Thank you all for your feedback from my first post! Sorry, for the delay in getting out the follow up post. I’ve been travelling a lot for my job. 🙂
I was asked to write about fasting this month. There is so much that I can say on it, that I may even talk about it again in a later post.
Let’s start by defining fasting. According to the Medical Free Dictionary, “Fasting is voluntarily not eating food for varying lengths of time. Fasting is used as a medical therapy for many conditions. It is also a spiritual practice in many religions.” More information can be found here: http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/_/dict.aspx?word=fasting
There are so many types of fasts out there. As mentioned above, there are religious fasts like Ramadan or Lent. There is the water fast, where you only drink water. This is typically not recommended in anything that I’ve read. There are also juice fasts and time related fasts. I’ve even seen fasts to require you to take pills. I don’t really consider these types to be fasts at all.
Why do people fast? People fast for spiritual or religious reasons, weight loss, detoxification, or other medical reasons. When I fasted, I did it to detox and to jump start a healthier eating regimine. You can read all about my fasts on my blog, BigDivaHq.com. All of the related posts are grouped here: http://bigdivahq.com/tag/master-cleanse/
Once, I read a comment on some website where the commenter thought that fasting was a hoax. She believed that the body had its own natural system to release waste and that fasting was totally unnecessary. I do agree that the body has its natural waste release system, but I also believe that with pollution we inhale, heavy unhealthy items that we eat, unnatural chemicals and harmful products that we put on our bodies daily take a toll on our natural waste system.
I also believe that disease is a product of harmful waste that has built up in the body. With such a heavy burden our bodies have: to totally cleanse all the things that we put in it and on it, systems start breaking down or the body doesn’t do as thorough a job as it should.
The good thing is that our bodies are amazing healing vessels. Giving your body a break from certain types of foods or food altogether allows for it to focus on clearing out what is still there. Granted, I am by no means a doctor, however I’ve thoroughly researched the subject before I embarked on my first fast and since then, I’ve done 3 more.
Before I go, one thing that I want you to understand about fasting is that it should not be used as a quick weight loss strategy. Yes, you will lose weight, but once you start eating again, you will gain the weight back. You can, however, use the fast as a spring board to better food choices and a healthier overall routine.
I haven’t done a fast since the winter. I feel like the Master Cleanser no longer suits my needs. In speaking with a friend who is a health and holistic nutrition specialist, I was advised to be careful of the type of fasts that I choose. She told me to do a fast of only fruit and vegetables so that my body can be bathed in nutrients. (How refreshing does that sound? lol) I think that I will give it a try the next time. I’ll be sure to keep you posted. 😉
Feel free to ask any questions or post comments about your own experiences! Thanks for reading!
—
Be blessed and be a blessing today and everyday!