Fasting

For me, fasting is having one top shelf margarita instead of two on our weekly trip to our favorite Mexican food restaurant.

 

I use to fast occasionally when I was younger.
I fasted sometimes when I ran.

I did it for a lot of the reasons stated above, I felt it was good for discipline. If you can fast for a few days, then "dieting" or embracing a disciplined diet, seems easier.
It would "reset" my appetite.

Was it good for me?
Well I was younger.-But, I'm going to say, really probably NOT. I did it, because I could. I felt at the time it was helping me. But overall? The body is designed to operate, take in calories and burn calories.
Kamikaze extreme fasts, can't really be too good for you.

Having said that?
When I was in shape, and much, much more disciplined what I was much more aware of, was how RIDICULOUS and damaging the diet or media advertised diet of the USA actually is....

It's no wonder we are such an out of shape, overweight culture.
I use to run/bike long distances. I was in excellent shape. And during those periods, I would just be amazed at all the advertising for an unhealthy lifestyle that was "force fed" to us.

Grand Slam Breakfasts...that are enough calories and meat to be a full day deal.
Fast food, Hamburgers, monster sized portions.

I remember watching the Olympics and thinking it was such a conflict that McDonalds would advertise and be a sponsor, when I knew that most of those athletes would shun the typical McDonalds meal.

When I was in tune the most with my body, I'd occasionally treat myself to something that I considered an indulgence. I felt that once every 2 weeks I could allow myself to have a "bad" meal, or something I was just craving.
But if I allowed myself that hamburger or pizza? I could feel it the next day. It would take a work out cycle or two, to rebound. I literally knew that if I had that burger? The next day I would run slow, and it would be more of a struggle.
So what I found out, was that I really didn't even want that stuff. That the treat...was not really a treat.

Overall though, I would say fasting really probably wasn't good, or safe. It's better to just be disciplined about what you are taking in, what calorie limit you are allowing yourself. But keep eating...your body needs fuel.

At my best as a runner, I almost felt like I could run indefinitely. I would get tired, but my running work outs were stopped more by hours in the day, than miles I could run.

Unfortunately I also saw the real dangerous dark side. That is people that were anorexic. They would be on severe calorie limiting diets, and/or fasting, AND running several miles a day.
I saw nearly skeletons on the track.

So my overall recommendation to people.
EAT.
Just be aware of what you are eating, how much you are eating. Don't let advertising or media create your meal plans.
But having seen the dark side of obsessive exercising often coupled with fasting or extreme dieting, I just can't recommend fasting as an embraceable approach. Balance as opposed to extremism.
Even though I admit when I was young, there were periods when I probably was breaking these very same self imposed rules.

 

Obviously answers will vary, but let me elaborate, persons with a BMI of 22 are going to have much different views of "fasting" (eating normally for them) vs others with BMI's of 44, to whom "fasting" is science fiction on the same level as the Bible.

 

talk to your doctor before beginning

 

Hmmmm....

I grew up in a German-catholic family in Southern Indiana, and we weren't really big 'fasters.'
I'm a Southern Baptist these days, living in the Deep South and there are much different expectations about prayin and drinkin.....but Baptists are really REALLY not into the fasting thing.

We're more buffet kinda people.

There's a little talk about the "science of fasting" on the interwebs these days, and a documentary with that very title is on my 'to-watch' list on Prime....er....meaning Amazon Prime.
It's probably well below the documentary about the Lancaster bomber, 12 Angry Men (Fonda the elder is always worth a watch!) and a few more episodes of Star Trek Enterprise on my 2-watch list, so I might not get to it.

We live in a time where coffee, real butter, and alcohol are either good for you or bad for you, depending on the politics of those who fund the study - so I'll probably put 'fasting' down as being something I will view as a spectator sport.
As far as religion is concerned, there's a yuge swath of middle ground between self mutilation (tattoos) and self flagellation (kinetic prayin).....and the only people who love to heckle the religious folk MORE than atheists are people from other religions........so I'll use that as another excuse to sit in the bleachers and eat popcorn.
Sea salt and fake butter, please.

Since I revel in the joys of being decidedly NON disciplined......I'm probably going to stick with non-fasting.....even though as a mostly Vegan I really don't have all that much to give up.....

 

Festing is one of the best things you can do for your body and mind, IF done correctly. I have fested a lot when I was younger. I think my longest was about 10 days on water. Breaking the fest needs to take as long as the fest itself. If the fest was x days long, then you should not be eating "normally" until x days after the fest was over. Resuming eating after a fest should be done gradually. As for bowel movements during the fest, well that can and should be addressed because the toxins in the colon will increase during the fast as part of the cleanse. You absolutely need to eliminate, especially on prolonged fests. If the body does not eliminate on its own there are ways of gently doing it with age-old low-tech procedures. Also, headaches and such during the first 48 hours of festing are mostly normal and a sign of detoxing.

If done correctly it's an excellent health maintenance protocol. I used to fest every Wednesday for about 36 hours. Did that for about a year. Got rid of some allergies that have bothered me for years prior.

Most animals will fest when sick. Humans loose appetite when sick. It's all nature's way of helping the healing process. It's a very old thing and has been around way longer than Christianity or Judaism.

 

i have never been able to pull it off. just the thought scares me.

best i have ever done is one day before a colonoscopy

 

I call that....'skipping breakfast.'

However (comma!) I might bump "the science of fasting" up on my watch list and do some light reading on the subject to ground-truth any claims.
After all.....before being forced to drive a Prius by my beloved company, I was somewhat put off by their drivers.
There might be some benefits fasting in fasting that I cannot see from the outside.

I'll perhaps dig this thread up later and report back......unless I see a fatter squirrel to chase......

 

Like I said, I'm being a bit of a hypocrite because I use to fast, and severely monitor limit my calories when I was younger, and my #1 goal was lung capacity and leg strength...to run farther, longer.

And it's NOT a apples to apples comparison.
Personal fasting, as part of a diet plan, and cleared with your doctor...
vs. the world I'm remembering which was often obsessive and necessarily extreme training, coupled with fasting or way too severe calorie intake limitations.
To me? It's kind of an A to B thing now.
Do I need to fast to get from point A to point B? Can I get the same results by just adjusting my diet but continuing to eat?

The fasting I did in my 20's, 30's and early 40's would probably be dangerous to me now.
And I did know people, and see people, that I think pushed their bodies obsessively to starvation levels. At different periods you could accuse me of being one of those people.
So today?
Despite scientific studies that may show limiting or curtailing food intake has a positive side, I just can't recommend it as a generic recommendation.
Fasting by definition I would argue is an extreme action. It's a term used to describe actions involved in religious discipline and sacrifice, it's a self imposed hunger strike for personal reasons. There is no such thing as "casually" fasting.

 

From about age 25 to 32, I fasted once a year for seven days.

Water only. At the time I was 6'2" and weighed around 195 pounds. The first day and a half was usually tough. After that, a walk in the park.

At the end, I always rewarded myself with a Michelob. The high-class beer.

After working as a newspaperman for nearly 20 some years, I developed some strange eating habits, thanks to the requirements of the job.

1) I do not eat breakfast

2) Most of the time, I skip lunch.

3) I eat a small dinner - a piece of protein about half the size of my palm, and salad and/or a vegetable serving.

4) I usually end up eating something around 9-10 in the night -- a bowl of ramen, a pb&j sandwich.

Based on the roll out of bed, get to work around 2 p.m., rush to get a story, rush to meet deadline, take a moment or two to eat dinner and then wait for the edit process and then to review your story once more before it goes to press around midnight.

At the moment I am still about 6'2" and weigh about 215. Oh, and I no longer work at a newspaper -- I am not into dinosaurs.

 

I do intermittent fasting. I only eat in an eight hour window; usually 11-7.

 

The True North Health Center specializes in water only fasts. A typical length is 2-3 weeks, but may run as long as 40 days. Their website is at http://www.healthpromoting.com .

The major medical benefit seems to be improvement of inflammatory conditions. It has cured high blood pressure, as in blood pressure normalizes without ongoing drug treatment. While they don't "treat" cancer, there have been cases where even advanced cancer has resolved after a fast.

One reason given for medical management of a fast is that many people they see are on drugs for blood pressure and/or blood sugar management. The drug dosages generally must be reduced or even zeroed out. Some drugs would be dangerous to cold turkey, and must be tapered as condition indicates. Not a DIY situation.

Dr. Alan Goldhammer, founder of the center, is a regular speaker at health events such as World Veg Festival in San Francisco.

While I've never used their services, they do appear to provide a legitimate medical service. It can be an alternative to lifetime drugs and/or going under the knife.

 

who doesn't like drugs?