Dear Reader,
Here are some of my Day 1 reflections on the water fast I started last night around 10pm. Since I’m still processing things, let me take this time here to briefly explain some of the major reasons I’ve decided to do this.
Firstly, there are the physical benefits. There are all sorts of modern health benefits that have been reported that are connected to fasting; from fat loss, to autophagy, to the curing of various illnesses, to the resetting of various systems in the body, to curing depression, to added mental clarity, etc. Physically and nutritionally, my aim is to transition to some version of a Keto diet immediately after this, so a 3-day fast will help jump start the ketosis process.
Another benefit that I hope to get from the development of a new habit of added self-discipline with respect to the knee-jerk instinct to consume. Especially these days, the modern mind seems to be constantly over-stimulated and bombarded by so much noise, sensory distraction, and titillation, all designed to get us to give in to our baser appetites and to consume. Indeed, the default existential way of being of the modern 21st century individual is that of being a passive consumer rather than that of an active producer. Hence, self-imposed discipline in the area of food specifically, I believe translates into the broader habit of abstaining from the consumer mentality and default way of being in general. Whether it is processed food, porn, sex, sleep, drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, excessive spending, eating, media, social media, video games, screens, music, etc. all of these activities are, at heart, attempts on our part to flee from the present moment, to flee from hard work and to flee from discomfort, as we scramble to dull, numb, or distract ourselves with some excessive and/or new and novel form of stimulation. Fasting for these 3 days, I hope, will help calm my appetite for consuming food and for consuming stimulation in general.
Lasty, there is the spiritual component of this fast. Like Christian saints and mystics of old, or like our Lord Himself fasting for 40 days in the desert, fasting offers a perennial means for mortification of the flesh, for self-purification, and for strengthening against temptation. I hope this fast can serve in these capacities as well.
I dig this one Michael. I find myself more and more going through “intermittent” fasting in an effort to clear out the deluge of… non whole foods that I recently ate. Thank you for sharing this. Check out my writing sometime if you get a chance :)
Thank you, Michael. You inspire me. I have only truly fasted once in my life - for three days - for the solo portion of an Outward Bound course, on a mosquito-infested beach in the Florida Everglades. I was not much of a believer then, but looking back on it, the experience was clarifying and GOOD.