Fasting Set Back

So what I learned from my last fast was that I should follow directions. When things get to going good I have a tendency to take the progress for granted and either push too hard forward or lie down and think it will coast. Just for the record that doesn't work out! You would think by mid 40's I would get that!

So Paul Bragg's suggestion is to fast 24 to 36 hours one day per week in order to give your body a day of rest. After a period of time do a 3 to 4 day fast. He recommends doing the 3 to 4 day fast every 3 to 4 months. Then work up to a 7 day fast, then a 10 day fast , a 21 day fast, then a 30 day fast. This happens over a period of years, not weeks as I would like to do things.

I had attempted a 6 day fast three weeks ago and ended up breaking it after 4 days. I had flown out of town which slows down my digestion. I had gotten discouraged by that and broke my fast with the intent to do another one the next week. So the following week I did another fast with only water. Monday was great. Tuesday was great. But then late Tuesday and into Wednesday I became very weak. I had committed myself to several things on Wednesday that I didn't feel I could get out of . I was serving dinner at church on Wednesday night and almost passed out on the line. That wasn't really beneficial to anyone, should have gotten someone to take my place.

So what I learned was that your body needs more time to recuperate between fasts. It is unreasonable to expect that much of your body. Secondly don't commit yourself to anything on day 3. Paul Bragg's book The Miracle of Fasting states that day 3 is the hardest so you should make sure you can rest when necessary. I however think I am above recommendations. Those apply to other people and I again paid the price for thinking that way.

The most interesting part of this fast debacle was that I was left with angry, irritable feelings that I am still trying to recover from. It really set me back personally.

I am having to work really hard to get back on track. I have been eating horrible this past week, almost punishing myself. It is interesting how I have felt with all that "bad" eating. I didn't realize how cleaned out my system had become. I ate Mexican food one afternoon and my ankles instantly swelled and my lower legs ached. You get so used to feeling that way that once your body is cleaner and that is eliminated you feel it worse when it returns. My face is bloated again. My liver is back to aching.

So we pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and move on. I have had 45 years of eating poorly. I am probably not going to break all those habits without a fight from my flesh and my mind.

I am still drinking The Feast. I had backed down to once a day but am picking back up to three times per day. It fills my stomach so I can eat less, it makes me crave better foods and I feel more energetic when I drink it. And why wouldn't we want to do that as much as possible???? Dah!!!!

 

Continue to Trudge the Road to Good Nutrition,

Tammy

Fasting for Better Health

For years I have read about fasting. I thought that was other people (like weirdo) did for better health, spiritual reasons, etc. You see my system was "too fragile" to do such a thing. And then I find myself doing my third fast in the last three weeks. About six months ago I began adding a whole food mix to my diet. That has been my catalyst for change. My blood sugar has become more stable. This leads me to believe I didn't really have a blood sugar problem at all. It was most likely a reaction or allergy to what I was attempting to nourish my body with. You know junk!

I am like the rest of the American population; I am busy, running from event to event. Most of my food for the last 20 years has come out of the proverbial clown's mouth. There is nothing nourishing for your body in a fast food lane, especially those "foods" that you can easily eat and drive with. Okay so I am female, I can also talk on the phone while eating and driving. But as my friend Penny says, "the car is not an eating place". Whatever!

The reason some people fast is to cleanse the body. That is my purpose in pursuing this endeavor. I want to feel better! I want to have energy, mental clarity, lose weight, etc. There are multiple ways to fast. The so called best fast is to drink only water. I am not there yet. I did that my first fast but I was miserable the whole time. I decided to work my way into that.

Juicing is another way to fast. This allows you to have nutrients but keeping them in a liquid form so that they are not putting strain on your digestion system to process. For me it is about giving my digestion system a break. In all the reading that have done about fasting the best description was "to rotor rooter your pipes". Your "pipes" being your gastrointestinal tract, arteries, veins and the like. In Paul Bragg's book Bragg Healthy Lifestyle he states "as you begin to eliminate your body's obstructing toxic poisons your aches, pains and physical miseries vanish". What a miracle! With the two 24 hour fasts I have completed I have already experienced such benefits. I cannot wait to see what comes from a longer fast.

I always had all these restrictions around a fast. It has to be exactly this way or that. A fast is really about giving your body a rest in a way that works for you. This time I am going to do a week fast with drinking a whole food mix and eating water soluble fruits such as apples, pears, pineapple. Food that doesn't put a burden on my system to process. So as I complete my first day I am excited to see what God will reveal in this process. My goal is to fast from Sunday through Saturday. I will keep you posted on the progress.