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| comment | | "parent_author":"",<br>"parent_permlink":"money",<br>"author":"crypt0",<br>"permlink":"7-things-i-ve-discovered-during-my-no-food-fast",<br>"title":"7 Things I've Discovered During My No-Food Fast",<br>"body":"<html>\n<h3>http:\/\/i.imgsafe.org\/5b880d330d.jpg<\/h3>\n<h3>Fasts are supposed to confer a wide range of benefits to individuals who manage to pull through and tolerate not eating for days at a time. Although there are many kinds of fasts,<br> such as smoothie-only fasts,<br> and intermittent fasting,<br> I've become intrigued with the idea of a FULL fast,<br> in which I consume NO food,<br> and drink water only. <\/h3>\n<h2>I started my fast two days ago.<\/h2>\n<p><br><\/p>\n<p>I've set my aim for three days,<br> and as I finish my second day,<br> <em><strong>hunger<\/strong><\/em> has seriously begun to set in. <\/p>\n<p>You see,<br> I work in a fine-dining restaurant,<br> with a Top Chef award winning menu,<br> so it's not easy to toss away a <em><strong>perfectly juicy dish<\/strong><\/em>,<br> or turn away a manager who offers you left-over <em><strong>cake<\/strong><\/em>. And it's becoming more difficult by the minute.<\/p>\n<p>In this list,<br> I share with you a few things that I've learned on my short,<br> yet grueling,<br> journey thus fur.<\/p>\n<p>____________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n<h3>1. Everything reminds you of food,<br> as stimuli are EVERYWHERE<\/h3>\n<p>This is probably the most difficult one. Driving to work,<br> I'm so used to stopping and grabbing food for the drive. I have to scratch that idea and just go. At work,<br> I have to skip my cafeteria meal,<br> as others eat,<br> and sit around as others enjoy what used to look like slop food- but now it smells and looks like the best Thanksgiving Dinner. Driving home,<br> I can't stop and have a beer and burger,<br> whilst I respond to my Steemit and YouTube comments,<br> or read the latest news. This hurt and agonized me the most tonight.<\/p>\n<h3>2. You remember what it's like to REALLY feel hunger,<br> and not simply a desire to eat<\/h3>\n<p>I've become ever more conscious of my addiction to sugar. What's driven me to eat most often hasn't been hunger,<br> but rather either habit OR a desire to feed my rat brain it's little sugar rush.<\/p>\n<h3>3. You've become less selfish and moody<\/h3>\n<p>Surprisingly,<br> I've had less ups and downs in my moods. It's easy to become unaware of what causes life's ebbs and tides sometimes. Sometimes it's just a sugar rush,<br> or craving satisfaction,<br> followed by a crash as your body is quickly depleted of glucose (or sugar). I've become much more stable,<br> both mentally and physically. The only thing that really changes physically is that I become hungrier over time. I've also noticed that in thinking LESS of what I'll be eating,<br> or just ate,<br> I've changed patterns of thoughts and behaviors that have been ingrained in me,<br> as I fill the time and space with other thoughts. <\/p>\n<h3>4. Your mind has become much more quiet<\/h3>\n<p>This is actually a REALLY nice benefit. Generally,<br> my mind is a clutter of thoughts,<br> as my \"monkey brain\" keeps spinning the wheel and jabbing at me with clusters of thoughts at all times. However,<br> I've noticed a quieting of my mind that is similar to that I've only experienced after many days practicing meditation. This,<br> however,<br> takes much less conscious effort. Fogs have cleared and my mind is much more tuned,<br> aware,<br> and focused. I also have an ever growing state of relaxation; perhaps as my body uses less energy and stress to digest the mass of food I usually dump in it.<\/p>\n<h3>5. You sleep much more restfully<\/h3>\n<p>Usually,<br> I eat before sleep. At my job,<br> I have to be up for hours with no break. I also work far,<br> meaning I can't really eat until I get home late. Restaurants. This means that perhaps my body,<br> and this is a theory,<br> has to spend more energy digesting as I sleep,<br> and doesn't get the opportunity to truly rest as much. Today,<br> I woke up after 4 hours of sleep feeling like I'd slept 8 hours,<br> and had just had the smoothest cup of coffee ever. Naturally,<br> I was confused,<br> as I'm an insomniac who needs much more sleep,<br> usually. I stayed up for a while,<br> and didn't feel tired at all,<br> though I expected this to be a sense of false awakeness. Forcing myself to sleep,<br> just in case,<br> I kept awaking with even more energy each time than the last. Epic.<\/p>\n<h3>6. Others try to convince you that this is bad<\/h3>\n<p>But increasing awareness of your own body and mind,<br> as you distract it less with the gunk that it must process,<br> leads you to call their bluff. Experience has taught you that perhaps they've just never tried this kind of thing,<br> since you are actually feeling pretty damn good. Your confidence,<br> as you are able to control base urges to eat,<br> has grown. Your willpower is growing ever more,<br> as you learn to tell yourself no. <\/p>\n<h3>7. Your wallet is thicker<\/h3>\n<p>Or rather you might have quite a bit more than you're used to having in your account,<br> on a weekly basis :) This one seems obvious,<br> but is a pretty awesome thing to notice- even after three days,<br> when you're used to eating out regularly!<\/p>\n<h2>So.<\/h2>\n<p>The battle against my willpower grows more and more difficult,<br> as my sense of smell has become more keen than ever. Seriously,<br> everything smells DELICIOUS,<br> and this is to me a GREAT sign. I'm becoming more sensitive,<br> sense-wise,<br> and I can't WAIT for my first meal after this is over. However,<br> it may be the first meal in a while that I'll truly appreciate FULLY,<br> as my body finally earns it. My mind,<br> however,<br> is enjoying this experience,<br> as my soul enriches. Tomorrow will bring new thoughts,<br> experiences,<br> and determination to truck through a difficult day at work. <\/p>\n<p>Don't try this without consulting a doctor,<br> if you have medical conditions requiring you to eat certain minerals you lack,<br> or haven't done some research on what to expect. This is no joke,<br> and I don't condone anorexia. However,<br> isolated experiences of fasting are healthy and normal to the human species,<br> as they've been recommended by health professionals and religions for thousands of years. If you try this,<br> you may come out learning a lot by spending very little.<\/p>\n<p>Also,<br> if you try this,<br> your mileage may vary,<br> as we are all different :) <\/p>\n<p><br><\/p>\n<p>Cheers,<br> and thanks for reading!<\/p>\n<p><br><\/p>\n<\/html>",<br>"json_metadata":" \"tags\":[\"money\",<br>\"blog\",<br>\"meal\",<br>\"power\",<br>\"senses\",<br>\"fasting\",<br>\"pros\",<br>\"heavy\",<br>\"growth\",<br>\"professional\",<br>\"pizza\",<br>\"experiences\",<br>\"delicious\",<br>\"experience\",<br>\"eating\",<br>\"confidence\",<br>\"lunch\",<br>\"smell\",<br>\"fries\",<br>\"steem\",<br>\"reading\",<br>\"hungry\",<br>\"religion\",<br>\"work\",<br>\"cons\",<br>\"dinner\",<br>\"love\",<br>\"will\",<br>\"grow\",<br>\"willpower\",<br>\"burger\",<br>\"lists\",<br>\"light\",<br>\"motivation\",<br>\"taste\",<br>\"sleep\",<br>\"fasts\",<br>\"steemit\",<br>\"cake\",<br>\"wallet\",<br>\"bdnf\",<br>\"medicine\",<br>\"finance\",<br>\"breakfast\",<br>\"anorexia\",<br>\"moods\",<br>\"fast\",<br>\"hope\",<br>\"health\",<br>\"benefits\",<br>\"life\",<br>\"healthy\",<br>\"food\",<br>\"list\",<br>\"meditation\",<br>\"learning\",<br>\"persistence\",<br>\"touch\" ,<br>\"image\":[\"http:\/\/i.imgsafe.org\/5b880d330d.jpg\" " |
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