
Lessons from fasting
This was a conscious choice I made. I was sick of food I was eating. And I was tired of my acne. Nothing I did helped me get rid of it. So not eating seemed interesting to me. But before I could do it I had to prepare myself mentally. It might look easy to live only on water but it’s quite challenging for the mind. Preparation took me two months (I think). I began with intermittent fasting. I had tried it before so it was easy to get back to it. Next I read and listened a lot about water fasting. And I mean a lot. I wanted to know as much as I could find. Everyone had different experiences. Some fasted for short amounts of time, some for longer. Among happy success stories I found fasting horror stories too. Interestingly I was scared to begin this fast and I was also scared to finish it. Fear made my preparation time longer, but when I felt ready I just did it. My last meal was oatmeal.
I decided to journal this experience. And I’m glad I did. Re-reading it was quite refreshing.
My water fasting began with a mistake. I read somewhere that it’s ok to start with lemon water. So I decided to drink lemon water for the first days, to make it easier. It’s a bad advice. Lemon water will make it easier for sure, but it still counts as a food. And for full effect, no food is allowed. For two days I drank it and wondered why I felt surprisingly good. Another minor mistake was that I used bottled water. I didn’t trust myself to drive to get clear spring water. If for some reason someone wants to try water fasting, then right from the start you should use cleanest water possible. And no lemon water.
According to my journal, fun times began with the third day.
Woke up pretty hungry, but it stopped after a while. Dreams were so clear. Like in super HD. I dreamed about food. Chocolate, big bar. Long table full of it. Tongue had white coating. Around 1h after waking up hands became sweaty just like yesterday. Not sure what that means, but probably part of detoxification.
Starting with this day I experienced waves of energy. My energy could be as high as I normally had and after couple hours it would become super low. These energy waves I had almost every day. Fasting is mostly a mental exercise. I struggled with a need for food. I wanted to eat everything. To keep my mind occupied I watched cooking videos every day for a week. In addition I also smelled spices I had at home. It helped but not much.
We walk everyday, right? But have you noticed how much of energy is needed to move your body forward? I for example had no idea. During this water fast I became consciously aware where my energy is going. It was most noticeable during my walks. To get my water I had to walk. Simple step requires quite a lot of energy. And as you walk more, body is giving lots of energy to legs. I felt it every time I went outside. Usually I walk very fast, but during this time I had to slow down to avoid collapsing on the street. Which almost happened one time. That’s what you get for walking for two hours with low energy. But I learned to enjoy slow walks and I’m still doing them. As time went on my legs felt weaker then ever.
Despite my low energy during this time my mind was clear. My senses were heightened. Everything smelled differently and colors were much richer. Some nights I slept for twelve hours, other nights only four. I could remember almost all dreams I had these nights, and they were so clear.
Dreams, oh my, the dreams. So detailed, sound, picture. Everything looks simply amazing.
By the tenth day my craving for foods stepped away. What stayed was dizziness, I felt it more often then I would like to. Around this time I became quite whiny too.
While walking I was thinking that I miss having energy, I miss eating food. I miss cooking food. And I’m getting bored of this fast.
Guess what. Learning also is taking energy. Probably because mind processing is activity too. As Loren Lockman said, Brains are second in energy usage, after belly. And I can feel it indeed.
Mind processing and extensive thinking actually takes a lot of energy.
With fourteen days in I began to feel where my body is healing. That day I felt kidney. And later it jumped to other parts of my body too. To keep my mind off the food I cleaned my kitchen. But I had to take three naps that day to replenish my energy. So every action you do requires specific amount of energy.
Next day I had to go to dentist. I had awful taste in my mouth and there was nothing I could do about it. Good thing that my energy was at normal levels. And it was fun indeed. When my dentist gave me that thing that numbs your mouth, I felt it clearly in my body. That was crazy how noticeable it was. Thankfully I didn’t passed out from that. Also this day was big for another reason, because I pooped. I wonder what can human poop out if he is not eating. The answer is, all the old shit that is stuck to the walls of your intestines and stomach. Water re-hydrated some of it. Throughout these two weeks I felt how something was piling up at my butt. But nothing came out and it was annoying. That day it came out and stunk as bad as you can imagine. I still wonder how old that stuff actually was.
I broke my water fast at day sixteenth. Originally I planned to do it for 30 days but plans change and I had to travel to Germany that month. To be more precise I had three weeks to get my strength back. And so re-feeding began.
As I said at the beginning I was scared to stop this fast, because I had no idea what will happen with my body. I thought that I will somehow damage my stomach by putting food into it.
After full fifteen days my first meal was two small pieces of watermelon. First of all the smell was amazing. Taste was even better. After the first piece it felt like my eyes widened, mind expanded into the universe. Almost like I was “High”. It felt incredible.
Re-feeding period lasted for twenty six days. During this time my energy levels jumped high and remained there. I gradually increased the food amount I ate, which consisted of fruits and vegetables. During fasting and re-feeding period I noticed some interesting things. For some it’s probably obvious, but the so called “morning breath” comes from your stomach. That smell comes from the food that is rotting inside you. Smell of sweat, especially in armpits also depends on the food you are eating. While fasting my sweat had no odor at all. And poop itself can begin to smell like the fruits or veggies you are eating. For me the most important understanding was that my acne comes purely from the food I eat. While I was fasting I had no new acne. While I was eating raw food I had no acne also. Of course I had to mess it up, but I know what I need to do to be clean.
Oh, by the way I dropped almost ten kg. And I looked quite horrible (that’s what others said). Super skinny plus pale as a vampire is an interesting combination. But I felt great. Although some concerned people felt a need to tell me that I have some serious health issues. So, dear humans please keep in mind that pale and skinny doesn’t always mean that something is wrong with a person.
Originally published at www.raijori.com on September 3, 2018.
