I have decided to go on a fasting holiday. Holiday may not be the appropriate word as the definition of holiday is 'a day of festivity or recreation when no work is done' and I'm not sure if any festivity will be had, work will definitely be done, and going on a hike having not eaten for a week might not pass as recreation.
I've done this before, at a place called Buchinger in Germany. I survived 10 days and it was tough as hell. This place is closer, cheaper and shorter (a week). It's also lacking any luxury or spa facilities. But it's cheap, and they will starve me, so I am going for it.
Why? Well partly for weight loss, as it is an effective way to lose a few kilos quite fast. Yeah yeah yeah I hear you say 'it's all water, you'll put it back on straight away, yada yada'. OK for starters, everyones body and metabolism is different, and mine is even more different than most, and yes, that's been medically proved time and time again. I have been to over 20 different spas and weight loss centres, some of them up to 3 times. The one that worked the best (as in I lost weight and kept it off for over 6 months) is Buchinger, where I fasted for 10 days. So I am not going to argue my preference for the fasting kind any more.
Also, for health reasons. I have allergies since I was about 19. They're fine, nothing horrific but it means I have been taking anti-histamine regularly for 30 years, but I have discovered that when I fast, I don't need it for at least a month. So something is being cleaned up, or cleared out or detoxed or whatever you want to call it, and it seems to help my system to feel a better and react less. Given that I am now going through a pretty horrendous menopause, I am hoping (praying) that the fast may relieve some of those symptoms too.
This one hurts to admit, but I drink too much. I don't think I am 'that' bad yet (some may beg to differ), but I certainly enjoy an apéro. I can go 2-3 week nights without a glass, but it would be nice to get to the point where I didn't have to ban wine from my flat because if its in the flat, I will open it. After a long summer of rosé consumption, a week off the vino isn't a bad thing. What I would like to achieve is disassociation so that when I flop on the sofa and grab the remote, I won't instantly crave a glass of wine. When I start cooking, which I find quite relaxing, the corkscrew won't be the first utensil I reach for.
Fasting enthusiasts often quote animals, and I think they've got a point. Your dog feels sick? It stops eating. We feel sick? We have chicken soup or dry crackers and tea, or oatmeal, or yoghurt, or whatever your grandma thought was best I find this changes drastically by country. In my house it was a boiled egg and fingers! But maybe our canine companions have the right idea, as we fret that Fido, who normally wolfs his dinner, suddenly walks away from the bowl, Fido seems to internally repair himself for a couple of days and then bounce back to top form. And let's face it - what's the harm in fasting for a bit? None when you've got a kilo or twenty to spare like I do.
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