Day 5

So a couple of things to mention:
One, I suppose I was wrong about the "watering down of juice" I mentioned yesterday. I've been drinking straight juice yesterday and today with no problem. I really just think it depends on the year (sometimes I've been more sensitive than others) and the person's stomach.
Secondly, although yesterday felt pretty easy to start off with, I started getting really hungry by the end of the day. Granted, it wasn't ever anything terrible, but it was definitely somewhat difficult for a good part of the day. Which brings me to a good "fasting topic."

Many will tell you that once you get past the first three days that it is much easier. Now, I won't tell you that's not true. As a pretty static rule for all people, every human body knows how to fast and knows how to shut down and begin operating in "fasting mode." For those of you who don't know, there are actually a good number of medical doctors who have written books on this, talking about how your body's metabolism shuts down, and begins producing and using energy in a fundamentally different way than when you're eating. There is a lot of pretty cool information pertaining to this, which I might get to later. But anyway, the point is that as a near scientific fact, everyone does, at least to some extent, begin to have an easier time with fasting after the third day. However, I will also tell you that I think it depends on the person as to how easy the subsequent days are. For instance, when it comes to me, the whole "third day hump" has never really been this glorious conquest; usually just a minor landmark. Because the truth is, most days of a fast are, for me, fairly difficult. I know what it's like to be pretty incredibly hungry all the way to day 8, for instance.

So with that stated, today's day 5 and I've been pretty hungry since around noon. However, I think my stomach's starting to calm down which is good. But based off of what I just said, I'm really not expecting random hunger pangs, at least for me, to vanish even until my final day (day 9). I'm not saying it's impossible, because while I have in fact experienced hungry days later in a fast, I have also had days where food wasn't much of an issue. Anyway, so I guess my point on this topic is that depending on the individual, "day 3" may not be your deliverance like you would hope it to be. BUT that brings me to my next and final point for today: it then becomes about your mindset.

Now, this idea has been huge for me when it comes to fasting. I mean, really huge, and something that I didn't really get until last year; meaning for about 6 years, 6 long fasts, I just hadn't grasped yet. And that is, my friends, mentally letting go of food. Here's what I mean:
Going back to my first fasting days, you approach it with this mindset "Ahhh I'm giving up food...ahh...but I CAN MAKE IT! just focus...focus...day 1....2....3....AHHH....4.....on onto the final day, whatever it is, and FOOOOOD! YAY!!!!!" But I'm telling you my friends, this is just not the way to fast, and for a handful of reasons.
1 - And perhaps the most important, hunger in itself is so much of a mental battle. The fact is that in regards to your mindset during a fast, you have to learn to think about food in a way that's moderate and reasonable. What I mean is, and for those of you who know how much I love food hopefully this has strong effect, food is not the glorious image you hold up in your head while you're fasting. It's just not. Take it from someone who has come off of many fasts, the fact is that about a week or so after you start eating again, food is good and all, but life is back to normal and if you get a chance to eat out, great. If you have to just eat a pb & j at the house, that's cool too. The point is that the way you envision food while you're fasting just isn't realistic; you're hungry so you make it into something it's not. What you have to do is realize that once you start eating again, it won't be long before those days of crying out to God for a burger will be long forgotten, that food is just food and it's not the god you're empty stomach will make it out to be. Also, just like so many other things in this world that pertain to our physical desires, the more you think about and dwell on it, the more you want it. If I sit here and meditate on the pizza I'm going to eat in a month, it won't be long until I'm chaining myself to floor to keep me from going to the kitchen now. Simply, if you keep thinking about your "day of deliverance" when you get to eat again, it only serves to make you hungry, and I mean hooongry.
2 - This pertains to number one; if you're going on any type of long fast, another huge reason to not think on what you're going to eat when you finish is that you can't eat the stuff you fantasize about when you're done. If you start pushing 7 days or more, there's no use in thinking of the prime rib steak you're going to eat, because you won't be able to eat it for at least a few days or more after you come off your fast. Furthermore, this also means that when you finally do come off of the fast, you're not thinking about the joy of just getting to eat something again; you're still set on that "glorious succulent juicy God-given steak!" And this points to number
3 - The main thing you have to do mentally when it comes to fasting, is make the decision to give up food twice as long as you fasted. Honestly, this might be the most important point. You have to be in the mindset that once you come off the fast, food is still in a lot of ways off limits; you eat small and intelligently and listen to your stomach if you're pushing yourself to hard. You need to be content with taking it slow and really just almost maintain the mindset you had while fasting, that the "glory that is food" is mentally off limits. But again, I am saying that the "glory that is food" you will soon forget after coming off of the fast, meaning that you need to just try and think about food the way you do when you're eating normally; that it's a pretty good thing, but not the sole desire of your being for which you feel you'd punch a thousand babies to get.

So yeah, my point is that when you fast, it makes the world so much better when you learn to just let go of food, and what I mean by that is letting go for about double the time you fasted. And if you do that, when you come off it will be so much easier and peaceful, and actually allow you to enjoy coming off on chicken noodle soup, and not put pressure on you to stuff your face and get really, really sick.