It seems counter-intuitive, I know; the logical thing is to think about how much your hunger will increase each day. At the beginning of the day, I was hungry, but it faded. And I’m thrilled to report that none of the bothersome symptoms from the first day –headache, light-headedness, etc.—appeared.

Ingrid got me thinking when she left one of her usual wonderful comments: the sort of thought processes I experienced yesterday ARE my ‘normal’ kind of thought processes; rather than cause them, I’d say fasting simply strengthened the power of them. If I could choose one term to describe the effect fasting has on all aspects of your life, it would be amplification. Get ready to face the good and the bad about yourself.

Thank goodness the emotions did calm down a bit, especially since I had some upsetting experiences that would have sent me over the edge yesterday. I did notice my irritability increased a bit, but that’s easier to deal with.

As evening neared, something wonderful happened: I began to feel very, very calm. It’s a nice feeling.

That doesn’t mean I fell asleep, though. Oh no! On both fasting nights, even though I felt physically tired, my brain raced along, making sleep impossible. I managed maybe two hours of sleep each night.

So, second day better than the first. One to go…

Post from: Blisstree

Fasting Update: Day 2

Already, I’m seeing much improvement during my second attempt.

The physical symptoms don’t seem as bad, or else they just don’t bother me as much. And this time, I have no doubt I can last the 3 days, maybe longer.

So, the things I’ve noticed. I usually experience the most hunger around early afternoon, and it fades by early evening. Light-headedness seems most obvious in the early evening, as does decline in mental acuity.

But again, the physical part really isn’t as bad! One thing that has been especially apparent today is the heightening of senses…I never noticed how beautiful a sudden snow flurry is, for example, or how soft my cat’s fur is, or how my dog has such beautiful, soulful eyes, it’s like looking at a person.

Now (somewhat unfortunately) I’m also experiencing a major heightening in emotions. Normally I am a rather calm person, but today…okay, for example:

I read a rude e-mail, from somebody I don’t even know (!) and got upset, as it concerned a possible loss of blogging income, and letting down the very nice person who got me the job. Normally I’d shrug it off, but here is my exact mental process today: I disappoint everybody! I know I’m going to get fired and I don’t even make enough for rent now, if I just had another month or so it would be fine but I know I’m going to get fired, in fact I bet I get fired from all my blogs, or I’ll have to quit just so I can get a full time job which will be a crappy job I’ll hate because that’s all that’s available, and I’ll be so miserable I’ll wish I were dead. AND my husband will get so sick of me being a financial strain he’ll divorce me and I’ll have to leave Oregon which I love and move to Florida which I hate, it’s not fair, I’m so sad, waaah!

There is no exaggeration in that above paragraph. AND THEN, I watched the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, and there was a guy on there whose family was so poor, his mom couldn’t even afford a ticket to come watch him perform, and I burst into tears. No, really. Have any other prior fasters noticed this emotional swing?

But I feel very good I’m doing this, and look forward to more. I just hope I’m more balanced tomorrow.

Post from: Blisstree

Fasting Update: Day 1

Once, I was presented with a set of kid-themed books, fifteen volumes, of various stories and history lessons, etc. The last book, the glorious purple-colored wonder, was filled with just about every disease and ailment you could think of, complete with oozing sores and gooey things. I LOVED that book. Why it was in a children’s collection I don’t know (perhaps it was meant for the kid’s parents) but it provided hours of entertainment. Thus…gross stuff is neat.

So, proponents of ‘detox’ diets (generally raw food diets and fasting) love to talk about ‘dirty’ colons and all the stuff that will expel from them once you ‘detox.’ Pretty much anyone with an M.D. after their name calls this hooey; pretty much any naturopathic practitioner swears by it.

Who’s right? Can’t say. There is a ton of photographic ‘evidence.’ I suppose they could have faked it, but why bother?

The detoxers agree on two things most often coming out of the bum during a detox: mucoid plaque and wormy things. (Eek.)

Mucoid plaque is the favorite term to toss around, perhaps to scare you into detoxing, perhaps to show relief that it’s out. Again, who knows?

In either case, I proudly present to you some pictures of mucoid plaque and wormy things, all supposedly pulled from various detoxing rear ends.

At the very least, if you’re attempting a fast, these should kill your appetite.

But first, a scientific explanation from Dr. Richard Anderson:

On page 23 of his book, Tissue Cleansing Through Bowel Management, he describes mucoid plaque. “The heavy mucus coating in the colon thickens and becomes a host of putrefaction. The blood capillaries to the colon begin to pick up the toxins, poisons and noxious debris as it seeps through the bowel wall. All tissues and organs of the body are now taking on toxic substances. Here is the beginning of true autointoxication on a physiological level.” On page 27, he reveals his experience in this matter. “ One autopsy revealed a colon to be 9 inches in diameter with a passage through it no larger than a pencil. The rest was caked up layer upon layer of encrusted fecal material. This accumulation can have the consistency of truck tire rubber. It’s that hard and black. Another autopsy revealed a stagnant colon to weigh in at an incredible 40 pounds. Imagine carrying around all that morbid accumulated waste.”

Full article here.

If I ever encountered these things personally, would I post a picture here? Of course not!

It would be live streaming video all the way, baby!

Post from: Blisstree

Gross Stuff That Comes Out Of You…Supposedly

I’ve long been fascinated with nutritional science, and have tried just about every approach to eating there is, from Atkins (total dumbassery) to veganism (totally awesome.)

One thing I’ve never tried is fasting.

Fasting is being touted as a remedy for all sorts of bodily ills these days, and looking at the research, I believe it. There are all sorts of reasons, simple and complex, to give fasting a try, and I will be discussing these in the next few days. But for now—9 minutes before my fast officially begins–I wanted to make the announcement.

Because if I didn’t publicly announce it to you all, I darn well would be grabbing a snack tomorrow.

I’m starting with a 3 day fast. Reportedly, the first day is physically hard, the second day is mental torture, and the third day is when the rainbows break through the clouds and you get all sublime and stuff. We’ll see. If that goes well, I’ll try 5 days.

I’ve always wanted to be able to read a personal account of a first-time faster, so if you’re interested in trying it, I hope this will help. At the very least, it will give you one more thing about me to laugh at.

The most popular fasts are: fruit and vegetable fasts, juice fasts, and water fasts. I’ll be doing the water fast, because what’s the point of going halfway? Well, okay, it will technically be a water and diet soda fast, because a Rhys without food is one thing, but a Rhys without diet soda is A Force From Hell That Shall Not Be Reckoned With. Stay tuned, and I’d love to hear any advice or experiences from you. I’m sure I could use the support!

Post from: Blisstree

Fast, Fast, Fasting Away