__ Read Matthew: Chapters 5 - 8
__ Walk 3 miles: actual miles walked _____
__ Eat 5 fruits or vegetables _____
__ Virtue: Silence-Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
The 1,3, 5-plan calls for fasting 1 day per week. For some, fasting once a month will be more reasonable. Less than once a month, and benefits seem to diminish.
Most of the people I quiz about the practice of fasting think it’s a great idea but don’t ever get around to trying it. A few seem to taste the benefits and then carry it too far with long extended fasts that make them sick. A more reasonable schedule, of from once a week to once a month, seems to offer maximal benefit to those I’ve seen try fasting as a health and spiritual practice.
As a start, try going from supper to supper with nothing but water. If you have diabetes or other medical problems, you should check with your physician first, but most people will be able so safely do a 24 hour fast with little difficulty or risk.
Let's say that you eat supper today at 6 pm. If you then have nothing to eat after supper time, you will still have little huger at bedtime. Then when you wake in the morning, have water (with just a squeeze of fresh lemon....no sweetener). I prefer distilled water when I'm fasting.
Now all you need to do is skip breakfast and lunch. Usually the time from lunch until supper is when you will feel the most hunger. You may even feel weak and perhaps have a slight headache. This is the time to rest, be still, pray, even go for a slow walk.
At exactly 24 hours from the time of the supper the previous day, break the fast with a vegetable salad and fruit. Have a protein shake along with the salad and fruit.
Fasting can be used as a tool when you’re sad, or worried, or concerned about a decision and wish to pray about it. You’ll find that you’re able to sit and focus and listen much more carefully. The apostles are seen fasting in Acts (chapters 13 and 14). Almost every major religion recognizes it as a tool to move you closer to God. But, there’s more than the spiritual benefits to recommend the practice. Something very dramatic happens to your body around the 12th hour of a fast.
Somewhere around 12 to 16 hours into a fast, your body will probably swap over into ketosis–you start to use fat as an energy source. Ketosis is what happens when one participates in a low-carb diet. But, with a water fast, you’ll swap over into ketosis sooner than with a low-carb, protein sparing fast (like Atkins). With this change to ketosis, your growth hormone levels increase, endorphins increase, insulin sensitivity goes up (increased insulin receptors on the cells), and many other metabolic and hormonal changes take place. These changes exercise your metabolic pathways in a way that increases your health. Prolonged fasting and starvation, of course, is dangerous. But, brief bouts of ketosis will improve health.
I know this is a hard lesson and one that many will ignore. I don’t really expect you to decide that when you finish reading this page you will not eat for the next 24 hours. I would hope, however, that you might explore the subject a little more (read Paul Bragg's book "The Miracle of Fasting."
Then pull out the calendar and chose a 24 hour period a few days away and reserve it for a quiet time of fasting and reflection and prayer. Being braced and planning a fast seems to make it happen with good results.
