Fasting

It is Saturday, June 30, 9:30 am. I just broke my fast with some cashew nuts and almonds.

This was my fourth fast, and it was a bit harder than the previous one. My hunger never completely subsided. I changed a few things that may have contributed to this experience. For more on this, please see below.

But – this fast also made me appreciate the value of food again.

I still went to coffee shops to do some reading and drink black coffee. When friends ordered food or a takeout, I felt they were so lucky they could have nice looking and clean food and eat it.

It doesn’t feel nice to be hungry and not to be able to eat when food is plenty.

Feeling hunger, I felt connected with people who don’t get enough to eat.

I had to go to bed without food for 5 nights. But I knew that after 5 days I was going to have great meals again.

I have the cash to go to the supermarket and buy stuff to my heart’s content.  I was already planning the great meals I was going to have.

Other people don’t have enough resources. They often go to bed hungry without knowing when they will have a satisfying meal.

They might only have a bowl of instant noodles with some cheap oil and lots of flavor enhancers. Not too bad if eaten once in a while, but while the noodles are high on carbs, they are low on protein and contain almost no nutrients.

But then, a bag only costs 50 cents. Mind you, the almonds and cashew nuts I broke my fast with cost more than that.

I sometimes eat these noodles too, because they taste good. Or a cheap fried rice dish. But then I remind myself that apart from energy there isn’t much in there and go and get some real food.

It might be a roast with potatoes and nicely grilled vegetables. Or I might go for Sashimi or Oysters.

Some people only have a dollar a day to spend on food. If they have children, the food goes to the kids first.

Today I pity them. Sometimes, I forget.

I am a lucky bastard to have a credit card and a bank account with money to buy nutritious food.

Giving someone good food to eat is sometimes better than money. The person gets to taste the happiness that comes with eating a hearty meal. The food pulls them right out of their hunger and feeling of dissatisfaction.

Why do I fast?

Read moreMy Fourth Fast: Update on Five-Day Fasting for Health and Mental Performance

During the last couple of weeks, my mind wasn’t as fluid as it used to be. Reading, writing, analyzing, whatever I did, I tired much easier.

Also, about three hours after each meal, I felt a dip in energy, which I only slowly recovered from until the next meal. I have had this before – and I interpret it as a sign that my body has a hard time changing from feeding to fasting.

It appeared to me that as soon as most of the energy from eating was used, stored in the liver, or stored as fat, I ran low on energy.

What’s more, my weight was slowly increasing, my sleep was deteriorating, and I was getting digestive problems.

I was concerned that my fatigue might be due to increasing insulin resistance

I had been feasting excessively, drinking too many beers, and maintaining an irregular sleep schedule. As a result of all this, I suspect I was becoming increasingly insulin resistant. My blood sugar values were still OK, but I clearly wasn’t doing too well.

In a nutshell, my metabolism wasn’t running smoothly, I tired easily, abdominal fat was accumulating, and I was having a hard time burning fat (as indicated by my increasing body weight).

As I mentioned, I have had this before.

I resorted to the tool that had helped me last time to do a reset: Fasting.

I wanted to press that reset button again, so I committed to a 5-day fast. At the end, I made it a 6.5-day fast.

Read moreMy Experience with Fasting for Metabolic Health, Mental Performance and Weight Loss