Today is the one-week mark of my fast, and thanks to Dennis I now know that I am actually still fasting. I thought that by eating the small portions I have been eating, I had broken my fast completely. This had actually bummed me out a little bit, and I thought that perhaps I should have had more willpower and continued to fast completely. But Dennis said that fasting, by definition, means to eat nothing or very, very little. So I looked it up, and he's right!
The dictionary defines fasting as "The act or practice of abstaining from or eating very little food." And that's what I'm doing. For example, yesterday I ate 3/4 of a banana for breakfast, and 11 dry roasted almonds around dinnertime. However, I went out to Trials Pub with Dad and Grampy with the intention of having a diet coke or something and being their designated driver. I saw, though, for the first time, that they had Hoegaarden on tap, so I had a half-pint. Over much conversation and many stories of times past, that turned into another two half-pints, which, for my normally-eating/drinking self wouldn't have been anything to write home about. But I learned that after a short fast and not drinking for a week, 1.5 pints will get you pretty buzzed. So I did not drive home. But we had a really good time.
Yesterday I went grocery shopping for the first time since starting the fast, and it was a unique experience. Just looking at the shelves of food reminded me of something Michael Pollan said in his book "The Omnivore's Dilemma," that in a supermarket, the real food is located around the circumference of the store where the refrigerators are (meat in the deli, produce, milk, etc.), and the shelves making up the middle of the store are all foods that are, for lack of a better word, fake. I would still eat cereal and bread and pasta of course, but he's got a point. Anyway, I went straight for produce and bought: two Asian pears, three ripe mangos, one box of raspberries, two zucchinis, and one bag of cherries. The bag was pretty heavy as I walked out, and made me think of the weight I have lost (15 lbs as of today!), but I think fruit is mostly water, and I'm not going to eat everything in one sitting. I think I'll go downstairs and eat a mango right now! : )
Caroline, I just found your blog! I am so excited for you. You seem to be doing great! Keep it up...wow...15 pounds! I think at Day 7 - I was 13...YOU ROCK GIRL!!! I will be following this daily now!
I loved my fasting time so much (except day 1 and 2)...that I have decided with the new year to do a 10 day fast every other month...the feeling you get it just such a wonderful one, isn't it?
Keep on keepin' on girl!
Posted by: Karen Stevens | 01/09/2010 at 10:16 AM