Does anyone here fast? (As in abstain from food for periods of time)

Tosh

There was a good Horizon documentary called "Eat Fast and Live Longer" which shows there are beneficial effects from fasting for short periods:

I think you can only watch this in the UK, though it could be found on Youtube?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01lxyzc/Horizon_20122013_Eat_Fast_and_Live_Longer/

Michael Mosley has set himself a truly ambitious goal: he wants to live longer, stay younger and lose weight in the bargain. And he wants to make as few changes to his life as possible along the way. He discovers the powerful new science behind the ancient idea of fasting, and he thinks he's found a way of doing it that still allows him to enjoy his food. Michael tests out the science of fasting on himself - with life-changing results.

But I'm wondering if anyone here fasts for spiritual purposes? It's not really a 'Buddhist' thing (Middleway 'n' all that), but there seems to be a diverse kind of member here, so I thought I'd ask if anyone has done this for spiritual purposes and what your experience was of it?

OneLifeForm

fast
2    [fast, fahst]

verb (used without object)
1.
to abstain from all food.

2.
to eat only sparingly or of certain kinds of food, especially as a religious observance.


Not eating after noon is really great in my opinion.

Really helps promote mindfulness and such qualities a person on a spiritual path wants to enhance. Eating "at the wrong time" I've found produces very uncomfortable results.

Tosh

Thanks, OLF; yes the fasting diet is recommended on either an every-other-day basis or a two-day-a-week basis, where you eat less than 600 calories (500 if you're female), and then on non fast days, you eat what you want.

I'm interested in it, and if I could somehow tie it in with my spiritual path, then that would be an added bonus.

You're right about the not eating in the afternoon too; I've heard a monk say it keeps him 'sharper'. In the documentary too, it shows mice who've been fasted don't suffer with alhiemers syndrome, and they also develop new brain cells (or something like this). The reason being, if they're hungry, it makes evolutionary sense to increase intelligence so that they can remember where food stores are; that kind of thing.

OneLifeForm

Why don't you just not eat after noon? That way it is a comfortable middle ground instead of jumping back and forth.

Every other day or two days a week for tying something in with a spiritual path doesn't seem like it would be of much benefit.

It is like this, we don't do our spiritual practice every other day, we need to do it everyday to get that cumulative benefit.

I don't know about you but if I miss a day, and I'm not even very good at my practice, I get all screwed up.

I think it'd be easiest for you to just have an everyday routine.. builds consistency, stability, etc. etc.

Tosh

Don't spoil it for me, OLF, I'm quite looking forward to having my extra large donor kebabs with extra chilli sauce. I know it's the meat they sweep up off the butcher's floor and compact together, but it's so tasty. Mmmmmmm.

Curly fries too. Extra Mmmmmmm.

Ficus_religiosa

I also saw some documentary on this not long ago. Some dudes in the US living off minor food intake. They wanted to live longer.

Personally I've tried fasting a single day. Weird it was, no health increases from that. Only dizzy and tired.

Some days I forget to eat before evening, so those days I may be around 1000 cal at the most.

I think it didn't work fasting because I thought too much about food because I had a goal not to eat. When I forget it's usually because I can't eat in the morning and then get absorbed in working.

The habit of not eating until evening must stop now though, as mentioned in another thread, I'm going on a bodybuilder diet to grow muscle - both fill up my carbohydrate deposits making the muscles bigger, thickening the muscle fibers making them stronger as well as stimulate new muscle growth.

OneLifeForm

So you wish for me to enable a cycle of gluttony and fasting?

Ficus_religiosa

To clarify my point: If you want to fast, make sure to have something to do so you don't think about food all the time. Maybe start the new habit during a vacation or something, were an effort in regard to working etc. isn't required.. Your body will hate you for skipping usual meals and punish you!

Tosh

So you wish for me to enable a cycle of gluttony and fasting?

Yes, please co-sign my bullshit!



I'm only joking though. I don't eat kebabs.

DaltheJigsaw

I have done it a few times. The longest I have done it was for 48 hours.

OneLifeForm

So you wish for me to enable a cycle of gluttony and fasting?

Yes, please co-sign my bullshit!



I'm only joking though. I don't eat kebabs.

lol

e-Sarcasm can be hard to detect :P

Beej

i just did a fast (the Master Cleanse) a few weeks ago. I found it's benefits to be multi-faceted. A few days before I commenced with the fast I abstained from certain things in order to ease in to the fast. I mentioned this to a friend, that I was warming up towards a fast, and she asked, "Are you doing the fast for health or spiritual reasons?" I answered, "for health reasons, to give my body a break for a little while from working so hard". The next day I thought a little more about the question and wished that I had a second chance to answer it. I would have said, "For both reasons." Isn't everything about 'spirituality' once you've stepped onto the path?

Chanting mantras seem to be totally more effective and easier to do with a completely empty stomach. I'm guessing that it amplified the vibrations due to there not being much to absorb the vibrations and the sound?

Hung Vaj Rah Pey ---- (With The Spoken Word I Envoke The Thunderbolt Of My Mind) !!!!!!!

mindatrisk

I did the master cleanse a few years ago for 23 days and another for 9 days, and i've also done a few week long juice fasts... i'm planning my first week long water fast for september. There's loads of testimonials and info online... it's not for everyone because of the mental block around not eating, but if it gets your interest then have a good read into it and then do it, because the benefits are profound... spiritually too.

Tosh

I think I'll have a bash on Friday. The thing is, I run - I'm training for a marathon - but I also could do with losing a stone in weight.

Friday is a rest day, so I'll not eat more than 600 calories that day.

Ficus_religiosa

I think I'll have a bash on Friday. The thing is, I run - I'm training for a marathon - but I also could do with losing a stone in weight.

Friday is a rest day, so I'll not eat more than 600 calories that day.

I really think you should think that over. Your body will not be losing much fat when you eat so little, but muscle. Muscle you need for the marathon.
You can't have your cake and eat it, literally, because here the cake is your muscles.

My advice would be either marathon or fasting first, whichever means most to you.

karasti

I would train for the race and then fast later on. Because of your running, your body is burning through it's stores of carbohydrates during your runs. But beyond that your body starts burning protein, and it'll get it from wherever it can-including your own muscles as Ficus said. Also, when you suddenly stop eating and so drastically reduce your calorie rate, your metabolism slows way down and it takes time to rev it back up. It can be done, I know there are Olympians who observe Ramadan fasting, but at least they are eating eventually during the day and aren't fasting for days on end. It's very hard if not near impossible to maintain an athletic operating body while fasting for any sort of long term. If nothing else, you'd likely not have the energy to sustain your training runs and could easily injure yourself.

I'd just make sure to research fasting if you are on an athletic training process. not saying it's impossible, but of what I know of it it would be very difficult to do, beyond maybe having a day a week that you fast. A whole week fast could set you back quite a bit in your body development and training.

Ficus_religiosa

Not to mention the long term side effects of working out too much and eating little: Permanent damage to your body.

A person close to me has lost the ability to have children for an unknown period of time - from a few years to forever - because she exercised heavily and ate way too little.

Doing so is really dangerous.

Beej

yes i agree with the above... I cycle and ride mountain bikes and definitely had to diminish my work outs during the fast that I undertook. I was back to long rides about a week after finishing the fast. (8 lbs lighter, not sure how much of that weight loss was of muscle, but it had to be at least some) Most important is to listen to your body and try not to grind through a lower level of energy. Also is a good idea to monitor some vitals when fasting, like blood pressure, etc. Especially if you are a marathon runner!

Dakini

But I'm wondering if anyone here fasts for spiritual purposes?

When I was younger and had nice, stable blood sugar, I'd fast for 3 days at a time. By the 2nd day, I'd get an amazing spiritual high. Wish I could still do that.

Tosh

Okay, guys/gals, I'll take on board your advice; Mrs Tosh says exactly the same, BTW (she's a good runner).

I'll get the marathon out of the way and then have another look at fasting.

caz

There is a Nyungne fast which is a Avaloketishvara purification ritual.

ownerof1000oddsocks

I think I'll have a bash on Friday. The thing is, I run - I'm training for a marathon - but I also could do with losing a stone in weight.

Friday is a rest day, so I'll not eat more than 600 calories that day.

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is amazing for weight loss. Cutting out carbohydrates will make the weight fall off you, but will also weaken you if you're running on a regular basis.

Moderate carb intake combined with HIIT and some aerobic (oxygen burning) activity could be in order.