Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Evolution Three – Week Four

 

September 22, 2009: Day 205

Hello Folks,

Since I am following the Eat Stop Eat program by Brad Pilon I thought I would address a few questions or thoughts around fasting…

 What does it mean to fast?

• Abstain or “firmly withhold from food”
• Done as spiritual, health or political practice
• Drink only water for a period of time
• Body stores used to sustain body during fast
• Differing from starving the body, in that, body reserves are not depleted causing tissue to be used for energy
• Done willingly
• Could last for long stretches or short stints
• Complete fast includes abstaining from liquid and food
• Medically speaking 8 – 12 hours without food is fasting
• Break from digestion

How can we heal from fasting?

• Reducing amount of energy needed to digest gives body more energy for healing purposes
• Gives body break from toxic processed food
• Immune system can deal with healing when not used to deal with toxic food
• Cleanses entire digestive system naturally
• Excellent for curing digestive disorders
• Helps metabolism, which may be normally dealing with too much food
• Helps prevent chances of getting cancer, diabetes, insulin resistance, immune dissorders and cardiovascular disease
• Increases life span and slows down aging
• Fasting more than 30 days risky

This information was found in Wikipedia, The Nation and Raw Food Explained

I have done all kinds of fasts over the years. My first fast was the Master Cleanse or Lemonade Diet. I did it for eight days.

I exercised the entire time I was doing the cleanse with no problem. It is a very simple program with generally good results.

Here were my results…

The Up Side:

• Lost 8 pounds (could be some water weight or muscle too)
• Skin very soft and clear
• Eyes clearer
• Felt really good/ energized
• Made me want to do it again

The Down Side:

• Difficult without support
• Teeth feel gritty entire time
• Lemonade gets old fast
• Fantasized way too much about food
• Hard to come off with out eating some junk
• Had acid reflux when I ate a little peanut butter after fast

Recommendations for fasting:

• Make sure you are the kind of person who can deal with it
• Plan a come off diet when you are done fasting
• Be prepared to watch things come out of your body that you didn’t think were there
• Be careful not to overeat when you return to your regular diet
• Better to do intermittant fasting than long fasts, easier on the body

 Here is a video by the fasting expert Brad Pilon:

 

 

 

Until next time…

 Think, Believe, Act, Adjust, Never Give up

 Dakota

Today’s Mantra:  Don’t turn fasting into a chore, it should be simple and easy

~Brad Pilon