My Fasting Experience

Since fasting has been coming up a lot more frequently in the news lately, and its something I am a big supporter of I wanted to share one of my fasting experiences with all of you.  I had already completed my first 24hour fast weeks before this occasion.  The first time is quite the challenge and its purely mind of matter.  I call it “resetting the clock” on your personal hunger meter where you are separating your body’s actual hunger from the “food addiction” you’ve acquired over your entire life.

For this occasion I decided to do a 36 hour fast (drum roll please) on the basis that I felt quite disgusting after eating possibly the largest burrito ever assembled this side of Mexico.  At the time of eating said burrito I was at the home of a girl I was then dating.  As she observed the look of plentiful satisfaction on my face as I polished off my dish I wasn’t sure if the look on her face was, “I’m impressed he finished that whole thing”, or “That’s disgusting”, either way, I thought to myself, self you won’t be needing to eat tomorrow. Just like that on a Saturday night I decided that if I was man enough to eat that whole burrito I was man enough to not eat for the next 36 hours. I am carnivore hear me…digest?

In the midst of Sunday, there was a calmness that was settling over me, no more thinking, “I need to eat”, “I should have a protein shake”, “mmm peanut butter”, just like my first 24 hour fast, I began to feel a lifted veil of freedom. Freedom from hunger, its much cooler than it sounds.

There are certain moments throughout the day though, that if I found myself idle in activity I would, without realizing, walk to the fridge and starting looking for something to eat. At one point I got to the point of washing an apple and putting it inches away from my mouth before realizing I still had more than twelve hours of fasting to go.

On the home stretch I was the absolute master of my domain and I really went for it. I did a bodyweight circuit in my basement for 40 minutes, did some interval training on the treadmill and then waited around to see if I’d pass out, since that’s what the media tells me will happen if I don’t eat for this long. Never happened.  In fact, at the 20 hour mark I had loads of energy. I was doing house work, running errands, and anything else I wanted to do.  I was not in “starvation mode” as everyone likes to tell you, I was great.

My only recommendation is that personally, I felt that mentally I wasn’t running at 100%. I mean, I wasn’t seeing jesus in my soup or anything, but just for more taxing mental tasks I am unsure how I would have performed.  That will be a question for the future.

Though my first 36 hour fast wasn’t a cake walk, it was oddly much easier than my first 24 hour fast. I think breaking that cycle of food addiction is always the most difficult because you are swimming against the current of a habit you’ve adapted to throughout your entire life. Once you are used to the motions of a fast, the 36 hour fast is just one more step.

As I awoke at 7am on Monday morning (tip: always sleep through the last bit of a 36 hour fast) I felt like the scarecrow from the wizard of oz. I existed in a pure state of being, no fatigue yet, no opinions, and nothing particular to say. I just was. But when I walked into the kitchen I had a smile on my face and a goal to accomplish.  I felt like Frankenstein on a mission from his creator, “foooooood”.

I made myself a 4 egg omelet with every vegetable I could find in the fridge; tomatoes, eggplants, onions, peppers, zucchini, all topped with a generous helping of goat cheese.  Gordan Ramsay himself would have been shaking my hand.  After finishing my triumphant breakfast I felt amazing.  It was as if I could literally feel my physical body and brain being fed all the nutrients and resources it had been looking for the past day and a half.  My body was grateful for the break of continual digestion and processing I gave it, but was happily now resuming its duties.   I was calm, alert, and nothing short of a nuclear bomb or a congressional debate could have raised my stress levels.

The fast I am in the midst of now as I type was supposed to be a 36 hour jobber but I need to do some heavy brain work tonight so I will be making myself a nice bean salad around 830pm. Nothing big, remember, I control my hunger now and a light bean salad is all I’ll need.  This go-round has also been my first time experimenting with supplements while fasting.  I took an omega 3 capsule in the morning, and just before writing this post and my mental clarity feels uber hightened.

The effects of fasting are unbelievable and I still highly suggest anyone that is in decent shape give it a shot.  If you have diabetes or are considerably overweight I would suggest speaking with your doctor, although unfortunately not many doctors know what they’re talking about when it comes to fasting, which is a shame.  Thankfully there are a number of forums and groups regarding intermittent fasting that are very reliable. Because there is seldom anything to sell when it comes to fasting it is much easier to find an accurate depiction of someone’s experiences.

One of the only books I have seen written on fasting is an ebook called “Eat Stop Eat” by Brad Pilon. This is an ebook on Intermittent Fasting which recommends a lifestyle of fasting every few days to allow the body to heal itself and function as nature intended.

The best part about the book is that helps dismiss many of the typical myths about fasting. i.e. a 36hour fast is starving yourself (it isn’t). Pilon goes on to state that many of the fat burning properties usually take place around the 24 hour mark and as such recommends this interval because it fits ideally and manageably into people’s lives. It has been noted by Pilon and others that a 36 hour fast can also produce amazing health benefits and so that was my target with this experience.

The reason why I think I may be addicted to fasting every few weeks is because its an incredible feeling.  I never breathe as clearly as I do on fasting days.  During normal days for whatever reason I can typically only breath clearly through  my right nostril but today the left side is functioning at an unheard of level. Its still not perfect but its a monster improvement.   My skin is clearer than it normally is, and I’ve even lost a couple pounds, nothing drastic (fat loss is just a sweet byproduct of fasting) but just a little fat that had built up on a count of a couple Italian dinners.

The body, I’ve learned is very adaptive to necessity.  For example when you lift very heavy weights repeatedly your body adapts by producing more muscle and becoming stronger. My hypothesis is that I can train my body and mind to function at a decent level without consistent access to food.

I base my hypothesis on the difference in difficulty between my first and subsequent fasts.  My first fast was torture (breaking that food addiction).  During the last few fasts I have not felt any hunger pains at all and I believe this is because my brain knows it needs food, but now understands that there is a purpose for this abstinence from eating.

As I said before, I highly recommend anyone out there to try a 24 hour fast.  Do it with a friend or spouse if you need help with willpower.

I would obviously like to toss out a disclaimer that I AM NOT A DOCTOR, PHYSICIAN OR NUTRITIONIST of any kind.  I am simply providing you with my opinions and experiences with fasting and making my recommendation on those basis.

If any of you decide to take me up on this please come back and report your results. Or should you have any questions for me please don’t hesitate to ask.

Happy Not-Eating.

Eat Stop Eat is a book that I think everyone should read about the tremendous benefits of intermittent fasting. Brad Pilon, former athlete and nutrition expert explains in his book how tremendous the benefits of intermittent fasting are.

This is the Anti-Diet book for those of you who despise counting out calories and meal plans and intake every day and would like to live a simpler life.