We went on a fast! plus 6/17/12, Family Fun Week

We went on a fast this weekend.

It was fun!  It was less difficult and politically motivated than this one:

Yerba Mate Lover and I didn't eat anything for three days.  We started on Thursday night and didn't eat until Sunday at noon.  The first day was fine: we made it to dinner without much thought, and successfully resisted temptation at our neighborhood potluck.

The second day was very difficult.  We biked to a Grimes concert and nearly died.  We made it through the day and went to bed in bad moods.

The third morning was awful.  Neither of us could move, and we blacked out every time we stood up.

At noon, we drank a smoothie made from honey, limes, oranges, cayenne, and chipotle peppers.  It tasted pretty good, but it probably wasn't! 

#NOM!

After that we ate progressively large snacks, leading up to a simple and healthy dinner.  Neither of us have thrown up...yet!

A lot of people have asked us...did fasting change your life?  Well, I don't know, it's a bit difficult to say.  It's only been a few hours since I've returned to the world of eating.  Here are our principal observations:

Eating takes up a lot of time.  We felt like we had a lot more time this weekend; we had so many hours freed up that we usually spend procuring, preparing, eating, and cleaning up after food.  This sounds great, but it's sort of lame because we were too tired and nutrient deficient to do anything fun!  All we could do was lie around.

Grimes likes eating too!

We eat way too much too quickly.  Though eating nothing for three days is excessive and unpleasant, it did make us realize that you really don't need to eat three big meals a day.  We played sports, jammed out to cool tunes, and watched TV without dying from starvation.  We also realized that we typically don't really appreciate what we eat; instead of slowly digesting and thinking about the flavors and substances that are going into our bodies, we just shovel it in in greater quantities than we actually need to survive.  Fasting has definitely made me appreciate food itself more I think.  We have been committing FOOD INJUSTICE everyday of our lives...but no longer!  From now on, I think both of us will think about how amazing the act of eating is every time we commit it.

We realized how much eating directs our days and decisions.  While biking back on Saturday night, our friend invited us over to her new house.  We were very tired and near the point of death and both wanted to go home.  But we realized that the only reason we wanted to go home was because we wanted to do what we usually did when we were hungry and tired: eat.  If we weren't eating, there was nothing our house offered that our friend's didn't.  She had couches and water: what else could we want?  We realized that many of our decisions were based around eating.  We wake up early to eat a big breakfast; we run home in the afternoon to grab a quick lunch; we block out hours of every evening to prepare for dinner.  We even forgo other activities so that we'll get to the good food faster than our housemates.  For better or for worse, food is one of the main center-points of our day.  That's crazy!  Who would have thought that something so insignificant was so important?

A lot of people are asking us: what foods did you miss the most?

Well, for me, I found myself craving bread, meat, and beer.  I don't even like beer!  I don't know why those foods were so appealing to me, but they were.  Yerba Mate Lover craved deli sandwiches and beer.  So weird!  Basically the same foods!  I wonder if there's something about them...maybe there's a sandwich and beer lobby that's secretly controlling our lives.  Hmmm....

 Now that Fast Week is over, it's time for something wholesome and nice: Family Fun Week!  Board games every night!  My family never played games with me, so this will be a new experience for me.

 Happy Father's Day everyone!