Wednesday, March 7, 2007

A Day Of Fasting...

...is not something I do very often; but I did it today. No solid food at all since about 10PM last night, so I am just passed 24 hours now. I have had 2 glasses of apple juice, a glass or two of water, and two cups of green tea, but that has been it besides some Movi-Prep. Now despite what it may sound like to a connoisseur of old films, Movie-Prep is not something you eat while getting in the mood for the movies, although I guess a video might be made because I used it. You see it helps clear out a certain bodily area, and the video would be made by my gastroenterologist while doing my colonoscopy tomorrow. Pretty much just a check-up sort of thing, and I do not want to dwell on that subject all that much.

What I do want to talk about is the fasting thing. It has always amazed me that people fast for various reasons be they for: weight loss, religion, political statement making, because they are nuts, or whatever. It amazes me even more that it is pretty easy to do - especially for me, but only under certain conditions like the upcoming test tomorrow! It simply has befuddled me, now for the fourth time in my life (once before for a similar test, and twice before for operations), that I can just turn off eating like that. Yet, I am at least 50 pounds overweight at about 218 lbs and 5'11". Why can't I just turn off the desire to eat, or at least turn off the desire to eat junk food more often? If I knew the answer to that, then I might be able to either fast once a week, or at least cut back on the junk food, and really lose some weight.

Today though, yes this day in particular made this all the harder for me to understand. If you like Thanksgiving spreads, with almost all the fixings, and love the smell of roasting turkey, then maybe you can understand what I mean when I say: 'The relative ease at which I avoided food today was mind boggling'. You see, today my wife decided to cook a fresh turkey. Yes of all days, she chose today when I had to fast. Does that mean she hates me even more than I had thought. Well maybe so, and maybe not. She was almost as surprised as me to find out I could avoid eating any of it. Apparently, I had forgotten to tell her about the test tomorrow, and my need to fast today. The smell of that roasting turkey was about the only thing that really made it at all tough, just a bit though, for me to hold off on eating today. Well the smell of it roasting, and then me actually carving it for everyone else. I cannot explain it, I may never understand it, but if I could turn on the appetite suppressant and turn off the appetite, like I did today, at least once weekly, well - I would be a slimmer guy.

Of course I would make certain never to turn on the appetite suppressant when there was a turkey roasting in the oven, and I can assure you that the leftovers will be severely depleted once I get to them tomorrow; but I still wish I could figure out how to do this fasting thing more often - without extremist religion, without making a political statement, without becoming more of a nut job than I am already, just doing it by will power I guess. I had it today, that is will power, now how do I exhibit it on a weekly or daily basis when it comes to junk food and overeating in general???

Please, if you know the answer to my conundrum, don't tell me until after about 3PM EST tomorrow. I want to pig out on the turkey leftovers before I find out.

All the best,
Glenn B

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