I’m a Yoga and Ayurveda student for life bringing the best the East has to offer to the West
[Disclaimer – This is what worked for me. I feel compelled to have to say a disclaimer, so here goes – get “your doctor’s approval” before commencing any changes to your health routine. There, I said it, and now, you can take responsibility for your own health.]
The more prepared you are in mind-body-spirit the easier time you’ll have with a prolonged fast.
If you are already practicing intermittent fasting, eating well and have a daily exercise/meditation routine, a 72 hour fast will not be that hard for you. The one variable that will make some difference is your individual body constitution or, in Ayurvedic terms, your dosha.
Musings
Breaking the Seal
Precursor Thoughts
We use the term for the first time a person pees when drinking alcohol. Once you break the seal with that first trip to the bathroom, you allegedly won’t be able to seal it back up and are doomed to a night of frequent peeing.
Surprisingly enough, considering my early life history, the first time I heard this term was several years ago, when I was in a taxi with a friend driving from New Delhi to Rishikesh. We both decided it would be a great idea to pick up some beers to enjoy along the way. The roads were extremely crowded with pilgrims on Kanwar Yatra, and the driving was slow. Soon enough, it was time to “break the seal”; and as my traveling companion explained the nuances of the phrase, I realized how aptly it summed up many lifelong experiences in just three words.
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For me, it works equally well when pertaining to food. I’m not hungry until I start eating. Then it’s difficult to stop, often zooming way past the biological sensation of satiety, and into the realms of gluttony. Luckily, I impose a top-down limitation by setting an eating window of 4 hours, from 2 pm to 6 pm.
This unhealthy eating habit falls under my 80/20 rule – 80% of the time, I eat well within Ayurvedica principles; 20% of the time, not so good.
Now on to my thoughts about my first 72 Hour Fast…
Already on 20 hour intermittent fasting
I’m already primed for eating less. My body only expects one meal a day. I think if I was going from three meals a day plus snacks to nothing but water and coffee for 3 days, it would be quite a shock to the system and grumbling protests would ensue.
My recommendation is to cut back gradually on your feeding windows. Start by pushing breakfast back by 45 minutes from what you are used to. If you normally eat a big breakfast at 9 am, pushing it back to 9:45 am will not put a stress on your mind or body and you’ll be able to manage the change. Keep pushing back the time you take your first meal by 45 minutes each day or so. Soon you’ll take your first meal around noon time, and will have basically combined breakfast and lunch, and are now eating just two meals a day. Recommend Dr. Huberman’s Podcast #16 for more info on the exact protocols and physiological mechanisms involved.
Nobody Else to Cook For
I feel for people who want to go on a fast or even a particular type of diet and yet family or friends who are not onboard with the plan surround them.
Especially if you have to cook for these people. I don’t think I could do it – cook food and not eat it. Just the smells and sights of food can be seductive and sabotage a good intention. White knuckling it is hard to do when evolutionary biology is working against you.
Sugar is Addictive
“Sugar addiction seems to be dependent on the natural endogenous opioids that get released upon sugar intake. In both animals and humans, the evidence in the literature shows substantial parallels and overlap between drugs of abuse and sugar, from the standpoint of brain neurochemistry as well as behaviour.”
Already on Pure veg. Sattvic, high fat, high protein, low sugar!
Eating a healthy Sattvic diet to begin with makes fasting easier. You are already starting from a higher conscious vibration and limited blood sugar fluctuations which gives you a stronger beginning base. Food cravings are often a result of poor eating, especially one that is high in simple, refined carbohydrates. Sugar triggers reward systems in our brains, much like other addictive substances such as alcohol and drugs.
Your Body Constitution has a lot to do with how easy fasting can be for you.
Kapha Doshas, which I am, have slower metabolisms and do not get that hungry. It’s easier for us types to go longer without wanting food. Vata types should be eating, but can also skip meals and go for a long time on their body energy without feeling hungry. Pity the poor Pitta doshas! They have a furnace in their stomachs that wants to be fed all the time. Lucky they have the energy to consume the calories, but prolong fasting is stressful for them. If you know someone who did a 72-hour fast and thought they were going to die of starvation, they were probably Pitta.
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More on the three Doshas later.
It freed a lot of time up
Not having to prepare meals or clean-up afterwards is really freeing! We spend a lot of time and mental energy preparing and thinking about food. That time is now freed up for creative endeavors, which is also a biological evolutionary program – no food in the cave, better get creative or you will starve to death.
Protocols
Nothing but black coffee (2 x per day); water and herbal tea.
I had two cups of black coffee in the morning; maybe 3-4 glasses of water per day, and an herbal tea in the evening. Nothing more, nothing less. Not even supplements, lemon juice or anything like that. (Prescription medicines are of course, your responsibility)
Continued routine, yoga, Wim Hof Method, meditation
All these can and should be continued during fasting. But now is not the time to take up these activities. If you have not already learned to take some control over your mind, all you will do during meditation is think about food. Better to be following these programs first, before you start a prolonged fast.
Noticed being tired on the third day, which was very pronounced.
I was tired, or maybe it was more weak in the legs, on the third day – still not hungry. If I laid down to listen to a podcast, I would fall asleep. Better to go out for a walk, which has so many health benefits.
Walking meditation was helpful to keep moving.
My Recommendations
The ancient Rishis had it right!
Dr. Andrew Huberman just gives us the scientific evidence to back up all the yoga claims we’ve known for years!