What is fasting? Fasting means to abstain from food, or not eat anything, whether for religious purposes or for health purposes.
A fast can vary greatly, whether for a day to many weeks. A one day can do not much for you, except help you lose about a half pound a week, and fasting for many weeks without any vitamins or minerals can be dangerous.
If you look up fasting on google, which I am sure many of you have, or at least look at other pro anas sites, which generally copy and paste off the internet, you will find many different ways of fasting. The way I like to fast is different from everyone else's, because some fasts are kinda expensive or risky. I want a simple fast that wont kill me!
So here it is:
I always try to eat right, but like everyone else I have temptations. I am not going to tell you to throw out all of the food in the house, because like me and 98% of all other people with eating disorders, that is impossible to do, and will cause a lot of problems... If you just stop eating all together, YOU WILL NOT FEEL HUNGER FOR FOOD!!! I promise you! Binge eating is something I had for about a month, and I am not squeamish about purging, but it is a pain in the ass to do!
Okay, now that we have that down, this is what I do when I decide to fast.
1. Pick a time frame to fast, and stick to it. Try to start slow, if this is your very first time fasting, try to fast for one day and see how it goes... If you have done it many time before, I am sure you already know what you are doing, but please read on, you might find out something new...
2. Once you get through the first day of fasting, you can do it for many days to come... but if you cheated, you are very naughty but try again tomorrow--just think of what you didn't eat!
Why eat food with tons of carbs and fats when you can get the same nutrients and water out of these following tips:
3. TIP ONE-WATER: When you do fast, make sure you are getting enough water--remember that per gallon of water it weighs about 8 pounds!!! So if you gain a pound or two, don't beat yourself up, it is only the water. I never like to weigh myself while on a fast, I try to weigh myself before and after the whole fast is said and done. Remember you can only live a few days without water--we get most of our water form food we eat, so if you are not eating food, you cant get water--so drink when ever you feel thirsty or have some grumbles in your stomach. Don't drink gallons at a time, it can and will stretch out your stomach.
4. TIP TWO-NUTRIENTS AND VITAMINS: Try going to your local grocery store and pick up some vitamins. The only kind I like is the Centrum kind, if you look on the back to the label, it has more of what you need than any other kind found at "normal" stores. They are like horse pills though, so you can break it in half to take it that way if you can't swallow pills that big. Make sure you don't take more than it says, because too much of one vitamin can be dangerous, I like to take about 1 1/2 of Centrum pills per day.
5. TIP THREE-FOOD: Try not to eat anything because it can mess up your fast. If you are digesting food, that means you are not "digesting" your fat. But what is safe if to have juices of an orange or anything like that, but make sure it does not come in a bottle, once a day. For example, it might be nice to squeeze an orange in the morning to take with your vitamin(s), that way you have your daily dose of sugar for you don't faint. And figure out a way to have a "dash" of salt, maybe put a dash in your orange juice (you wont taste it, promise) or make yourself some bouillon (from a cube). Salt is something we all need regardless of what others say, look it up on any health website (not ana or something 'homemade'), you will find out what you need to survive.
Honestly, if you think about food--not because you are hungry but because you know it is something you can't have--you are going to fail, sad but true. Find something to do for that one day: exercise, go window shopping, hang out with a friend, watch television, do homework, etc. Find more tips and ideas on my "Tips" page.
Colonics; Colon Irrigation; Etc.
What is Colonics? Colonics is when you put a solution in your colon through your rectum.
I have not done this yet, but I am planning to. The best time to do colon irrigation is a few days after you start fasting, this way you have got most of your bowel movements out and you can see better of what actually come out. They say that you should put coffee and other ingredients into the solution, but I have decided that if you make a murky brown solution it is harder to see what actually comes out. This way I have decided to make a solution that the hospitals use to put in our veins when you are dehydrated. If you colon "sucks" up too much of the 100% water solution, you can become too hydrated and it can cause problems. The IV bags they use in the hospital setting is .9% sodium chloride (salt) solution in sterile water, (or for every 100 oz, 1oz of salt) which makes a salt:water ratio of 1:100.
For every gallon of water you use, add in about 3 teaspoons of salt. In a pan or clean bucket, pour this solution into it and place the basin about 3 feet above where you would be laying. Stick one end of a clean hose into the basin--the hose you can buy at a hardware store, make sure it is flexible and about 5 feet in length. Suck on the other end into until the solution is all the way through the tube. Clamp that same end and lay down about 3 feet below the basin. Ease the tubing about 3 or 4 inches into your butt and release the clamp, and let gravity do its work. When all the liquid is released into your colon, gently rub your stomach and sides. Try to keep the solution in place for at least 30 minutes and then jump on the toilet and go!
TIPS: Some people like warm water, some people like cool water. Try it with warm water first for you an get used to the feeling of water inside you, and the second time you do it, try cooler water. But it is really up to you.
Once this episode is over, try it again in a week or so to see what you might have missed.