So here i am, 35 Years old, still from Germany and living in Sarajevo for 1 Year. Now you know my biography, good!
While i'm writing these lines, i'm doing my weekly 24 hour dryfast. I feel a little bit braindead to be honest.
So, what actually means "Dryfasting" and why am i doing it?!
Dryfasting is as you already imagined. You eat nothing and you don't drink anything, not even beer. You can distinguish between a hard and soft dry fast. Hard dry fasting is not getting in touch with water at all, which means no shower or brushing your teeth, because your skin is basically acting like a sponge due to the reason your body is in emergency mode and tries in ever possible way to get water in your system. Because you are mostly made out of water. Did you know that? :P But please don't be disappointed when it's raining and you have to get somehow to your car, the dryfasting is still valid when a drop hits you.
So then there is soft dryfasting, where you can go in public because you don't stink like a Wookie and no flies are soaring around your head. You are allowed to do your regular body hygiene and this should be easier to accomplish because you don't feel like a dry raisin. Ok actually, its not that bad to be honest and i don't want you do discourage you to do dryfasting. But at your own risk of course. (writing this just in case you get hit by a truck and your brother wants to sue me.)
If you are considering doing it, a kinda training in advance is a good idea. It makes your body comfortable with not being served with nutrients 35/7. There's a thing called "Intermittent fasting" where you have 2 timewindows which you could use to train. You fast for 16 hours and eat for 8 hours. If that is too hard for you, go in small steps toward that goal. You can fast for 12 Hours and eat for 12 hours. Or fasting even less hours, you get the idea.
So why is that a good idea to starve and crave for food and want to kill everybody so you finally can eat?
Ok maybe i'm known for exaggerating .. It's actually pretty easy when you go in small steps and listen to your body. A point i will return at a later moment in this blog post.
When you are constantly eating, some "experts" recommend you should eat up to 6 times a day (what's actually a disaster), your body is constantly busy digesting and all the other functions are going in stand by mode. A good thing? No!
Even eating the European Standart 3 Meals a day is not beneficial for your organism. It's just too much digesting.
That's why bringing fasting into play makes sense. Your body is actually much more intelligent than you think. It's your private doctor with a natural internal pharmacy. When you stop eating, lets say 12 hours for example, your immune system can finally tick off some boxes on it's checklist and can eat some nasty bacteria and viruses. The inflammation in your body is going down and you become more flexible. Old cells which are more broken than functioning or even dead can be eaten up and digested. What irony! That'S the reason its good for cancer prevention. You basically starve the cancercells to death. Same with candida. I think that's a topic by itself, which is worth it to dive into. There are several studies out there which proof your bloodpressure is going down and so much more. Ah yes, before i forget, you will loose weight ;)
Back in time when the tough guys with fur around the shoulders were hunting for Mammuts were fasting naturally and not eating every day. We just learned in school that 3 Meals in 24 Hours are good and breakfast is the most important meal for a great start in the day. It's natural to have note all the time food in your stomach.
Oh yes one point i almost forgot to mention. You are not alone. I mean, you don't have only one body or one organism walking you around the world. You actually have many microorganisms such as bacteria and other tiny lifeforms sitting in your digestive system and having their own will. Their own will? Yes, because when you are craving for the delicious creamy chocolatebar or the quarterpounder with cheese its actually not you in your truest sense (i'm still looking ) asking for it. It's this tiny organisms which wanna get fed what they are used to eat. And in most cases it's not the healthiest option. So yes, you have down there in this area a second brain with nerve cells. Evolutionary speaking, it's the first brain. It's where your "gutfeeling" sits.
Where you make decisions you can't explain rationally. And this brain is connected to the curvy sponge up there what doctors call "Brain". It's connected by the Nervus Vagus, the longest and most complex nerve in your entire system. More and more scientists are getting aware of the fact, that neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimers, Dementia etc. are NOT originated in the sponge up there BUT in your stomach. THAT'S why it makes sense to not eat every day, especially in Fastfood "Restaurants" or the next Pita place around. Or at least, have a bigger timewindow where you don't stuff your face than actually stuffing your face.
I could kick off a whole debate what is a "healthy" diet in general. There is vegetarians, vegans, carnivors, frutarians, breatharians, paleo, mixed martial arts and, ok forget about the last one. I'm sure there are more diets out there i have no clue they are exisiting. And there is this controversial Vitamin B12 Topic and how you actually get Proteins, of course the "right ones", in your system. I think it's worth exploring what works best for you and if it's not a good idea to mix up some of this diets and be too hard on yourself. I actually want to move in direction of a vegan lifestyle. But i was just craving after a juicy, well made Burger, with deliciously fresh minced meat, f lovely cheese, a green crisp leaf of lettuce, caramelized Onions, well picked pickles and a fresh bun with handpicked sesame on top. I just wanted to have it and enjoy it.
So i'm sitting here now on day 2 on my "What 41 hours and 23 Minutes of Dryfasting taught me" Blog post, in a lovely Burger and Café place called Kod Broja1 in Sarajevo Bosnia & Hercegovina. I'm happily digesting my burger and enjoying an espresso and a glass of water and listening to chill music. Sun is shining and my demons are pretty quiet. I totally enjoy myself and it's a pleasure to write these lines for you and me.
That's the delicious burger i'm giving myself a treat with
I have a good friend with a nervous stomach. For him works the carnivore diet best, at the moment. And he has a big nose, too. When he is eating vegetables or fruits he has to run to the toilet. Ironically what every diet "expert" recommends you to eat. My conclusion, a point i want to roll out is, that in my humble opinion, everything in it's most natural and pure form is healthy for you. You just need to have a balanced lifestyle. As always ;) Or put it as Paracelsus:
"The dose makes the poison"
The scientific passages where actually not planned at all. I just wanted to write about my personal experience of the fasting. But now i'm here, surprised and amazed by myself and shooting some knowledge from my speech therapy education around your ears and eyes. (Combined with some Youtube and google knowledge)
I'm really sorry, to disappoint you, but this blog article ain't gonna a book. Can't guarantee that these lines will flow forever. Now i wanna come to the personal reasons, i was fasting.
It were actually several. I'm quite thin, so loosing weight was not my goal. I wanted to cure some skinissues, testing my willpower, introduce something in my life which is health beneficial and make the experience myself, boosting my immune system and introduce more healthy foods to my system.
"Hej Fritz, how did you feel during the fasting and was it hard?"
Day1
I felt peaceful, calm and didn't worry so much about life what i have a tendency for. My thoughts and the direction of my life became clearer. My energy levels were surpisingly good, i could do my little work out in the morning, finish my morning routine, draw and do some graphic design work. I was watching Youtube Videos about this fascinating topic and contemplating on life.
Day2
It was very interesting to experience that my digestion system was still running and producing goods for the toilet. I thought to myself "hang on a minute, i'm not eating now for approximately 32 hours and i still have to go to the toilet, amazing"
So my body was cleaning itself up, digesting digesting, digesting. I was aiming for 48 hours (which means 2 days in europe)
but after 41 hours and 23 Minutes a slight headache kicked in which got stronger. I started to feel a bit funny and that was the point i was listening to the signals of my body and didn't wanna be a dumbass and don't be too hard on myself. I started to drink water and eating some cereals with ricemilk. It's not that i was starving or feeling dry like a raisin. I just KNEW i have to hydrate and nourish my body. Everything else would be unhealthy. My headache immediately swept away and i felt better in general. I was eating some more cereals, of course in ricemilk and was happy about my whole decision and experience. After a while, i was heading to town and had some humus and falafel balls. I didn't wanna go hardcore on my stomach. Some people say you should break your fast with adding some salt to your water and eating soups etc.
For me, it worked. As i said, it's different for every individual. I felt great.
After this cleansing experience for mind and body i started noticing that i didn't feel the need for food which is in common sense classified as "unhealthy". I naturally went for green smoothies, steamed vegetables, less cheese, no meat etc. etc.
Indulging myself into the burger today (2 weeks later) was worth every bite and pfenning. I have no bad conscious or what so ever!
My long term experience (2 weeks after) is the following.
I have in general more energy, get more things done, am in general in a better mood, can focus better, am more clear about my next steps for a wealthy future, don't crave for unhealthy foods so much anymore (tiny organisms, remember?).
Connected to the disappeared cravings are old feelings and emotions which i could let go off. So it basically means letting go of the past. Energy which was stored in your subconscious mind (your body) could finally get processed and pass its way to other places where it's more needed.
... 30 Minutes later ...
Ok i just switched locations and went to another kick ass café Ministry of Ceijf here in Sarajevo and having a slice of organic carrot cake and another espresso.
That's the delicious organic carrotcake
Today i give myself a treat. Can't describe you how pleased i feel right now. Right now i'm on a tight budget and don't treat myelf like that usually. Currently i'm mastering changing my mindset away from scarcity into wealth and prosperity :) I mastered my fear of drawing and graphic design, my fear of approaching women. Now it's time to get the dollars and bitcoins rollin!
That's why i'm keen on giving myself and my body clean food and drinks to be as clear as possible.
I learned during that 41 and 23 hours that i can trust myself and it's a very good idea to listen to my body. I can heal myself, or contribute a major part, at least. That's really relieving, because i was really scared of getting cancer. Now i know i have a more secure feel about it, because now i have one more tool i can rely on.
I just realised, what's the very reason i was doing this fast. My mother died 2006 on cancer with only 57 years old. Ever since then, i was scared of getting this disease. Wow, it took me this whole blog article to realise that. So writing about , elaborate and explore something which interests and fascinates you brings out the real why. I totally believe
Ok, at this point i want to end the article. I feel emotionally touched. That came unexpected and hit me like a truck. So no reason to sue me, brother ;)
Have a nice day,
let my words sink in and give fasting a try. If it's intermittent fasting, water fasting, dry fasting, juice fasting etc. doesn't matter. Just do, what you are curious about and listen to your body. You have so much more power than you can think of.
You are the master of your life, nobody else. Other can only add to that. Never let them subract. You are wonderful!
All the best,
good luck,
Fritz
P. S. as i was editing and uploading the pictures in here, i had to laugh because it's a blogpost about fasting and there are 2 big images with food on it! This means, the next days i gonna live like a snake again. Eating big chunks and then give them a decent amount of time to digest. And doing my usual intermittent fasting!
Ćao!