Disclaimer: This will be my own personal experience, and no one - ABSOLUTELY NO ONE - should take this as medical advice. I have studied fasting for many years, and have engaged in long periods of fasting for many years. There are health reasons why some people should NOT fast. Always talk to your doctor before making any changes to your diet/exercise routine.
This is not a spiritual fast, because for my faith - we aren't supposed to share publicly when we do a spiritual fast. That is supposed to be a private thing between the person and God.
In this case, this is a health fast. I'm sure there will be spiritual aspects to it, because I have done it before - and I know that they DO come! Of course, all of life is a balance of the natural and the spiritual. So, because I'm about to embark on something physically tasking, you can be sure that the spirit will be involved! hahaha
There are many kinds of fasts, and I know that there are MANY people who have engaged in them for different reasons.
This particular one that I will be doing is a 20 day juice fast.
It's not really for weight loss, though there will be weight loss of course.
>The main focus of this is more of a reset.
The body spends an enormous amount of time digesting food. When the body doesn't have to spend so much time in digestion mode - it has all that extra time to devote to rest and repair. In our modern society, we seem to be in a constant state of digestion. From the time we wake, throughout the day snacking between the normal meals, and even eating RIGHT before bed (so bad!!!) we tend to "eat up" all that precious time by "eating up"! If it takes an average of 4 hours (and more if you're eating protein) to digest your food, and you begin at 7am, and finish at 11pm snacking in front of the tv? You're not gonna digest that food until 3 am! Out of 24 hours a day, only 4 for rest and repair??? Not a healthy way to live!
When the body switches to fasting mode, it becomes highly efficient in so many systems! And you can even view this in nature! Because how do we know when we are sick - or even our pets are sick? We lose that desire to eat. Why? Because our BODIES know that it's time to focus on repair! Smart bodies, right?
But the beauty of fasting for me (and others) - is I don't have to wait until I'm sick and already battling a bug! I can induce that SAME process by CHOOSING to divert that time away from digestion and provide extra HOURS AND HOURS of reset, rest and repair!
There are some really cool studies happening now where it is being used to battle chronic disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's and cancer. There are even some studies that show that animals - and people - actually live longer lives with less disease on a calorie restricted diet. I won't go into all that! hahaha You can research for yourself and find your own conclusions!
Some people think fasting is a fad, unnecessary and some would even say harmful.
But for me - I've seen the benefits of it, and I hope that I'll be able to share them with you along the way! At the very least, it's really empowering to set a challenging goal for yourself and conquer it!
So today - was day 1.
I have 19 more days to go! hehehe I battled psychologically at times with the THOUGHT that I wanted to eat - but I wasn't really THAT hungry. But one of the things that is SUPER super super SUPER important -is staying hydrated.💦 You can fend off ALL KINDS of discomfort by making sure that your body is FULLY hydrated.
On that note - I'm going to go grab a glass of water before bed!!! hehehe See you tomorrow!
Post was previously published here here