight. But it *is* a good strategy for resetting my eating habits, which is what I want to do.
Resetting my eating habits
When I diet, I don’t just diet, I retrain my eating habits. And each time they get into pretty good shape - small portions, lots of whole grains and produce, light on the “naughty stuff”, etc. But I haven’t been successful in making this change permanent and after a while my diet will devolve into something closer to the Standard American Diet. Which of course makes people fat. I’m not absolutely sure falling off the wagon is what caused my weight gain, but I know I consumed more junk, that I exercised a lot less, and my gf reports that I eat a great deal more than I used to. So it’s a reasonable assumption.
Eating “properly” isn’t too terribly difficult once you’re used to it, but transitioning to it is. It’s really hard after you’ve gotten used to a large calorie allotment to be content with a smaller one. In other words, it’s pretty easy to transition up, but it’s a lot harder to transition down. Fasting resets my calorie norm to zero and gives me a break from the bad habits I’ve developed. This should make it easier to observe good habits when I begin eating again.
Clear out my system
I’m the only one of my siblings who doesn’t have a list of food she “can’t” eat due to some kind of allergy or intolerance. My mother especially has only a tiny menu of foods that she can eat because anything not on that list is likely to make her sick. In addition to the typical GI disturbances and skin rashes, the family suffers from allergy-induced mood disorders. I’m not sure to what extent I do or do not suffer from these allergies on an ongoing basis but I do know that if I am eating nothing, I can’t be eating anything that I’m allergic to.
Promote healing
Most of the information on the web about fasting that isn’t ostensibly religious talks about fasting as a way to “clear out the toxins”. They claim that fasting kick-starts the immune system, dissolves tumors, etc. etc . As far as I’ve been able to tell, there is no verifiable medical or scientific information behind these assertions, and the “medical” fasting sites are as much based on faith as the religious sites. (I would even go so far as to say these “health” sites are religious, albeit a form of free-floating New Age variety that doesn’t want to be described as a religion.) That said, my experience has taught me that fasting makes me feel better. Maybe it’s because of food allergies. Maybe it’s just because I allow my gut to have a rest - after all, if I had strained my ankle, in order to heal it I would have to give up using it for a few days.
Spiritual development
This part is harder to define. Fasting is actually a pretty common spiritual discipline, but I (still) don’t belong to any particular sect or creed. Christian sites talk about fasting as a way to humble oneself and get closer to God. Buddhism talks about fasting as a means of exercising self-control and clearing the mind. I guess I would say that my goal is a combination of the two, although I don’t believe in God as is usually understood in Christian thought. But I have definitely experienced spiritual benefits from fasting. Hopefully during this fast I’ll be able to write a bit about that.
Pleasure
I like fasting. The first few days of "withdrawal" are difficult, but once ketosis kicks in I feel better than I do at nearly any other time in my life. Maybe it’s an absence of food allergies which normally are making me miserable. Maybe it’s the euphoria that comes with fasting. Maybe I just have the sort of body that likes to fast (both my mother and grandmother fasted regularly). The last time I fasted I quit on day 4 because I was not enjoying it and I have not had a fast for a couple of years so maybe I won’t enjoy it so much anymore. But I’m thinking I probably will.
Expected Results
This is what I expect will happen as the result of my fast:
* the eczema that’s been bothering me all year on my eyelids, wrists, inner knees, and underarms will clear up completely
* I will feel satisfied by the “primarily produce” diet that I intend to adopt when the fast is over (right now, it’s really hard for me to eat this way)
* I will lose about ten pounds (I’m at 130 currently)
* My skin will look better
* I will feel healthier
* My mind will become clearer
* There will be some kind of spiritual shift
* It will be an adventure
I’ll go back over these points at the end of the fast and let you know how it turned out.