Tuesday, January 23, 2018

The joy of fasting

It is a rather busy day.  We had some warm weather, which caused a thaw.  Everything gets wet.  Now it is getting cold and everything will be ice covered and slippery.  Our schools in the area are closed. 

My hearing aids were not performing well.  That means they have to be looked at by repair people and until I get them back, I have trouble knowing what Lynn says.  Strike two!

It is a gloomy day and a fairly dangerous one since it is easy to slip and fall while walking out to get the mail or skid and slide while driving.

Both of us have been gaining weight and we try to watch what is happening.  Wouldn't this be a good time to fast?  Sure, on top of gloom and tough weather, add not eating.  Well, mostly not.  It is 3 PM and so far I have had a hard boiled egg, three grapes and two cups of coffee.  I did have a handful of pumpkin seeds because I wanted to take my daily pills and sometimes they don't go down well on an empty stomach.  

The odd thing is that staying resistant to eating, staying out of the kitchen and its temptations and anticipating the pure delight of eating at dinner puts a genuine glow on the day.  You wouldn't think it was a glowing type of day and yet having no need to plan breakfast or lunch adds time.  I think it might also actually make cheerfulness easier and more available.  As issues and needs come up, they seem to fall into a category of something good to do rather than a duty or imposition.  I wouldn't have thought it likely or possible but it is. Maybe it is an example of the idea of hitting my head against the wall because it feels so good when I stop.  But it actually feels light, healthy and uplifting.  Cool!

It is not just weight loss.  It is also good for the brain:

I wasn't planning on fasting today but Lynn asked if I wanted to.  We are not locked together and have fasted when our partner wasn't doing so.  At first, the sight and smell of cooking and food prep can be a little tough but surprisingly, it can also stiffen resistance.  Just because the scent of an orange or a nice piece of toast comes wafting along, don't think I am going to change my mind.  Besides, the further I get into the day, the more I have invested in fasting for now.  I can see how religious leaders have been inspired to call for a fast, knowing that deliberately not eating can be elevating and unifying.

You can almost hear the word 'discipline' being used, but it seems to me that a more helpful concept is that of adventure.  I have done a day long fast before, but I have never tried anything longer.  My adventures have all ended with a meal at the end of a single day.  It is not climbing Mt. Everest, but paying attention and putting down intermittent and sporadic pictures of food is at least a mini-adventure, good for a snowy day.

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