My Fast Has Slowed Me...Nicely

If you've ever thought about fasting, know this: It's much easier after the third day. And if you decide on a longer fast, there's nothing to it on the ninth--except for your moving more slowly. And needing a few extra naps.

But why would you want to fast, you may ask, for even a couple of days. Here are the best of all reasons for me:

and

Breaking the chains was my prime mover this time. In the past, I'd pulled off two long fasts like this. And the results had amazed me: from weight loss to improved complexion to an augmented sense of well-being. In each case, when I broke the fast, I found myself craving superior food--fruits and salads and natural soups--instead of SAD (the Standard American Diet). And in each case I'd lost about thirty pounds in 10 days. I ended up with my own law:

Cravings create cravings...so cultivate great cravings.

But in each case, I drifted back to SAD--a personal or family crisis...or too many little daily slips to pacify my friends (Go on, have a piece of cake!). Thereafter, my many shorter fasts from one to three days reflected the power of the chains. Also, the shorter fasts were compromised: undertaken to lose weight, not for the positive reasons that launched the last two big ones.

Lesson: successful fasting is not an act of Not, not eating things we enjoy:

Instead, it pays to turn our thoughts to all the foods we can enjoy--in just a few more days--once we've broken the chains of SAD...and our taste buds start to tingle at the thought of superior food. Think: there'd be no point in fasting for any length of time if we returned to the same foods that had run us down and fattened us and enslaved us for so long. 

My own ten-day fast ends tomorrow. I know from experience and research to break the fast lowly--3-4 days starting with juices, then slowly adding fruit...then yogurt...yogurt with chopped walnuts...then moving on steadily. So some weight loss will continue for that time.

But my steely sights are set on my master goal: finding and staying with the foods that are right for my body and soul.   And when I look, I see a mainly plant-based diet with meat now and then as condiment, not as the main course.

Next week I'll post my conclusions, plus tips and lessons I've learned through the years.

Today I'm enjoying the gifts of the fast:

--The right knee that's been stiff for ages is flexible again, pain-free.

--My metabolism feels slower. I feel relaxed and non-hyper.

--My concentration feels enhanced.

--I've felt a fresh surge in confidence with each day of the fast.

Till next week!

On the Move Again

Some dreams take longer than others, as you already know. 30 months ago, I escaped from Charlotte, with a purple trunk and four boxes on board a cross-country train. Destination: Seattle.

My dreams: a studio or apartment in Capitol Hill

and a job at the Elliott Bay book store.

Things didn't go quite as planned. To get my feet, I took a studio in the 'historic'--old and sketchy--part of town known as Pioneer Square.

And, no job offer from the bookstore, I worked at a couple of loser jobs before finding an okay one in...Capitol Hill. Terrific, except for a couple of things: I'd grown tired of seeing throngs of Walking Dead homeless and drug dealers in Pioneer Square. And my workplace is moving to Renton in late August--a three-hour round-trip daily commute.

The time had come for action--the all-out, full-speed, damn the torpedoes kind.

1) At work I learned from a coworker of a studio just a few blocks from the office.

2) I viewed it and decided to take it the next day, though it's a few hundred bucks more than I've been paying. I could make up that difference, I figured, by no longer using Uber.

3) I completed the online application.

4) I reapplied at Elliott Bay Book Company, this time handing the application to a manager.

5) I gave the necessary 2-week notice on my month-to-month studio.

6) I began checking online for cheap but well-reviewed movers.
7) I started scrapping all furniture and furnishings except for the best of the best.

And on and on and on. Before the move to Seattle, I'd needed six months to pack and prepare. This time I have just a couple of weeks. 

Next up: a new job in Capitol Hill.

It's good to be back in action again.