I'm Kind of Hungry Now

I watched a show on PBS last night in which a guy fasted for days to see the effects on his health. He was encouraged by the results and I was intrigued.

He wanted to avoid diabetes and lower his cholesterol. I don't have those problems, but I am significantly overweight. At 212 pounds I have a BMI of 30. I'm obese. Whether you buy BMI ratings or not, I'm too heavy. When I sit down, my stomach hangs over my belt. I don't feel healthy at this weight and that affects my happiness.

I've tried counting calories and cutting back, but that has been too time-intensive or too abstract. I've increased my exercise, but then I eat more. Exercise is crucial to my health and happiness, but diet will most affect my weight. Too bad I struggle so much with my diet.

Last night I started thinking about fasting. I liked the idea if for no other reason than to try something new.

I woke this morning and made a cup of coffee but didn't eat. I'm not much for breakfast anyway, so this wasn't a struggle. My plan was to fast until dinner.

So far, so good. It is three in the afternoon and I haven't eaten since last night at ten when I munched on sunflower seeds. I've had coffee and water and now I'm sipping seltzer. While I feel hungry, I don't feel starved. In fact, I feel the eating habit pulling me more than I feel actual hunger.

Intriguing.

I'm doing some more reading about fasting and it's fun to run an experiment on myself. I'm doing it on my own rather than inflicting this on my family. We will still sit together and share dinner together, eating and talking just as we do every night.

I have kept myself from thinking about goals and the future. I'm doing this today and might or might not do it tomorrow. I'm focused on today.

In terms of exercise, my run today felt good. I went three miles. I don't usually eat before a run anyway, so that didn't feel unusual. I'm going about my everyday activities, except for eating.

I could eat right now -- a handful of raspberries or pretzels, a couple squares of chocolate, a slice of pizza -- but I'm choosing not to in order to see what happens. It is fascinating and has given me yet another reason to write on.