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My first fast
I completed my first day-long fast. I began after dinner yesterday (Thursday) and ate and drank nothing except water* all day, only breaking my fast at 6 p.m. tonight. I've never fasted before. It was an interesting experience. From the very beginning I was aware that I can't eat anything. That thought was never far from my awareness. Occasionally something--a commercial on television, spotting something edible in the kitchen at home or at work--would prompt me to think that it would taste good. But I can't eat anything.
Nonetheless I never felt really hungry. As someone else put it in a comment on Steve Barnes' blog (where I discovered this concept), though he was always aware at a low level of having an empty stomach, he didn't feel real hunger pangs. That was my experience too. I was conscious of having nothing in my stomach but I never felt the kind of "Feed me, Seymour!" sensation I was expecting.
Which isn't to say that I wasn't hungry when I finally had dinner. I was. But not much more so than normal. In some ways it reminds me of being on the Atkins low-carb diet, which also left me feeling less hungry than I'd expected. Apparently eating a lot of carbohydrates tends to make you feel hungrier than otherwise, since digesting carbohydrates can make your blood sugar rise and fall. Low carb (or in this case, no calorie) diets don't seem to cause such dramatic responses.
Or they didn't today. I'm generalizing from a single data point here. Maybe on tomorrow evening and Sunday (when I plan to repeat my fast) I'll be starving before I'm done. But maybe not. I intend to continue trying this out for a while. It can't hurt, and it may help me lose a few pounds I've gained lately. So far this evening (it's just after midnight now) I haven't eaten much more than I would ordinarily--and that's after fasting all day. At that rate, fasting will cut my intake of calories overall rather significantly in the long run.
It's good discipline. It will probably help me lose weight. And if all the other reported benefits of this technique accrue, it'll improve my overall health. What's not to like?
Further reports as events warrant....
*Apparently, I could have had my usual Pepsi One at lunch time. The crux of this is to go for a long period of time without consuming calories. Coffee, tea, or diet soda, don't provide any significant number of calories so they don't break your fast. On the other hand, I might do better to stick to water--All or Nothing is a very simple rule to follow; making exceptions could lead me into temptation. I guess we'll see.
Nonetheless I never felt really hungry. As someone else put it in a comment on Steve Barnes' blog (where I discovered this concept), though he was always aware at a low level of having an empty stomach, he didn't feel real hunger pangs. That was my experience too. I was conscious of having nothing in my stomach but I never felt the kind of "Feed me, Seymour!" sensation I was expecting.
Which isn't to say that I wasn't hungry when I finally had dinner. I was. But not much more so than normal. In some ways it reminds me of being on the Atkins low-carb diet, which also left me feeling less hungry than I'd expected. Apparently eating a lot of carbohydrates tends to make you feel hungrier than otherwise, since digesting carbohydrates can make your blood sugar rise and fall. Low carb (or in this case, no calorie) diets don't seem to cause such dramatic responses.
Or they didn't today. I'm generalizing from a single data point here. Maybe on tomorrow evening and Sunday (when I plan to repeat my fast) I'll be starving before I'm done. But maybe not. I intend to continue trying this out for a while. It can't hurt, and it may help me lose a few pounds I've gained lately. So far this evening (it's just after midnight now) I haven't eaten much more than I would ordinarily--and that's after fasting all day. At that rate, fasting will cut my intake of calories overall rather significantly in the long run.
It's good discipline. It will probably help me lose weight. And if all the other reported benefits of this technique accrue, it'll improve my overall health. What's not to like?
Further reports as events warrant....
*Apparently, I could have had my usual Pepsi One at lunch time. The crux of this is to go for a long period of time without consuming calories. Coffee, tea, or diet soda, don't provide any significant number of calories so they don't break your fast. On the other hand, I might do better to stick to water--All or Nothing is a very simple rule to follow; making exceptions could lead me into temptation. I guess we'll see.