WHY NOW?

Every time I did a “longer fast,” and by that I mean at least 5 days, I realized such physical benefits, that I declared that “I should do this regularly!” Indeed, I know I should be (and want to) fast 3 days a month, as well as do a 7-10 day spring cleaning every year. But alas my discipline has been lacking. At any rate, over the last few years my body has been giving me the signs that it is time to fast, and “reset the system.” As I approach 40 (this November), my moderate exercise program, and physically demanding show, are not enough to hold back creeping weight gain when faced with months of cruise ship and resort food, food “on the road,” and meals by the excellent cook who is my wife.

As a Christian, it’s normal, and expected to fast. Jesus said in Matthew 9:15, And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. NLT

I will list some resources below for Christians who are interested in fasting. Anything I write will not do any more justice to what has already been written. For me, I wanted to grow deeper in my faith, experience a greater discipline, and see the blessings that the Lord may see fit to bestow through fasting, be it, answered prayer, a closer relationship to him, or simply a healthier body.

Once you start to research fasting you will start to read about all kinds of testimonials of people healed of ailments through fasting. Things like eczema, hemorrhoids, improved diabetes, arthritis, cancer and many others. It’s hard not to get excited about the physical & health benefits. Sometimes I felt bad that I was thinking about that and not focusing only on the spiritual. An article at a www.freedomyou.com really spoke to me about this.

There is an article on the helpful www.freedomyou.com site called “Motive is Everything.” Its found here: http://www.freedomyou.com/fasting_book/Motive_Is_Everything.htm Below is an excerpt that I found really helpful.

In saying all this, I am not convinced fasting for purely health reasons is wrong.  At least it is honest.  Did Jesus heal for healing sake?  Yes, of course He did.  Healers love to heal.
Your body will call you on a fast.  I know when it is time I need a fast.  Diet has slipped; sneaky food addictions start showing up here and there, less mental clarity, spotty skin.  One may say, well, that is not a spiritual fast!  Wrong!  I no longer separate spiritual fasting and fasting for health.  They are intertwined.  The very desire to be clear minded, vital, overflowing with energy and cleaned of any addiction is for the glory and work of God.  Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.  Keep it clean and free from addiction.
Let me tell you a secret but you must not breathe a word.  Many people begin fasting with the honest desire to heal, only to find themselves face to face with their own spiritual need.  And guess Who shows up?  God can deal with truth, its all the phony  cover-ups we put up that He hates so much.  Your fast will only be as good as the motive.   

In mid January, I looked at myself. I was in the worst shape of my life, hitting the highest weight I’ve ever been - 203 lbs. My whole life up until my mid thirties I was always in the mid 180s. I do work out and exercise regularly, and also have a physically demanding show. But nothing seemed to bring my weight down more than a few pounds. And so, I decided it was time to do a fast. I started, with a goal of 10 days, and a “dream” of making it 15 days, I told my wife. As I got going and began to do research, and particularly as I started to read about how you need a longer fast to really do some serious good cleansing wise, I starting to think about 40 days. www.fasting.com has some pretty compelling information about longer fasting. They suggest that a total body cleanse, properly done, needs to be “your age plus 17 days” not including entrance and exit days. That’s seemed quite long and due to a vacation schedule, I had only about 45 days available for it to work logistically. None the less, somewhere in that first 10 days, I decided to go for it - 40 days.

HOW

I’ve never done a water fast, and you can read all about that type of fasting on other sites. I’ve always done juice fasts, and for that you need a good juicer. When I did my first 10 day fast, 10 years ago, I was looking for a good juicer, and my research led me to The Champion Juicer. http://championjuicer.com/ It would appear that I made a good choice, as many sites still recommend this one as one of the better ones.

Basically if it’s a fruit or vegetable, this thing can juice it! Every day I would mix a concoction of several fruits and vegetables, enough to fill a pitcher that held 3 large glasses of juice. I would make it all in the morning, about a half an hour job from start to cleanup. And then have one 8 ounce glass of juice for each meal, and water in between. Carrots, apples, oranges, celery, cucumbers and peppers were staples, but I had many other things over the weeks. Cantaloupe juice turned out to be amazing. For the most part, I went with what I thought might taste good, and they had at the grocery store. About 50% of my creations tasted “good”, about 25% tasted, so-so, and about 25% were “chug only” or you wouldn’t get it down.

HUNGER

The first week is probably the hardest week, as far as hunger pangs go. I enjoyed the challenge from a discipline point of view. Basically saying to yourself “I’m not going to eat, for God’s glory, so just have a drink and get on with your day.” There’s no doubt about it that you will have hunger pangs over your fast, but you will be very surprised at how normal you can function on juices! The juicer is acting like your digestive system. It’s your body’s “juicer,” taking the nutrients and vitamins out of the food you eat. But when you juice, it’s all done for you ahead of time so that your body can rest, and work on healing, and cleansing.

SPIRITUAL FOCUS

Each day I would pick a different person or topic to focus on for prayer that day.
I prayed for several different people and things throughout the fast, including the country of Iran. During this time, I can say I've gotten closer to God, and more specifically, have matured in the fruit of the spirit, in self control.

As a matter of fact it's quite eye opening to be away from food for so long, in that you begin to see how we often use food for a) pure pleasure b) pure socializing.
Neither are sinful in themselves (not counting gluttony). But when I reflect on the verse 

1 Corinthians 10:31
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

It's hard not to wonder if I'm glorifying God in my meals.
a) am I thankful?
b) am I gluttonous?
c) am I treating the temple of God well by eating healthy? This is a big one.

Early in the fast I believe a big answer to prayer was the selling of our home with astounding results: it sold the night before we closed on the new house, for a good price, with a hard to get early March 1 closing and even more amazing, an unconditional offer.  If we had received a more common “conditional offer” we could have been waiting for months.

SOCIAL OUTCAST

The first few weeks were pretty hard for my wife who enjoys cooking for her family. I began to sit with her during her dinner while I drank my juice. With no one to cook for, she ended up reverting back to her “single days” mode, of not really cooking at all. She may have lost weight too because of that. But I would advise anyone planning on a fast to talk about what it will mean to your spouse to have to “eat alone” some times, enjoy food alone (Tim Hortons anyone?), and to just have a cut back on meal time socialization. My recommendation is to make sure you have your full support of your spouse before doing it. Or, better yet - do it together! That would be ideal.

There will be times when you can’t avoid social food gatherings, upon which you will have to reveal that you are fasting. In cases where we were invited to people’s home for dinner, or out to a restaurant, I simply informed them ahead of time that “I looked forward to the event, but just to let you know, I’m fasting right now, so if you could have some tomato juice for my first course and peppermint tea for dessert, I’ll be just fine. And don’t worry, I won’t feel weird...”

A FEW SURPRISES

Here are a few surprises that I encountered along the way.
-you won’t believe what still keeps coming out of you even weeks after not putting anything into you. Enough said
-I couldn’t believe it - I lost a whole watch size on my wrist! We carry weight on our wrists?
-at 30 days I stumbled and had half a bowl of popcorn - the tempter will remain nameless. Yet, it acted as a flush - yes, still more stuff to come out after 30 days!
-at about 33 days I tried a beloved Tim Hortons double double. It tasted horrible and uninteresting to me, after 5 weeks of pure veggie and and fruit juice
-I tried so called “pure” Tropicana orange juice - it was so sweet I could not drink it. I had become used to “true pure” orange juice right from the oranges
-I slept better, and had way more energy in the morning - waking up feeling rested
-it was surprising to see how much energy I had, while taking in just fluids. Some times I wondered why we eat solid foods at all
-it wasn’t until I was close to the end that people started to notice my weight loss. (because of my face) Classic quote from my pastor’s wife: “Are you ok? You don’t look so good.”
-do not have a Harvey Angus Burger 3 days after your fast. Yes, that is stupid, and painful. Trust me.

WEIGHT LOSS

Most people will lose 1+ lbs per day for the first 10 days, and that was pretty true in my case. I tell you it can be exciting to see yourself going down 1-1.5 lbs every day, day after day. When I started I was 203lbs. When I hit 188.8 lbs on day 10, I couldn’t believe it! I hadn’t seen the 180s in years... It took 13 more days to drop the next 10 lbs. I hadn’t seen the 170s since I was in high school, I think. It took 17 days (nearly the whole last half of the fast) to drop my last 10 lbs down to 169. For the speed at which you drop weight, everyone’s mileage will vary based on how fat you are (for lack of political correctness). Frankly I did not expect to go much below 180, so it was a complete surprise to make it to 169. However what was a surprise was that with even that much weight loss, my tummy was still not flat. I figure it would have taken another 2 weeks to finally lose the “pooch.” Although it was way smaller than when I started to be sure.

Each person carries around about 5-10lbs of fecal matter in them at all times, that just doesn’t come out (sorry about the image) so when you begin eating again you will gain back 5-10 lbs for sure, as you rebuild up that store. In my case, 40 days later, I’m back up to 183 lbs, meaning I gained back 14 lbs after beginning to eat again, but 20 lbs less than when I started. When I carry around our baby Hudson who is 19 lbs, I can’t believe I used to carry that much weight around on my body all the time! I feel great physically, and it feels like I’ve been given a new digestive system. I’ve been able to wear pants that I have not been able to get into for years, and have other pants that will simply fall off if I don’t wear a belt. A good problem to have. I was richly blessed from a spiritual perspective, as I met with God every day on faith, looking to glorify God even in that fast.

In the movie “Chariots of Fire” - about the life of Eric Liddell, the Olympic runner who refused to race on Sundays - the Bible is quoted: “For those who honour Me I will honour.” (1 Samuel 2:30) I wish to acknowledge and honor God in all that I do, and so it is with this fast. My hope is that this small account of my experience will encourage others to practice this spiritual discipline.

References:

www.freedomyou.com

http://www.freedomyou.com/level%202/Fasting%20Page%20Guide.htm
see here for the fasting section

www.championjuicer.com

www.fasting.com

Tags: fasting