Do this…Don’t do this…Fasting for mortals

Everyone's favorite Uncle

As noted in previous blogs I’m one ‘those’ people that regularly fast.  For a long-time I kept this weirdness to myself, but after having damn near knock down dragouts with family and friends I finally came clean.  Now everybody, for the most part, just ignores my eccentricities and treats me like the kooky Uncle every family has stowed away in the attic.  But every now then there are people who become interested in fasting practices and they give it a whirl.  Surprisingly, it is seldom ever a pleasant experience for them and part of the problem stems from me. 

I forget to explain to them that it took me years to get to the point where being hungry felt more normal than satiated.  More importantly, I didn’t just jump right in the deep end of the pool, I gradually tested the water and had as many miserable days as good days.  I wouldn’t change the experience even if I could because the misery taught me a lot about myself and how to handle…..well misery.  My fasting has progressed from merely skipping breakfast to daily fasting 19-21 hours (5 days of the week) and fasting for 48 hours the other 2 days of the week.  Over the years I have created all kinds of strategies for distracting myself, building my hunger tolerance and in the end making self-control or self-discipline my number one character trait.  Over the next few days I’ll post some strategies for distracting the hunger, increasing hunger tolerance and how to have the self-discipline of Diogenes ‘the mad Socrates’ of antiquity. 

Today's WOD 

EMOM for 5 minutes

Clean, Front Squat and Jerk complex: Clean 185, Front Squat x 2, Jerk x 1

30 Pullups

30 Sec L-sit hold

20 x 500 meter C2 Concept Rower

Self-discipline training--To face the winds of fortune 'we must undergo winter training' Epictetus

Fasted 20 hours

Weight: 161.8

Read: 5 hours

Wrote: 5 hours

Cold Shower