FreshyAir

Water Fast -- Day 41

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 21:34:00 +0000

I'd like to make a few points today.

#1 I fell asleep at 1am. The moment I turned off the music, I was a goner.

#2 I'm resisting the temptation to buy new clothes, because I'm not sure how much weight I'll gain back after such a prolonged fast. I usually gain at most 5 lbs after a 14 day water fast, but this is much longer. So I don't know. I will have to see and resist getting clothes.

#3 I think I bought all the distilled/purified water in my local area. No one has 'em in stock. There a bunch of spring water though.

Not Having Always Completed A Water Fast

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:37:00 +0000

My weakest point of the day is at night and especially when I'm home. Cravings are intense. It's right at this time where I always broke a fast. It wasn't special outtings with my family or friends that breaks my will to fast. It was being alone with myself at night.

I kept trying to fast. Maybe I'll break it that very day or the next day. The first few days are always the toughest. I'm not only fighting a habit of eating at night, but the physiological urge to just eat even though I'm not really hungry is there, too. I kept going.

For a while, it was a vicious cycle. I would be hopeful, and then I would hate myself when I broke the fast. It was awful. Besides the negative psychological love/hate I was dealing myself, I'm very thankful my body has injured what it has. I never gained weight passed a certain point regardless, and I never got really sick. Well, besides the TMJ syndrome I came down with prior to my second 14 day water fast.

I considered transitioning to a water fast, but I couldn't wrap my mind into transitioning. So I kept trying. Kept failing. Finally, one day, I did it. Then, the next day, I did it again. After the first 3-5 days, it didn't require much will power. I was at day 14 and broke the water fast.

It happened. I didn't think it would, although I kept trying. It happened.

Why I'm Able to Continue a Prolonged Water Fast

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:34:00 +0000

It doesn't have much to do with will power as opposed to my having many factors on my side.

- I don't have an addiction to coffee or anything else to help me stay awake. I rarely drink any soda. My main drink is distilled/purified water.

- I don't take any medication, whether it's prescribed or over the counter.

- I don't have any chronic or acute illnesses.

Addiction, medication and having a chronic or acute illness requires supervised fasting. It's recommended that a person break an addiction before fasting especialy if unsupervised. Although prolonged water fasting eliminates addiction, many can't fast long enough for fasting to eliminate the addictive substances from the body. The person will either yield to their emotional addiction to the substance or break the fast due to the discomfort of the stored substance being released in their body.

Even medication taken years ago are still being released from the body while fasting. Can you imagine the amount of medication being released from a person still on or was recently on medication? It's just not pretty.

Here's the reason why the body still has amounts of addictive substances or medication in the body. It's the body's defense against too much poison in the body at any one time. The substances are stored where they can't do much harm like in the form of fat in order to protect the body. When a person fasts, the body is getting cleaned and these substances are finally being released. Many are not able to handle the discomfort.

Those who have a chronic or acute illness will have the most fear of fasting. Fear of fasting itself leads to death in many cases. A supervised fast is recommended so that a professional practioner can not only educate the faster with a chronic or acute illness, but the practitioner can also run tests so that the faster can see the fast is progressing safely. More knowledge about the fast and testing results will alleviate the faster's fears and reassure the fasting individual.

Water Fast -- Day 40

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:32:00 +0000

Holiday Water Fasting Progress Overview

First of, I'm fine. I completely forgot that my last blog post was on the negative side, and I haven't updated my blog in a while. I did update my experience on a few fasting threads relaying that I'm pass the emotional detox for now.

Not only have I been busy during the holidays, I'm working on improving my writing. I've kept a full detail of this fasting experience in my personal journal. And some time later, I'm going to share it with everyone once I edit the journal for more clarity.

Fasting and Family's Reaction
For this fast, I decided not to tell my family. I'm not really keeping it a secret, but it's just not something I feel like announcing. I've been on a natural health journey for so long that something like fasting is akin to having my period. I wouldn't necessarily tell my family I'm on my period. They would just know, when they see female sanitary napkins in the trash.

They do know that I'm fasting, and I'm not sure if they're supportive, but they're definitely not opposed to it now. Based on my prior fasts, their main fear is that I'll die or get extremely sick. And it helps that neither happened. In fact, I immediately fasted one time after having TMJ symptoms. The symptoms went away a few days after I terminated a 14 day water fast, and that's without any anti-inflammatory meds, prescribed or over the counter, without a visit to a allopathic or naturupathic health practioner.

Besides, my life is mine. My family can't stop me from doing anything. I'm responsible for my own choices. I understand that they're worried, because they love me. Sometimes I have to be allowed to make my own mistakes, and I'm glad water fasting is not one of those mistakes.

Fasting and Exercise
Fasting without exercise is the most detoxing cleansing method a body can partake. Exercise actually slows down the detox. Energy towards cleaning the body is reserved for external activities. The body is very intelligent and adapts. If you want a deep internal cleanse, don't exercise. If you have to work, go to school or do anything else that requires energy, your cleanse will not be as intense as fasting and resting, but some cleansing and repair will still be done.

For this fast, I've been walking miles for days. I'm doing so for a few reasons. One being that I don't want my body to think it can expend all my energy towards body cleansing and healing. I want some of that energy for daily activities. Second, I just love being outdoors, breathing the fresh air and walking. Third, walking miles per day, I get to bump into people. I like being around people and observing them. I really like walking everywhere. If it wasn't for my fear of getting run over by a car in busy intersections, I would walk more. I happen to live in the city. Recently, I went to the store with my baby brother to buy water, we saw at least 4 Hummers in one side of the parking lot.

Fasting and Social Life
Everyone's used to their own scent. During the initial days of fasting, I can smell my stinky self. Now I'm pretty immune. My mom's pretty honest. She says I stink, but she links her arms to mine as we walk towards the airport while sending my uncle off this pass weekend. In fact, many people come up to talk to me. All the while, I feel self cautious, because I'm aware of my detox odor. People come up to me anyway to start conversations. I step back. They come closer. I step further back. They come in for a tight hug.

During this fast, I've felt like being alone a lot, although I also like being around a lot of people, too.

Fasting and Quick Weightloss
I've shared this information with a online fasting group. I'm 5'4" and under 100 lbs. I've stopped weighing myself, because I think I might freak out if I go under a certain number. I'm well aware I've lost a lot of weight. Per my mind, I'd like to be around 100-110 lbs. I'll just see how my body goes and trust in the fasting process.

This is the first time I'm fasting for more than 14 days. On prior 14 days fast, I would gain back at most 5lbs. the weight I lost. After I lost weight from a fast and gained at most 5lbs., I would not budge from that weight no matter how much I ate. My body always goes back to that weight as if every fast resets the weight where no matter how much I ate, I wouldn't budge from it.

For example, I was 150lbs. I can eat all the fattening food to my heart's content, and I just wouldn't budge from that weight. There are a few days I'd go over at most 5 lbs. for whatever reason. My weight would just go back to 150 lbs. after a few days without even trying. After that, I was 134 lbs., same story. Then, I was 120 lbs. and so on. After each fast, it's as if my "hard to budge no matter what" weight is reset.

After Thanksgiving Water Fast -- Day 26

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 18:39:00 +0000

Emotional Rollercoaster
I don't know how to explain these last few days. All I can say is whatever the most negative emotions a person can experience is what I've been experiencing. I'm tempted to break the fast and slow down the detox with some juice or self-administer an enema, but my mind and heart don't lean towards one or the other. Doing one of the two will definitely bring some relief.

The emotions are something I feel I want to ride out until the end. When I say the emotions are highly negative, thoughts of suicide are slowly creeping in. I could see an imaginary line and the suicidal thoughts are beyond that line, and I'm very near it but not quite there.

These thoughts could be from my inability to handle situations in my life and having numb them with food. They can also be from the food themselves. When the toxins are released into my bloodstream from the breakdown of fat during this fast, the amount being released at this moment are vicious.

I can see why supervisional fasting is recommended after 14 days. It's helpful to be in a supportive environment with those who are fasting or have fasted. When I'm down, someone could tell me I'll be ok and to not panic.

Panic. Panic. I was so scared last night. Before then, I felt a kind of dreading feeling throughout the day. When night hit, it was just boom! I felt scared, and I couldn't grasp what I was afraid of. I wanted to cry but nothing came out. My eyes stung.

I began reading some writings that were inspirational and comforting to me in the past. And when I read them again, I couldn't even make sense of them. I went to bed shivering and in a complete sense of sadness.

Upon rising in the morning, I kept listening for my mom or brother to wake up. So that I could be around them. I hugged my lab and that didn't work. I was so scared while waiting for my mom and brother to wake up. I turned on some music and fell asleep.

My pup licked my eyelid, and I woke up again to take her outside. I asked my mom and brother to go out for a walk, but they didn't want to. So I left it at that. I have an intense desire to be around lots of people and be in fresh air.

I feel better. On a 0-10 scale, my fear was on a 10 if not more and now it's hovering between 7-8, and sometimes I do hit the 10 and above level. I'm still confused and scared. I've gone over my whole life's situatons over and over again, but I can't really pinpoint what could be causing the fear. There's nothing extremely tragic that's happened in my life that I have not dealt with. And existing problems have existed quite a while, and I've been okay with them. I don't know why all of a sudden I would feel such dread and fear.

After Thanksgiving Water Fast -- Day 21

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 21:18:00 +0000

Return of Hunger?
Ok. I have not ate in over 20 days. I'm not sure if true hunger has returned or the thought of not having ate for so long, because all of a sudden, I was hugging a tangerine. At first, the little tangerine was in my hand and then I was slowly waving it under my nose. It smelled so sweet, and its little dimples look so cute. So I hugged it while smiling to myself.

My baby brother came in the kitchen, looked at me, looked at the tangerine in my embrace and then let me know he'd leave me alone.

This could spell the end of the water fast. But I think I'll wait it out for today. I can't tell if it's true hunger or as mentioned, the thought of having abstained from food for so long.

Sleep
I like sleeping in. I like cuddling in my blanket and nudging my little pup until she growls at me to stop -- my favorite morning activity. Now with the fast, recently, I sleep at most 3 hours. Today, I slept around 4am and woke up at around 5am.

My mom asked me why I was awake so early. Although my bed, my blanket and my pup were all wondering why I was no longer cuddling with them, I just had to get up and use up some energy. I went for a 5 mile walk. I felt so refreshed.

After Thanksgiving Water Fast -- Day 19

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 18:02:00 +0000

I don't really have time to write a thorough post of my experience on this prolonged fast, but I want to make a quick update.

Several people have contacted me asking if I was okay. Yes! I'm ok! I'm actually feeling fantastic -- physically & mentally!

I decided to fast for more than 15 days. My initial goal was to make it pass 14 days. Day 15 would have been it. Like mentioned, my tongue is still covered in mucus, and my hunger isn't back. So I'm likely to continue until either my tongue is pink again or hunger returns.

I wanted to let everyone know I'm okay and will post again, when I get a chance. Thanks so much for worrying!

After Thanksgiving Water Fast -- Day 14

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 22:44:00 +0000

I'm finally on day 14. The purpose of this fast is for me to go beyond 14 days. All I have to do is complete day 15, and my purpose would be accomplished. Yet, I’m likely to go beyond 15 days.

Like my previous 14 day fasts though, my hunger hasn't returned, and my tongue still has a thick mucous coating on it. I'm very curious as to what I will experience if I were to break my fast only when hunger returns or when my tongue returns to its pink color.

Mood
On day 7, I had posted about feeling down throughout the fast. My mood have definitely lifted these past few days. I actually faced a problem this morning, solved it, and it’s barely affecting me now a couple of hours later. I remember when I had a similar problem. Even after I had solved it, I was still replaying the situation in my head at least 2 days later.

Body Pain
The only pain I have now is in my neck. Other than, the headaches and eye aches are gone.

Vision
My vision seems to be improving. I’m -4 in one eye and -5 in the other with astigmatism. I almost left home without my glasses. I didn’t even notice not having them on!

Weight loss
I didn’t weigh myself everyday. On my first day, I was 135lbs and today I’m 118lbs. My brother and I went to the store last night, and my pants were practically sliding off my butt. Luckily, I had a big coat on. So hopefully, it just looked like I had baggy pants on.

Since I’m still fasting, and I’m not sure about what my weight will be after the fast. Although from my previous fasts, I gained at most 5 lbs back due to eating mostly a raw vegan diet, this fast is much longer. So I’m not sure how much weight I’ll gain back.

I don’t think I’ll buy any new clothes. I may stop by a thrift shop for some temporary bottoms. My tops seem ok, although they currently look like dresses on me right now.

After Thanksgiving Water Fast -- Day 7

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:42:00 +0000

I haven’t had one “ON” day during this fast yet. I’ve been feeling horrible throughout it. My focus and concentration is blurred, and I’m extremely lethargic.

Managing Difficult Situations In My Life
It feels like a completely different fast from my previous ones so far. It’s most likely because during each of my fast, the situations in my life have been very different, and my ability to manage them have changed as well.

Imagine starting a new project. You’re very excited and hopeful. You work at it full force. As time passes, you don’t see any measurable results from the project. Your enthusiasm for it begins to dwindle.

The analogy is similar to the difficult situations in my life. When I first encountered them, I went at them full force. With time, I’m fine with them. With more time, I’m wondering “when do they stop?”

With difficult situations in my life, my emotions are much more intense which are only intensified while fasting. I’m tempted to go and handle the situations first and then begin fasting again. I’m weary that doing so will just put off being more healthy to a tomorrow that may never come.

Difficult situations are not the problem. It’s realizing how much I have to grow and accepting where I am.

Sleep
I’m still sleeping frequently. Every time I pop in a CD book, I fall asleep within 30 minutes. So now I set an alarm that automatically shuts off my laptop in 30 minutes.

When I resist sleeping, I have an intense urge to eat in order to stay awake. I feel really useless sleeping this much. Since my health is more important, I think I’ll give in to the sleep while fasting. I can always be active after the fast.

Music
There’s a song I really enjoy and have been playing it non-stop. The song is a sweet ballad, but it does make me sad. Today, I’ve stopped listening to it and am now listening to a CD I know doesn’t evoke negative emotions in me. I love music.

After Thanksgiving Water Fast -- Day 3

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:09:00 +0000

Cravings are gone. On a scale of 0-10, it's at a 0 when, on day 2, my craving level was hovering around from 8-10. It was extremely hard to get through yesterday.

I had an intense bowel movement this morning. The odor was foul. The movement was gentle. I was surprised at the amount. My stomach did feel cramped a little. I'm considering getting an enema. Maybe it will help with the detox.

My left eye got red. There's still a tingly sensation in the eye and a little pain. It's also the same eye where I sustained a corneal abrasion a couple of years ago with pain that lasted for weeks.

There's pain on the left side of my neck.

Mom said I stink really badly for a girl. Thanks mom! She also asked me whether or not I ate throughout the day. I told her "no." Now I'm considering avoiding the family as much as possible for the duration of this fast.

After Thanksgiving Water Fast -- Day 2

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:09:00 +0000

Cravings are very intense today. Experienced light-headedness along with a mild headache. Drank about 34oz of water.

After Thanksgiving Water Fast -- Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 18:54:00 +0000

1:36 PM 11/28/2008

Today is day 1 of a prolonged water fast. I had started last Thursday and broke it on Monday in order to prep my digestive capacity for Thanksgiving.

In the morning, my mom called her workplace to check her schedule. It turns out that she won't have work from now until the New Year. And last night, she mentioned that we may have to consider getting food at our local Food Bank.

I'm worried but not as worried as when I first heard the news. Before, the worry level was at a 10 on a 0-10 scale with 10 being the highest. Now, it's a 6. I was thinking about how I really have to find a second job and wondering how I'm going to handle school and 2 jobs. I started thinking about food and about whether I should finish off my grapefruits.

Then I began an internal conversation. It was about how food won't help and about how worrying won't help. Worrying a little is fine, but worrying to the point that I go down a self-destructive path and feeling helpless won't. Right now, I'm still reminding myself about it.

Every time I think about comforting myself with food, I keep repeating to myself "not going to help. Not going to help."

As of 1:44 PM, 11/28/2008, my resolve to finish today's water fast is at a 9.

My Experience With Sight Fasting

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 18:49:00 +0000

I've sight fasted during my pre-Thanksgiving Water fast. I did it hours at a time, because I had no one to take my pups out to the bathroom.

For the sight fast, I used my scarf as a blindfold. During my breaks from sight fasting, my eyes were very sensitive to light. I would have my laptop on the lowest bright setting, and my eyes would still hurt from the light. My eyes also teared up a whole lot especially when first waking up in the morning. The tearing up was similar to when I had a corneal abrasion but much worse.

Eventually, I started getting eye aches along with headaches which could also have been because of the water fast. The only thing is I never experienced aches after day 2 of a water fast. The aches was much worse on Day 5.

So I decided to terminate the sight fast for now. I'll experiment with it later by itself in order to rule out any other culprits which could have caused the aches and tearing up of my eyes.

Thanksgiving After A Water Fast

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 21:38:00 +0000

I'm feeling so down today. It's not lethargy. I'm just feeling "blah." I didn't really eat much this Thanksgiving.

The food tasted great. At some point, I just felt like I had enough. I'll only eat dinner to join the family. I guess what I'm feeling is disconnected.

I didn't realize how much food was the focus during the holidays for me. Now that my diet is more healthy, food don't really appeal to me as much. What's really appealing to me now are just fruits. The flavors from fruits are just right for me.

My mom made a dessert made of corn and coconut yesterday. She said it wasn't sweet enough, and my brother said it tasted like water. The flavors were okay to me, and it tasted fairly sweet to me as well. My tastebuds have altered so much since the last water fast.

For some reason, I feel like an outsider in my family because of my inability to enjoy the same foods they do.

After A Short Water Fast – Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:57:00 +0000

When I left work last night, I had two ‘ah-ha’ moments. From the previous post, I suffered awful aches in my head, eyes and neck along with lethargy. The areas of pain are indicative of me having my period, and I didn’t know about the lethargy. I thought it may have been stress.

Earlier in the day, I went to the bathroom to check and see if I had my period. No blood. I thought “hm. Then why am I in so much pain?”

I stopped by the bathroom one last time before leaving work. And there you have it, there was blood. I was, indeed, on my period. That was the first ‘ah-ha.’ The next ‘ah-ha is when I went outside. It had been raining for hours!

The period explains the pain, and the rain explains the lethargy. My body was exhibiting tell-tale signs, and yet I was attributing everything to the fast. I’ve fasted before but never experienced the level of pain and lethargy in tandem that I experienced yesterday. Never.

On my way to the local Asian market, I felt a lot better being outside in the rain. When it rains, I experience extreme lethargy indoors. I have to be outside in the fresh air, and get as much air as I can. It’s an instant cure for the lethargy.

I wanted to break my fast with grapefruit, but I didn’t think I would get them. They’re usually $1 each or the lowest I have ever seen them was 4 for $1, and that was last year. While deciding between apples, oranges, cucumbers or carrots, I also passed by the grapefruits. Lo and behold, they were 5 for $1!

I’m happy to announce that I broke my fast with 2 diluted cups of grapefruit juice. It was wonderful. I was in heaven. I was already full after the first cup, and slowly sipped the second cup. This morning, I had another heavenly cup of delicious grapefruit juice!

I still feel some slight pain in my neck today. It may progress to my eyes and head. I hope not.

On the bright side, the lethargy is gone!

Pre-Thanksgiving Water Fast -- Day 5

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 21:08:00 +0000

My neck, head & eyes feel like they're going to pop out any day now. Today is the day I break my fast. So that I can prep my digestive capacity for Thanksgiving.

I'm not sure whether I could attribute the pain to the water fast. Last night, one of my pups peed on my bed including my pillow. So I used a couch pillow to sleep on and was using a very light blanket. I was shivering in my sleep. It could have been the pillow or the cold, too. Whatever the reason, I feel like fasting longer because of the pain.

And I was supposed to eat by now, 4:12pm, but I haven't come into contact with any food. There's one tip about water fasting, & that's not to have temptations at home. I did just that, & now I have nothing to break my fast with.

On my way home, I'm going to get a few pieces of fruits. Maybe an apple or orange. Not sure yet. I'll see what I gravitate to once I get to the store.

Agh. Seriously, my head, eyes, neck hurt so bad!!!!!! I just want to lie down, but I can't right now.

On a positive note, I found my keys.

Pre-Thanksgiving Water Fast -- Completed!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:01:00 +0000

As mentioned in a previous post, I began water fasting on Thursday. I will be breaking it some time today, Monday. It's 10:49am, and I haven't ate anything yet. My head and eyes are throbbing a little, and I'm freezing!

It's likely I won't have anything to eat until I get home later today. Perhaps around 9:00 pm. On my way home, I'll stop by a local Asian market to pick up some fruits.

I don't think there's any food in my fridge! Quick tip for water fasting: don't keep any tempting food at home, but do keep emergency foods that will build up your electrolytes in case fasting must be terminated for health reasons.

Although I want to continue this fast, I know it's not ideal to fast until Thanksgiving. I would be putting myself in a very dangerous situation where my digestion has halted for days, and suddenly, I'm feasting on Thanksgiving!

Which is why even though I'm not hungry, I'm going to either juice or blend a fruit tonight to break my fast, take a warm bath, listen to an audio book and go to bed.

Right after Thanksgiving, I'll be diving into fasting again. My goal is to go beyond 14 days until my body shows signs that I should stop.

Plan for Prolonged Water Fast (14+ Days)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:06:00 +0000

I've decided when to start my prolonged (more than 14 days) water fast -- Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008.

It's going to be cut short, but I'll be picking right back up after Thanksgiving dinner. Yes, I know it doesn't sound like starting a prolonged fast.

Since I was so indecisive about starting Thursday or after Thanksgiving, I decided to meet the two choices in the middle. I will start on Thursday. Since I have a feeling I will not be able to dodge Thanksgiving with the family, I will break the fast on Monday (before Thanksgiving) on juices & smoothies which will give me three days to help my body with building its digestive capacity again before Thanksgiving dinner.

After dinner, I will pick up where I left off with the water fast for 14 days more, and then be attentive to how many more days my body would like to go afterwards.

Disregarding What I Believed In For What I Was Actually Experiencing

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:49:00 +0000

Every time I got a cold, I'd have my bottles of cold medicine. I'd go through bottles never feeling any better. Actually, they never even suppressed my symptoms. Eventually I got to a point that I thought "this is such a waste of money."

Gradually, I began forgetting to take my medication on time just because I didn't feel the difference between taking medication and not taking any. Well, except that my parents' wallet would be thinner, I didn't feel a different. And then finally, I just didn't take any at all. This was all before I found out how bad medicine most medicine is. When I was a child, cold medicine were being heavily advertised. So I did "believe" they would work, but the heck, they weren't working.

I began drinking coffee in high school. Not everyday. I drank coffee a few times, when I stayed up late to finish school work or study. I believed coffee would help me stay awake. I don't know. But every time I drank coffee, I was knocked out cold. When I woke up, I would feel jittery and nervous. I couldn't focus on much of anything. It had nothing to do with will-power or a lack of willing to learn, I was the National Honor Society President.

I drank coffee a few more times as an undergrad., most likely less than 20 times, and I started noticing that I would feel sleepy, but I couldn't sleep. I was still jittery, but I learned that I couldn't focus on the material I was studying at all. I read and read, but nothing was registering. I dropped coffee.

A co-worker suggested I take pills that would help me stay awake. I bought a bottle of No Doz. I would take a pill every morning, but I didn't notice that much of a difference except I felt very jittery. I thought that was from not having breakfast which is possible. I began feeling depressed, but I thought that was from my school and work load which is also possible. I stopped taking No Doz.

Throughout all these situations, I kept taking things believing that they would work or at least, help me in some way. And when they didn't, I still continued on them! I wanted to write this blog as a reminder that if something doesn't work that I stop a lot sooner. I'm thankfuI I never developed an addiction to any of them. I've seen, heard and read about how hard it is for some people to quit coffee.

Water Fasting: Trying to be Perfect in the Midst of Ambiguity

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:48:00 +0000

Out of all my water fasts, I've never used an enema or taken colonics. The explanation for using either method to cleanse out the colon does make sense to me. Some old toxins can be released through the colon instead of being recirculated back into the bloodstream especially since while fasting, there is no fiber to help the process.

Yet with all methods, there are explanations to back them up and explanations to refute them. Often times, I'm thinking "who or what do I trust?" I sometimes even allow the ambiguity to stress me out. Trying so hard to make the "right" choice, I procrastinate doing anything at all. Time goes by either way.

I've been wanting to embark on a longer fasts. The longest has been 14 days. I've been going through so much information. Enema or no enema? Exercise or no exercise? Colonics or no colonics? The more I do the research, the more I realize no one agrees. Forget the allopathic school of medicine, the naturopathic school of medicine don't agree either. Everyone is adimant that they're right, and everyone has made mistakes, too.

Remember when people believed the world was flat? Columbus was risking going off the edge of the world to prove that the world wasn't flat. In 1492, he made it around the world to America.

So no more procrastination. It's about trusting myself to make the best choice with the information I currently have and allowing myself to make mistakes instead of procrastinating.

At the same time, I can share my experiences with others along the way.

Disclaimer

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 18:08:00 +0000

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Water Fasting: Exercise vs. No Exercise

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 16:49:00 +0000

Whether this post will universally apply to everyone, I'm not sure. I can only speak of my personal experience. I've done two 14 day water fast so far -- one with and one without exercise.

First 14 Day Water Fast (with Exercise)
There were a few days, when I needed to sit down, because I felt weak. Definitely less than 5 times. There were also a few days, when I felt my energy sky rocket, and I cleaned the bathroom. Please be mindful that I dislike cleaning. I went out almost everyday, and I walked 4 miles almost everyday, too. After the fast, my cravings returned full force and beyond! Everything tasted so good. I definitely pigged out!

Second 14 Day Water Fast (sans Exercise)
After day 1, I could only take a few steps, and I would no longer be able to take more without taking a really long time to rest in between steps! I slept all day and couldn't even come on to the internet. I didn't even have the energy to bathe. During the whole time, I took 3 baths. Maybe 2. I don't remember. I also couldn't read -- my favorite hobby. Most of the time, I felt angry or hopeless. Yet, I felt so clean. My sleep was so deep and relaxing. After the fast, my TMJ syndrome pretty much went away about a week after the fast. I'm full off of a smoothie made with one fruit. And my sleep continues to be deep and relaxing whereas I would wake up at the slightest noise before this second fast and have trouble falling back asleep. I'm more hopeful and can focus on tasks much longer.

Which Was Better?
My views from both water fasts is that I felt the most benefits after the second water fast where I didn't exercise at all and had plenty of rest. Most likely, my body grasp the opportunity to deep clean my body which contributed to my feeling so weak, although I slept and rested so much. I practically did nothing. And after the fast, I never felt the level of focus, rest and peace I've achieved from it in my entire life! Now with the first fast with the exercise, my body most likely took whatever body stores I had and conserved that energy for the activities I was involved with during the 14 days. So pretty much, I probably achieved just losing weight on that fast but didn't really cleanse. By the way, I lost 15-20 pounds on both. Exercising didn't really matter in terms of weight loss.

Now to exercise or not while water fasting? Why not try out both? See what your results are. But since you know one person who benefited more from not exercising, maybe try out water fasting without the exercise first.

Astigmatism Doesn't Respond to Dietary Changes?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 16:20:00 +0000

One of the main reasons I have been excited about fasting to cleanse my body and going Raw Vegan is to improve my eyes. I posted about this on a Raw Food forum, and one of the responses was that astigmatism will not respond to dietary changes due to it being a problem with the shape of one's eyes.

A girl gets tired of having to constantly wear glasses or contacts in order to see. So many glasses have been broken over the years, because I'm so active. And wearing contacts while I'm active, in order to not break anymore glasses, just feels unnatural. Glasses are fashionable, but with my strong prescription, I don't know if their being fashionable outweighs the fact that my eyes are very weak and gets weaker each year.

I was disappointed and am still a little. At the same time, now I have the drive to really experiment with this!

Water Fasting: Second 14 Day Water Fast Results & Thoughts.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 16:34:00 +0000

The 2nd 14 day water fast brought about much improvement. The back story to this 2nd 14-day water fast was, I think, that my body actually forced me into it. I was coming down with TMJ syndrome 2 days prior to it. My right jaw was hurting. At the time, I thought it'll just go away. The pain was bearable like that of a headache.

By the second day, it was hurting that I was constantly rubbing the right side of my face. I couldn't eat, and I couldn't open my jaw wide to eat. And by the night, it was hurting so bad I couldn't sleep and started crying. I was crying with the combination of pain and being scared about not being able to open my mouth wide ever again or for a very long time, maybe years.

Since I couldn't eat, I decided to fast. Why not, right? Unlike my 1st 14-day water fast, I rested a lot, I was very weak, and I was very upset and scared. Throughout the fast, I kept wondering whether I would ever get my energy back including a few days after my fast as well, because I still couldn't walk very far. My energy was that low. My jaw still couldn't open wide. Other than losing weight, I was seriously thinking about whether there were any benefits to the fast.

If I knew about how I would be now after the fast, I wouldn't have been worried or scared. I'm so happy with the results of the fast. Here are just some:

Cravings.
They're still there -- mentally. When I actually eat though, it's a different story. I'll have a couple of bites, and I'm full. If it wasn't for wanting to finish what was on my plate, I would stop eating! I could last on a smoothie (like this morning) consisting of one fruit, and I would fill fulfilled, food-wise, for a couple of hours.

Body Circulation. Feeling Cold.
My brother drove me to the metro this morning. He asked if I was going to walk there, and I was thinking "yeah. why not?" But ok, I gave him a simple "yeah." He told me to pack up and that he would drive me, because it was cold. Seriously, I could walk out with a tshirt and jeans and feel okay now. I no longer need at least 3 layers on top with a coat, by the way, and 2 layers on the bottom to feel warm now.

Parasites.
I didn't use an enema throughout my fast. Actually, I used an enema once during my lifetime, and it wasn't very successful. One time during my fast, I expelled some kind of critter in the toilet. It was little. About an inch and width the size of drawing a 1" line with a pencil. Although it was little, I could see the head and legs. There were lots of legs.

TMJ Syndrome. I'm not saying the fast cured it, but I'm going to share my experience. I didn't take any medication during my fast. NONE. There were many concerns from the family. "Why are you doing this to yourself?" "You hold her, I'll hold her nose, and you shove the medicine down her throat." "Oh hell. She's never going to be my doctor. She'll just tell me to drink some water and add lime." Throughout all the comments, no medication came near me.

All I did was apply a cold wet cloth to the right side of my cheek. I kept re-applying it until I felt asleep. After the pain was gone for a couple of days, I started applying a heat pad to the right side of my cheek and doing jaw exercises. 2 weeks and a couple of days later, I can open my jaws wide again, although I was chewing with the left side of my jar. A couple more days after that, I could chew with the right side of my jaw, too.