Diary

After reading a few articles on the benefits of fasting, I thought I would try it.

The results?

Well, I mean, not much is going to change after one or two fasts, but as far as how it went.

Not bad at all.

Actually, much easier than I would have thought. Granted, these were fast fasts—just 24 hours, and exactly that. At the timer’s end, I grabbed some food pretty quickly. It’s actually hardest when it’s down to the last few hours since it’s just mentally tough knowing some food is coming shortly.

Physically is where I was a little surprised. Just a lot less hungry than I would have imagined. And again, it’s likely due to having eaten well before the fast started and just carrying out a normal day with liquids and no meals.

Alas, it wasn’t a 100% fast since the flavored water bottles I drink have 10 calories each, and I go through about 10 of those a day. So I guess it was 100 calories total. But the idea of only coffee, tea, and water seemed dismal.

Some would think, "Why do it at all?"

A good question.

Okay, sure. There is the benefit of weight loss, but an occasional fast won’t do much more good than being diligent about monitoring calories every day of the week. Yet, fasting goes beyond losing weight. It’s been done for thousands of years, long before obesity was a huge problem.

From what I’ve read, there are quite a few physical benefits to fasting, mainly being giving the digestive system time to catch up and chemical levels in the brain a chance to refuel. Supposedly, it can be quite helpful for diabetics too. Now the period of time varies. I’m fine for just one day, though some go longer.

I find the mental benefits more appealing. It’s a little ironic that the world nearly fell apart about a virus that was a temporary (hopefully) thing, and yet society really turns the other cheek to something ending thousands of lives every day: obesity (via heart disease and numerous other health issues brought on by poor eating). The past few decades have seen the deadly problem grow (pardon the pun) in adults and children to levels never before seen in humanity. It’s just become an accepted problem with very little effective solutions being introduced to counteract something that may eventually lead to 90% of the population becoming obese. The macabre future of mankind depicted in “Wall-E” may not be so far fetched.

Anyway, I digress.

For me, it was important to assert control on one of the few things in life we (potentially) have 100% control of—what we eat and how much we eat. And I have added “when we eat” too. Having the mental power to go a day without food establishes willpower that I would estimate 99.999% of society does not have. Heck, I wasn’t sure I had ever gone 24 hours without a bite to eat in my life. I needed to at least attempt it.

It was liberating.

We spend our entire lives being conditioned to eat as much food as possible to the mandate of finishing our plate as children to brainwashing from the food industry to consume larger meals with worsening quality. There are literally places called “Fatburger” and the like now, with a great deal of fast food places delivering a day’s worth of calories in just one meal. Recently, I saw a Ted Talk by an Army colonel who talked about how incoming recruits are not only failing their physical condition tests, but are often hurt by just attempting them due to a lack of exercise in the educational system of the US. And that was in 2012. Currently, the number of states requiring PE in every grade is … six. Six states out of 50.

The health state of America is way beyond a simple problem.

I would not suggest that this is a good approach for anyone else—at least not without a doctor’s supervision, and definitely not for more than one day. Some research states that with one day, your metabolism isn’t going to shift into “conservation mode,” so there is that to consider too. There are even people who do ADF, or alternate days of fasting. But I would imagine if the off days involved too many calories consumed, it would negate the fasting days. In the end, some tracking is still required.

As well, longer fasts apparently deplete physical energy where exercise becomes much more difficult, and napping regularly becomes a thing. I didn’t find it a problem with just one day, but I can see how longer fasts would derail any good workout routines.

But hey, just for fun. Some weight figures:

June 30: 170.1 — Yikes! All time high. Need to make changes. July 1: No weight measured. Headed to Mexico for five days. Expecting a gain upon the return. July 6: 165.2 — Interesting. Maybe all the exercise during vacation. As well, I never gorged. July 7: 164.7 — I was trying to eat better the day before, so limited calories. July 8: 163.7 — After 1,750 calories the day before. FASTING DAY. July 9: 162.0 — The fast made a difference. This day would not be calorie-tracked. July 10: 163.6 — A bit more weight. July 11: 163.7 — Calorie total the previous day was 1,800. FASTING DAY. July 12: 161.8 — Okay, down almost 10 pounds off the peak. Nice to see. No tracking for July 12. July 13: 163.2 — A slight reduction after a non-tracked day. Also a FASTING DAY

That’s where the needle currently stands. Not sure I want to do the ADF as a regular thing; however, I must say that tracking gets tedious, so if ADF with not having to track on the “off” days worked, I’d be interested in doing that. Just depends how I feel during a regular routine of this. Obviously, staying trim is important, but running and weight lifting are too. Need to allow for all three to work together.