The benefits of FASTING from spirit & science

Sometime into my food re-education using my pendulum, it took me to a gap between the work surface and the cooker. I didn't get it at first and then I realised it was telling me 'gap'. Gap, what did they mean? After a few questions I got a 'yes' when I asked, 'do you want me to take a gap from eating?

After huffing and puffing (I was looking forward to my breakfast 😁) I asked when I should eat. 11 o'clock. That wasn't too bad, I could go without for another hour or 2. I done this for the rest of the week and then the pendulum took me to the gap again. This time I was to wait until noon to eat. They'd already weened me off of evening snacking so my window of eating had naturally reduced. I was now on 2 meals a day without too much hunger.

I stayed on this for a while until I got another gap. I asked them 'am I going to eat today?' YES

'When should I eat?'

1 o'clock? NO

2 o'clock? NO

3 o'clock? NO

4 o'clock? NO

5 o'clock? YES

PHEW - At least I didn't have to go all day without food!

I did this during the week, I was a little hungry but nothing too bad. Then it came to the weekend. GAP!

WHAT? Another gap? Hadn't I done enough gapping? 🤪🥴😒

How long was this one going to be? 3 Days. Or more specifically, my last meal Friday evening until Monday at noon when I could eat again.

I can't say I was particularly impressed with their strategy, I loved my food and couldn't imagine going without for a whole weekend 😭

But I trusted them. I'd already lost most of my weight and was feeling more energised and no longer craved my sugary snacks. I reflected and realised how far I'd come. Before I started dowsing I was eating chocolate for breakfast, then nibbling crisps for evensies, then I'd eat lunch, then more snacking right until bed. My diet was attrotious and my weight had blown up, I was incredibly unhappy. I remember those days, it was during lockdown and I was incredibly depressed and would spend most of my days snoozing.

So the FAST began. The first day I was hungry, the second day I was weak and the last morning was a revelation. I seemed to have so much energy, enough to go and do some shopping.

I found that the hardest part of the process was keeping myself occupied. It dawned on me how much of people's existence is focused around food. Working to fund the food. Shopping for the food. Cooking the food. The clean up after. I had so much free time on my hands because I wasn't eating. I treated the process as if I had an illness. I holed myself away and watched things on YouTube and read. It was actually quite nice taking time out to just indulge in interesting things.

It got me thinking about why many spiritual philosophies incorporate FASTING into their practice. Christians FAST around February, Muslims do Ramadan, the Jewish faith have their own practice and I'm sure many others have a form of FASTING.

FASTING is like a spring clean for your body. It's like cleaning out a house when it's become cluttered. And it feels good.

I have watched various different alternative doctors talk about the benefits of FASTING and many other 'experts' talk about why it's just a fad and it's all about 'calorie in, calories out'. It's confusing to know who to trust with so many counter arguments. But it wasn't until this morning that the penny really dropped for me.

I was watching a PT expressing his opinion on how the only reason it works for weightloss is because people consume less calories whilst FASTING and the weight will just go back on once regular eating occurs, and he had a point. FASTING isn't for weightloss.

But it bugged me that he wasn't getting the point and I thought to myself, 'well, I don't think I get the point' 🤭 And then something dawned on me. Something so utterly obvious that I'd completely missed it.

In my former life I was a trainer and one of my roles was to teach Food Hygiene. I gained an Advanced Food Hygiene qualification where I learnt about bacteria multiplication in food. You see, our bodies have an entire eco system of bacteria floating around, keeping equilibrium. It's when certain bacteria get out of hand that symptoms of illness start to occur. It's a bit like nature, if you let the weeds get out of hand, they'd swamp the entire garden so need maintenance.

Bacteria goes through a process called Binary Fission. This is when a single cell devides into two and that cell then divides into two and so on. This is how bacteria multiplies rapidly.

Bacteria needs 5 things to multiply. It's needs:

Nourishment

Water

Oxygen

Warmth

Time

Similarly to the Fire Triangle (in order for a fire to burn it needs fuel, oxygen and a spark. Take any of those away and the fire goes out). If we take away nourishment and water, bacteria will stop multiplying. We can't take away oxygen, warmth or time as they are part of our anatomy and we'd die. So we need to limit food and liquid.

If you're suffering from minor health troubles and want to prevent bacterial chaos, then learning how to FAST may be the answer. Of course, if you're in a more serious state, seek medical assistance. Or you could wait until you're really unwell and let your body kick start it's FAST (have you ever noticed that when you have a cold your appetite depleats?).

Here is a method my guides taught me and I hope it helps you.

Step 1

Make your first meal of the day super nourishing - do this for a week.

Step 2

Avoid snacking in the evening - do this for a week.

Step 3

Start to leave a longer gap between meals. Build on these over time.

Step 4

Skip breakfast - do this for a month

Step 5

Eat 2 meals a day within a 6 hour time window - do this for six months

Step 6

Do a weekend FAST (it doesn't have to be a weekend, choose whatever days suit your lifestyle but do a minimum of 72 hours) - drink water only.

If you'd have told this lifelong fatty a couple of years ago, that she'd be able to go without eating for a day I'd have said 'no chance, I gotta eat'. I'm amazed how far I've come, how my appetite has reduced and I'm no longer a slave to food 😉