Fasting

[ivankiss]

How long have you been fasting for? What is the longest period you deprived yourself of food?

I've been fasting on and off for nearly two years now. Feel like I extracted what needed to be extracted.

Lost some weight, but I gained much more.

Feeling like lashing back onto food, slowly.

Will my body resist? Side effects?

I barely ate any meat. However I feel an extremely strong pull towards it now.

Want to gain back some weight; see them muscles grow.

How to go gentle about this? 

How to go from eating nothing or once a day to eating 5 times a day...in a natural way?

Should I start by eating twice a day, than three times and so on? Or start with 5 ridiculously small meals and keep increasing the size of those?

I also include work out and yoga.

I want to increase the intesity of those. Need more calories.

Thanks.

Love

[Michael569]

It is important to take it easy and go slow on your digestion. Chances are your stomach has shrunk a bit and your pancreas got used to pumping digestive juices less often. 

Smoothies are one of the best way to crank up more calories into easily digestible form without stretching the stomach walls too much. Adding something like a protein powder into it will help with the gain of muscle mass. 

Focus on quality over quantity. Eat foods dense in micronutrients as close to natural state as possible. Think more wholefoods and less processed pre-cooked packed foods. If you crave meat, give it a go and see how it makes you feel. Don't carry any stigma around food unless you try it yourself. 

Yes, it is possible that if you bump up your calories, initially you will see some side effects like bloating, diarrhoea or constipation. 

Most of all if you want to gain some muscle, the nutrition is only portion of the success, the other is putting sufficient stress to activate anabolic processes. Sleep is equally important as that is when your hypothalamus releases the most GHRH. Growth happens more while you sleep than in the gym. 

[ivankiss]

Thank you very much @Michael569

Smoothies resonate a lot, yes. Had them in mind. What I'm "worried" about is mostly meat and heavier food. But I feel like giving it a shot. It's been a while since I ate a nice, juicy stake  feels good in my brain while picturing it. We'll see how will the stomach respond.

Maybe I'll conclude it is not what my body needs anymore and stick to fish, veggies and fruits.

I used to drink protein shakes, "back in the day", while I was hitting the gym regulary.

Will see if my body still likes it.

Thanks again! 

[Sahil Pandit]

@ivankiss Fasting is great, i would highly recommend coupling it with mindfulness meditation, yoga, and pranayama/kriya.

John Rose has some great content on YT about "Solid Food Vacations". It pretty much gives your digestive system time to rest/recover and focus on cellular repair.

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If you're going to the gym, try and do it early on in the day, preferably in the morning. That way, you'll spike your metabolism as well as have the time to eat more meals if you wanna go that route. 

(Smoothies, shakes, and juices are your best friend when it comes to getting nutrients in, whether you're on a fast or not) 

[ivankiss]

@Sahil Pandit Thank you!

I decided to let my body decide all for itself. Will go gentle.

All of your suggestions will paint the background for sure 

[pluto]

Start slowly, see how you feel. One food at a time if you must or one meal. Observe how you feel mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually. Start with the lightest like fruit then slow move onto veggies then cooked veggies, nuts and seeds and give adequate time in between each food group/method to observe how you feel few hours afterwards to see where and which serves you best. You can also experiment with meat. animal products if you desire which are denser in vibration but just remember to take it one step at a time to find where you are at your greatest cause ultimately that is your most natural state. Where you feel best is where you are

[ivankiss]

Thank you @pluto for the wonderful encouragment. 

I am remaining on one meal per day; still kinda fasting; expecting the shift to occur naturally. Maybe the desire to eat more is false altogether. Will see.

Thanks again, much love.

[ivankiss]

Thanks @RalphMcDonald

Appreciate it