How Can Prolonged Fasting Help Build Resiliency in the COVIDian Era?

Resiliency, after decades of having lived a rather a ‘technical’ term in the ecology of Psychology and other Behavioral Sciences, is now — more than ever before — appearing in popular domain as a buzzword, with widespread intent to expand its definition and democratically apply it to all human efforts of “persistence and perseverance”; and to capitalize upon this superpower in times when there’s greater physical and economic uncertainty that our generation or the one before has ever experienced — and, often enough, find branding value in it and monetize it, as are humans wont to do in situations of both fortune and indeed, misfortune.

In this article, I am sharing my own personal — and physical — efforts at flexing my Resiliency Muscles through Prolonged Fasting.

Prolonged Fasting is >24 hours and in order to practice it safely, it’s recommended you (1) Follow an Insulin Sensitive approach to Nutrition in your daily routine, outside of any attempts at fasting. For instance, a Low Fat Whole Foods Plant Based Oil-Free approach (2) Have a “Plan B” in case you experience Physical Discomfort (3) An ability to figure out which signs of Physical Discomfort might actually have an Emotional root to them — and deal with them appropriately during the Fasting period (4) Consult your Health Care Provider if you suffer from an Insulin Resistant Chronic Illness such as Type II Diabetes Mellitus, Cardiovascular Disease prior to exploring Prolonged Fasting (5) Must Not be Pregnant, Lactating or an Unsupervised Minor.

So, let’s get started —

I fasted for 60 hours straight. My Fast began on a Sunday evening (9pm) after a light, insulin sensitive, easily digested dinner and finished with breakfast on Wednesday morning (9am).

Important Definition of FAST: “Full Abstinence from Solid Food”. This is the most basic definition of fasting and I cannot emphasize it enough. When we hear terms like Juice Fast, Cabbage Fast, Fruit Fast, Popcorn Fast (phew!), they are oxymorons. You cannot Feast AND Fast at the same time, even if its “just” crunchy lettuce!

My Preparation for Fast:

Meal “minus 1”, right before the fast = a large bowl of light clear vegetable soup; lentils soup — no oil, no animal products, especially no dairy

Meal “plus 1, 2 and 3”, on *Day 1 of breaking the fast =a huge, delicious bowl of cut seasonal Fruit (for the rest of the day)

Meal “plus 4, 5 and 6”, on *Day 2 of breaking the fast = leafy greens in a salad or just loads of delicious Green Smoothies (90% greens + 10% fruit)

• *no nuts, seeds, avocados, starchy tubers like potatoes, definitely not processed foods like flour, baked breads et al

During The Fast:

Nutritionally, I only drank warm water or warm water with lemons & limes in it and had a green tea the morning of Day 2, followed by more warm water.

Physiologically — one can hope — the awesome process of Autophagy kicked in at some point.

What is Autophagy? It is a process by which components inside of cells (including proteins) are degraded and recycled. Autophagy can protect brain cells against accumulation of “bad” proteins that cause neurodegeneration.

But FOOD (or the utter lack of it!) isn’t all there is to a fast — the fun truly begins when the COVID19 Lockdown Situation “amplifies” what already happens during a Prolonged Water-Only Fast — that is, the Phenomenon of Time Deceleration!

In “normal” times, time would pass very slowly because our mouths aren’t moving fast enough LOL — you could turn to work, the outdoors, social interactions and the rest to minimize the disruption and the “mental rumination” in the absence of “physical rumination” that modern humans are prone to do!

In the “new normal”, within the confines of one’s home — a prolonged fast can effectively bring the delusion that is TIME to a grinding halt.

Yes, I did say that — the DELUSION that is Time. A manmade concept all in an effort to help lend structure to our time here on Earth and to log the events & experiences of those who have walked the face of this planet before us. But, a manmade concept — like many others — that has come to hold our own species hostage! We are like kittens caught in several balls of our own yarn, aren’t we? LOL.

In the absence of Ingestion of Food and in the midst of a Quarantine, a Prolonged Fast can provide a never-before opportunity to evaluate, to reflect, to toy with thoughts and reflections, bounce them off of walls and introduce a sense of play and bend rules, — and why not! bend time itself.

But BEFORE you do that, It’s key to have GOALS.

The Goals of my Prolonged Fasting were to achieve greater Meditative Balance, More Patience, to refine my ability to Listen to my Body, to tune into the sounds of the Earth getting busy to usher in Spring in the Northern Hemisphere and to Self Observe my response and reaction to everything and everyone around me. And, oh yes, to tempt temptation and test my self-control, and not lean on the frenetic energy of the digital world during my fast.

Full of all this lofty ambitions and with nothing in my stomach lol, I deep dove into my Fast.

Here’s a slew of things I did:

• All-Body Dry Brushing (pre shower) to speed up lymphatic cleansing. Invest in a brush with soft bristles
• Cold Showers a la The Wim Hof Method (highly, highly recommended)
• Oil up your body (that’s where Olive/Coconut oil belongs — not inside your food & your arteries, but ON your skin!)
• Face-masks! :-) a girl’s gotta have some fun! My favorite is a coffee & agave face mask ‘n scrub by LUSH called “a cup ‘o coffee’
• Hair and Scalp Massage — no oil needed, just fingers! boosts circulation and you’ll notice, when you’re massaging your own scalp with fingers, you can’t focus on “random thoughts” — it’s just one of those things!
• Micro Workouts: Every hour, on the hour — Yoga Stretches, Pelvic Conditioning Exercises, Inversions. No more than 5–8 minutes and you’re done!
• oh yes, I tried Face Tapping too :-) (courtesy: YouTube Videos!)
• On Day 2, I embraced decluttering, cleaning and vacuuming in Marie Kondo style and sparks of joy were flying everywhere at the end of it. My kitchen, pantry, bathroom and laundry chores thanked me!
• A special note on Laundry — I folded clothes on the rug. Why? Try squatting in good form, back arched and fold T-shirts — then stand, pick up another piece of clothing, deep squat, keep form and repeat
• Read a book. Read many books. Listen to Podcasts. Listen to many Podcasts.
• Write Poetry. Click Photos. Start an Art Project — black ink doodling is my fav
• To decelerate time further — Sit in Silence. Embrace your thoughts. Observe nature. Spring Showers in New England offer an excellent vista!
• To accelerate time — Practice Time-chunking. I broke down my day into 10-minute chunks. A task or a chore HAD to be done in 10-min and I would move onto something else, return to the task at another 10-min interval. My efficiency and effectiveness skyrocketed during those hours!
• Tempt Lady Tempation — I dig chocolate and with Easter round the corner, I wanted to experiment with making 100% plant based Chocolate at home. So I did. Bang in the middle of my 60-hour fast… the aroma, the texture, the color — the sensory overwhelm (assault?) of being inside my kitchen turned into a veritable chocolaterie! I succeeded in resisting — and awarded an invisible Medal of Honor to myself for untold courage in the face of chocolate.
• I continued to play with time, toy with ideas, move my body, drink my lemon water — and practice Gratitude. If there’s one thing that can move mountains and help you cruise though prolonged fasting is an Attitude of Conscious and Mindful Gratitude. The reason is, simply put, fasting is self-inflicted deprivation — and experiences of deprivation can be extremely powerful in shaping our perception of Self and over time, may impact Self Worth, Personality and Interpersonal Relationships. Fasting is that “micro-moment” in the relative length of our lives where we can mindfully revisit our own Inner Chaos and Roots of Deprivation, something that goes way beyond the immediate absence of food. This mindful revisiting can help peel away the layers and embalm them with Gratitude. Gratitude for the NOW and every “Deprivation” that ever was — real or imaginary. Fasting creates space for true nothingness in our lives, if we let it. A powerful clearing to LET GO and BE SILENT — deep within. In this way, Fasting can be a truly intimate and uniquely personal experience.

I truly enjoyed my 60-hour Fast. The burst in energy, mental clarity, digestive clarity (!) and a feeling of Lightness in both Step and Spirit was astounding. When experiencing this “high”, it is important to break the fast responsibly and to have the effects endure for as long as possible. Fruits, then Greens and reintroducing other foods over the next 2–3 days is ideal.

And, oh yes, continue to celebrate with water — the elixir of life. Raise a toast to Health, Happiness, Hope, Gratitude and Letting Go — and that amazing super power called RESILIENCY — even as a microscopic aggressor seems to have turned our world upside down, for now!