Anybody here ever FASTED before? (page 4)

Terry

One aspect of the psychology of fasting is the issue of CONTROL.

In the most aberrant forms of fasting it is the psychology of being out of control, distorted self-image and depression which impels the act of will beyond any measure of moderation. Naturally, we would not longer call it "fasting" so much as "starvation".

The idea that "holy" people fast is certainly alluring to the frame of mind of already distorted psychologies. Jesus is said to have been a human and fasted for 40 days. If this isn't ridiculous I don't know what is; unless the fasting were merely relinquishing one particular part of one's diet.

I use to work with a Koren Christian who was trying to fast and pray like a friend of his who fasted for 13 days until he was, quote: "So holy he could speak directly to god and levitate at will."

Uh huh. Right. See what I mean?

Hare Krishna devotees are kept without protein in their diet to make them fuzzy-minded enough to be controlled by their group leader. They are put out into the city and told not to come back until the collect X amount of money from donations.

Read MONKEY ON A STICK.

I'm not saying, of course, that all people who fast are nutjobs. I am saying that it begins to demonstrate that their is an out-of-balance condition of the mind when the reasons given for the fast stray into the Twilight Zone.

SixofNine

And yet, it is undeniable that humans evolved w/o having anything close to the steady, 3 meal a day diet that most westerners enjoy now. I'd be surprised to find out that some form of calorie restriction isn't best for human overall health.

And in fact, the science of longevity, while full of hope but little actual life-lengthening procedures, tells us that the one thing that absolutely seems to ensure longer life in animals is calorie restriction.

LittleToe

Six:
I saw a recent program on calorie restriction that also seemed to indicate that it reduced libido.

Hmmm - 120 celibate years on short rations, or fifty self indulgent years of fast food and monkey sex - which should I go for? Anyone got a coin?

greendawn

For some people fasting means spiritual rejuvenation rather than physical detoxification. In the Bible we find that fasting does occur at times with the apostles and others in the early church.

toreador

What age did your grandfather die of stomach cancer Terry?

Tor

Terry

What age did your grandfather die of stomach cancer Terry?

My grandad was 91. He was never sick a day in his life until he came down with cancer in his 90th year. He didn't start his food fadism until he reached the age of 60. Then, he gave up cigars and whiskey and started searching for the "true" religion and found HEALTH was his true religion.

My grandfather had the prettiest feet you ever saw in your life. (I know, it sounds silly.)

From him I got my love for whistling, musicals and comedy. I wish I had learned from him that being a fanatic about religion was unhealthy!!

toreador

91 is a ripe old age. I suppose his regimen of vitamins etc could have prolonged his life somewhat at that rate. I take vitamins when I think of it, which is about every other day, and have pondered the idea of fasting but only tried it once in my life for about 3 to 4 days.

I am only 48 and am starting to have problems with arthritis in my spine and wondered if fasting or certain vitamins would help or delay the process.

Tor

AllAlongTheWatchtower

I remember as a kid growing up in the Worldwide Church of God that there were certain times of year with special days we were required to fast on...'The Day of Atonement" for instance. Over the years, certain doctrines became a bit muddied...Armstrong had always taught that the Saturday sabbath was of great importance, and sacred; no work was to be done on Saturdays. At various times this was thought to mean that it was ok to cook ahead of time on Friday, then eat on Saturday, but for a period of several years at least that I can recall, it was taught that EVERY Saturday one should fast, so that no work was done at all in connection with 'the sabbath'.

As to the health benefits of fasting...I'm a little skeptical. I remember at the time having an occasional epiphane or some deep thought or another and attributing it to fasting...but in hindsight, I wonder was it really because of fasting, or just because I was a brighter than average kid trying to struggle through boring sermons with an active imagination. Also, I was always a bit heavier than average, partly because I was a big strong kid, but also partly because I had a tendency to overeat. I think that I developed some very bad eating habits and behaviors in those years, at least partly because of all the fasting. I remember vividly the all-you-can-eat buffets members would go to immediately after dark (in the WWCG they taught that with holy days, fasting, etc, time was to be kept from sundown to sundown) following the all day long ordeal of sermonizing. Hell hath no fury like a congregation of WWCG descending upon the buffet tables on a Saturday night.

All that being said...even after I was out of the WWCG, I have tried fasting a few times, even went as long as a week once, just to see if I could...it was...interesting. I think you get into an altered conscious state, similar to what happens under the influence of some drugs. Whether that is a desirable effect or not, and whether you can handle that or not, varies by the individual. I've known lots of people over the years that could barely handle reality as it was, without trying to recreationally alter it, whatever the method.

Black Sheep

I did a ten day fast many years ago.

I expected great results, but nothing spectacular happened at the time.

Several years later, I noticed that I hadn't had a migraine since the fast.

I get migraines again now, but only minor. Just the visual disturbance, no headaches.

Cheers

Chris

toreador

My wife has been suffereing from migraines for a few years now. Man, I wonder if fasting would help her?

Tor

Anybody here ever FASTED before?

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