I have been fasting weekly for over two years and I believe it is a useful practice and spiritually beneficial even though my practice is not much more than skipping breakfast and delaying lunch until 3:00 pm. I have also done some intermittent fasting and I have "given up something for Lent" just about every year for decades now, but I don't know if I have fasted a full day since I was in seminary.
Since I want to include information on strict biblical fasting in our study, I thought I would do a 3 day fast this week for the experience and for the sake of teaching.
Here are some reflections on Day 1:
- Last night, though I wasn't very hungry, I knew I wouldn't be eating today and so I found myself binging almost uncontrollably. It started with relatively healthy food and ended with cookies and chocolate. I felt kinda gross afterward.
- I decided that while I refrain from food I would also refrain from all drinks but water (because that seems more biblical). It was strange not starting the day with coffee, but I am not one who is addicted to caffeine so it was not a huge sacrifice.
- So ... I drank much more water today than I typically do - and that has to be beneficial to my health.
- My weight this morning came in at 195.8, which is a little higher than my norm. Probably the result of binging last night and some extra water weight. I ended the day at 193.2, which is about my norm.
- An evening trip to Aldi was a lot quicker than usual because I wasn't looking for anything for myself to snack on - I just stuck to the trash bags, dog treats, and bacon on my list. In and out.
- I was reminded today of two major trends in my daily approach to food: 1) I eat often and 2) I mostly eat to entertain my taste buds, not to nourish my body.
- Hunger pangs were not a major issue. They come and go - and they remind me to drink water. I had a bit of a headache in the afternoon, but that might be due to disrupted sleep patterns over the last few nights.
We will see how tomorrow goes.
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