Fasting Tips

Nothing reboots and cleanses the body, mind and spirit better than a fast. It’s like a new start on life. Whether its a juice fast, water fast, MC, etc. Your body becomes clean as a baby when allowed to go through the proper detoxing. It’s a personal experience for everyone and the length of the fast will vary. Typically, a quick reboot/cleanse will be 7 – 10 days. Others go longer…. 30 – 40 days. A few words of caution: If you are on medication, talk to your doctor or naturopath and come up with a plan to do a cleanse with smoothies or just simple raw vegetables until you are healed and weaned (if possible) off of medications as it is dangerous to fast while taking medicines. Also, in my opinion it is not safe to fast while pregnant or nursing. Many medical conditions are also contraindicated to fasting, again, talk to your doctor or naturopath.

Tips:

1. Prepare your body – drink only water and eat only raw fruits and vegetables for a week or more before you start your fast. (avoid dried fruits, nuts, salts, sweeteners, gourmet raw foods and fruits with high glycemic indexes)

2. Surround yourself with supportive community and don’t tell the “naysayers” of raw food living and fasting of your fast. (you don’t want to receive their curses)

3. Simplify your life as much as possible

4. Turn off the TV

5. Avoid as much as possible social situations that will distract you from your fast. (parties, restaurants, bars, etc.)

6. Plan your calendar ahead so you’re not stuck in these social situations

7. Do a group fast with friends or family (even if its one other person) that you can talk to, call and see often for support.

8. Meditate and pray.

9. Set realistic goals. Start off with 3 or 4 days. Then wait a couple months. Then go for 7 days…and so on…

Comments

  • i’m now coming close to 72 hours water-fasting…i have a little head-ache but nothing too serious…the fast was unplanned as is the time i’ll break it…taking it hour by hour

    2 questions

    1) during waterfasting does your husband notice clearly when his body kicks over to ketosis ?? and is it roughly at the same point each time he fasts ??

    i hear it’s normally around the 3rd day mark

    2) does he use enemas ??? i’m really against the use (trust it all to nature) but i’m curious, if he doesn’t, whether he experiences any bowel action….

    on my last food day i ate about 15 bananas and had my usual 3 bowel movements and felt quite empty….but today (day 3) at around hour 68 i had a good movement…..is this uncommon ??

    sorry for the detail :o)

    thanks

  • oh, and one more thing

    could you give me a little idea on his re-feeding process for his extended fasts (anything more than 10 days)

    thanks again :o)

  • El-bo: Yes, he notices a pattern in cleansing. He has done several 40 day fasts. to answer your questions:

    1. He often “feels” it clearly around day 3 or 5 and then he’ll feel his body “sucking itself down” as he refers to it.

    2. yes, he does use enemas. we believe in them because the colon builds up toxins very fast – sometimes giving a fuzzy, sick in the head, bad mood feeling. the colon contains more parasympathetic nerves than the spinal cord. it is often referred to as the “2nd brain” because so many illnesses (physical and mental) are related to an unhealthy colon.

    If you are already particularly clean, you may not need to do the enema. just depends on if you want to help speed the process or if you go into a detox crisis. a BM on day 3 of a fast is normal. basically you go by how you feel… if you start a fast and have no action – then by day 3 or 4 you want to help things along to get your colon cleared out. seems youre doing splendid!!!

    This particular fast he’s currently on (day 8 today – he’s doing lemon water with a squirt of agave nectar, plain water and mint/fasting tea) he had a headache for the first 6 days. He hadn’t experienced that before. I think he was detoxing physically but also detoxing emotional stress too. Usually, around day 10 or 11 he enters this glorious state, then days 17 – 20 are hard – he usually wants to give up, starts pondering the meaning of life, feeling “what the heck am i doing this for??”. It’s precious because it’s when those things are pressed, that one goes into the phase of surrender and deeper cleansing. Then days 34 on is the homestretch and he’s hoping toward the day he will eat his first meal. : )

    Breaking the Fast: He starts with blended soups for the first day or two. continues with lots of water and tea. Then from day 2 on, he adds plain salads with lemon/lime (no nuts or dried fruit). After about a week of blended soups, smoothies, green salads – he’ll allow some nuts and dried fruit – but he’s happiest living on soup, fruits, veggies and salad.

  • thank-you very much :o)

  • CarmentinaCarmentina Raw Newbie

    This is great info. I’ve been doing a lot of juice/water fasting lately, but mostly half-days or more. Sometimes a few days. What about Salt Water Flushing as opposed to doing an enema? Do you think occasional half-day, several day fasts are useful or is it better to just do long ones? Thanks :)

  • my own experience of salt water flushing is not great….though it definately does the buisiness, i notice distinct dehydration and water retention/bloating afterwards…this is enough for me to conclude that the body absorbs some of the salt…this isn’t s’posed to happen due to the measurements….anyways, it’s damn unpleasant….i’d only do it in an emergency

    as far as fasting for short periods i think that any extended break from digestion is good for the body…there is an argument that you can really throw the body into confusion like this as it aims to compensate for what it feels is a period of starvation…this could involve holding onto fat etc…..fasting for longer periods is different in that your body can commit to it’s cleaning precess..

    also with half-day fasts your body is only chasing it’s tail, never really getting the chance to deal with any deeper cleansing

    hope this helps

     

  • My husband has never tried and doesn’t intend the salt water flush. I’ve heard mixed reviews about it from people…. some find great success with it, others vomit it up before they can drink it all. In theory it sounds potentially beneficial for occasional use but I have no personal experience. wow, el-bo, it does make sense that your body would hold onto some of that salt. good to think about that.

    In my opinion, any form of fasting is beneficial to the body, mind, and spirit. I do believe it is good to do a 10 day or longer fast from time to time for complete cleansing. BUT….How long, how often and what form you fast should be a liberating and personal decision. That’s what it’s about anyway – freedom. : )

  • CarmentinaCarmentina Raw Newbie

    Thanks el-bo and mamamilk. What are your thoughts about the various liver/kidney/gallbladder cleanses? I’ve been tempted, but I find regular fasting (juice or water) more appealing. The so-called gallbladder stones sure seem like congealed oil, but who really knows? Thanks again!!

  • i have no interest in those cleanses…i’m just one of the oddballs that believes the body heals itself, given the right circumstances…an extended, supervised water-fast would be the ideal situation for your body to rid itself of anything bad

    it’s also much more effective than juice fasting could ever be…juice fasting isn’t really fasting at all, but there is definately some argument for it…again, it’s not something i agree with anymore

  • Yep. I agree with el-bo. no interest at all in those types of cleanses either – there’s so many “camps” and critics out there – it can be very confusing. it’s easy to get sidetracked from your personal reasons for doing this. Keep it simple! Life should be about freedom and simplicity – then in our efforts to get away from SAD, STUFF and the other junk in life, we simply re-create another SYSTEM!

    In Biblical times, unless otherwise clarified, fasting meant water only fasting. (some even fasted without food OR water – good ‘ole Moses) anyway, nowadays in modern society, our bodies are too toxic (even raw foodists beware) for water fasting so it’s better to ease into it with raw foods for a season, then juicing/lemon water fasting and then move towards water fasting so as not to detox to death. as el-bo said, “supervised”...

  • nycgrrlnycgrrl Raw Newbie

    Hi I would like to do a fast starting august 15-when my 30 day 100% raw challenge ends. Problem is this: i have kids. I have to run around with them, shop for and cook for them (they are not raw), keep them busy etc. I am worried that it will be hard to fast.

    Thoughts?

  • i’d advise against it….juicing woud be a more supportive approach if you need to remain active

    some people report relatively high levels of energy during a fast but more often than not these are the bigger folk like myself who have enough fat to supply for daily fuel/calories

    of course you can fast up to the point of fat burning relatively safely (up to 3 days), but really the body needs to divert all its energy and bloodflow towards healing…the minute you are active, blood is diverted to muscles etc and away from cleansing..maybe wait for a time when you can palm the kids off on someone else for a weekend..then fast from friday night to monday morning, taking full rest

    i’m now coming up to 80 hours fasting and ,aside from toilet trips and walking the dog round the block today, i’ve been in bed since friday night :o)

  • nycgrrlnycgrrl Raw Newbie

    LOL, okay elbo-but I have my issues with juicing—what kinds of juices are you talking about? Anyway, it wouldn’t work for me during the time frame i was hoping for because I will be visiting my mother for august, and I am not lugging my juicer out there. I was hoping to keep it simple: water only. Maybe not…maybe a fruit only fast?

  • actually i don’t advocate juicing at all…i just add that in these days to stop the pro-juicers getting on my case LOL :o)

    the only juice i use is citrus-squeezed orange ‘cause it retains fibre….storm and jingee have a 2 week orange juice cleanse but from what i remember they never said whether they meant to strain or not…don’t strain to avoid blood sugar problems and to maintain proper bowel function

    i’m sure you can take a citrus juicer with you…a cheapo electric one will save loads of grief…well it does for me, but i usually juice 10+ large naval oranges at a time for a couple of litres of liquid sunshine :o)

    basically, juicing aint real fasting because of the consumption of calories and the bodies need to process these elements, taking energy away from healing…..juicing oranges with the fibre intact is even further from fasting HOWEVER it is a great thing to use as a mono-meal because its very easily absorbed…mono-mealing oj for 1-14 days will really have a great rejuvenating effect in a form easier assimilated than the elements in a master cleanse, for instance…..consume in 2 or 3 larger doses as opposed to one glass per hour as you are trying to leave as much opportunity between digestion as possible to allow for cleansing/healing

    even a fruit-only fast will give benefits…more-so if you can chose one type of fruit for the entire period…watermelon is popular for this (as long as there is a w.c nearby)...bananas are also good…...basically anything you love enough to eat day in day out…

    keep hydration high and space between meals as long as you can

    hope this helps :o)

  • nycgrrl: it is hard with kids. the other day, i left my husband (whose on a 40 day fast) home with them and he made dinner and everything for them. the man is incredible…. it can be done! it just takes planning, some partnership with other adults and the kids participation. get some easy fix sprouted breads, spreads, easy peel/easy eat fruits and veggies and a brita spigot water pitcher and your kids can prepare food and do so much more than you think. it’ll be a good growing experience!

    Yes, pure water fasting is great ONLY when you can slooowwww your life down – historically it just wasn’t meant for our modern lifestyle. Juice fasting can be tricky because you have the potential of putting yourself on a roller coaster of sugar highs and lows.

    what may work for you: Right now, my husband is doing water with a squeeze of lime or grapefruit juice and a squirt of agave. He’s also drinking mint tea or fasting tea. He works full time in a demanding job, and basically continues to be an involved husband, father and friend. Otherwise, he’d be on his face for 40 days with water only….

    Some people do the raw veg. fasts. (it’s often referred to as a ‘Daniel fast’)

    my husband keeps telling me this is the best fast he’s been on ever. funny, he’s got a little ‘extra’ to live off of for awhile too. He was not planning this particular one out either and I was teasing him that he had gained a little weight and he was probably being “fattened up for the kill”.... heh heh. He didn’t think it was funny – then a few days later he started this fast. It’s been good….

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