Because of my faith, I fast. (Let me be clear, I do it not out of grudging obligation but of a willing heart.)
The types of fasting I adhere to are intermittent fasting (eating only at a specific window of the day; 16-hour fast/8-hour feed) or the Daniel fast (vegan diet).
(Okay, I'll be irritatingly honest. Whenever I do intermittent fasts, I eat boatloads when the mealtime window arrives. I know, I've only canceled all the sacrifices I did hours before. Sly! That means I was never hungry on fast days. Cheat! lol)
[Photo by Joseph Greve on Unsplash]
This year, however, I've decided to do it right. I wanted to challenge myself, to stretch my limits beyond my comfort zone. Thus, I did the 3-Day water fast.
To give you a background of my home life, I had a 3-year-old and a husband who loves food. If you know him, you'll nod in agreement with that preceding sentence. ;)
As mentioned in the title, I did this water-fast for 3 days. I would have wanted to prolong it for a week like the handful of articles I've read on the web, but gosh, it's hard! Crazy hard!
Who says fasting is easy? It's self-torture! Why would anyone want to do it?
Friends, it's the benefits! Nobody wants to do something they won't benefit from (if you only admit to it). It's human nature!
What pushed me to ultimately do the water-fast is this video of a guy who got healed from a horrible back pain after doing it for 7 days. Check it out here.
The benefits I'm after are mental acuity and resetting my body from all the food I've shoved into my mouth at the end of the previous year. (You know how the feast usually goes during the holidays! lol)
It was the best decision I ever did this year! This water-fast is the catalyst for my healing from debilitating depression. (First link above.)
In preparation, I did intermittent fasting a week before. I didn't dive in immediately to increase my chances of success. I also ate, guess what, a big dinner the night before I kick off my water fast. (lol)
Here's my experience-my 3-day water fast experience.
Day 1: Tolerable. I distracted my mind by reading and listening to sermons about fasting. My favorites are from Dr. Myles Munroe on Youtube.
Day 2: Laid on the bed all day. Tired. Felt cold. Light headache. Slept only for a few hours. Time went by slow. I wasn’t hungry but struggled during my normal eating time. Yes, only on my normal meal times. This is not true hunger but out of habit.
Day 3: Same experience with Day 2 minus the headache. Due to my history with anemia, my vision blackout for a couple seconds when I stand up. Not reason enough to end the fast though.
Ultimately, it was my husband's cooking that made me raise the white flag. (Haha.) On day 3, he made chicken congee on the slow cooker for our little boy. The smell filled the entire apartment, I was hypnotized. I lost all my self-control and admit defeat.
I kept envisioning myself slurping one warm bowl of soft tender chicken, silky savory white rice, crunchy minced vegetables with the pungent spicy taste of ginger on my mouth; licking clean the base of the pot from its contents, if you will. Not good! No wonder mine only lasted for 3 days. (lol)
By the way, I did this during the quarantine. There's no reason not to when I had lots of free time. I lost my job in March this year due to the current economic situation.
Here's a tip to make your fast successful, preparation is key. Make ready your environment. It's also important to inform the people whom you share a roof with. Had it not for my husband's rice porridge, I would have push through until the 7th day. But of course, it's not his fault, that decision is still up to me.
In those 3 days, I only took water with salt and lemon juice added to pep it up.
Will I do it again? Of course!
If you haven't done this before, start small. Do it for a day or for one meal. But please consult your doctor.
For a number of times now, I do the one-day water-fast paired with exercise. The burst of energy is amazing! I love doing it again and again!
Have you tried water fasting or other types of fasting? For how long? What changes have you noticed in your self: physically, mentally, spiritually after doing the fast?
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