Have you tried a 3-day fast with honey before?
One day while browsing in the library, I stumbled upon
"Slimming with Honey", a Chinese book written by a
Taiwanese expert in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Being a
honey enthusiast, I was naturally spurred to check the book
out of the library.
I knew very well a 3-day fast was not a panacea that I
could count on for weight problem, but I felt the hankering
to put my body on a challenge for a few days of no food.
And I figure that a detox could be a good jumpstart to get
myself on the road of forming a better attitude towards
eating and working on a wiser dieting subsequently.
The beauty of this 3-day program is its simplicity - no
complicated diet plans to follow, no fat-burning pills to
pop, and no creams or ointment to rub on. What it requires
only are the availability of pure honey, a resolution to
abstain from food for three days and a correct attitude
when breaking fast. Knowing how nutritious honey is helps
in bracing me up for the program. I was convinced that this
natural sweetener containing a myriad of small doses of
nutrients and vitamins and a horde of antioxidants, is a
wise choice of food during this time. But what probably
also inspired me a great deal is the well-known proposition
that our organs occasionally deserve a good break after
working so hard non-stop since the day we were born and
allowed ourselves to indulge in the immensity of so-called
good foods. Moreover fasting isn't a rocket science; for
thousands of years, almost all cultures have counted on it
to help clear the body of toxins, give our digestive organs
the opportunity to rejuvenate and restore optimum function.
This honey water detox simply involves the following: For 3
days, take only honey with water or tea. For each 150cc of
water, mix with 1 to 2 tablespoons of pure honey. Drink
this for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and whenever you feel
tired or thirsty. Keep yourself hydrated the whole day but
limit total consumption of honey to 150cc each day.
My Day One: The temptation for food and to give it up and
start all over again was very real for me. I constantly
felt hunger pangs and my mind just kept slipping into
images of my favorite foods. However, reminding myself of
what the book shared - "one should get used to it on the
2nd day" gave me great consolation and courage to stay on.
Focusing on my work in the office nonetheless was a big
challenge when every nerve and cell in me was screaming for
food.
My Day Two: As per what was described in the book, I
experienced more energy instead of weakness, and my bowel
movement was smooth, but sort of explosive. However, what
was disappointing to me was - there was no euphoria high as
I continued to fast and my yearning for food did not seem
to get any lesser. I somehow didn't get used to hunger like
how the book has described and all I wanted to do when I
got back home from work was to sleep and forget about all
the ill-feelings.
My Day Three: I was a bit surprised by my energy level in
the morning and happy that I could still keep up with my
usual 30-minute workout at 6.30am. And thankfully, my
gastric did not give me any problems like in the past
whenever I skipped meals. However, by noon, I was feeling
famished again and by 5pm I was actually getting frustrated
and moody about the depravity of food. And one strange
phenomenon that was really not funny - I became extremely
sensitive to odors and even the smell of people's breath!
To brighten up things a bit on my last day of fasting, I
expanded the range of tea varieties that I use to
chamomile, rose, and fruit, and also increase the floral
varieties of honey to Clover, Leatherwood, and Manuka. By
evening, when I stepped unto my bathroom scale, I had
already lost an unbelievable 3kg and a big bulk of my tummy.
My Day Four: To break fast, I followed the author's advice
of going on a soft diet and abstaining from meat, diary
products, and oily and spicy stuff for the first two days.
My breakfast consisted of a small bowl of oat cereal mixed
with honey, but to my surprise, I didn't feel excited at
all when I tasted food again. In the afternoon, I was
hungry and eager to go for some nice soft food but at the
same time also felt somewhat revolting. Eating seemed to be
a brand new experience. Flavors and textures of foods had
become so different for me that I actually could not
appreciate their tastes like before. My appetite was so bad
that it was almost like having dreadful symptoms of morning
sickness. In the end, I ended eating only a slice of fresh
papaya, half a bowl of plain congee, a cup of water melon
juice, and honey water for the whole day. It was when I
felt such disappointment did I realize that breaking fast
is even be harder than fasting. My breaking fast experience
today was far from what the book has prepared me mentally
for - do not lose control and overeat, do not jar the
digestive system by gorging on meat and junk food.
My Day Five: The start of the day was not as depressing as
the day before. I began to respond to food more positively
and continued to take plain soft food. By evening, to my
relief, my appetite was back to normal and that was when I
did something stupid - I took a bottle of cold lemon juice
to quench my thirst. And result? I ended the day with a big
mess, whining like a baby, throwing up big time and feeling
weak. What a memorable anti-climax to my fasting experience!
My Day Six: I slowly normalized my diet, but still avoiding
too sweet, sour and spicy, or salty foods, so that my
stomach could slowly get used to having different types of
foods again.
----------------------------------------------------
Ruth Tan is the owner of the website Benefits of Honey at
http://www.benefits-of-honey.com which is an immensely
rich, quality resource on honey and its benefits, and a
plethora of health-related issues.
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