Time to Deprive

From 1999 to 2005 I was involved in the ritual of fasting. It wasn’t a church thing, or spiritual thing. It was a looking good thing. I got the idea from a paper I did in my speech class on the many benefits of fasting. I did this paper without actually fasting, and when I let my brother read it he actually tried it. He did it for 20 days, lost weight, and raved about it so much that I spent the Xmas and New Years in my room letting all the food addictions leave my body. I went from 186lbs to 166lbs in 7 days. I still remember it like it was yesterday. I did that ritual during the Xmas holidays since that is when people gain weight from overeating only to set new goals for the New Year.

The last fast I did was at the end of 2004, just when I upgraded to Expert. I was quite nervous about upgrading to Expert, and I felt like this would give me the best chance to reset my body. I was always leaner when I played table tennis, because I was more dedicated because I was top 10 in the US, and much more was at stake with trying to make the Olympic Team. Mtn biking racing was a way for me to stay competitive after I retired from PONG without globe hopping, but I had moved up to a level where I needed to be just as dedicated, even if I wasn’t as talented.

I was 192lbs, and I got down to 174lbs. My training after that was incredible, and I was riding at the Expert level for sure. My first race at the Expert level was actually my best until the Oleta race this past season. I tell you, my body was super charged for about 6 weeks, which was how long it took me to let the bad food back into my diet. I slowly went back to my old diet of the occasional fried food meal, and eating a little bit too late for my liking. And after 4 months I was right back were I started even though I had not gained back all the weight. That was when I realized it was more about what you ate, then what was on the scale. Since 2005 I have not done the fast because I have just been too busy, or too afraid to go through the awful detox experience.

In Las Vegas at the breakfast buffet at the Stratosphere I looked over at Mrs. P and said, “It’s time for a fast”. I then proceeded to tell her everything that it involved, and she said she was on board. Man, I’m glad I have a wife that I can convince. She said, “Man, I’m looking for some abs to get in this bikini”, I'm not thinking about your ass. So much for confidence.

So I started this fast on Xmas day, of all days. I went to Vegas 193lbs, gained 6lbs eating buffets and fatty foods in Vegas, so I’m starting the fast at 199.2lbs. My plan is to do 10-12 days, but I’m feeling quite inspired and I think I going to take it up to 12-14 days instead. Since I’m in no rush to get back on the bike, I can really take my time and enjoy this process, if there is such a thing.

Fasting has many benefits, and my reasons where selfish and physical in the beginning. I wanted to see the abs I had from high school. As the time went by, it started to turn emotional and spiritual. Things that bothered me before just didn’t bother me any longer. Things that were important to me that gave me anxiety were equally important, but somehow they didn’t stress me out anymore. I was more aware of the emotional order to things. You can let it bother you, or you can let it roll off your shoulder. You can let the universe bend you and ruin your emotional posture, or you can bend the universe as you see fit. If this universe is full of energy, then you can push it out of the way to make your own kind of emotional harmony. If you have every seen the Matrix, then think, “There is no spoon”.

What I later learned to enjoy about the fast, was the breaking of food addictions. After reading at least 8 books on fasting, I realized that some times Will Power is just not enough. I have broke a food addiction to some type of food every time I fasted. The first was mayo, the second was pork, and the third was salt. Those were the main 3, especially if you are a Southern boy like me. You can either fight with wanting the food and not eat it, or you can erase the source of the addiction. So fasting erases the database of that food's exists. After that the body naturally craves food that comes out of the ground, and especially those that are not fried.

I’m not an expert on this subject, but I have done it enough to know what goes on with the body. So, I’ll tell you what my experience has been like. Fasting does a multitudes of things, and the first one is it give your digestive tract a rest. If you are American, then you are most likely overeating, because it’s our culture. I learned that when I lived in Europe. We also eat really fast, again, it’s a cultural thing. We also have awful food combinations that make digestion almost impossible. Most of our organs are overworked, and backed up with waste from the colon not being able to digest because of the type of foods that we eat that clog the system. So if the body is not taking in food, at day 3 it turns its energy inward and starts to detoxify. You lose your craving for food, and that nasty “ I need to eat” headache dissipates.

The first thing you will notice is your face become thinner, and your stomach becomes flatter as the colon flattens. The second stage is you lose your desire for food. This is when you realized that you go to the fridge way too often. At this point the colon now understands that it does not have to digest incoming food and starts to get rid of waste in it. That process breaks down fat reserves, and eliminates stored toxins. During an extended fast the body removes dead or dying cells, unwanted fatty tissue, trans-fatty acids, mucus on the intestinal wall, and excess cholesterol to name a few. But the real question you have is “Why Fast” right?

The answer is simple. Fasting restores good health, and that comes in the form of better digestion and elimination. If you have better digestion, your body breaks down more of it’s food. If you have better digestion, then more of you food get assimilated, which is the food that your body actually uses. That means that less of your food has the potential to become waste. That makes elimination much more productive. Fasting allows a deep, physiological rest of the digestive organs, and the energy that is saved goes into self-healing and self-repairing. One of my favorite radicals of Fasting was Arnold Ehret, and he had a very simple formula. It was “V” = “P” - O. It means Vitality equals Power minus Obstruction. Power is putting mucusless food in the body and having a clean colon that transfers food to you entire body. Obstruction is the products that we put into our body that slows down the power. The sum of that is Vitality. You have to remember the body is an thinking engine, and if you give it a break, it will make an attempt to heal and repair itself.

In July and August I worked myself from 197lbs to 186lbs, but I still had the same food cravings. That is why a fast is great, because it erases the entire database of food that your taste buds have acquired the taste for. My required reading during this period to keep me motivated is Mucusless Diet by Arnold Ehret. He has created a charts of foods that give you power, and the chart of foods that add obstruction. That give a simple picture of what the body does in the body, and not how it taste. The other book is called “Sick and Tired” by Robert Young, he has a link on youtube, check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ChU721jrn4&feature=related. In his book he does a great job of explaining the foods that are acidic, and the foods that are alkaline. I also have a multitude of literature that I have gathered over the years.

The great thing is Mrs. P. is in for 5 days, as she doesn’t feel like she has the energy to do more than that. I plan to go up to Jan 7th, which would make it 14 days. The average person loses about 1lb per day, but I have always lost between 2.5lbs and 3lbs. If I do 14 days, then I’m in for over 30lbs of weight lost which I think is too much. My cut off is about 175lbs. The body normally gains about 10lbs back as it fills up the small and large intestine. So, if I can get to that weight and maintain it while taking more of the bad food out of my diet then this would have been an successful effort.

I will be drinking chlorophyll to help with digestion. I’ll be taking a powder that attaches to the colon walls and removes waste safely. In addition, I’ll be taking pills to kill parasites. If you don’t think that we are all walking around with parasites, then check out this site. www.drnatura.com. I’ll also be taking bentonite clay, as it has iron in it, and it absorbs toxins that are in the blood stream which speed up the elimination process.

I know there are some people reading this and thinking, just stay motivated with what you eat. If that is your attitude, then I have a challenge for you to test your Will Power. I dare you to take 5 days out of your LIFE and go without food. That is the meaning of real “Will Power”. I can guarantee that you will remember those 5 days just as vividly as you remember your wedding day, or honeymoon. That will change your outlook on health, motivation, and determination.

I’m not sure if I want to post anything during the fast, as I might not be of sound body and mind But, I’ll most definitely post after the entire process is done. My plan is to stay off the computer, cell phone, ipod, tv, and radio during my fast. I’ll listen to rainforest, and thunderstorms every night to soothe the soul during this time of healing. My goal is to get back to this.



Wish a brother luck

Pacer Out!