Day 9 of 10 Day Fast

Well, today is my last sleep before I finish this fast. It has been a very interesting journey, and it feels like it’s been quite a long time actually. I find myself at various points of the day thinking to myself: “wow, I think I could go forever without eating.” But then I realize that this is silly, and that I’m weak and light headed, not to mention hungry!

I’ve been doing a whole lot of posting of foods such as my Red Chicken on my website, in anticipation of the coming food I shall be intaking, but it’s not to nice for me thinking about all the delicious food, and then not eating anything… I consider it a better test of my will….. smart?

One thing I’m pretty happy about is that some of the fruits and veges that I’ve had since I begun are still alive and not decayed. I guess this is a sign of very little toxins that are used as pesticides, as well as to ripen the crop fast to get it to market. I actually had two bunches of bananas, one was organic and the other was regular. I bought two because the regular bunches were green, and the organic ones were just perfect (if not a bit mature). Right now, 10 days later, the organic ones are actually slightly less brown spotted as the regular ones. Amazing, I know.

I was at the grocer a while ago, talking to the grocer, and he was telling me how a banana is so covered with pesticides that a person should wash their hands immediately after touching them. I found this rather disturbing but it really does describe the difference in organic to regular bananas.

So back to the fast.

These last few days I have been getting extremely cold. I am worried about some sort of hypothermia setting in, but I somewhat doubt this will happen. But as I type this, my place is set to 22.5deg C, and I’m wearing a t-shirt, wool sweater, and a hoody; not to mention pants and giant wool socks. Its slightly weird to me, but it’s also fairly cold out, so I’ll accept this. I just hope it doesn’t turn into a cold. I feel my body is at a very healthy state right now, and it would be hard to get a cold, but this could be the inverse of what is actually truth for all I know.

I have also been finding that my sleeping pattern is extremely off. I get tired at about 10 or so, and sleep for 2 hours, then wake up and can’t get back to sleep until about 3 or 4 in the morning. This is ok, for I read for a few hours, but it’s still a bit interesting to me. I remember reading Gandhi’s autobiography Experiments With Truth where he described his sleeping patterns, and it was very similar. It makes me worry less when I remember this!

It has definitely been a bit of a struggle for me to focus on school these past 9 days, but I blame that more on the usual getting back into the swing of things rather than the fast. For me it’s always hard coming back from a break to hit the grind stone and study hard. Do any of you find this too?

Looking in the mirror, I am definitely going inward in the belly area, and not outward, not that I was before, but it’s pronounced. I can feel my hip bones, and my muscles do feel weak if I try and flex.

One odd thing is on day 7 and today, I pooped. Odd thing to mention, but it’s very interesting I could actually do this considering I haven’t eaten anything in 9 days. I was talking to a friend, and he blamed this on the tea that I’m drinking. I’m still only drinking Goji Berry tea, Peppermint tea, and water. Can any of you attest to this phenomenon?

This is about all I can report for symptoms.

Art by Poncho

For mentality, all I can say I’ve gained are:

a) a patience for life, temporary if it may be.

b) a mind for my body. I am aware of most of my movements, and thinking about a lot more of what I do with it.

c) my mind may not have become more clear, and it may not have become more stable, but I would say that I have learned or enabled myself to focus on what I really need to focus on and that I’m starting to push myself in the proper directions without hesitation. I’m not sure if this is due to the reading material, or the timing of the year, or both combined with the fast, but I can feel it within me.

So you see, I have learnt a few things along the way. The most important thing I have learnt is that I am in charge of this life, and that I can do anything. Most people I have told about this say “Why?” or “Thats really not healthy!” or “You’re crazy!” but in the end, they don’t know why I do the things I do, what I deal with daily, and the commitment required for me to follow through on such a thing. I have also had some great friends that have encouraged me, given me great advice on what to do, how to break the fast, to rest, to stay warm, which really warms my heart just thinking about the support I have learned that I do have in the world around me. This is a beautiful thing in itself.

Read my final conclusions on day 10 here!