I'm going to provide some reflection and discussion of my fast while I undertake it. It will be as much as of blog to share but also a bit of a introspective look for myself and something to save on the block chain.
I introduced it a bit yesterday but need to give a bit more background I think.
First I'll start with a bit of back ground and details about the actual fast since there were a couple questions. It will be a water fast, but from what I've read usually black coffee and teas are accepted during the fast. So far I have been able to stick with just water and that is my goal, but I may add some herbal tea over the coming days mainly to deal with any insatiable hunger that may appear.
I am a daily coffee drinker but have always found I must eat prior to my coffee or suffer some reflux and heart burn, so I will be abstaining from coffee as well. I was unsure of what some of symptoms to expect and did want to also have to face my caffeine withdraws which always occur if I don't have my morning coffee so I took a caffeine pill today, but otherwise I will not be taking any vitamins or supplements during the fast.
My last meal was yesterday at 1700h, it was nothing special some lasagna and pork loin, with a couple pieces of cake. My goal is to make it to supper on Wednesday then eat something light, maybe just some soup or something and then resume my normal diet in the AM on Thursday, but if tomorrow is terrible I am also prepared to admit semi-defeat and break the fast at supper tomorrow.
Reflection
Today was actually surprisingly easy. I expected to be having at least some physical symptoms of some sort, but expect for the occasional feeling of hunger I have been feeling much the same as regular day. I was still able to work outside for a couple hours planting some new trees and shrubs in the yard. I really haven't felt any fatigue or weakness at all and that seams to be staying totally normal.
I also expected to have some moodiness or anger associated with any hunger, but so far this has not been the case. I have not been feeling any different emotionally and even my wife commented this afternoon that she expected me to be more emotionally labile and sluggish.
The hunger has also been fleeting and mild. I can't say it's any sort of gnawing or painful or even uncomfortable hunger and once again it's usually fleeting. I am finding that keeping busy and ignoring it seams to be the best strategy. Also of course trying to stay out of the kitchen and away from the food. The hunger of course kicks in more around those triggers. My wife even dragged me to McDonald's with her today, and she's been snacking all night first making S'mores than some popcorn, but so far I haven't really felt all that tempted of drawn the eat. I haven't felt any sort of longing or that I've been missing out. The only moment today that was a bit hard, was when we were at the private tree nursery my friend owns and picking out the new trees, his Haskap's were full of berries and I really wishes I was able to take part in the that.
Deeper reflection
So far I've been trying to bring in some of my mindfulness practices and trying to note the hunger with curiosity and without judgement and without giving in to it. I think this is actually and interesting opportunity to maybe take control over some of my own cravings and snacking on a regular basis. This is a great chance to explore and experience hunger a bit more and try to analyse it a bit. I do hope that I will provide some valuable learning and insight into some of my hunger patterns and cues and help me break some of those cycles on a regular basis. It does provide more opportunities to move past my hunger and look for distractions and mechanism that I can hopefully also bring back to my everyday life.
