The Importance of Intermittent Water Fasting
 By unlocking some of the healing powers of water and doing some
water fasting, an ancient ritual can be put to work to enhance your life.
There is a trend growing where we all want healthier and longer lives. The
health and nutrition market is turning into a trillion dollar market. Almost
everyone you speak to at the office or even on your way to the gym is growing
more and more weight conscious, talking about trying to workout more or eat
better. There are tons of products out there claiming to be the proven solution for
weight-loss. What if you were told that you didn’t have to do much of anything
but just drink water for a series of days intermittently, that would allow you
to lose substantially more weight (while cleansing your body and mind at the
same time) than you ever did by exercise and diet alone?
Weight Loss As a Powerful Trend
According to “Seeking Alpha” (a financial resource website) Weight Watchers
recorded in 2011 annual revenue of $1.82 billion dollars, nearly an increase of
25 percent from 2010. According to David Kirchhoff president and acting CEO, the
dieting company saw what they referred to as “explosive” growth. Believe it or not
it’s not just the kinds of food you are eating, but the quantity of food as well. The only way to truly make
healthy changes
in your body is through calorie restriction. Let’s start with what water fasting is then go
through some of the benefits of living a balanced healthy life by putting the
healthy benefits of water fasting to work for you.
What is Water Fasting?
Water fasting is the intentional decision to not ingest any foods except for
water for periods of time ranging from 1 to 30 days. Technically a fast could be
for only 24 hours, but in order to get the most out of water fasting, fasts
should last up to 48-72 hours.
Intermittent
water fasting generally means to simply take a 1-3 day break from food
completely several times a month. Intermittent fasting is
also a great way to cleanse the body and get your metabolism regulated at a
healthy rate. When the body is running at a healthy and clean manner
things begin to appear so clear. Mental clarity as well as the physical
improvement of eyesight during a fast are just some of the basic benefits to
doing a water fast. Please do not attempt anything longer than one day of
fasting at first. The stress of going from eating all the time to eating
absolutely nothing can be a shock. I recommend starting with just one day
(like once a week) and
then increasing the time you fast over time.
Benefits of Intermittent Water Fasting
Water fasting is simply the most powerful form of healing. Water fasting
is extremely therapeutic for joint damage, kidney and liver damage, cleaning out
the smaller and larger intestinal walls promoting natural pro-biotic production,
and of course weight loss. Fasting enables you to enter the state of
ketosis, a preservation stage where the body begins to heal itself at an
incredible rate.
NOTE: Just a quick aside, alcohol is one
of the most damaging drugs out there and is the only truly legal mood altering
substance other than food.
Food As a Drug
 In
my opinion, food should be thrown in the same category as street drugs
and alcohol. Food is quite similar to
using drugs in that it brings about a change in the body that alters perception,
mood, and temporarily changes the metabolism. Combinations of foods produce
different metabolic changes and with these changes come changes in the way we
feel.
Think about eating too much food as a from of addiction. When alcohol is
only drank in moderation and not on a daily basis it is reasonably healthy to
consume. When it is consumed excessively and constantly, the body doesn't
have any time to repair itself. Similarly the mind begins to be effected
where mood and personality can be altered after years of problem drinking.
In this sense food should only be consumed in a healthy and moderated way with
damaging side effects similar to alcohol or drug addiction.
Eating tons of calories every day and packing unhealthy food into your body
could be just as damaging on the body as drinking too much.
The same effects on the body are seen by overeating and by choosing poor food
items to make up your diet. Damage to the kidneys, liver, and to the
circulatory system are caused by both eating too much unhealthy food as well as
drinking too much. A good way to curve eating poorly is to introduce
fasting. By giving your body some time off and a chance to clean out,
eating questionable menu items can be less harmful on the body.
Funny anything done excessively is bad for the body including weight-lifting or
other traditionally healthy activities that are only beneficial in moderation.
The best part about fasting is that physiological, spiritual, and emotional
healing all comes from within. No outside influence albeit it chemical or
emotional is necessary. All you need is a glass of water and some serious will
power to fast successfully. I am such a fasting fanatic because I never thought
I'd feel this good from not eating a single thing. I've personally used
intermittent water fasting to lose a 100 pounds in just six months. Somehow being empty
just feels amazing and I really feel the only way to describe it for someone is
to get them to try doing a fast so they can feel it for themselves. There is definitely an inherent
natural high associated with extended water fasting, and I have felt it. Constantly altering diets, junk food binges,
trying multiple fad diets and even exercising excessively can be potentially
fatal in the long-run. All of these activities have one thing in common in that
they cause stress on the body and the mind. Stress has been identified by
medical professionals as the number one killer among adults worldwide.
Stress and Weight Gain
External stressors are the environmental factors surrounding us that we perceive
to be causing us stress. Not only does stress contribute to hypertension and
heart disease but also to weight gain. Too much stress can change the way your
body breaks down food and makes your body inefficient. Quite simply they are
comprised of what we perceive to be the source of our daily stress such as
school, work, and relationships. Internal stress is the behavioral elements of
our psyche that we have shaped through experiences and our current perception of
reality and our own lives. Stress is the interaction between environmental
stressors and internal stressors and the emotional response is the merger of
both external and internal stressors. Internal and external stressors
interact to make us feel paralyzed, possibly trapped spiritually, or however
stress manifests and feels inside of you. To become one with our surroundings
whether it be
nature, family, friends, colleagues, there is an extremely simplistic approach
to bringing some harmony into our everyday lives. The more calm you feel
naturally the better you will cope with external factors. By fasting
regularly a better state of calmness and happiness can be achieved. Stress ultimately will make you look, feel, and become
unhealthy if it is managed inappropriately.
Ketosis - The All Powerful Healing State
Water fasting works extremely well because it allows your body to enter the
state of ketosis, which enables the body to finally heal at a rate you cannot
achieve than if you were to eat food continuously every day. Ketosis
essentially means the body has burned up all of it's immediate energy from food,
including any stored sugar in the body in the form of glycogen, and then reverts
to burning up your fat stores for energy (including any other "gunk" you have in
your body).
Remember only through fasting and sticking to extremely low-calorie diets can
the true deep healing powers of ketosis be achieved. Continuing to eat two/three
eight hundred calorie meals every day for an entire lifetime, the body will
generally never enter deep ketosis and does not have a chance to repair
thoroughly through fasting. It takes roughly 24-36 hrs to achieve ketosis
and this varies on the composition of the last meal before the fast, how damaged
the body is, how often the subject fasts or has fasted in the past, and how fast
your metabolism is. You can purchase ketosis test strips
to truly tell
when you have entered ketosis from fasting.
Using an Ancient Technique
 Used for thousands of years by shamans, holy men, and major religions throughout
the world, fasting has been seen as a gateway to physical and emotional balance
as well as a means to spiritual enlightenment. I personally have not attempted a
thirty day fast myself but the longest I have done is 9 days. To fast is to
abstain from something completely and to make your body completely devoid of any
and all outside influences. Many who are religious see this as a purification
ritual and it is practiced by both the Judaic and Islamic cultures (Yom Kippur
and Ramadan are the holidays for each religion where fasting is practiced). Even
in Catholicism lent could be considered a form of fasting by giving something up
for an entire month and not eating meat on Fridays. Again to fast is to restrict
deliberately by choice. In this day and age religion is a difficult topic to
find common ground so to get everyone on the same page let me be abundantly
clear. Even if you are an atheist you can still benefit from fasting. Fasting is
in no way reserved for the religious and many have found themselves through
fasting instead of religion when they needed emotional or spiritual guidance. The difference is guidance came from within and not from somewhere or someone
else. The self-reliant nature of fasting and recognizing that our bodies do
have the capability to repair has seemed to be forgotten with the advances in
medical science and the proliferation of pharmaceuticals.
Spiritual Connection
 Having an
understanding of who we really are as a person inside is extremely important to
self actualization. By not achieving self actualization one leads a very
dangerous life where they are inherently dishonest with themselves. This can
lead to contempt, a much shorter life, and a lot less happiness.
All three of the religions mentioned above use fasting. Seen in the practice
of ritualistic fasting, fasting has been historically used to increase spiritual
consciousness, probably for eternity. The act is spiritually enlightening,
fasting opens all kinds of doors inward towards the soul, and increases
spiritual consciousness to a point that cannot be achieved without practicing
fasting. The sensations must be stemming from the body entering ketosis
and are hard to describe. Everything seems new and clean, almost like a
rebirth or something. Thoughts pass slowly and clearly through the brain
extremely efficiently. The sensation feels so good that fasting does have
some addiction potential associated with it. But this is a very good
addiction, as long as you go about it intelligently and stick with intermittent
water fasting on a continuous basis.
Conclusion
Intermittent water fasting is amazing, and I am so happy I discovered this a few
years ago, it has totally changed my life for the better. I have to warn anyone attempting their first water fast. At first you may
experience a major healing crisis, which can be difficult to go through, but it
is will worth it in the end. Often, first time fasters experience pain and mood
changes but I implore you to not give up! Eventually, you will come to love
fasting, you will want to do it more and more often. with it, you will live a
longer, happier, and more fulfilling life. Do yourself a favor and make one goal
to experience ketosis and do at least a five day water fast sometime in the
future and I promise you will not be disappointed!
Have you ever water fasted before? What was your longest fast? Please write
these below down in the comments!
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How fasting will save your life and make you lose weight |
to truly tell
when you have entered ketosis from fasting.
