Fasting: Days 18-19

This is the update for Days 18-19 of my 21-day fast in Feb 2011 and probably the most in-depth fasting series you will ever find online. If you’re new to fasting, get the full background here: Fasting Experiment. Access all my articles on fasting: The Fasting Series.

Here are the stats for Days 18-19:

Overall Review

The past 2 days saw me detoxing common ailments. On Day 18, I woke up with a bad throat (like on Day 17), and that subsided later in the day. Throughout the day, I had flu-like symptoms which came and went. I also had a fever at one point in the day which subsided. Stomaches and headaches also came as part of the package. I suspect these are the illnesses (from when I was young) which never got to heal themselves fully because I had taken medication at that point, leading to them being suppressed in my body (i.e. what I mentioned on Day 4).

Right now almost all the symptoms have subsided except for a headache. It’s interesting I’m experiencing headaches now because I have never had a single headache from when I was young, before the fast. Either way, I’m letting the detox do its work. Nausea is no longer an issue anymore; same for light-headedness. They’re all completely gone now. The various food cravings I mentioned in the past week have also disappeared. My tongue no longer tastes bitter — it’s now sweet and normal tasting, though the white layer is still there. I think I need to brush the white part off if I want to remove it.

After all the pain and discomfort I’ve been through the past couple of weeks, my outlook on food (and subsequently myself) has completely changed. I can’t believe how much I’d abused my body all these years via the food I had eaten. I noticed that the first week of my detox was relatively okay. The start of the second week and third week was when it became very rough.

Mapping this with my diet changes through life, Week 1 of my detox probably corresponded with my past three years of eating a relatively healthy diet. Week 2 onwards probably corresponded with my years of unhealthy eating as a teen. As an unconscious teen, I often had fast-food, processed food and fried food as an after-school leisure activity with friends. While I was going through the detox, my mind kept flashing back to all those unhealthy food I ate in the past. I felt saddened by all the unhealthy stuff I had fed my body back then. My Week 1 detox was absolutely nothing compared to the detox I went through in Week 2 and the detox I’m going through now in Week 3.

Post-fast, I’m going to stop abusing the role of food in my life. No more eating for the sake of eating, eating because I feel I have to, eating just to please others, or eating as a proxy for something else. Now that my systems have been thoroughly cleansed with the fast, I can’t stand the thought of contaminating them with any bad food — it’s quite revolting. From now on, food will be what it is — an energy source that allows me to live and get the best out of life (Day 10). And some of the richest, most direct energy food sources are fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds from Mother Nature, the way she has presented to us.

Two days left, and soon it’s time to break the fast. I’m thankful for this whole experience — it has truly opened my mind to a whole new level.

Update: Days 20-21 update is up!

This is the update for Days 18-19 of my 21-day fast in Feb 2011 and probably the most in-depth fasting series you will ever find online. If you’re new to fasting, get the full background here: Fasting Experiment. Access all my articles on fasting: The Fasting Series.