We have both been gaining weight so we fasted today. That only means, for us, skipping breakfast and lunch. We eat a normal dinner. We often lose between half and a pound doing that. I seem to be getting a little more sensitive to not eating. I had morning coffee black, a cup mid-morning instead of green tea (easier on my empty stomach) and a cup at lunch. About 2, I was getting a few hunger pains so I ate a triscuit and about 5 peanuts. My stomach thought that was a feast.
Many religions include fasting as part of an observance. I usually eat between 7 and 8 after getting up at 6. My body notices when it gets to be 9 and I have eaten nothing. About 10, I felt some elation. I wonder if feeling a little high (and holy) is part of the reason fasting seems to mix well with religion.
On Monday of this week, I had that endoscopic exam and didn't eat or drink until after 2. I didn't have any headache from no caffeine but I enjoyed a piece of pizza, a coffee, a bottle of tea and a Milky Way after the exam.
Most of the reminders I get to eat something come when I am not thinking of anything. If I get up to get something, my system may send a food request but as soon as my mind gets engaged in something again, I lose awareness of hunger. I have gone from dinner one day to dinner the next day without food but not any longer than that.
I have read that hunger gets less intense after a while and I believe it. Somewhat like knocking one's head against a wall to enjoy stopping that, not eating makes freedom to eat heavenly. I have read that the body appreciates not having the job of digestion once in a while.
A few months back, we were doing this fasting. That day, I didn't realize I had let myself wander into the kitchen and put a cookie in my mouth until my tongue registered the taste. That was just about the time that I met John Bargh's book "Before You Know It" but the title expressed exactly what me and my body had managed.
