A Few Things I Discovered While Fasting

Hi,

First the good news: I hit 303.25 two days ago as a result of the fasting twice a week. I was really surprised when I saw that number before my very eyes.

I still fluctuate up and down, but today is the beginning of my first fast day for this week so I am just finishing up my first meal of the day and will fast after that. I had just skipped eating earlier today without considering that this is the preparatory fast day. I usually try to eat two meals on this day, but, the day is half over and I can't go back. Don't think I need to really.

I decided to eat a large bowl of steamed Italian green beans, broccoli, and peas plus a pork rib for the protein before I begin the fast. That is out of the way, now, so the next time I eat will be tomorrow at 4:30.

Second the bad news: I've been dealing with my left knee again. It went out a week ago last Thursday and was very excruciating. I figured I would treat it as I always do which is to wear my knee brace until I can again walk normally. It is Sunday and I am, day by day, seeing some improvement but it still feels "stiffish" right now and I have some small achy pains from time to time depending on the position I put it in.

I went to see Dr. Andy, my chiropractor on Friday and he aligned both the knee and my foot and I did see some improvement the next day. It seems to be improving each day. I'll go to see him again on Tuesday.

The thing I am worried about is collecting all the cookies for the bake sale that I am spear heading for Trinity Children's center this week. The community sale is being held at the Gwinnett Braves stadium on Saturday and I hope my knee is well enough to allow me to work the booth.

It is the loading and unloading of the cookies when they reach my house that I am kind of worried about. I'm thinking of asking my friend John if he will help me with that, but he is often incapacitated and unable to do those kinds of things. The cookies should not be heavy it is just that there will be so many of them. Our goal is 100 dozen and we have about eight people baking them. I'm supposed to be making cookies, too.

I am simply putting my trust in the Lord. He will help me to accomplish all that I must do and heal my knee in the process, too.

Now about the fasting....

I feel that I've done it enough times now that I kind of like the way I feel when I'm fasting. I know I've mentioned that before but it needs to be said again: fasting is really quite easy. As I've been doing it I've begun to notice some things that I would never have noticed without having fasted on a schedule.

For one, I think it must actually be more "normal" than I used to think. Having grown up in the US and been fed at least three meals a day for my entire life, fasting used to seem like a dangerous thing. I associated fasting with emaciation, starvation, eating disorders, sickness and disease. It just never seemed possible that there might be a healthy side to it and it might actually be a healthy thing for the overfed to do. Even though I knew Jesus fasted, many of the saints fasted, and it is a natural part of the Old Testament, too, it just seemed beyond extreme to my mind.

You know that idea that when you buy a yellow car, suddenly you see all the other yellow cars on the road? Well fasting seems to be like that for me. Now that I am fasting from time to time, I notice when someone or something points to the fact that our ancestors may have fasted as a matter of course, that I had not realized.

Granted, many of them are just "hints" but they are beginning to be seen by me. Like the idea of having a cup of some hot liquid for breakfast, be it coffee, tea, or broth. That is what I do when I'm fasting, I drink lots of water and tea. I never had a liquid meal before I started fasting. Every meal had solid food. And that was part of the problem that I could not see.

I've even blogged recently about not being able to tell the difference between hunger and thirst. I really do see now that drinking water is a valid response to the feeling of hunger. If you cannot tell the difference then they are the same feeling, aren't they? I spent most of my life eating when I may have been thirsty. I've struggled with keeping my body hydrated for as long as I remember, too. Obesity and dehydration were my two companions, but now that I'm fasting, I can see the real value in drinking water and my mind now accepts the concept that I might be thirsty when I get "that" feeling.

It seemed odd to me that when I fasted I also eliminated more water than usual -- like my kidneys were functioning better. When I first noticed it, it was a puzzle to my puny brain. I was surprised that I started peeing more often when I fasted. So much more that it was noticeable to me. But really, if you are drinking more you will be eliminating more, too. Ding. Ding. It all began to make sense. My body was no longer dehydrated because I was not responding to the "feeling" that I call "hunger" with food but with water or tea. My body liked the change. So the solution to the obesity is also the solution to the dehydration. Eat less. Drink more.

I don't resent having been fed, that is not the point. I am relieved that it is OK to not eat some times!! In fact, it is a good idea, for me to drink water and skip the food from time to time. It just seems so natural and so obvious. I wonder why I never saw it before. Don't know why. Just glad I stumbled upon that one. LOL

So this means my inner core ideas about food and eating were based on belief and not fact. My body never did seem to match my beliefs about food. It has been a struggle all my life. The fasting seems to be the best solution to my particular dilemma. It reduces my calorie intake without me having to fight and to measure and to control every morsel that goes into my mouth -- which I was never good at, anyway. It also increases my water intake and helps to make my kidneys function better. So amazing to kill those two birds with that one stone.

I wish I had something more profound to say but that is about it. The fasting is working. The fasting is easy. The fasting makes me feel good and my body function better. Praise the Lord!!

Be back soon,

Marcia