The psychology of fasting

Disclaimer
If you have an addictive personality (remember as pragmatic fasters we seek self knowledge) then fasting may not be for you, at least until you have a good handle on controlling your behaviours.

On the surface fasting may seem to be about deprivation, depriving yourself of food, either to lose weight or because everyone is doing it, or for some other reason.

However fasting is not about deprivation, its not a method of self abuse, and because we need to come at it from a stable perspective, we follow procedures, such as the ones I have outlined in earlier posts and this helps to provide a context for the fasting to occur in. Defining the start and end times, and the nature of the fast before starting avoids you moving the goalposts during the fast, this is especially important during longer fasts where the urge to eat can reduce to nothing (or close to it) and you can feel like you could go on forever.

Fasting should be seen as a method to celebrate your body and its vitality, a natural way of cleansing and healing, a source of comfort and self knowledge, it's not about punishment or harming your body. It's also one of the reasons that I also advocate finishing a fast strong, that is knowing you could have gone further. I also advise a very slow and gradual build up, allowing your body the time it needs to adjust, and being sensitive to the rate that your body wants to go at. Not everyones body is ready to jump into a 24 hour fast right away, and even if you are, there is no harm whatsoever in taking it slowly.

It's also not a quick fix for binging (cycling between feast and famine can put excessive demands on your body) fasting (should you choose to incorporate it into your life) should be simply another component of a healthy lifestyle.

In summary, fasting is and can be a very beneficial experience for us all, as with most things taking it easy and following sensible guidelines allows for an effective and sustainable practise.