Think Fast

My First Day of Fasting

The day I turned 40, I decided to limit my caloric intake drastically. I went from about 3000 calories a day (including lots of Starbucks treats) to a diet of less than the recommended daily allowance of 2000 (and no *$$). In two months, I went from 193 lbs to about 168, a loss of 25 pounds. I still ate chocolate and had some ice cream, but I was really careful about avoiding unnecessary (empty) calories, like soda, and I severely cut down on my inveterate late-night snacking tendencies. Then came Martha's Vineyard.

I'd kept my weight at about 168, give or take a few pounds, for the months leading up to the summer, but that Murdick's fudge gets me every time. I found myself eating at least a half pound a day, in addition to frequent trips to Mad Martha's ice cream, and in two weeks, my weight was over 180. I was pretty annoyed.

In the months since that trip, I've managed to stay at around 177, which feels like a comfortable weight, but I've been snacking more, and eating more ice cream, than I should. I decided it was time to do something about this once again, and a few days ago I decided that today I would start a once-a-week abstinence from food. "Wednesdays Without," I guess you could call it. If I'd waited a couple more days, I could have had "Foodless Fridays," but Wednesdays just happened to work out better for my schedule.

It's funny how unconscious we can be around food. While helping Maeve with her lunch today, I opened a container of stringbeans that her mom had packed and found myself munching two of them. Oops. So my fast wasn't totally perfect. I also let Maeve feed me a blueberry, but that was conscious; you have to allow for cutenesses like that. I had also read that many people simply avoid 'food' but don't eschew fruit juices, so I had a few ounces of blueberry juice this morning, a quarter-lemon's worth of juice in my green tea, and later, some sparkling apple cider.

It's also confusing when people talk about fasting for a 'day.' Does that mean you can start eating again 24 hours after your last late-night snack? I don't think so. I decided to interpret 'day' to mean the 30- to 36-hour period from previous meal to next meal. So I have to wait until tomorrow morning before I can eat again.

Fasting is supposed to extend lifespan and generally improve health, which is why I've chosen to do it. It certainly wasn't as hard as I'd expected. It's also said to help reduce sugar cravings, so I'm looking forward to that aspect as well. I'm also really looking forward to breakfast, which in this case is a well-named meal. I'll stick with my honey yogurt (<200 cal), but I'm going to switch from my usual black tea with milk and a whopping tablespoon of sugar to green tea with a bit of lemon.