Well, this was weird -- breaking the fast was a huge letdown.
I had a little trepidation about breaking it because I didn't really want to -- if I had more time I'd have gone on for a few more days. I'm enjoying the emotional/spiritual element a lot, the feeling of peace and contentment and stability. I don't want to let that go! Alas, duty calls, and starting tomorrow I need to be responsible and engaged with other people. And won't be able to lay down every time the mood strikes me.
Previously my first taste of juice has given me a huge appetite and has been hugely enjoyable! This time the juice tasted ok and I had just one glass of it diluted with water and had no urge for more.
I've been a little nauseous all day and perhaps I've interrupted some healing process. Still nauseous now. I've read that fasts should be broken when you're feeling well rather than poorly.
On the flip side, it's great to stand up without getting low-blood-pressure blurry vision! Even from the one glass of juice I was able to walk home (from a friend's who has a juicer) at a normal pace and without resting. Yesterday I was moving at... shall we say... a dignified saunter.
I hope to do another fast of this type soon, maybe in a few months, as my schedule permits.
I've found a bunch of protocols for breaking a fast but the basic idea seems to be that since the stomach has stopped producing enzymes, start with small amounts of easily digested food and work up from there, giving the stomach time to catch up. This ends up meaning 1 or 2 days of juice, another 1 or 2 days of juice + juicy fruit, a couple days of juicy fruit + raw veg salads, then start adding small amounts of nuts. They say this will lead to regaining the least amount of weight -- a definite goal of mine! I lost a bit over 10 lbs and I'm feeling more like "me" than ever before -- this is a weight I'd be comfortable at.
I've been reading a lot about "raw foodism" and I'm pretty intrigued. I think I'll give it a try for a while to see how it goes. A basic diet of fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds, unprocessed. It seems to fit my mental/emotional state right now.
Hope all is well with everyone out there!
Cheers :)
Showing posts with label fast-5. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fast-5. Show all posts
Friday, August 12, 2011
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
water fast, day 5 of 7
The end of the fast is in sight! Just another couple of days.
Breaking the fast is almost a fast in itself (a few days of fresh juice and juicy fruit) so I'm starting to plan for that.
Start: 155. Now: 146.2. Loss: 8.8 lbs.
Physically, some tummy rumbling today, odd since the gut should be clear by now. Feeling lazy but when I do decide to get moving I find that energy appears. Period seems to be heavier and longer than usual – womb cleaning itself out too? Stomach feels smaller – feel full after a few sips of water. Had some stevia-flavored sparkling water, that I would usually down a liter with no problem, and I’ve sipped on perhaps a third of it – will leave the rest for later. Though I know much of the weight loss is temporary I'm enjoying being thinner for a few days!
Mentally I feel incredibly clear and aware. I find I'm avoiding stimulation in general, especially ads and shopping that encourage people to consume (food or purchases). I'm even taking a break from some of my more high-energy friends -- don't want to deal with their drama right now.
Emotionally I've been feeling centered and extremely calm; neither joyous nor irritated but with a deep sense of contentment. Issues that I usually avoid or find difficult to deal with are less scary and seem to resolve themselves, perhaps thanks to an increased sense of clarity.
Breaking the fast is almost a fast in itself (a few days of fresh juice and juicy fruit) so I'm starting to plan for that.
Start: 155. Now: 146.2. Loss: 8.8 lbs.
Physically, some tummy rumbling today, odd since the gut should be clear by now. Feeling lazy but when I do decide to get moving I find that energy appears. Period seems to be heavier and longer than usual – womb cleaning itself out too? Stomach feels smaller – feel full after a few sips of water. Had some stevia-flavored sparkling water, that I would usually down a liter with no problem, and I’ve sipped on perhaps a third of it – will leave the rest for later. Though I know much of the weight loss is temporary I'm enjoying being thinner for a few days!
Mentally I feel incredibly clear and aware. I find I'm avoiding stimulation in general, especially ads and shopping that encourage people to consume (food or purchases). I'm even taking a break from some of my more high-energy friends -- don't want to deal with their drama right now.
Emotionally I've been feeling centered and extremely calm; neither joyous nor irritated but with a deep sense of contentment. Issues that I usually avoid or find difficult to deal with are less scary and seem to resolve themselves, perhaps thanks to an increased sense of clarity.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Milestone
I'm traveling again with no access to a scale but I think I hit another milestone, 23 lbs lost. I thought I would be ecstatic when I reached this goal but instead I'm focused on how much more I have to lose! I'm feeling much more comfortable in my body now -- can curl up on a chair without my tummy getting in the way, for example.
I'm starting to get some blowback from my boyfriend, who thinks I'm being too strict with my diet (no refined sugar/flour and Fast5) and losing too much weight. I think he's wrong, of course, but I'll get a personal trainer friend to calculate my body fat percentage just in case. I believe a normal range is 18-25% bodyfat for women. My BMI is 22.3; I'd like it to be 20-ish, for which I'll have to drop another 10 or 15 lbs.
Slow and steady...
I'm on a high-stress business trip now and I am amazed by how much my colleagues eat. I informed everyone at the beginning of the trip that I don't eat lunch, which is a blessing as we're spending an unfortunate number of meals at crappy midwestern buffets. Seeing plate after plate piled to the angle of repose with chunks of meat and fried things is enough to make food abstinence seem positively attractive! And the places are full of fat people. I wish they could have the same experience I'm having of feeling clean and empty and calm.
In my last post I mentioned some social aspects of being thinner that are new to me. Another distasteful issue is men staring. It's not much of an issue in the well-educated, liberal north-eastern city where I live but in the midwest and the south it's a problem. These yokels never learned about how long you can appropriately look at a woman before it becomes offensive. Sometimes I'll catch their eye and give a nasty look but, given that they don't seem to think women are sentient, I don't imagine they really care what I think. It makes me so glad to be surrounded in my regular life by men who treat women like the human beings we are.
Good luck to everyone out there trying this! How are your experiences going?
I'm starting to get some blowback from my boyfriend, who thinks I'm being too strict with my diet (no refined sugar/flour and Fast5) and losing too much weight. I think he's wrong, of course, but I'll get a personal trainer friend to calculate my body fat percentage just in case. I believe a normal range is 18-25% bodyfat for women. My BMI is 22.3; I'd like it to be 20-ish, for which I'll have to drop another 10 or 15 lbs.
Slow and steady...
I'm on a high-stress business trip now and I am amazed by how much my colleagues eat. I informed everyone at the beginning of the trip that I don't eat lunch, which is a blessing as we're spending an unfortunate number of meals at crappy midwestern buffets. Seeing plate after plate piled to the angle of repose with chunks of meat and fried things is enough to make food abstinence seem positively attractive! And the places are full of fat people. I wish they could have the same experience I'm having of feeling clean and empty and calm.
In my last post I mentioned some social aspects of being thinner that are new to me. Another distasteful issue is men staring. It's not much of an issue in the well-educated, liberal north-eastern city where I live but in the midwest and the south it's a problem. These yokels never learned about how long you can appropriately look at a woman before it becomes offensive. Sometimes I'll catch their eye and give a nasty look but, given that they don't seem to think women are sentient, I don't imagine they really care what I think. It makes me so glad to be surrounded in my regular life by men who treat women like the human beings we are.
Good luck to everyone out there trying this! How are your experiences going?
Saturday, September 11, 2010
plateau? what plateau?
I recently met up with some friends who haven't seen me since I started Fast Five and they were gratifyingly surprised and complimentary about my new weight. Nice that they can see the difference even if I can't! Sometimes it feels like one long plateau.
One friend in particular started in immediately with subtle sabotage about how unhealthy fasting is and that I shouldn't follow society's beauty standards, etc. She's always been the thin one of the group (and still is much thinner than I am!) and I'm wondering if she was feeling threatened. She pressed breakfast and lunch on me at every opportunity and pointed out how weird it was each time I joined the table to socialize without eating. Made me realize that I'm very lucky to have an extremely supportive boyfriend and friends who refrain from undermining my efforts. This is new for me -- I've never really had to deal with that type of cattiness among women because I was never attractive enough to be a threat.
My darling boyfriend, in contrast, supports me completely and is starting to experiment with his own fasts. He chose the GM diet (or cabbage soup diet - editorial here, recipes here). It's a 7-day very low calorie diet meant to cleanse and jump-start a new eating style. I didn't feel that I especially needed to do it but I joined him for moral support -- and I'm so glad I did! It has blown my most recent plateau to bits! I really recommend the GM diet to anyone who needs a motivation boost. It provides much more instant scale gratification than FF.
Has anyone else tried the GM diet? What was your experience?
One friend in particular started in immediately with subtle sabotage about how unhealthy fasting is and that I shouldn't follow society's beauty standards, etc. She's always been the thin one of the group (and still is much thinner than I am!) and I'm wondering if she was feeling threatened. She pressed breakfast and lunch on me at every opportunity and pointed out how weird it was each time I joined the table to socialize without eating. Made me realize that I'm very lucky to have an extremely supportive boyfriend and friends who refrain from undermining my efforts. This is new for me -- I've never really had to deal with that type of cattiness among women because I was never attractive enough to be a threat.
My darling boyfriend, in contrast, supports me completely and is starting to experiment with his own fasts. He chose the GM diet (or cabbage soup diet - editorial here, recipes here). It's a 7-day very low calorie diet meant to cleanse and jump-start a new eating style. I didn't feel that I especially needed to do it but I joined him for moral support -- and I'm so glad I did! It has blown my most recent plateau to bits! I really recommend the GM diet to anyone who needs a motivation boost. It provides much more instant scale gratification than FF.
Has anyone else tried the GM diet? What was your experience?
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
three weeks / insulin / sugar is evil
Three weeks of fasting and I'm feeling better. Less anxiety at the end of each eating window hence eating less to prepare for the fast. I hope as my appetite lessens the weight will start to come off. Haven't been able to weigh myself for a while. Chewing less gum.
In my recent reading it seems that fat metabolism depends largely on insulin. Low insulin allows the body to correctly manage its fat deposits. Fasting is one way to regulate insulin; lowering carb intake is another. Hence I've quit eating refined sugar. Had a couple weeks of cravings but, as with fasting, the anxiety dropped away soon. At first the idea of not eating mom's cookies again was very sad and a little scary. As time passes I realize that sugar does not equal love and my relationship with my mom and other loved ones can be expressed in ways that don't involve sugar. My skin is clearer than ever and I wake up easily in the morning even after a short night.
Check out these resources...
Sugar: The Bitter Truth -- Robert H. Lustig, MD, UCSF (video)
http://www.uctv.tv/search-details.aspx?showID=16717
The No Sugar, No Flour Diet -- Dr. Gott (book)
http://www.amazon.com/Dr-Gotts-Flour-Sugar-Diet/dp/0446177903/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273110552&sr=1-1
Lecture at UC Berkely -- Gary Taubes (video, Real Player)
http://webcast.berkeley.edu/event_details.php?webcastid=21216
In my recent reading it seems that fat metabolism depends largely on insulin. Low insulin allows the body to correctly manage its fat deposits. Fasting is one way to regulate insulin; lowering carb intake is another. Hence I've quit eating refined sugar. Had a couple weeks of cravings but, as with fasting, the anxiety dropped away soon. At first the idea of not eating mom's cookies again was very sad and a little scary. As time passes I realize that sugar does not equal love and my relationship with my mom and other loved ones can be expressed in ways that don't involve sugar. My skin is clearer than ever and I wake up easily in the morning even after a short night.
Check out these resources...
Sugar: The Bitter Truth -- Robert H. Lustig, MD, UCSF (video)
http://www.uctv.tv/search-details.aspx?showID=16717
The No Sugar, No Flour Diet -- Dr. Gott (book)
http://www.amazon.com/Dr-Gotts-Flour-Sugar-Diet/dp/0446177903/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273110552&sr=1-1
Lecture at UC Berkely -- Gary Taubes (video, Real Player)
http://webcast.berkeley.edu/event_details.php?webcastid=21216
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