Day 8 of 10 Day Fast

Today is day 8 of my 10 day fast, and it feels the same as the others have felt. As I have felt with previous fasts, the worst thing is not the agonizing pain of being hungry (which doesn’t exist) but the overwhelming desire and uncontrolled dreaming of food stuffs. Lately my dreaming has lead me to all sorts of cookies.

The wost thing is that I have some left over cookies that my mother sent home with me after the holidays sitting in my freezer (to keep them properly) for when I’m done the fast.

Something that the fast has made me dream about is to start doing more baking. I decided at midnight last night that I want to try and find a cook book, or at least some recipes that will teach me how to make soups and sauces. But, more along the lines of cookies, I want to start learning how to bake. So, in the wee hours of the evening last night I found myself dreaming about how I needed some muffin tins, as well as some loaf tins and a mix master to start this process.

Back to the fast.

I am finding that it is no problem to do the days these days, except the plain fact that I dream about food. There are times when I’m really hungry, and wish I could eat things, but that’s more because of the mere thought of food, rather than a pain for food.

As far as physical symptoms and properties go, I find that, of course, I have much less energy. On my walk to school, there is a slight uphill section, and at the end of it I am noticeably out of breath. This is rather natural, since for starters I’m not doing any exercise to keep myself in shape, as well, I have no food in me to give me any sort of reserves of energy needed to allow myself to get through this activity.

I have also noticed that at times it feels like a lot of work to get a full breath of air inside of me. My rib cages feel heavy, but it does feel good when I make the effort to breath full.

As well, I notice that while sitting all day at class, if my back is slightly slouched, or not being held in proper posture, it begins to hurt. 2 more days.

Overall though, the main reason why I’m doing this fast was a mental clarity. This I am finding somewhat. I am finding a calm serenity in my mind, which I believe will hold fast when I am finished. Being able to know that nothing else matters is a very great thing, but also knowing and studying how I react is a very beneficial test. The most strange thing is that I find I am able to not be stressed at all. During this whole process, I have been in very interesting situations that should have caused me much more stress, but as it turns out, I have been calm and relaxed and accepting of what it is that fate deems necessary. Now, this may or may not be due to the fact that I am also reading a book called: “How To Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie, which is an extremely great read and I recommend to all of you readers.

So, I am happy, I feel healthy (in spite my weakness), my sleep patterns are weird and off, but during the day I feel alert. Although, I do get tired earlier so I do go to be early which then gives rise to me getting up at midnight to do some work and going back to bed after a few hours. This reminds me of Gandhi, and how he used to have the most intense sleeping patterns, where he would sleep in a similar fashion, except he had a few cat naps in there as well.

I am finding that the Honey Tea is an essential factor to this fast. It works as a slightly better hunger depressor than water and tea, but still isn’t food. I’m only using about half of a teaspoon of sugar in my tea, and it allows me to keep my blood sugar up and eliminate the woozy, dizzy, sick feelings that sometimes overcame me.

2 more days and I think I can make it. So tempting to just start eating some foods, but I will prevail the victor of this challenge I am certain. Any words of encouragement?

Photography: Randy Mayor; Styling: Melanie J. Clarke

Read more about day 9 here!