By Wednesday, April 1st, I had decided to break my water fast; I was feeling terrible and the gripping hunger was non-stop. During the 6 days I fasted, I definitely learned some lessons that I will remember for my next fast--and yes! I plan to engage in another Water Fast within the month! But what is important is how I FELT the day I broke my fast: the plans around breaking the fast, the actions I took while eating, and how I felt after eating. The singular experience of eating was incredible! I was able to pull the knowledge I'd had for so long about the approach to eating mindfully, and do it! I ate with awareness of each bite, I chewed each bite at least 20 times, I noticed my thoughts about the food and how I felt while tasting and savouring each bite. I'll never take mayonnaise for granted again! Curiously, I was hungry throughout the day (except, of course, after eating). I ate three meals, each equally satisfying and glorious. I reveled in the taste of each item, consciously aware of my thoughts and feelings while eating. It was a relief to eat what I wanted without guilt, fear, or remorse. It is important to note that I will be following a low-carb, keto-style plan with a 20-25 g. carb daily limit. But I WANT to be off sugar. I WANT to be free of sugar cravings. This way, I can eat food I enjoy, without the negative effect on my weight, hormones, and glucose. It is freeing to enjoy mayonnaise, avocado, butter, and more, without feeling "bad" that I am eating "bad" food. All of those concepts are just ridiculous and I want to be free of them! In addition to eating no-sugar and low-carb, I will be Intermittent Fasting as well. I started with a 24-hour IF following my "refeeding" day; in essence, my last meal was dinner Thursday, so I did not eat again on Friday until dinnertime. I'll do the same today, as much as possible. It is essentially eating one meal per day, which the Fasting Community refers to as OMAD (One Meal A Day, and yes--there is a whole community out there that adheres to various fasting protocols for health, spiritual practice, emotional well-being, and weight loss). I will reassess how I feel tomorrow (Sunday), and consider extending my fast to 36 hours. This translates into eating 1-3 meals on Day 1, then fasting until breakfast on Day 3: not eating after dinner on Day 1, fasting all of Day 2, then breaking the fast the morning of Day 3 (breakfast! That is what breakfast means after all!). Another surprising aspect is the huge difference in my calorie intake on Thursday vs. Friday. On Thursday, I ate as I was hungry (no snacking, so I did not spike my insulin and cause more hunger), which ended up being three meals about 4 hours apart. Then I fasted 24 hours, so I did not eat again until around 530pm on Friday. My total calorie intake on Friday was HALF of my intake on Thursday! That fact is pretty amazing and shouldn't be surprising, though it was to me. In fact, the Friday amount equalled what I would normally eat on a lower calorie diet. It seemed like I ate SO MUCH on Friday, in that one meal--and I was quite full afterward--whereas on Thursday, I ate smaller meals more frequently. Another interesting aspect, which follows the science behind hunger mechanisms, is that I was more hungry on Thursday due to eating more frequently! I didn't really get hungry on Friday until about 3pm, and I was REALLY hungry by 5pm! I ate dinner, and wasn't hungry the rest of the night and haven't had much hunger at all this morning (Saturday), as I write this. Yet on Thursday, I was hungry several times during the day, always a few hours after I ate. Spikes of insulin and ghrelin caused by eating. I don't need to read the empirical citations, I lived them that day! Once again, at dinner last night, I ate with awareness and focused on chewing 20-30 or more times. This means no phone, no laptop, and catching wandering thoughts. It's a beautiful process and an incredible sensory experience to simply EAT and ONLY eat. I've tried many mindful eating exercises through the years (MBSR, chewing 32 times, etc.), so I have the tools; it's just the matter of putting them into practice on a daily basis--a consistent basis! I plan to continue to eat with awareness and truly enjoy my food. I haven't really enjoyed eating in such a long time, excluding the few special meals I've had dining out where I simply savored the indulgence and was really conscious of what was going in my mouth--like at the French Bistro in Melbourne, for one. I've truly enjoyed not eating in front of a screen; out on the porch with a view of the pine trees and the noise of singing birds, relishing each bite and chewing it to completion. The taste of food has brought back memories: mayonnaise reminds me of my Grandparent's lake house in Fort Worth, eggs fried in bacon fat reminds me to enjoy my food, cheese with olives and tomatoes and olive oil reminds me of Italy. I haven't eaten mayonnaise in years because it is "fattening", the same with avocados and so many more foods that are actually a beneficial part of a nutritious diet! I am grateful I fasted! I feel good about the duration of my fast, the results, and breaking the fast! I will continue with Intermittent Fasting and eating consciously! I am grateful that I can feel free of compulsive eating and emotional eating and I want to continue to eat healthy and fast forever! I love it!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Gina is...surprised it is 2020! Holy crap when did that happen! Archives
December 2020
Categories
All
|