Jain for another day

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Managed to fast again yesterday. This time it was much easier, completely effortless. Maybe I’m getting faster at it 😉 [ugh, couldn’t resist]

This time however there was another test – there was an ex-team (my previous team) meeting that I couldn’t miss because one of the teammates was leaving the company. So I sat and ordered lunch (a glass of hot water) while everyone else had soup, gobi manchurian, naan and curry. I found it surprising that I passed the test – was very comfortable (else I wouldn’t have sat there, because I would’ve passed on my discomfort to others as well!)

I was a bit more cautious while breaking the fast in the subsequent morning – drank some lemon juice at around 6:30 and ate food only a couple of hours later.

One strange thing is that all these days when I delay a meal, I feel really hungry, but during these two days that I fasted, my hunger was very much under control, probably because I had earlier resolved not to eat.

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5 responses to “Jain for another day”

May 4, 2006

bellur ramakrishna

sanjay,
when i read ‘JAIN FOR A DAY’, i felt that i too must give it a try. but as i told u, i kept on postponing it(coz i just love food). And after I read ‘JAIN FOR ANOTHER DAY’, I decided on fasting and just thought about what NIKE said. And Just did it. Felt very fresh. and as u have written, i ate a couple of hours after I had lemon juice. i wanna do this every fortnight….let’s see!

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May 4, 2006

Shruthi

Lots of people have told me about the benefits of fasting, but if I miss even one meal, I end up with a severe headache and even more severe acidity. Any suggestions?

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May 4, 2006

bellur ramakrishna

Shruthi,
My wife tells me the same thing: Fasting to her means ‘Headache and Acidity’. That is because each individual has a different constitution. The benefits of fasting must be preceded by a look at the body’s progression when deprived of food. Due to the lack of incoming energy, the body must turn to its own resources, a function called autolysis. This feeling of being weak and sick is actually a sign of your bodyâ€™s natural, emergency response in a period of stress. Our bodies donâ€™t know the difference between fasting for a short-term spiritual or religious cause or starvation from a famine, and they have adapted to respond to a lack of food in the same wayâ€”to pull from the bodyâ€™s stores of glycogen (a storage form of energy found mostly in the liver) and protein (found in the muscles, heart, liver, kidneys, and skin).
Undernutrition, which occurs with a prolonged fast, presents a challenge that causes a waterfall of these body responses designed to promote adaptation and preserve â€œnormalityâ€ for your bodyâ€™s everyday maintenance and tasks. These responses place a great strain on the liver and kidneys, as well as many other organs and systems in the body.
Once our limited stores of fast-acting energy are eliminated (within 24-48 hours of fasting), the body will start to release brain chemicals designed to increase our interest in foodsâ€”particularly sweets and fats.
On the contrary, if you don’t want to fast, think this way(the ‘Thindi-potha’ in me is saying this). Early signs of undernutrition include dizziness, confusion, headaches, a rumbling or pain in the stomach. These are the signs that we learned to recognize as the need for food as young as in childhood, so why should we not eat when really eating cures these symptoms of dizziness, confusion, headache and stomach pain in most cases? Do what your body tells you and what you learned in childhoodâ€”listen to your body and stomach and eat when you are hungry, but donâ€™t overindulge and there will be no need for a fast in the future.

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May 4, 2006

Shruthi

Thank you, that makes sense! I love food too, different varieties… I eat everything, but in controlled quantities. Many times, after a week full of junk food, I eat just salad and curds at night, or very light food in the day, to compensate. Fasting is just not an option for me. I need to eat something, at least a couple of biscuits, else I go out of circulation 🙂

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May 7, 2006

msanjay

that’s really cool bellur! 8) Thanks for the useful info above.

Shruthi, totally agree with Bellur on his last para! I am tempted to give other suggestions but such ideas must come from within else just forcing ourselves might cause more harm than good!

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