[F109]Fasting For Weight Loss

Millions are attached to the magic pill - the softer, easier, way. Fasting, dieting or exercise, in their minds, is often not an option because it requires work and some sacrifice. Thus the obesity epidemic continues to blanket the US and many parts of the world, coming up-to-par with actual drug addiction. The reason, we venture, is because overeating and obesity is in itself an addiction to a drug.

The drug we believe is food. Legal, promoted and abundant nearly everywhere that we go. The problem is that there is little warning. Before one eats a high-fat meal, there is no Surgeon General warning as is the case when one purchases a pack of cigarettes.

The Elusive Magic Pill

So, for many of us, binging and overeating goes on for years with apparent impunity until, one day, we awaken severely overweight, toxic and with the threat of our lives being cut short. Indeed, there are no Magic Cures to Obesity. Fasting, however, is a mighty practice that
can help counteract weight problems.

It is our hope and sincere wish that this article will drive the message loud and clear that you need not become ill from obesity or toxicity. Fasting is a way out that definitely works and WILL drastically improve your health -- if you give it a chance.

So, it seems, the drug dependency problem now can add a new foe to its list food. Now to some readers this may sound harsh and extreme. But time and again I have seen persons who are desperately ill and obese, yet are blind to their plight or simply do not believe they have a problem.

They continually go from doctor to doctor looking to be fixed. Sounds like the denial of an addict? Such was my case. The truth of my toxicity and obesity would stare at me in the mirror each day. But I saw only what I wanted to see. I was not ready do surrender and do whatever it took to lose the weight and improve my health.

I have spoken to wonderful people with great talents who were morbidly obese, and I can tell you that many brushed me away when I even hinted that food may be their problem. It is always our message that people in such a state, in many cases, do not eat out of hunger, but out of depression, boredom and loneliness. Food is used for comfort. Food is literally used as a drug.

Starvation

But what are we to do? With cigarettes or another addiction, one can practice abstinence. Yet how can the body survive without food? Good question. The answer, research indicates, is that most persons can fast for as long as 40 days before real starvation begins.

Starvation begins when the body has consumed all stored fast and starts to eat live tissue for survival. Forty days! Imagine that. That certainly gives a whole new meaning to the phrase I am starving!

Craving

The crux of the problem is what we have come to know as the phenomena of craving. Many persons could eat a slice of apple pie and walk away. For persons such as me, on the other hand, sugar, starch and fried foods kick-in a compulsion for more and more.

The compulsion is so strong that, once started, I can find it nearly impossible to stop eating that particular food. I am not saying here that the phenomena of craving leads you to eat a whole pie in one sitting although in some cases it may.

What I AM saying is that, if you are like me, chances are you may not be able to go for more than a day or two without sugar, start or high-fat foods without going into uncomfortable withdrawal. That is the craving as we are defining it here. A friend of mine we will call Jeff presents the case in point. He goes to the supermarket and buys a gallon of ice cream, telling himself that it will last him the entire month.

Deadly Compulsion

Jeff is 120 pounds overweight and suffers from hypertension and pre-diabetes. Should he be even buying the ice cream at all? I would venture to say no, but the denial and reasoning of the mind wins out so he buys it.

He says he will have only one cup every few days. But sure enough, after he has the first scoop, the phenomena of craving kicks in and he finds himself getting up time and again to the refrigerator for another serving.

In some hours, the entire gallon of ice cream is gone. Then come the demons of shame, regret and demoralization. The mental anguish a binge of this sort causes is beyond description. Perhaps you relate. Of course, there WILL be foods that I CAN eat in moderations. But it is important to know that there are OTHER foods, that I WILL NOT be able to eat safely.

I cannot keep them in my house. Why? Because I cannot control their intake. Just their presence in the house is reason to obsess. This is the where the genius of fasting comes in. As we are discussing, many people who are obese are probably using food as a drug and are constantly stricken by the phenomena of craving.

They simply have lost the power of choice when it comes to overeating. It is a prison of the worst kind. With fasting, however, you simply do not eat for some time.
Yes, most people then say. But what about the withdrawal pains? My answer is always the same. Withdrawal pains will pass after seven to ten days of fasting.

But the end result will be added, quality years to your life. How much is your life worth? Many obese persons find it nearly impossible to stop eating once they start.

Weekly Fasting

Even so, you do not have to fast to break any records. Do a water fast for even ONE day a week! Lets look at the math. One pound of body fast equals 3,500 calories. Most people eat an average of 2,000 to 3,000 calories per day.

Obese persons usually eat about 5,000 or 6,000 calories per day and higher. If you fast, say on Sunday (without changing anything else at all about your diet or lifestyle), by the end of the month you could experience weight loss of 4 pounds (one pound per week).

That is 50 pounds in one year! Wow! Or if you dont want to do a water fast, then do a liquid diet or juice fast! Drink fruit juice, vegetable juice, non-fat milk whatever! One day a week!

Do it and take a walk around the block one or twice a week. See what happens. Now, that is NOT starvation or something way beyond your capacity, is it? Every little bit helps. Little things add up.

Learn to recognize the trigger foods that always get you in trouble and kick them out of your house! The pleasure they may provide is small in comparison to the shame, heartache and damage they are doing to you!

Make a decision to eliminate that food from your diet, completely. Yes, I said completely. Remember, the phenomena of craving will make it nearly impossible for you to moderate.

So long as you keep putting it in your body, the compulsion will be active and you will be defenseless.
I know that sounds harsh, but what you must realize in your heart of hearts is that you simply, at this point, do not have power to control your intake of this particular food. Perhaps a year down the line, or two, you may be in a position where you can eat it occasionally.

I would venture to say that at that point you will feel so good that you will not even want it. But, right now, your body needs to be totally detoxified and cleansed from all of the trigger foods that activate the gorging and overeating. Does this make sense?

The fact that food is a drug is evident by the fact that Overeaters Anonymous originates from the twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. There definitely is something to the food is a drug argument. Dont you think?

Message to Ponder On: Fasting even One day a week can substantially start to improve your health and foster weight loss. EASY DOES IT, BUT DO IT!