So what exactly is fasting? Fasting is the process of giving your body a break from consuming calories. Your body will begin to “self-eat,” which translates to your body using it own fat as energy.
I personally just completed a 72-hour fast. Which lasted for 3 days. Here’s what I learned during this process. And I’ll also explain the tremendous benefits fasting gives you.
Benefits of Fasting
. Improves immune function, repairs damaged cells
. Age longevity (live longer)
. Anti-aging (helps keep clearer skin)
. Reduces inflammation
. Decreases autoimmune disease
. Increases DNA repair
. Prevent alzheimers and parkinsons disease
. Controls insulin levels and blood pressure
So… yeah, that’s a lot of benefits. Why wouldn’t you want to do it. Maybe because it’s hard and many people have never done it before.
Just think of fasting as emptying the pantry. You can’t constantly keep putting things into your pantry. You need to allow your pantry to empty out and make room. This is exactly what fasting does for you. Empty your pantry.
What I Learned
During my 72-hour fast, I faced some challenges. During the first half of the fast, I did experience some hunger. But you need to keep in mind that the hunger responses that your stomach sends to your brain don’t last. If I was feeling hungry, I would drink a glass of water and walk around a bit, and my hunger disappeared. If your body is already used to being in ketosis and not reliant on carbs as its main source of fuel like me, then fasting shouldn’t be that difficult for you. When your body is used to ketosis, the main drive that makes you want to eat is your brain. It’s telling you to just eat something. But during fasting, you train your self discipline. It’s incredibly important to stay mentally strong throughout the process. Know what your goal is and do it. If you tell yourself you’re going to do something, then do it. The main challenge for me was exercise during my fast. Today, 2, when I went to my daily track practice after school, I was feeling weak and tired. I participated for half the practice, but my weak side took over, and I simply just gave up and went home. I was disappointed in myself. And I felt like such a quitter. But as I was driving home from practice, my dad told me, “I don’t care if you’re a failure, but I care if you’re a quitter. Don’t be a quitter. Even if you can barely move, don’t give up. Crawl if you have to just don’t quit.” And those words really made me think. Why did I do what I did? I took the easy way out. Luckily, on day 3, I had a chance to redeem myself. I went into practice with my spirits high, even though I was feeling weak and tired. I pushed on and ran as hard as I could. I even participated in a long jump for the first time. Which was incredibly fun. And I really proved to myself that my body is capable of much more than I think. It’s all mental when you think about it. I also think I was feeling super motivated because I would be breaking my fast when I got home from practice, haha. But mostly, it was the wise words my father spoke to me.
I think fasting is amazing. And I am surprised that not many people know much about it and don’t do it. It’s so incredible, and it improves your discipline and, of course, all those benefits mentioned earlier. I highly recommend trying fasting or just starting off with intermittent fasting. You won’t regret it.