A Successful Fast

I'll admit when I started my fast on Sunday, after a breakfast of eggs and bacon, I really didn't have confidence in myself that I could do it. I was scared as I didn't know what to expect, I wasn't sure how my body would react and wasn't sure if I was up for the challenge. However, it really wasn't that bad at all. I am very proud of myself for my 22 1/2 hour fast. It would have been 24 but as I mentioned, I woke up earlier this morning than on Sunday.


So you ask, why did you do this? Well first because I am always up for a challenge and in all honesty, wanted to see if I could do it. Second, because I wanted to start of the next phase of this diet (the more ramped up, less indulgences phase) with a clean slate (or empty stomach, same thing!). I did a lot of research beforehand and made sure that I ate really well on Saturday and had a protein rich breakfast on Sunday. I allowed myself to drink water, which ended up being 100 FL oz plus one cup of fasting tea (not in the plan, but I had it on hand and it seemed fitting).

*As a side note, this type of fasting is called intermittent fasting and is mentioned as part of the paleo/primal blueprint diet, since Grok (our cave man mock person) likely went days without food, our bodies are capable and may even benefit from fasting every now and then as well. You can learn more by visiting MarksDailyApple.com or other paleo diet websites**


The biggest challenge of this fast was the fear of the unknown. I've gone before where I've missed a meal and I become irritable, dizzy and low energy so I was scared that would happen. However, since switching to the paleo diet, I've found I don't go through the typical ups and downs with my blood sugar. So as the hours started ticking away I sat there and wondered when is this going to get bad. Around 2:00 I started to feel hungry (I ate at 8:30) so I drank a bunch of water, took the dogs on a walk (a slow once since I hurt myself at my soccer game on Saturday), went to the grocery store, cut up all my veggies for the week, BBQ'd steaks (this was difficult as it smelled really good and I was hungry), folded laundry, delivered said steaks to Matt at work, worked on homework and all of a sudden it was 10:00pm! Wow, I NEVER felt like I was going to faint, in fact my body seemed to have shut down the hunger cues and was working efficiently on its own, sans food.

As I finally laid down at 10:00pm to go to bed, I realized I had done it. All I had to do was go to sleep and when I woke up I could eat! I then realized that I hadn't had hunger pains or a growling stomach for a really long time. I felt fine, I had a lot of energy, I wasn't dizzy, I was fine! This was amazing! My body was able to tap in to more primal functions and use stored fats to sustain me through this fast.

The most amazing part was when I woke up this morning at 6:15, I WAS NOT hungry! I figured I would be starving, but I wasn't even hungry. So I showered, had a cup of coffee and started getting ready for the day. I finally made breakfast around 7:15, knowing I had a busy day ahead of me and would eventually need food. I made a 3-egg omelet with turkey sausage, spinach, red/yellow/orange peppers, green onion and sweet onion. Sprinkled a little cheese and salsa on top...so good! However, not the kind of good I thought it would be. It was satisfying, but I didn't devour it like I hadn't eaten for 24 hours.

I think the key thing I learned during this process is that my body, given the right foods, can sustain itself with no food for long periods of time. Going through this fast successfully has helped me better understand to listen to the signals my body is sending. This becomes most relevant when tackling my late night snacking! If I can go 24 hours without food, I certainly don't need that late night snack after dinner!

Sorry for the rambling post, but I am really proud of myself and realize now that food doesn't need to play such a significant role in my life. Just wanted to share the experience with everyone. This isn't something everyone will want to do, or will be able to do. However, if you make the switch to paleo, and feed your body foods it actually needs and wants, you can be successful with this as well. It’s a pretty powerful experience and allows you to gain control over your nutrition and lifestyle a little at a time.

Note - I will try to add this 24 hour fast in to my lifestyle twice a month for awhile. I'm thinking Sundays work best, specifically on days when I don't have soccer games!


Food and Images for thought:
We are living in a society where the rate of illness and disease is on a continuous rise, in America alone there are 23million people diagnosed with cancer every year, 41million people diagnosed with heart disease, 50million people with high blood pressure, 80million people with diabetes (and that’s expected to double in 2 generations) and 64% of adults in America are either overweight or obese.


Nutrition has the ability to take charge of our health, wellness and longevity. Whether the nutrition is good or bad, the foods we put into our mouth can dramatically alter our hormones, our energy levels and of course, our well-being.

Studies have shown that 70% of all deaths in America are diet related (http://www.livingpaleo.com/paleo-diet.html)