This is the final piece of the trilogy. I completed a 24 hour fast, I completed a 48 hour fast, and as of Saturday, January 21, 2012, 9:30 PM I completed a 72 hour fast.
Conclusion: Yes, I think there is room for a 96 hour fast in my future.
Boredom
In this post I won’t be discussing what happened during the fast as much as I will be discussing what has been going on since finishing the 72 hour fast. However, I will say that high levels of boredom and low levels of energy were the main characteristics of the 72-hour fast. Note: I was simultaneously not reading the news and not watching any TV except for videos TED.com, which may have contributed to the boredom. What was the impact of low energy? On day two and three I tried reading a book I’m genuinely interested in (Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely) and frequently had to stop after a few pages because I could not maintain focus.
Most people who I spoke to as I fasted said that they could never fast because they would get hungry. My quick rebuttal is that a fast is simply not for everyone, and if anyone has a strong desire to fast it is not very difficult nor is it especially grueling. If anyone out there has an interest in fasting or has fasted, let’s talk, I’m interested in hearing your questions and thoughts.
In the two days since ending the fast I ate crappy food, A LOT of crappy food.
“Meal” to end the fast:
Raising Cane’s box combo, which includes 4 pieces of fried chicken, two pieces of Texas toast (I subbed out the cole slaw for an extra piece), “Cane’s sauce”, French fries, and 21 ounce soda.
Munchies later that night:
King Size Reece’s Fast Break
Half a bag of Kettle Brand salt and pepper chips (“share size” …I did not share)
After three days of not eating this mess of food was a wreck on my stomach. Any sane person could easily predict this. I had a hard time falling asleep and a hard time waking up the next day. I woke around 11 AM.
“Breakfast”:
Two large Italian style turkey sausages, made by yours truly
A housemate greeted me less than 30 minutes after breakfast and asked if I was hungry. I said sure why not? Let’s go to Steve’s and get some lunch.
Lunch:
Souvlaki in a Syrian pita with grilled veggies
Fries on the side
12 oz can of Coca-Cola
After eating I went to a meeting, visited a local shop, and was back home to watch the AFC Championship, by now it was around 3 PM. I sat down with my laptop to write up project notes to my team but I just couldn’t get into it, scrapped the idea entirely, and went off to my buddy’s house for the rest of the Patriots game and to watch the upcoming Giants game. On the way, I picked up some cookies from Trader Joe’s for everyone to enjoy. I brought the cookies, shared them with the gang, had a few myself and enjoyed drank a beer. While at TJ’s I also got one of their “fiberful fruit sticks,” which I love so much.
Snack:
3 soft chocolate chip cookies from trader joe’s
1 “fiberful fruit stick”
1 miller high life
Fast forward a little bit, the Patriots win. My friend Ben is hungry. He asks, “Anyone want to get food?” I say sure. We decide to get pizza, breadsticks, and a two-liter of orange soda. We bring them back to the house to eat as we watch the Giants game.
Dinner:
2 slices of “The Works” pizza from Papa Gino’s
3-5 cheesy breadsticks + dipping sauce
20ish ounces of orange soda
I leave before the Giants game is over and finish watching the game at home. Giants win! Super Bowl is going to be exciting. And I decide to get a snack from the local convenience store.
Late-night snack:
King Size Reece’s Fast Break
So for those of you who have lost track the total list of food I had in the approximately 27 hour period following a three day fast is as follows:
- Raising Cane’s box combo, which includes 4 pieces of fried chicken, two pieces of Texas toast (I subbed out the cole slaw for an extra piece), “Cane’s sauce”, French fries, and 21 ounce soda.
- King Size Reece’s Fast Break
- Half a bag of Kettle Brand salt and pepper chips (“share size” …I did not share)
- Two large Italian style turkey sausages, made by yours truly
- Souvlaki in a Syrian pita with grilled veggies
- Fries on the side
- 12 oz can of Coca-Cola
- 3 soft chocolate chip cookies from trader joe’s
- 1 “fiberful fruit stick”
- 1 miller high life
- 2 slices of “The Works” pizza from Papa Gino’s
- 3-5 cheesy breadsticks + dipping sauce
- 20ish ounces of orange soda
- King Size Reece’s Fast Break
We’re talking about thousands of calories. I will make no excuses. This is a perfect example of unhealthy, binge, compulsive, excessive eating. This brings me into the beginning of the end (of this post).
The Grand Opportunity
After reflecting on the days since starting the 72-hour fast the first thing that first comes to mind is the stoic mental exercise of flipping an obstacle upside down to turn a problem into an opportunity. The problem I have is that I lack conscious moderation of my diet. Not eating is, I now know, pretty easy for me. The same goes for nonstop eating. But finding a comfortable middle ground…therein lies the rub. The opportunity is to use this experience as an objective starting point to find that middle ground and to begin experimenting with new healthy recipes and to begin practicing a moderated eating routine. That is the real challenge.
“There is nothing impossible to him who will try.”
–Alexander the Great
As always, let me know what you think; I love to hear what you have to say and really appreciate the feedback!!
-PBS
