Fasting for Health and Faith

Lately, I have been researching fasting in order to live a healthier lifestyle. Although I exercise regularly and I am not overweight, I often feel lethargic and unmotivated to get up and get things done. I know this stems from a poor diet. Since I am 5'10" and 175 pounds, I sometimes feel as if I can eat anything I want, anytime I want. Unfortunately this leads to poor eating choices when I know better. I have been looking for ways to transform my eating habits and get healthy and energized. From what I understand, Fasting is a great way to accomplish this goal. Since I started back in the Combat Hapkido Club, I will be testing soon and I want to be at optimum shape when I do.

It looks like the best way to start this is intermittent fasting. There are multiple ways to do this but I want to approach this from a common sense standpoint. So I will go 12-12 or 12 hours no food and then a 12 hour window to get the calories I need to function.  Now this means good calories from fruits, veggies and lean proteins along with fresh juices and protein shakes. One major factor is water! Now I admit that has been a problem for me, I normally don't drink a lot of water but it is a change I must make when fasting. I have also read that black coffee and green tea are good additions to the fasting lifestyle and that's OK with me as I enjoy them both. Once I am established in the 12-12 for a few days I will kick it up a notch to 16-8. Eventually I hope to do a full 3 days water fast.

Although I really don't need to lose weight I am prepared to as this will certainly lead to that end. I can easily handle being 160 instead of 175 or 180 which is my normal weight but I will increase my workouts to add muscle mass so maybe I will be a very lean and muscular 160 when I get there.

 Last but certainly not least, my faith comes into play here. In the bible, fasting is mentioned over 40 times. Our Lord fasted for 40 days and many of his disciples also fasted and prayed in important moments of their walk with Christ. I intend to use this period to dig into the scriptures and spend more time with Christ to deepen my connection with him.

Wish me luck!

Peace


JD Pearce