I think I might have heard God tell me to look up a specific Bible verse that I didn’t understand the first two-thirds of and ended with the text “I will make my words known to you”, but let me tell you about how my three day fast went before I write about it. Does that sound fair? No? I guess you could skip to Part III (whenever I get around to posting that), but only if you promise to come back and read this one. I’m just kidding, do whatever you want.
Day one was actually an easy day where most of my hunger was psychological. I know that there was real hunger there too, but really it was me “forgetting” that I was on a fast and thinking of things that I could grab and eat quickly. I managed to remember before it was too late, but I almost got some gum. I was dizzy, sort of hazy, and had a mild dull ache in my skull towards the end of the day. I would describe it as being in a daydream like state where I had trouble focusing on where I was or what I was doing, which would have been fine had I not been trying to wrangle 2 small active children and a medium sized instigating child at church. I managed to make it home alive with all of the kids in a similar state to when they left, but it was tiring. I slept fairly well with the previously mentioned caffeine withdrawal induced headache waking me occasionally at odd hours of the morning.
Day two was much more difficult because on top of the hunger there was an excruciating headache, though it was only bad until around noon. It persisted throughout the day, but grew milder towards bed time. I fell asleep more easily on day two, but was awaked with an extreme calf and ankle pain around 3:00 am. I managed to ignore it and fall back asleep for the rest of the night.
I woke up on day three without a headache or cravings for food. I thought that everything would be great that whole day because I was lead to believe that day three was about my body’s acceptance and new found clarity. I was quite hopeful that I would continue without hunger and see the world through a whole new light. That is not what happened for me. After I drank my first bottle of water something awakened in my stomach that let me know that what I was doing was absolutely unacceptable. I was so hungry for the rest of the day that I started counting the hours before it was time for me to go to sleep and finally let it all be over. I don’t even want to tell you what this fast did to my bowels, and you certainly don’t want to read it. I had considered, on day two, extending my fast through Saturday night because that’s when it was actually supposed to end, but there was just no way. I am a weak weak man.
I want anyone that is considering doing this to know that it is probably different for every person, but for me day three was torture. I was weak, I was tired, but I was not sleepy. It felt like I had downed a six pack of red bull. I was jittery, and I thought was starving. I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me and, again, I am not bragging about what I did. This was a thing that I’ve always wanted to try, and I’m glad that I did it. I think I will probably try it again at some point, but not soon. Hopefully next time I will have the willpower to pray more and watch tv less. My default when anything is wrong with me is to watch tv, it is my comfort food, well, that and actual food.
Saturday morning I was awakened at 3:50 AM with a tension headache, a warm tingly sensation all over my skin, achy muscles, and anxiety about what was happening me. My first thought was a blood pressure problem. So, after I laid there for 20 minutes or so trying to go back to sleep I got up to check my blood pressure. It was actually lower than when I went to bed Friday night and well within my normal range. There was no way I could go back to sleep so I watched tv until 5:00 am when I finally ate breakfast, drank some tea, and took a bunch of vitamins. I ate too much, but I didn’t get sick. I just know it was way too many calories, too many to admit here anyway. I know that’s the first mistake most people make coming off of a fast, but, again, I am a weak weak man.
Eric Anderson
To be continued…
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