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Fasting Today


I went to another class last night on Digestive Health; the speaker was the clinical nutritionist I've been working with.
I was re-inspired to incorporate fasting more often into my lifestyle, so today I am fasting! My goal is 24 hours, which will be at 6pm this evening. Only 6 hours to go and I feel fine. I'm drinking herbal tea, teaching my kids their homeschool lessons of the day, and I need to organize my freezers to make room for a whole beef cow, and then go pick up all that meat from the butcher. I also have my second to last homeschooling class tonight.
 Judging by the note that my son wrote for me this morning (all by himself!), I must not be doing a terrible job with the homeschooling. 😊 Seriously, it makes my heart so happy to see how much they love learning and writing and drawing and reading...I feel so blessed. Homeschooling can be overwhelming, but it is so rewarding.
 But this post was going to be about fasting, so back to that!
 Fasting is a great healing tool. It's free and easy. Well, easy in the sense that it doesn't require a ton of preparation or physical work. The mindset/willpower situation is maybe not so easy, but with a little practice it gets easier. I have done a 24 hour fast before, but usually I just aim for 16-18 hours, which for me isn't usually hard at all. In fact, I'm enjoying not having to make myself food today.
 So why do I fast? Fasting gives the digestive system a break, allowing it to focus more on deeper healing. It also has beneficial effects on your brain function and liver, your microbiome and much more!  Fasting encourages stem cell regeneration, which is a very good thing for your immune system.  (Check out this study)
 There are probably more benefits, but I am not a doctor, and I would suggest you do your own research on it. People with certain medical conditions need to be supervised while fasting. I would also suggest you remember that it is a stress on your body, which is part of the reason its good for you, but attempting fasting on a day that you are super busy or already undergoing a lot of stress is probably not the best idea.
 That said, humans have fasted at times for basically all of history; seasonally or even daily, when food was scarce or you simply had to go out a find something. We are so used to having food everywhere, and then there's the recommendations about eating "3 square meals a day plus snacks or you'll ruin your metabolism" that scare us into making sure we are never without food. But most of us won't drop dead if we don't eat for a day. In fact, it can have an amazing healing effect.
 I find it helpful for the mindset part to remind myself, especially if I'm craving a particular food, that I will be able to eat again and I can even eat right now if I really want to. I have a quote taped to my fridge that says "Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most." Fasting is a challenge for your body and self control. Doing hard things is usually good for you, and this is no different.
 The Bible talks quite a bit about fasting and using it as a time to refocus on God. I like to use this time to examine my relationship with food too; am I making it an idol by focusing so much on what to eat or when to eat or whatever? There does come a point when my tummy does feel hungry and instead of obsessing about how long it is til I get to eat again,  I try to think about a favorite Bible verse or a blessing I'm grateful for.
 The Bible says "O taste and see that the Lord is good..." It's a good thing for us to turn our eyes away from our physical nourishment for a little while and remember that God is the One who supplies us with all we need. Food is definitely important - vital - but it's refreshing to just take a step back and feel the freedom of being able to go without for a short time.
 Well, those are my personal thoughts on the matter.
Also, I did some experimenting  in the kitchen yesterday and I made myself some delicious spiced sweet potato mini donuts, and because I was crazy busy yesterday they are still sitting on the counter, and they are tempting me...But I know I can have one (or three) tomorrow, so I will not break my fast☺







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