Fasting because I'm fat

Ok so now that I've got the intro out of the way, let's start with the fasting. I feel I need to lead with this statement because people just never seem to believe why I actually fast so maybe I should start with saying why I am NOT fasting:

• I am NOT fasting to lose weight!

Weight loss is a side effect of fasting and obviously an unavoidable side effect of a process that involves not eating. At this point I am planning on posting pictures because, well, I know some of you, and black lines shaped in the form of letters only holds your attention for so long. I think the pictures will be quite interesting actually and should give you an idea of just how amazing your body truly is. The last time I went on a long fast it lasted 14 days and I lost 30 pounds. I went from 215 down to 185 in 14 days. I can actually feel you thinking/commenting to your computer screen - "That's not healthy to lose that much weight in that short amount of time." My response is... why? Why is it not healthy? My body decided to do it, I didn't force my body. Just because I stopped providing nutrients from food didn't mean that my body had to process 30 pounds of fat to provide me with energy. I certainly wasn't doing anything even remotely physical during that 14 day fast. My opinion, and from what I've read I certainly feel comfortable with this opinion, is that my body processed 30 pounds of fat in 14 days because it could. Because I was carrying at least 30 pounds of excess weight that transferred very nicely into the energy I needed to function without causing any harm whatsoever to the rest of my body.

Maybe your reaction wasn't what I guessed, but I bring it up because people sure seem to have very concrete ideas about what is 'healthy' and what is 'unhealthy' and fasting challenges a lot of those preconceptions. Instead of going into a big discussion of the background of fasting, let me just point out a few web resources to check out if you are interested in more information:

• Wiki - the ever popular, highly controversial internet know-it-all has a pretty decent data-dump about fasting.


• WebMd - The medical community as a whole puts fasting in the same category as acupuncture, if a doctor doesn't prescribe it to you it must be voodoo. But even this conservative, scare-prone site can't completely ignore the medical research done with fasting.


• Dr. Joel Fuhrman - Alright so I know the man sells books but you can't fault him for having ambition. Still, documented proof is hard to ignore.

What I do want to go into are the reasons that I am fasting. I have psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Psoriasis is an auto-immune disease that affects the skin and psoriatic arthritis is basically arthritis caused by the psoriasis. Not a whole lot is really known about the disease other than it has something to do with the immune system. About six years ago I met a woman who owned a health food store in Washington State who also happened to be somewhat of an expert on fasting. She told me that fasting had been documented as helping auto-immune diseases and gave me a couple of book titles to look up on the subject. Once my arthritis got to the point of basically turning me into a cripple, I decided to give fasting a try. This was around August of 2005. In the months leading up to August my arthritis had progressed to the point where I was taking 9 Extra-Strength Tylenol and 6 Aleve everyday just to take the edge off the pain enough that I was able to go to work. Even with all that pain medication I couldn't lift my arms above my shoulders because the pain was so great that my muscles would just give out. It was getting difficult to put my shoes on because my feet were so inflamed and I was walking with a limp because putting weight on my right foot hurt so bad. I was 29 years old but I felt like I had the body of an 89 year old.

On the morning of the third day of my fast I noticed that it didn't hurt so bad to get out of bed so I decided to see what would happen if I only took 2 Tylenol instead of 3 Tylenol and 2 Aleve as I normally did right after I got out of bed. Noon rolled around and instead of feeling that familiar dull pain returning I just felt the empty feeling in my stomach. Instead of my normal 3 Tylenol, 2 Aleve lunch I decided to forgo the pain medication altogether. By the end of the day I literally couldn't believe that I was able to walk back to my car - and without a limp! That morning was the last time I took any pain medication in order to function.

Those 14 days made me a believer in the power of fasting. And it wasn't just my arthritis literally disappearing that was so amazing. I've never felt better in my entire life than I did during those 14 days without food. Sure the beginning was tough, but once you make it past the 4th day it's really amazing.

Shortly after I broke my fast and returned to my normal diet my arthritis returned as well. Though not nearly as potent, fasting had clearly set it back a bit. Lucky for me a new genetically engineered drug had been approved to treat psoriatic arthritis and I was able to start taking it before my arthritis had a chance to fully recover. The drug, Enbrel, is truly a miracle drug and basically replicated my fasting results. Although not in as dire a situation as I was 3 1/2 years ago, I am beginning to feel soreness in some of my joints again and I'm hoping that with a one-two punch of fasting and miracle drugs I can keep my arthritis at bay. I also just feel the need for massive system cleansing and there is no better cleaner than a fast.

So that's it in a nutshell. Hopefully I'll keep to the daily posting goal I've set and it nothing else it might be interesting to see the pictures of me literally shedding fat over the next 14 days or so. I can't say for sure how long the fast will be because your body always determines that for you. After the artificial hunger pains go away around the 4th day you literally don't crave food at all nor do you have any pains from not eating. The first time I fasted, this lasted 14 days and then I started to feel hungry again. This was my body telling me that it was about time I started to eat or it was going to have to start processing muscle tissue rather than fat.

So I really don't know how long the fast will last. But I do know that it starts tomorrow and I better stop typing and get some sleep or I'm going to be super pissy tomorrow morning without any coffee.