Fasting

[Clear White Light]

Hello everyone,

Recently the idea of fasting has repeatedly come into my mind.  I have never experimented with fasting before and I am curious to find out what (if any) effect it will have on my meditation practice.  The only problem is that I am quite skinny.  I've been chronically under weight for basically my entire life.  Right now I weigh about 130LBs and I'm 5' 8" tall.  I'm afraid that fasting would cause me to lose even more weight, which would be quite unhealthy for me.  Is it possible to fast without losing weight?  How about juice fasts?  Would that cause less potential for weight loss than a pure water fast?

Also, how long does a fast have to be in order for it to have perceptible effects on meditation/pranayama?

Hopefully some of you with experience in this area can give me some advice.

[Ananda]

Hello,

the effect on your practices would start from the first day. Fasting is a great practice, and it's a good tool to have more self control and awareness but in case you are sensitive to practices then you should watch out for overloading symptoms...

And yes a Juice fast would be best in your case, i remember Louis going on a grape fruit fast and not losing a lot of weight. Maybe you should ask him.

And if you want the best guidelines and help, then you better check this stuff out:

The diet book by Yogani
http://www.aypsite.com/plus/books.html#dsa

And lessons:
http://www.aypsite.com/plus/304.html
http://www.aypsite.com/plus/310.html

[HathaTeacher]

Hi CWL,
I've the same problem, although less severe; fasted for 10 days a couple of decades ago - never regained the weight loss, up to this day.
A juice fast (and never fasting in the winter) is definitely gentler to the body. Fruit juices in the morning tend to disolve impurities, vegetable juices later to neutralize them.

A simple way to check the individual effects out is to fast 1 day a week for a month or so (without over-compensating during the remaining 6 days). It saves you a little cooking/eating time, so you might make it your "spiritual day", with more meditation, pranayama, fresh-air walks, scriptures, etc. Hard training doesn't fit into a fast but asanas with slow deep breath fit fine.

[Sparkle]

Hi Clear White Light and Ananda

I think fasting is great but you would probably need to be careful with your wieght. It would be recommended that if in doubt ask your Doctor.

The fast I did some time ago was a Grape Fast (not grapefruit).
Using purple grapes preferribly with the seeds.
There is a lot of info about this on the web so google is your firend here.
I did one for 6 days a few years ago and it was amazing and quite easy as you can eat a few grapes every time you get hungry. After day two or three the hunger goes however because there is no food left in the body (at least thats the reason I was given).

A great way to fast is to do regular fasts of 24 or 36 hours, this doesn't stress the body so much but gives it a chance to detox well - this might be a good option for you once every couple of weeks or so.

Best of luck
Louis

[swaha]

hi

you may wana check this website if you have time http://www.allaboutfasting.com/
as it is your first experiment with fasting, i wouldn't recommand to do a water fast..
maybe the purple grape fasting - as Sparkle is suggesting - would be a good option..
the website i mentionned gives good advices..

love&light

[cosmic]

Another option is a fruit fast. Since you're still eating, weight loss should be less than a no-food fast.

As Louis mentioned though, it would be wise to consider your weight and/or discuss it with your doctor.

Here's what I did around Christmas, maybe 4 years ago:

Day One: Eat light, nutritious meals consisting of brown rice, vegetables, and a small amount of either tofu/fish/chicken. Tea and fruit juice OK.

Days 2-4: Eat nothing but fruit. Have as much as you want. Drink only water or fresh fruit juice (no added sugar).

Day 5: See Day One.

On all 5 days, you can also have hot water with lemon juice in the morning.

[sagebrush]

I hope that I don't get the floodwall notice with posting so many times. Right now I am so hungry and I can't even think of not eating. However, I like the idea of fasting and would like to try it.
I am 5'1 and last time I checked 160plus..so I have enough fat reserve to survive a while.

I like the diet suggestions and if I try something like that-I will certainly post my experience.

Thanks for sharing your ideas on fasting.

My mother and my sister years ago did a ten day brown rice fast and there is a copy of that book in the house.

Has anyone heard of that?

What do you want to fast for CWL? if you want to share...

I don't know enough to offer up experience, but maybe as suggested that you are supervised by a health practitioner to make sure that you stays healthy.

[Ananda]

Oops my fault dear Sparkle, i meant grapes. The grapefruit with a space in between up there is a shortcoming in my english vocabulary. Thanks for chiming in[]

namaste

[swaha]

quote:Originally posted by sage890

My mother and my sister years ago did a ten day brown rice fast and there is a copy of that book in the house.

Has anyone heard of that?

yes.. it is called "diet #7" from Georges Ohsawa, the father of Macrobiotics.
For those interested to know more about it, there are 2 books:
Zen Macrobiotics, by G.Ohsawa and #7 Diet, by Françoise Rivière.
Fasting on brown rice may seem easy, as we are still having "heavy food" to eat..
but in case you choose this option, and it is your first time, i highly recommand to read about it before.
The efficiency of this diet depends - mainly - on the chewing part.
a minimum of 50 times for each mouthful, for a healthy person.
minimum of 100-150 times for a sick person.
In any case, the results in fasting depends on your own body..
each one of us responds differently.
It also depends on how many toxins u may have in your system..
you will soon notice from your tongue, your urine, and other symptoms like headache, coldness, etc..
The key for a successful fasting is again Awareness..

love

[JDH]

CWL,

I agree with the other posters, do a one day fast (24-36 hrs) to see what it's all about.  This time length is very safe, and you don't need supervision unless you fast for more than a few days.  Obviously humans are designed to be able to go a day or two without food or none of our ancestors would have made it this far - our bodies are ancient survival machines.  Any weight loss you have on a one day fast would be regained over the following week.

I strongly advise eating easily digestible fruit for the last meal before fasting, and the first meal after fasting.  The fruit before is so that the fasting effect starts sooner, and the fruit after is to softly re-start your digestive system.  During the day that you fast, drink as much water as you like.

When the fasting effect begins will depend on how large and heavy your last meal was.  If it was a small meal of fruit, it might be felt as soon as 12 hours after eating.  If it's a large heavy meal of protein, it would be more like 16-20 hours.  So, you have probably felt its beginnings before if you've ever skipped breakfast and lunch.

[Sparkle]

quote:Originally posted by Ananda

Oops my fault dear Sparkle, i meant grapes. The grapefruit with a space in between up there is a shortcoming in my english vocabulary. Thanks for chiming in[]

namaste

Dear Ananda, your english is very good, my awareness of the "space" between the words grape and fruit was not[]