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Day Four
A personal journey to health and freedom through water fasting
Date: 5/30/2010 2:04:54 PM ( 14 y ) ... viewed 1625 times Just as a starting point for for this journey, let me lay down the vitals. I am a 43 year old, 5'8" woman who started the fast at 242 lbs. I am not taking any prescribed medications, because I lost faith in the pill popping medical community years ago, and I prefer to approach caring for my health as naturally as possible. In general, I eat a good diet. I don't eat grains anymore (bread, pasta, rice) -- I successfully gave them up 2 months ago. I also broke my caffeine addiction (coffee) 4 months ago. I do eat meat on occasion, love fish, fresh, steamed or healthy sauted vegetables, most fruit, and fresh raw juices. Thankfully I live in a state where I can legally obtain fresh raw milk and cheese at the local health food store. When I am not fasting I take the core five supplements recommended on Dr. Mercola's website. I installed heavy duty water filters on my kitchen tap and shower head. I am not a sugar addict nor do I eat junk food or greasy fast food regularly. These dietary tendencies were broken off of me 18 months ago after I completed an 18 day water fast. My 10 year smoking habit was broken off of me after I completed my first 3 day water fast many years ago. I have made numerous small steps toward better health over the past 10 years.
On the negative: I really hate exercise. I hate getting sweaty and stinky and so I avoid it like the plague. I was diagnosed with PCOS when I was 21 years old (a hormonal imbalance that, among other things, causes obesity). And I have a lot of bitter emotional baggage to deal with from just coming out of the most incredibly stressful year of my life. Just touching the highlights: My father died a horrible, medically prolonged death from bone cancer, my husband and I have separated and are divorcing, I was laid off from my job and have been unemployed for 3 months. And I have a terrible propensity to eat when bored and depressed. All told, this year has packed on the pounds like I have never seen -- 50 lbs since last July.
I am otherwise generally in good health, but I can feel the scales gradually tipping out of my favor: arthritic joint pain, mild chest pain, cold hands and feet, gum disease, insomnia, lumps in my abdomen that feel like fibroid tumors, and a vague intuitive feeling that I might be becoming insulin resistant/pre-diabetic (which would explain putting on weight while eating such a good diet).
I have purposely not told anyone about this fast beyond two (very slender) friends of mine. After my first failed attempts at fasting (I started years ago at 260 lbs), I discovered that people in general are so indoctrinated with the idea that if you don't eat 3 square meals a day, you are in danger of "starvation". Even being 100 lbs overweight, I have had people tell me to stop it because, didn't I know that I could die from not eating?! Hello! Do bears die from hibernating and not eating for 5 months? The body knows how to do it. Didn't our ancestors survive famines without dying? My theory is those people who got so upset by my fast needed to lose weight and get healthy themselves, and my actions were extremely threatening to their status quo...
So to avoid the hoopla and everyone giving me their opinion on the matter, I decided to keep my peace. It will be interesting to blog the people's reactions to me this time, when they don't know what's truly going on. My last fast of 18 days accomplished a 30 lb weight loss. My husband was nearly beside himself with trying to get me to eat everyday -- to the point of what appeared to be intentional sabotage (bringing home my favorite foods, accepting invites to parties, etc.) Maybe it was subconscious rather than intentional, but the fact is, it worked. My 30 day fast became my 18 day fast.
So there it is. My first four days on water have been accomplished without much incident this time. I think having completed several smaller fasts and eating a clean daily diet is really important to fasting safely and with a reduction in the pain of it all. However, I am not deceived. I know a painful, deep detox is in my future, both physically and spiritually. There are certainly layers of toxins hidden in my mind and in my body that have been tucked away since my wild and crazy college days...
More later...
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