3 Advantages I Experienced From Fasting
Every student knows that getting sick during the school year means falling behind with a lot of future catching up to do.
So as students we need to eat properly so we don't get sick.
The temptation to eat a bag of chips or crackers and halawa is even greater for those of us who live on our own.
The Christmas season doubles the temptation as well.
By the time the new year comes around everyone is sick all over again, just in time for school to start back up and everyone else to go back to work.
By then the cold weather (here in Canada) has set in and the wind chill drives the thermometer down to -40 C.
During the fall I make darn sure I have a filling breakfast and supper every day; lunch is flexible.
Actually breakfast usually turns into Lunch.
That way I just have two big meals and forget about the high glucose jelly-on-bread breakfast.
Today was a little different.
My alarm didn't ring for some reason.
I woke up at 9:20 instead of 6:00am.
This left me with 10 minutes to dress, clean-up, shower, eat and edit my paper.
That way I would have 15 minutes to get to McGill in time for my appt at 9:45 with my Middle English professor.
However as I was biking down St-Andre feeling triumphant that I pulled off getting up and editing my paper in record time, I suddenly realized I forgot to eat breakfast! What's worse, I forgot to pack a lunch.
I was concerned about my health and ability to study on an empty stomach.
This concern lasted about 5 minutes however.
Sure I was hungry at about 10:30, but by 12:00 the hunger was not what I was most concerned about.
My mind was now on Lancelot, Evelina and Saint Brendan.
I got home at 5:30 having eaten nothing all day.
I wasn't starved or famished.
I was just fine.
In fact I was tempted to continue by "fast" for the rest of the day.
But tomorrow morning I have my 100 push-ups to do (that is, if I want my scarf!) and while working out on an empty stomach is OK in the morning, I would not recommend it on an empty stomach resulting from a 35 hour fast.
Not wise.
My accidental daily fast had some interesting benefits that I would like to discuss however.
I would recommend trying this out when you are not going to be physically exerting yourself beyond walking around campus.
Increase in Alertness That's right.
For a short time from about 1:00-3:30pm I felt very alert.
I once heard that fasting one's lunch before writing an exam in the afternoon is good for an individual's mind because it makes the body focus more on being attentive instead of digesting food.
I don't know if this is jargon or rocket science, but it would explain why I was able to read John Madeville's travels in record time.
Stronger Focus If you skip lunch, and then sit down on the sofa and think about how hungry you are, chances are you're going to get hungrier.
But if instead of sitting on the sofa you take a book or article and do a close reading of it you won't think about your growling stomach.
This is what I did today.
Mon/Wed/Fri I have four hours of classes.
For the time I did not eat I used my breaks to study and focus on homework instead of eating the lunch I am supposed to be eating.
Had I turned my bike around, gone back home, ate breakfast, packed a lunch and e-mail my professor to say I was going to be very late, I would not have studied for an extra 2.
5 hours today.
Hustle Now this is a term you may never have come across.
It comes from the popular cliche "Hustle and Bustle?" I'm not referring to anything underhand here.
The hustle I am referring to communicates energetic movement.
A person who has hustle is walking with purpose.
They are looking straight ahead.
As I walked from one class to the next I hustled.
I was looking straight ahead, I was focused and my mind was on the homework I had done for the class I was heading towards.
As I studied in the library during my first 2 hour break I stuck to my readings throughout the whole 2 hours (usually I have some green tea, chit-chat, check my e-mail, take a break every 15 min, socialize, etc...
and get nothing done!).
I can honestly say that my day was more productive because I stuck to my guns and decided to live with the consequences of not having checked my alarm the night before! Pretty amazing consequences, eh?
So as students we need to eat properly so we don't get sick.
The temptation to eat a bag of chips or crackers and halawa is even greater for those of us who live on our own.
The Christmas season doubles the temptation as well.
By the time the new year comes around everyone is sick all over again, just in time for school to start back up and everyone else to go back to work.
By then the cold weather (here in Canada) has set in and the wind chill drives the thermometer down to -40 C.
During the fall I make darn sure I have a filling breakfast and supper every day; lunch is flexible.
Actually breakfast usually turns into Lunch.
That way I just have two big meals and forget about the high glucose jelly-on-bread breakfast.
Today was a little different.
My alarm didn't ring for some reason.
I woke up at 9:20 instead of 6:00am.
This left me with 10 minutes to dress, clean-up, shower, eat and edit my paper.
That way I would have 15 minutes to get to McGill in time for my appt at 9:45 with my Middle English professor.
However as I was biking down St-Andre feeling triumphant that I pulled off getting up and editing my paper in record time, I suddenly realized I forgot to eat breakfast! What's worse, I forgot to pack a lunch.
I was concerned about my health and ability to study on an empty stomach.
This concern lasted about 5 minutes however.
Sure I was hungry at about 10:30, but by 12:00 the hunger was not what I was most concerned about.
My mind was now on Lancelot, Evelina and Saint Brendan.
I got home at 5:30 having eaten nothing all day.
I wasn't starved or famished.
I was just fine.
In fact I was tempted to continue by "fast" for the rest of the day.
But tomorrow morning I have my 100 push-ups to do (that is, if I want my scarf!) and while working out on an empty stomach is OK in the morning, I would not recommend it on an empty stomach resulting from a 35 hour fast.
Not wise.
My accidental daily fast had some interesting benefits that I would like to discuss however.
I would recommend trying this out when you are not going to be physically exerting yourself beyond walking around campus.
Increase in Alertness That's right.
For a short time from about 1:00-3:30pm I felt very alert.
I once heard that fasting one's lunch before writing an exam in the afternoon is good for an individual's mind because it makes the body focus more on being attentive instead of digesting food.
I don't know if this is jargon or rocket science, but it would explain why I was able to read John Madeville's travels in record time.
Stronger Focus If you skip lunch, and then sit down on the sofa and think about how hungry you are, chances are you're going to get hungrier.
But if instead of sitting on the sofa you take a book or article and do a close reading of it you won't think about your growling stomach.
This is what I did today.
Mon/Wed/Fri I have four hours of classes.
For the time I did not eat I used my breaks to study and focus on homework instead of eating the lunch I am supposed to be eating.
Had I turned my bike around, gone back home, ate breakfast, packed a lunch and e-mail my professor to say I was going to be very late, I would not have studied for an extra 2.
5 hours today.
Hustle Now this is a term you may never have come across.
It comes from the popular cliche "Hustle and Bustle?" I'm not referring to anything underhand here.
The hustle I am referring to communicates energetic movement.
A person who has hustle is walking with purpose.
They are looking straight ahead.
As I walked from one class to the next I hustled.
I was looking straight ahead, I was focused and my mind was on the homework I had done for the class I was heading towards.
As I studied in the library during my first 2 hour break I stuck to my readings throughout the whole 2 hours (usually I have some green tea, chit-chat, check my e-mail, take a break every 15 min, socialize, etc...
and get nothing done!).
I can honestly say that my day was more productive because I stuck to my guns and decided to live with the consequences of not having checked my alarm the night before! Pretty amazing consequences, eh?
Source...