Any advice on fasting for a beginner?
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I went to my source for questions like this - so here's some straight-up plagiarism from Dr. Balch's _Prescription for Nutritional Healing_ book (which you should own, if you don't already) (and I hope I don't get in trouble with yahoo!answers for quoting out of the book)...
"To prepare for the fast, eat only raw vegetables and fruits for two days. This will make the fast less of a shock to the system.
"While on the fast, consume at least eight 8-ounce glasses of steam-distilled water a day, plus pure juices and up to 2 cops of herbal tea a day. Dilute all juices with the water, adding about 1 part water to 3 parts juice. Do not drink orange or tomato juice, and avoid all juices made with sweeteners or other additives.
"The best juice to use during your fast is fresh lemon juice. Add the juice of one lemon to a cup of warm water. Fresh apple, beet, cabbage, carrot, celery and grape juices are also good, as are "green drinks," which are made from green leafy vegetables. These green drinks are excellent detoxifiers. Raw cabbage juice is particularly good for ulcers, and all colon problems. Just be sure to drink the cabbage juice as soon as it is prepared. As this juice sits, it loses its vitamin content.
"As a general rule, you should not combine fruit and vegetable juices. Apples are the only fruit that should be added to vegetable juices.
"Follow the juice-water-and-tea fast with a two-day diet of raw fruits and vegetables. The desired effects of the fast can be ruined by eating cooked foods immediately afterward. Because both the size of the stomach and the amount of secreted digestive juices may decrease during fasting, the first meals after a fast should be frequent and small.
"Suggested herbs to use in tea [technically, an infusion of herbs is a tissane]:
* Alfalfa, burdock, chamomile, dandelion, milk thistle, red, clover, rose hips - to rejuvenate the liver and cleanse the bloodstream. [Caution: do not use chamomile on an on-going basis, ragweed allergy may result. Avoid it completely if you're allergic to ragweed.]
* Drink 2 part echinacea and pau d'arco tea mixed with 1 part unsweetened cranberry juice. Used four times per day, this will rebuilt the immune system, aid in bladder function, and rid the colon of unwanted bacteria. [Note: do not use echinacea herb if you have any kind of autoimmune disorder.]
* Use peppermint tea for its calming and strengthening affect on the nerves, and for indigestion, nausea, and flatulence.
* Use slippery elm tea for inflammation of the colon."
There's more in the Fasting entry in this book; pick it up, you'll get a lot of mileage out of it. Used books stores and Amazon.com have past editions for half price or less sometimes.
yeah,eat
Fasting is very safe and healthy when done in moderation. The most important thing to make sure of is that you have enough body fat before you start. I say that mostly because fasting isn't as good of a way to lose weight and if you are too low on body fat, it's possible to get undernourished... and I don't know where you're coming from ;-)
That being said, I have fasted many times, and the most important thing to remember is that the hunger pains DO stop. It may take 6-12 hours, but they will stop.
I remember my first long fasting event with my youth group (40 hours, IIRC). By the end of the first night, everyone was starving, talking about how much they wanted to eat ___ or how they can't wait to eat ___ (which REALLY annoyed some others. LOL!). By the time the fasting was over, most of those people were bummed out because they weren't hungry anymore.
Basically, your brain realizes you won't be getting food anytime soon, so it stops telling you that you're hungry. It's a defense mechanism that helps prevent people from going insane when they can't eat for long periods of time.
As long as your willpower can last until that time is up, the rest is a piece of cake. I actually had a harder time remembering that I wasn't supposed to eat than I had trying not to eat. LOL!!
Yeah, eat now, before fasting anymore. Cause when you eat again your metabolism is going to be slow, and you will just gain weight again.
U should be in Ur word. And if u r not able to read Ur word then memorize some bible verses. Mediate on Ur word. And when u r fasting make sure u know what it is that u r fasting for, have a reason.
Drink tea, it's tasty and kinda fills you up.
Fasting is a wonderful way to give your digestive system a rest and a chance to clean itself out. A one-day fast is really not long enough to clean the tissues, but it does build the ability to take on a longer fast. I started with one day a week, then graduated to four days (consecutive) per month.
It is most critical how you end the fast. Since your system has been resting and cleansing, start with easy-to-digest foods, such as fruits (apples are great) or steamed veggies with olive oil. Definitely don't eat anything heavy like meat or starches.
You can do a longer fast if you lead into it by restricting your diet from certain foods, gradually eating lighter and lighter. If you feel yourself getting sick, this may be what's called a "healing crisis" ~ your body is throwing out toxins that have been stored. It is not pleasant coming out, but you'll feel wonderful afterward. Just let your body do it's thing. I took an eight day fast and about the fourth day threw up all kinds of stuff. Yuk! BUT, I felt so great afterwards, light and clean.
If you feel yourself getting desparate to ingest something, herb teas are great, especially chamomile and mint. Add a little honey if you want; it won't hurt you. Of course make sure all water you drink is purified.
Another point -- people tend to be more sensitive to EVERYTHING while fasting. You'll want to avoid toxins of all sorts, especially negative people. It's a wonderful time to read or get creative or meditative. Most saints fasted for spiritual purposes. On that note, I'll just say, good for you for wanting to do it!
My first question would be, why are you fasting? Generally speaking, you will encounter headaches initially at the beginning. If you drink plenty of water (room temperature!) it will help. If you have trouble bearing the taste of the water either squeeze a bit of lemon in your water to help with the taste. If you get light headed use wisdom and get something in your system like a leaf of spinach or a cracker, but nothing sweet or heavy. Your mind and your body aren't in unison, so be wise. Eat light days leading up to your fast and don't "pig out" once your fast ends. I don't know how spiritual you are but fasting will grow your "spirit" or your spirituality and your health will start to improve as well. If I know your reason for fasting I could be more specific, but I hope this gives you some help.
Fasting get rid of the toxins which create disease in body.
Best is to start with juice fasting. 100ml Orange juice alternate with any vegetable juice (carrot/beetroot etc.), 3-4 times a day. No tea/coffee.
Warm water with salt enema before retiring to sleep. 2-5 days of fasting with anemia rejuvenates body.
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