Fasting

I do 48 hour fasts once every two weeks. During that time I try to meditate and contemplate on being a Jedi. I'm obviously losing weight (healthily). I also do 48 dry fasts (no food or water) once a month. I do this mostly for contemplative reasons and to remind myself that all that I have was there by the Will of The Force.

It gives me an appreciation for food, water, and pretty much life.

I was wondering if anyone else did this, and what your thoughts on controlled fasting?

May The Force be with you all.

Nothing that extensive, but I do intermittent fasting every day. Nothing but coffee with no sugars or water for the first 8 hours I am awake.

I did intermittent fasting too, but I found I couldn't stick to it. I had to go hard core because it was the only way to keep me on track. When I break the fast, I do light eating.

Every other day I eat fruits and vegetables during the day and heavier food at night. It's from the Warrior Diet book and I seem to enjoy that a lot.

I've done extended dry fasts as part of the Blackfeet ceremonial way associated with Sundance religion (what we call a "Four day" - comes out to roughly 60-70 hours without food and water, depending on the time of the ceremonies). It was a profound and beautiful experience, mostly because of how it bonds the community together and teaches you about sacrificing for others. I wouldn't - and probably couldn't - have done it without the Lodge's support! Some shorter periods for other observances - though I'm not around that community anymore to be able to continue that practice, I still fast every once and a while for both building discipline and appreciation and also giving my body a "reset."

I agree - you will never take clean water for granted after the first day you go without it! I really understood a lot about the sacredness of food, water, and community ties after fasting.

The first 36 hours in my first 48 hour fast was really brutal. After that, doing 48 hour fasts has been really easy. I remember my first meal I took to break my fast. It was steamed broccoli with soy sauce next to lemon peppered chicken. That broccoli was an explosion of flavor.

I like fasting to help me appreciate the variety of flavors food can produce.

I would have liked to have tried a group fast. That would have been an amazing experience.

The wife and I have been on a vegetarian fast for nearly two years now, if that counts. I also do a 48 hour fast (just water) on the last day of the month transitioning to the first day of the following month. I use my fast to realign myself to empathize with the suffering of the things we often take for granted and to focus my attention on gratitude.

I do this once every quarter of the year. 30 days straight is tough for me but I enjoy it at the end and feel accomplished. Nice to know i'm not the only one that does this.

Okay, since I'm not on the bandwagon, can I ask you to clarify? I'm assuming you're not going 30 days without any food.

I really love the concept of fasting, specifically with regards to the appreciation I could see being gained from it for food and water. Also for the weight loss benefits. But actually working that into my life would be very difficult, if only because I always have things going on that take a lot of energy out of me. Maybe if I could start doing this once a week on the weekend, maybe Saturdays... hmmm...

Locksley wrote: I really love the concept of fasting, specifically with regards to the appreciation I could see being gained from it for food and water. Also for the weight loss benefits. But actually working that into my life would be very difficult, if only because I always have things going on that take a lot of energy out of me.

Fasting can also just mean abstaining from certain types of food for an intentional reason (eating fish instead of meat on Fridays is a classic fasting observance). One of the diets I have explored before is the historic diet of the Knights Templar - due to the intensity of their activities, they did eat meat (unlike the rules of most of the similar monastic orders), but only three times a week (one meat-centered meal on Tuesday, Thursday and one to two on Sundays). This ratio of meat in the diet also been found to have other beneficial properties, so it's one I like as a long term dietary ideal, but it's also a nice short term way to be more observant about what you're putting into your body. So it doesn't have to be the no food (or no anything) fasts to have benefits.

Fasting is nothing more than the intentional abstinence from a certain thing. It doesn't have to be food. You could fast from reading, or from jogging, or from gossiping, or from anything, really. It's a very useful tool.

Usually I do 18 hours, my maximum until today was 32 hours, consuming only water at this time.
Congratulations, I'll try 48 hours.

I do intermittent fasting myself on a daily basis; it's actually OMAD (one meal a day), and I use it to exercise control of myself - a lot of my life I've been really impulsive, so it's a good thing for me. About once a month or so I'll do a 72 hour fast and only have water in that time.

Oo good for you but please be mindful of your body and its health x

I myself, have fasted 40 days and 40 nights during my “Abrahamic” days. You would be surprised st what is brought into light during times like that.
Edit : do take the nessesary precautions when fasting for any number of days. Veg out before or drink water during if applicable. The last thing we ever want is Jedi laying all over the floor lol jk. Be smart ! Be wise.

Not only is fasting for 40 days dangerous its I'll advised to even suggest trying as death can occur at around 45 to 60 days and refeeding syndrome can also result. It is not something to be taken lightly or as an accepted spiritual practice.

Kyrin Wyldstar wrote: Not only is fasting for 40 days dangerous its I'll advised to even suggest trying as death can occur at around 45 to 60 days and refeeding syndrome can also result. It is not something to be taken lightly or as an accepted spiritual practice.

Very true on the cautious part. Each of us has our own paths and our own ways and our own abilities. It’s not for everybody. Many different cultures have many similar ways. Thanks for your word of caution- it is that important to take heed and be wise before fasting too long. I say always ask your local pastor and get someone’s advice.
Edit : difrent type of sacrifice s come ...,a bit more heavy than some and results WILL vary almost always !

I've been fasting for over a decade by way of elimination diets to get closer to what foods aggravate my system compared to what foods don't. Not by choice mind you! And I've long gotten to the point of worrying I was going to run out of things to eliminate
But the process informs one of ones health in new ways so its worth it for that alone to me. The main reason is because I've seen a few people get seriously sick by what they eat and getting better by changing it.... me included. Unfortunately this often happens later in life so people don't realize until the damage is done. The gut biota's role is only a newish area in science.

I had a stick of fat sausage the other day, wow. Hadn't had one of those in over 10 years and it was interesting to feel what felt like 'dirty energy' from it. I think most folk would keel over on from the thought of my diet.... and the human body loves living off fat and sugar, but its not required at the huge amounts most people eat IMO. The only downside (once past the dependence withdrawal) that I've noticed long term is my energy reserves drop more noticeable with infection... but that is a good sign anyway. No loss of muscle mass etc, and the body learns to use its energy more efficiently so I still can work for long stints doing physical labor ok. I wouldn't go as far as to call it a starvation diet but hunger becomes normal. If I was trying to put on muscle mass I would have to adjust because the efforts to grow shouldn't be at the cost of maintenance of the rest of the body.

It depends on the goal I guess, for me a baseline goal is longevity.... but there is only so much diet can do in that regard anyway.

So I'd say fasting gets one closer to the healthy operation of their body by temporarily breaking the unhealthy eating. To me eating for energy as if the body is a machine is the wrong way to go about it. Often inflammation of the gut can develop when a person only eats one type of food, so variety is a good thing to keep in mind and I suppose regular fasting mixes it up in that regard as well.

I used fasting to help me break though some weight lost plateaus. Most people need to ask themselves what are they fasting for.. If for religious purpose, longer periods of fasting are fine. If you are in the middle of your cut, then it is suggested to fast for a 8-24 hour period. When intermittent fasting I found that the 16/8 method gave the most benefit to me, I would also workout at the end of my fast to receive the max benefit from it.

One of the cons with fasting is that it can lead to benign eating. While on the other side it can help improve insulin sensitive. The one beef I have with feasting diets is the fact that it is a diet. Which mean it's temporary. If you are using a diet to lose weight you will have to stick with it to keep the weight off.