As a Christian, I believe fasting is a part of my spiritual heritage and practice. Spiritual benefits are a part of fasting but it’s no surprise that fasting is super-beneficial for us physically as well as mentally. With that premise in mind I have been blessed by reading books on fasting benefits. The more I read on those benefits the more excited I get about fasting. I become inspired to fast more and more, believing that we are designed to fast eat fast instead of continually eat while stopping occasionally to have a break from it. The practice of fasting and taking a breakfast has been so beneficial I have decided to adjust my thinking from eating all day with fasting in between to fasting all day with eating in between.
Some say “I can’t fast because…” to which I reply, “you fast every night.” Thus the term breakfast is the first meal of the day whenever you eat! Skipping breakfast is extending your fast. I have read of benefits from 2 hours, 4 hours, 8-12 hours and more benefits for 24 hours. I’ve read benefits for extended fasts and even studies showing healing from diseases such as cancer and Huntington’s can be reversed. Our bodies are programmed to heal. So far, the only reason I eat at all is to keep my blood pressure up! Ha!
My window is 3-5:00. Sometimes 2:00-6:00. Sometimes I eat in the morning. It’s flexible! The amount of times I eat more is so often because of celebrations, I enjoy going right back to the fast.
As a person with a disability, weightloss seemed improbable and out of reach but this eating schedule gave me a perfect pound-a-day weight loss success rate. It’s safe and keeps my mind off food prep all day. If I need something to help me with lightheadedness I use highly nutritional bone broth or a chocolate protein drink. High nutritiion and hydration are the additional benefits to bone broth in the morning. I also. use 1 Zipfizz energy powder tube per 2 bottles of water each morning which only adds 20 cal to my fast while adding super beneficial B12 plus other electrolytes.
The amount of healing and regeneration the body does during this daily fast is anti-aging as well. Sicknesses and diseases can be absolutely reversed during fasts. The more research they do, the more things like cancer and Huntington’s Disease they have found it to reverse.
The way I see it, we are designed to fast often. Eating food is only often for children. Three meals a day is more than we need and too often toxic for our health. Now I’m fasting, eating and then back to fasting daily. Mental clarity, energy and thinness are the short term benefits so far. We shall see all the long term benefits!
I recommend starting with Eat Stop Eat if you can’t jump in to Fast Eat Fast. And when you can, switch to a fast-eat-fast lifestyle. When you’ve lost weight, maintain with Eat-Stop-Eat. Brad Pilon authored Eat Stop Eat and makes reference to evolution and Zen in his book. As a Christian, myself, studying how the body was designed to heal itself only makes me more aware of our Creator!
I try to fast often. Several days at a time…what a nice website you have. .xo