I woke up this morning after a dreadful nights sleep of strange and unsettling vivid dreams. Its safe to say i was not particularly mentally prepared for my 6 am shift. Therefore, for some reason, thought it was a great day to not eat for 24 hours... What a strange way to combat bad sleep hey!
Here I will try to document the experience as i come up to what will be my favourite part of the day today, DINNER! (I ate at approx 5:45 PM yesterday, last meal).
So this morning, as i said, i woke up feeling veeeery groggy. My mind was unsettled and thoughts were sporadic. I decided that i would try out a 24 hour fast this morning, so no breakfast for me. Luckily, i didn't feel like i particularly needed one.
The first 2/3 hours after waking up was the worst. Aside feeling the hunger start to kick in, i was still trying to wake up. After I got over this feeling at about 9, things started to really go up-hill. Another huge difference between this time is that before 9 i wasn't really drinking any water at all. WHAT A MISTAKE! The trick is, drink, drink, drink! Water suppressed your cravings for food which makes the process easier. Also, when you have cravings for food, your usually thirsty which is interesting. Furthermore, your body is going through some "spring cleaning" shall we say, and spring cleaning will use up a-lot of energy and fluids. This is normal and natural.
So, from about 10 o'clock my brain started to really work. My brain fog all but disappeared. I could think, talk and breathe. I work in a gym and sport centre, so i need to be pretty animated throughout the day, and in terms of energy i was definitely lacking it somewhat, which is to be expected. But my brain and general functioning body was saying "THANK YOU!!!".
At 13 o'clock came my Yoga session, now this is where things got interesting. Yoga, especially traditional Yoga is pretty calm, you probably wont burn a ton of energy performing the moves, which is perfect for a short fast. But the breathing within the movements, wow! I felt extremely connected to my body and breathe. I was less concerned about perfecting my poses and more interested in the experience. at the end, we calm down with a 5 minute meditation like activity, which again, was very interesting and calming. So, after the Yoga session, in the past i'm quite calm and tired. Not today. Today i felt calm and grounded, but energetic and talkative, extroverted and confident. I was proud, I was impressed. My body was happy and i knew it!
After work, I stopped off to grab my dinner for tonight; Gammon, scrambled eggs, broccoli, sweetcorn, sweet potato mash, sprinkled parsley and maybe a bit of cold smoked salmon... I know what your thinking, DAYM THAT SOUNDS GOOD AM I RIGHT?! Maybe its the hunger talking haha...
So, that brings us to now, 45 minutes away from a lovely meal. Im going to appreciate this meal and its energising nutrition without a doubt. I will also, without a doubt, be doing this again. A 24 hour fast is not difficult at all, you for sure will not die. Unless you have any serious medial conditions like diabetes, serious hypoglycaemia etc (your doctor is your friend) it is very very safe. There is discomfort, there is cravings, there is lower energy, but for a better performing digestive system, brain, nervous system, immune system, self-discipline, respiratory system, oh i could definitely go on and on, its worth a shot.
Just before my meal i'm going to have a 15 minute mediation sesh and reflect on the past 24 hours.
Ill try another 24 hour fast in the near future, and will go for longer after that, best to just ease myself in. For now, and tomorrow, i'm going have some great nutritional meals and enjoy them!
Thanks for reading folks, i really appreciate it. I'd be happy to answer and questions or chat in the comments below.
James.
P.S. See Paul Chek for loads of health and training info!
References; Image 1 - Google Images.