Happy to be home

The last week has been awfully busy for me, so I just haven't been in these here blog parts. I was at a conference for a few days and am SO happy to be home with my kitty and in my own private house with no crowds of people all around me constantly.

I am on the eve of my spring break right now, which makes me blissfully happy, but we all know that will pass WAY too quickly.

So I've taken to doing a few 36-hour fasts a week. I have heard that this is good for you, as far as getting rid of crap in your system and helping with digestion and even doing stuff with mental clarity. That latter thing? I need it desperately. Well, the first 36-hour fast I did was last Monday. I knew I had a wildly busy day that day, so it was a good day to start. I go through it with minimal pain. I mean, there were difficult times when I was thinking longingly of food during my usual meal times or when I smelled food. I did get very hungry a few times. I did go through a spacey time when I felt overly tired and out of it. But these things passed quickly.

Mostly any negatives I feel about it have to do with feeling uncomfortable about dealing with other people who don't get it, who think it's unhealthy or pointless to fast. Of course these are often very conventional people who think I'm a bit weird anyway, haha, so who cares, right? I've tried to choose fasting days based on times when I know I am unlikely or do not have any social plans that involve food so that it will not affect my social life at all.

The pros:
1. there are random times of absolute euphoria that you get while fasting
2. nice empty feeling in stomach, no bloating
3. feeling of accomplishment, like I have discipline
4. frees up more time (think of all the time you spend preparing, cooking, eating, cleaning for meals)
5. lots of research out there about calorie restriction and better health (like less asthma) in mice/rats
6. weight loss (I would really like to get back down to my ideal weight - it's tough to be short AND over 40 AND on hormone medication! You have to watch it like a hawk and I refuse to use my age as an excuse to let myself go)

The cons:
1. hunger on fasting days can be pretty intense sometimes and distracting
2. Stomach growling during inappropriate times
3. A few slump periods in energy
4. awkward for potential spontaneous social situations
5. I don't like dealing with naysayers
6. People think I'm weird enough, here I am doing yet another outside-the-box thing