Thursday, April 21, 2011

I Am Fasting!

I've decided to fast because I can tell my body is currently out of balance. I've been eating out a lot lately (and not making good decisions when I do). I've been eating grains, and way more processed foods than my body is comfortable with. My digestion is terrible, I'm breaking out, I'm bloated, my lymph nodes are swollen and I've been waking up with a sore throat. These symptoms are not normal.  We experience these symptoms because something in our bodies is not functioning properly. Symptoms are just that, indications that somethin' ain't right. We all need to pay more attention to our bodies and listen to them.

Fasting has been done for thousands of years, for health and spiritual purposes (it brings about mental clarity). Even when we are sick, our appetite disappears. This is not coincidence. We have no appetite so that our bodies can focus on healing, destroying whatever sickness plagues us, and not focusing on digesting and breaking down the food we are eating. Fasts can be long or short. This one will be short. There are several types of fasts: juice fasts, milk fasts, water fasts, etc. Mine will be a bit of each. I intend to juice, drink raw milk and drink a lot of water. Fasts are tricky. They can be extremely dangerous if not done properly, so if you're interested in doing one I suggest you consult a professional. My fast will last for about 24 hours, I started today, and have successfully drank a ton of water thus far. It is important to relax when fasting, and though this would be better done on a weekend, I feel I need it now. I will not work out. If it's nice out, after work I'll lay in the sunshine and read. I'll go to sleep early. Fasts help detoxify our bodies. When we are not putting food into our systems, our bodies, instead of focusing on digestion, focus on cleaning up our systems. Toxins are released when fasting, through the skin, bowels, liver, lymph, lungs and kidneys. It helps realign and balance out our systems, which is exactly what I need.

It is recommended to eat light before a fast, mostly veggies. For lunch yesterday I had organic, free range chicken and herbs with cabbage and broccoli in butter. For dinner, I had a whole wheat wrap with avocado, herbed cream cheese, organic turkey, tons of alfalfa sprouts, tomato and onion. I personally know my body does best eating this way (minus the wrap, but I was at 9:30 Club and it's all they had), and it is still high in veggies. I have also fasted before, so I know this works for me. Today I plan on lots of water and coconut oil. Coconut oil is high in saturated fats (remember, saturated fats are good for you) as well as being anti-fungal, anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory and can even kill parasites. I will also be doing an oil pull using coconut oil. Oil pulling pulls toxins out of the system through the mouth. Basically, you swish the oil around (without swallowing!) for about twenty minutes. You can read about oil pulling here. Throughout the day I will drink water, filtered via my Brita and spring water. I will juice some veggies also, whatever I have on hand. I think lemon, romaine, celery, cucumbers and carrots. While I could also eat a salad, a benefit of juicing is that our bodies to not need to digest this juice, so all the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants can be readily absorbed. I'm hoping I can actually make it longer than dinnertime tonight. But if I feel starving, I'm not going to deprive myself. Introducing food to your system again is also tricky. You don't want to eat anything heavy, or processed. I'll probably have some raw yogurt and/or a salad.

I'm not fasting because I want to lose weight. I'm doing this because I know it is good for me and it's what I need right now.

*Again, consult a health care professional before beginning any new diet or routine.

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