Fasting?

I wonder how other Jedi in the Order feel about fasting. Has anybody tried any of the numerous types of fasting (master cleans, juice fast, religious fast, etc) ?

I bring it up because I had watched this movie called Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. I recommend it to anyone who has a Netflix account. I won't tell you too much because I would like you to see it for yourself. I did find it fairly profound, though. I've been having fresh vegetable juice since I was little. I had known about the benefits of it for a long time. But this was the first time I had actually seen somebody do a 60 day juice fast and seen the results. Amazing! Your body doesn't starve because what you're consuming is very nutrient dense substance. Yet, you get hydrated and cleaned out at the same time.

It would seem important to me that Jedi at least have an opinion in regards to fasting. Since every other religion in the world seems to. I think it may hold the key at least in some respect to exploring the world that is our mind/body. Forging a clean vessel for the force to reside. Discuss!

Growing up Mormon I remember fasting quite a bit.

Every Sunday you were expected (unless you were a child, or pregnant) to abstain from breakfast and lunch and not eating again until dinner. So if you didn't eat while you slept the previous night, haha, it would be a 24 hour fast. You then would donate the money you would've spent on the food to the church.

The Mormons also fasted to help with physical or spiritual ailments. They believe and teach that fasting shows your humility to God and that God would be more willing to answer your prayers by fasting. There are stories from the Bible of Kings fasting to gain God's pleasure. Jesus also taught that certain devils wouldn't come out of individuals except by fasting and prayer.

Personally, I don't have any problems with fasting. I hear there are even positive effects on the body by abstaining from meals once in a while; it kind of gives your body, i.e. digestive system a break.

Two things come to mind, lack of dietry nutrients (bone strength, muslce mass, immune capability, etc etc!) and possible toxins released from the breakdown of fat tissue. I read somewhere once that fat tissue can store toxins indefinatly, but I guess things like that dont become a problem unless the person has a sensitivity to allergy to them, is already sick or maybe elderly.

Fasting might have some uses though, warning I studied a bit of uni microbiology, may offend Muslims but it is not intended too, a bit yucky:

Also;
"Calorie restriction without malnutrition[1] has been shown to improve age-related health and to slow the aging process in a wide range of animals and some fungi."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calorie_restriction

Some people eat less to try and live longer.

I wonder why people want to live longer. The average life expectancy is already high.

ren wrote: I wonder why people want to live longer. The average life expectancy is already high.

"It is right to live when it is time to live, and right to die when it is time to die"

I'm not afraid to die....

But, if it was deemed I could squeak more time outta my life, I could enjoy the journey even longer...

A few more laughs, a few more tears, a few more surprises...

I'd be ok with that too....

Well, I think people want to live longer for many reasons.

1. Fear of dying; prolonging the living experience as much as possible.

2. Interest in what's around the corner, possibly.

3. Some people have many earthly attachments: friends, family, money, work.. etc

But for me, I have a feeling I'm gonna live to be pretty old. At that point, it becomes necessary to just hold on to your health as long as possible. Most people don't know how tough it is to get old.

"If I knew I'd live this long, I would have taken better care of myself." Mickey Mantle

Otherwise, in terms of fasting, fresh juice it seems might help prolong life in the best way. Being that fresh juice is full of micro-nutrients, you can have an entire days serving of fruits and vegetables in one glass. The most important thing is enzymes. The biological catalysts that move nutrients though the cell wall and also help develop nutrients into amino acids for cellular replication. Your personal enzymes naturally decrease as you get older, so you need more help from the things you put in your body.

Living longer doesnt mean living well. People usually stop travelling on their own around 70, if they die at 80 it's ok, at 90 that's 20 years! So imagine at a 100 or more. What's the point if they're just going to stay in a home/hospoital. Certain things, no matter how good your diet, will go. Some of those things are your brain... Why spend years forgetting your life every 5 minutes.

Why spend years forgetting your life every 5 minutes.

Every five minutes, a "new" adventure....

And that just depends... Why give up because it "could" end tomorrow?

If I break my hip, learning to rock climb at 80, more power to me!!

I think that I would like to get as many minutes as possible in this lifetime. It seems to me that if the here after is eternal, I'll have time when I get there. For now, "I Love The Trees...Remember the Trees".

And don't forget your daily vitamins and lots of water! You can get away with a lot in fasting (purposely or accidentally) as long as you are getting your basic nutrients!

ren wrote: Living longer doesnt mean living well. People usually stop travelling on their own around 70, if they die at 80 it's ok, at 90 that's 20 years! So imagine at a 100 or more. What's the point if they're just going to stay in a home/hospoital. Certain things, no matter how good your diet, will go. Some of those things are your brain... Why spend years forgetting your life every 5 minutes.

Ren, you telling me you don't wanna be around to provide your wisdom to the next generation of Jedi? The young padawans need you, bro!!
Otherwise, I think there are things you can do earlier in life to prolong it. Being smart about exercise, diet, and intellectual/spiritual life are key components. Not changing too many of those variables. I think attitude can also be a determining factor. Having a healthy life shouldn't be about growing old. The cool thing about good health is that you can enjoy now and later!

I tried fasting once and found that it just didn't have the effect I was looking for. I remember the fasting rituals during Lent, seemed to be meaningless. The point of fasting is to do what for the body or soul?

For a fit body, I started the South Beach diet and lost 30 lbs in 3 months. Decreased BP and Pulse, blood sugar and cholesterol. Did not fast but just ate in the correct proportions and time frames. The biggest plus was that I did not get crabby and angry as when I fasted. :whistle:

I once did the Master Cleanse Fast (that a lot of people incorrectly label as a "diet"). 10 days on lemon wayer with maple syrup. I lost a couple of pounds of weight (unsurprisingly) but the main purpose was two-fold: 1) wean me off the high-salt, high-sugar, high-fat diet I was on; 2) give my digestive system a rest.

In those two things it was very successful but I couldn't have done any more than the 10 days - you're not supposed to do much moving around and I was feeling a bit weak by the end of it. So I think as long as you are aware of what you're doing and are prepared to stop if there are any adverse signs (or simply when you're body has had enough), fasting for small, well-spaced periods of time may be beneficial.

I've done 3 day juice fasts before. I got really irritable but I don't think I was juicing nearly enough (4-6 times might be better than 3 times). I need to just stick it out and do a 10 day juice fast, but I'm working up to it. I'm looking to substitute most of my breakfasts out of the week with fresh juice first. It's improved my mood so far!

Ren, you telling me you don't wanna be around to provide your wisdom to the next generation of Jedi? The young padawans need you, bro!!

The plan is to retire to some overgrown forest and tell any smart arse who wants to learn something from me they have to go fight some armoured sith Lord who turns out to be their father. Or I'll just vanish into thin air if they're persistent. Or steal their food and make them eat poisonous roots. Maybe you'll see me teach in some crummy prequel. But it'll all be CGI, so that doesn't count. Plus, it would have to start with "an even longer time ago". I mean the production company would never go for that, right?

See? And that's exactly what the younglings will be missing! Someone's gotta teach em to not give a sh*t! In this, you are masterful, sir!!! lol

Alright! Proud to announce, I've been drinking fresh veggie/fruit juice for the past few days for breakfast, instead of the usual nothing at all or the arbitrary protein rich breakfast. Every part of the juice was attained from fresh veggies and fruit juices made with a juicer.
After just a few days, people started to notice I was losing weight. The last two days, I've been able to do some pretty intense workouts consuming nothing before hand but juice. I'm much more productive and my cognitive thinking is much clearer. I'm also much less irritable than I usually am, which is great news for my girlfriend who often bares the brunt of my impatience lol.
Not to mention I feel a mental high that I have not felt before. It's loopy, but it's also very clear. I've been been enjoying this. I really recommend buying a juicer. This is the best, most natural way to get all your vitamins, immune support, and energy. No more coffee!

No more coffee!

Yea, uhhh I love my coffee.... decaf/reg/whatever... Tea, V8, yup, down with those too...

Maybe I need a juicer...

I have to keep hydrated in this dryer climate. Coffee doesn't help me! But this is much more sustained energy.