I didn’t eat for 2 days – by choice! (Part 1)
As I sit on the morning of my first 2 day water fast, I find my subconscious mind heavily protesting in the background. I suddenly feel a bit lightheaded and my stomach doesn’t feel good. “Ooooh it’s definitely not a good day to do this – for my health, of course!” I am also freezing cold and horribly uncomfortable. Our office at work is like the cold room of an ice cream factory! I have also tried to start doing the Wim Hof Method cold showers and right now I feel like they were a terrible idea, either that or I’m doing something wrong. (A story for another blog!) Irrespective, I feel awful and I’m NOT having a good start to my day.
Its incredible how our minds can work against us and try to manipulate us into believing that something which we know is good for us is a terrible idea. I can see that I am going to have a day of pinball as my internal conflict goes back and forth between my ego and my higher mind.
I have quite a bit of experience with fasting but in much smaller doses. I practice Intermittent Fasting (IF) almost every day to some degree or the other. I usually fast between my last meal of the day and mid-morning to lunchtime of the following day giving me a roughly 16 hour fasting window and an 8 hour eating window. I usually find that I don’t want to eat in the first few hours of the day anyway so it works for me. (And when I have an early race and I have to eat straight after waking up, I find it near impossible!). I also got into the habit of doing a 24 hour fast once a week and basically just having one meal in that day. I had, however, not yet been brave enough to venture past this boundary, until today…
It’s now past lunchtime and the hunger pangs are gurgling away – feels like a Kreepy Krauly (that suction device that cleans your swimming pool) has been let loose in my stomach! I’ve realised that the longer the fast is, the more akin it is to the endurance sports I’ve done, specifically my last mountain bike race (Check out my post about this!). When your mind accepts that the “end” or the “goal” is far away, your mind set changes and you simply settle into the situation, adapt to the circumstances, and take the journey one leg at a time.
When I know I have lunch waiting for me in the kitchen at work, it’s all I can think about and my day revolves around when next I can eat (yes, this is one of the battles I am trying to combat by fasting!). Now that I know I’m not eating today, I don’t really think about food and just get on with the other things I need to do. The further away the “end” is, the easier you can process it because you don’t constantly think “Are we there yet?!” you just focus on the here and now.
Evening comes and as I pass the 24 hour mark, I know that I’m now in unchartered waters. As is normal with fasting, there are phases and waves – sometimes I’m perfectly OK and not too bothered by the whole thing but suddenly that is overshadowed by uncomfortable hunger pangs and discomfort.
I was very relieved to have a busy evening which definitely helped to distract me but even with that, I mentally struggled. The noticeable growls and discomfort in my stomach was really making me miserable and became the hardest part of the experience. I tried very hard to embrace this feeling, and by embrace, I mean suck it up!! There were snack platters flowing in our philosophy class and although I wished I could partake as they looked so yummy, I wasn’t actually hungry or craving food. More than wanting to eat (that desire had already completely disappeared), I just wanted the uncomfortable physical sensations to cease.
I went to bed hungry for the first time I could remember.
It’s unimaginable to think that there are copious amounts of people in the world that experience this on a regular basis. We truly have no idea how lucky we are.
It’s so easy to get sucked into the trap of complaining about the food we have at our disposal and the circumstances we live in not realising that we truly are living in luxury compared to so many others in the world around us.
Please come back tomorrow to read the second half of this post and thank you for reading! Your support is hugely appreciated.
Peace and love!
Earth child
Spiritual warrior
Mountain biking explorer
Lover of wisdom
Follow me on Instagram - plantstrongsoul
Well done. I'm holding thumbs for you.
Why the long fast?
Hey @mambaman, I know there are quite a few health benefits which is one of the reasons I did it. The other reason is because I tend to allow my days to revolve around food (granted, I just love eating haha!) so I feel it's important for me to realise that food is a tool for us to nourish our bodies and not a crutch or a reward!