The After-the-Fast effect

I've been pre-occupied with family matters for the last couple of months but now I'm back. Since my last post was about the difference between fasting and just “not eating,” I’ll start where I left off.

As you may recall, in January, I went on a 21 day fast of raw food, I discovered some things.  First, I discovered that the purpose of fasting is to have a fasted life. By that I mean, the real purpose of a fast is what changes as a result of it….the after-the-fast part of your life. The primary intention of my fast was to deal with my feelings about my brother’s cancer diagnosis. I knew that in order to support him, I could not be in fear and panic mode myself.  I knew that to pray from a position of fear was not praying in faith, so I also wanted to have a stronger faith to believe for his healing.

Now, over  a month later, I’m finding that there was a fasting "residual" that I hope will be a part of my life for the remaining 344 days. First, I learned that fear is a product of the thoughts that I think. Fasting allowed me the clarity to notice the many times of the day that I would start feeling sad about my brother. The thoughts were for the most part, imaginings about his death, the effect of the loss by our mother or his daughters.  I determined to stop thinking about death and to imagine him healthy. I was able to do that during the fast and now after the fast, I’m still doing it.

The second thing I noticed is that I felt healthier eating raw food. For instance, I noticed that while everyone in the household had the flu-fever, headache, stuffy nose, etc., I didn't have a single sniffle. I noticed that the sciatic nerve pain I'd been experiencing for 3 years is just gone.  I have less aches and pains in my joints after my long drives to North Carolina or back to Virginia. I feel more alert...plus, I'm two dress sizes smaller. I decided to continue eating a diet of mostly raw foods.

The third thing I learned is that there are many many ways to fall in love with vegetables!  More on that later.

So, if you have an area of your thinking or a persistent behavior that needs to change, consider fasting. It’s not too late to fast for Lent!  Also, fasting need not be a total abstaining of food. Try a Daniel fast, no meats or sweets. Or a modified Daniel Fast, no sweets! How about fasting TV or giving up talk radio for your morning commute and putting in a devotional CD instead.  The important thing is to start small and to be gracious with yourself.  Changing to a healthy lifestyle works better if there is a carrot rather than a stick….Ha ha! Carrot, get it!