Continued from Part 1
Day 3(Tuesday), I felt the hunger but the peak had passed already.
Day 3(Wednesday) certainly felt a bit more tired, physically. But my mind felt a bit spiffy.
Day 4(Thursday) my mind felt sharp and focused. Never for once thought of food or was hungry. I kept physical activities to a minimum these days. Walking to a minimum. Had to drive into work and back which wasn't a problem. Spent an hour a day meditating.
Day 5(Friday) was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. I didn't feel any physical tiredness but kept my activities to a minimum too. But it was my mind that felt like a million dollars. Ultra focused. At work you notice it because you are more attentive in meetings and feel more productive in general. But the biggest difference was when meditating. Normally, my mind is erratic and wanders a lot. I find it difficult to focus on an object for more than half a minute. It was different on Day 5. I felt my mind was calmer. I could easily stretch my focus for a few minutes which is record for me even today.
Day 6(Saturday) was the same as Day 5. Brilliant. Slept very few hours this whole week. Yet felt awesome through the day. Everything felt brighter and more focused, like someone had turned on a 500W bulb around me. I just felt much more aware of surroundings and what was happening around me.
Day 7(Sunday) morning, it was time to break my fast, but do it slowly. I started Sunday morning with a glass of water with a few tablespoons of Orange juice. Lunch was the same. Dinner the same, but with a few more spoons of juice.
Day 8(Monday) was my day to start solids. Breakfast was a slice of bread and a quarter glass of milk. Lunch was the same with half a banana to add. Dinner was the same.
Day 9(Tuesday) was a regular breakfast, a bowl of cereal, with milk. Lunch was a light salad at work. Dinner was back to normal food, but vegetarian.
My plan was to fast for a week, Sunday to Sunday. Living only on lots and lots of room temperature to luke warm water and Green Tea in hot water. Based on my reading on such fasting, I decided to use this as a detox opportunity and give myself an enema every day as well. Gross. Yes. I know. It was recommended to be medically good as part of a detox plan as well as part of our Ayurvedic and Yogic tradition as well. It was simple and Healthy. So that was the plan. :-)
Break out of fasting slowly, with just a small amount of juice in a lot of water, and slowly increasing the juice strength. Then on to bread and milk.
As preparation for the fast I turned vegetarian for a month before I began the actual fast.
I took notes. Observing how I felt each day both physically as well as mentally. I'll spare you all the long details and summarize the week and more for you below.
To summarize,
Day 1(Sunday) was pretty uneventful.
Late Evening 1(Sunday) was pretty hungry.
Day 2(Monday) was hungry as hell. Being a work day helped keep my mind busy and out of the hunger.
Evening 2 the hunger was really bad. I almost gave up on the fast. But barely held on by a thread.
Day 3(Tuesday), I felt the hunger but the peak had passed already.
By Evening 3(Tuesday), there was just a lingering thought of hunger, nothing more.
Day 3(Wednesday) certainly felt a bit more tired, physically. But my mind felt a bit spiffy.
Day 4(Thursday) my mind felt sharp and focused. Never for once thought of food or was hungry. I kept physical activities to a minimum these days. Walking to a minimum. Had to drive into work and back which wasn't a problem. Spent an hour a day meditating.
Day 5(Friday) was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. I didn't feel any physical tiredness but kept my activities to a minimum too. But it was my mind that felt like a million dollars. Ultra focused. At work you notice it because you are more attentive in meetings and feel more productive in general. But the biggest difference was when meditating. Normally, my mind is erratic and wanders a lot. I find it difficult to focus on an object for more than half a minute. It was different on Day 5. I felt my mind was calmer. I could easily stretch my focus for a few minutes which is record for me even today.
Day 6(Saturday) was the same as Day 5. Brilliant. Slept very few hours this whole week. Yet felt awesome through the day. Everything felt brighter and more focused, like someone had turned on a 500W bulb around me. I just felt much more aware of surroundings and what was happening around me.
Day 7(Sunday) morning, it was time to break my fast, but do it slowly. I started Sunday morning with a glass of water with a few tablespoons of Orange juice. Lunch was the same. Dinner the same, but with a few more spoons of juice.
Day 8(Monday) was my day to start solids. Breakfast was a slice of bread and a quarter glass of milk. Lunch was the same with half a banana to add. Dinner was the same.
Day 9(Tuesday) was a regular breakfast, a bowl of cereal, with milk. Lunch was a light salad at work. Dinner was back to normal food, but vegetarian.
I continued to be a vegetarian for a few more months after that. And continued to meditate during this period.
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