In repentance for my food gorging on Mardi Gras, I did not ingest a single calorie all of Wednesday. From the time i went to sleep Tuesday night to when I had breakfast Thursday morning, I went a total of about 32 hours consuming nothing but water. I can’t remember the last time I willingly abstained from food for that long. I was not concerned that I had a Yoga workout that evening nor a cross country race Sunday morning. This soul searching endeavour and exercise in disciple far outweighed these two events. It helped that I had mostly given up carbs and had learned to curb my cravings for them, but come lunch time when everyone started bringing in lunches and heating stuff up in the microwave, the aroma of food was difficult to overcome. More difficulty sank in around 3 in the afternoon when I came back to my desk from a water break and saw the delicious mixed nut container that I snack from staring me right in the face. No, I did not stash it out of sight. That would the easy route. I left it right in front of me, willing my mind to overcome these instinctive messages that my body was sending me.

Hunger is a lot like pain. If I can push through the pain of a 24 hour race, I can surely not eat food for a day.

I had to keep that thought in my head as I rode my bike home from work around 6 and entered a house full of nuts, fruit, and raw meat. Perhaps not having food in the house would have made it easier, but knowing calories were within arms reach really made it tough. I commenced with my Yoga exercise at 8, and finally, found my inner peace. The hunger subsided and I was living in a moment where food nor material possessions didn’t matter. There was a certain calmness to the air, even with all my windows open. My soul had transcended the physiological needs of my body and all was well. With the night breeze comforting me, I gently fell into a deep sleep that lasted til morning.

I will likely make fasting a more common occurrence in my life. There is the spiritual benefit that I mention above, but there are some other benefits too:

• it is an integral part Evolutionary Fitness, i.e. Caveman dieting. read here
• it teaches mental toughness and discipline, attributes which carry over to other aspects of one’s life such as not buying stuff you really don’t need
• It makes you have more compassion for those that truly due suffer from hunger and starvation
• It can help de-toxify and heal your body
• If you are a religious person like I am, it can definitely help remove idols that are between you and God. Food can easily be considered an idol if you put it before the Creator

Free yourself of the power food has over you, and try fasting once in while to gain greater strength, both mentally and physically.

Greg