Benefits of Fasting

2002-11-19 03:46:00

My Friends,

I'm behind on getting the next chapter out. Sorry to leave you in a lurch. I should finish it the next day or so. It should be worth the wait.

A couple months ago I realized that I was really getting out of shape so I started jogging again, after a hiatus of 12 years or so. I was surprised how difficult it was to get back into shape compared to my younger years. (I am 57)

The interesting thing is that I just finished a week fast on liquids only. I usually fast twice a year for a week each time. This time it had been a year since my last fast. Sometimes I just drink water and other times juice. For the last five days of my fast I didn't feel like jogging so I took it easy. Monday, after I got my strength back I decided to go for a run again and thought I may have lost some of the gains of getting in shape because of taking it easy during the fast.

Well, I ran down the road by our house, a few blocks to a hill I always go up. Usually, by the time I get to the top of the hill I am pretty exhausted and have to force myself to go a little further and then I walk for a while. This time I got to the top of the hill and didn't even feel winded so I just kept going. I kept wondering when I would lose my wind and have to walk a while, but the time never came. Usually during my run, I walk about 40% of the distance but this time I ran the whole duration.

Usually, when I return home I am exhausted and feel like collapsing. But this time I felt like I could go another round if need by.

I've talked to you before about the benefits of fasting but this indeed gives additional evidence of its value that even I did not realize before. I would not have been surprised at some improvement, but not to this extent. I hope it lasts.

Whenever you have something wrong with you and don't know what to do, fasting will certainly help.

For more information on this principle you can do a search in the archives under the word "fasting." That should bring up something.