Before i started my RAW journey, i did a nice 7 day almost 100% water fast...It was awsome!!! I felt soooooo good!!

I've been waiting for the right moment to do it gain, and now i could , cause im not working alot and im not going to school...

But since i'm raw, i've read tons of articles and stuff,and of course i've read things about fasting and...the metabolism.

I know that its slowers it, but is it permanent? I don't want to struggle with a low metabolism because i fasted too much, but at the same time, I want to feel that blisseful feeling again!

But i don't want to slower my body, and gain more weight...I'm already above my ideal weight. When i did my 7 days fast i lost 10 LBS, wich i did not put back on, but i was really overweight then, freshly comming out of an intense bulimia phase...

HELP!

You should enter a Fast with the proper frame-of-mind. I'd say
you're not ready yet.....WY

My suggestion is to just read more books and not only listen to the negative facts about fasting, but also positive ones and stories from other people (probably why you asked the question here). Personally, I don't, because I don't believe it has to be done. I feel like the body can effectively detox on a raw diet alone while still getting all the nutrients it needs. You feel good while fasting because of endorphins and peptides released - that's why it's hard for those who are anorexic to stop. Try working out, or yoga, instead of fasting, as WY above has suggested that you are not ready to fast, mentally, that is. Unless you think you are, and you read of it more.

Take it easy
-Chloe

Well i've already fasted, so i know what to expect...I think i'm prepared. In fact i know exactly what to expect, it's the "after" that i fear.

I was once anorexic, and i never felt that feeling, ever.

Anyway, i will look for more information on fasting and the metabolism...

I think fasting is a great tool to use for our health. I have fasted about 11 days last year and I felt great until the end when I got a really sore throat, but I think that was part of the detox. I lost over twenty pounds and gained it back quickly. I think it is important to learn to eat raw foods and fast only when you have a illness you are fighting I am trying to lower my blood preasure and have found that fasting and only fasting can make a person right. I think it is helpful to fast when you are getting sick so your body wont have to work so hard digesting the foods. I don't know about the metabolism question you have though. In my opinion I would think the body would eventually regain a balance with the metabolisim but I really don't know. Good luck with your search though and since you are a new raw person eat raw foods and you will find detox happen just the same as with fasting. Go with the flow and flow with the go
love and best wishes
pam

but doesn`t your body`s bp go back up after you are done fasting and resume a normal lifestyle?
patty

well I tought it would, but i've read the opposite...Once your metabolism slows down, its supposed to be permanent!

well that`s good news mira!! i don`t understand it but if its true hey, thats awesome!
patty

Now that sucks I thought the metabolisim would eventually adjust. Perhaps I will need to look into that.

People that have the MOST challenges, i.e, eating disorders and poor lifetime habits....need to avoid the urge to do the MOST.....especially early on.....on concentrate on SUSTAINABLE DAILY PROCESSES. Do the SMALLEST things MOST OFTEN. In any event, raw food is NOT a cure for eating disorders (emotional work, processing, acceptance, forgiveness and therapy work are).....but I'm sure you know that.

-Your metabolism is not etched in stone. Just eat small meals often to keep it sped up.

-Power to you.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

well, after googegling alot on the effects of fasting...I must say that i'm kinda scared to do it...But maybe i'll do it anyway...The feeling is so worth it.

mira,

It is not permanent. But why do you want to fast? If you are not experiencing symptoms of disease, it is probably not necessary to fast - just eat a healthful raw diet instead.

how about a melon fast?

totally cleansing, stabilizing & blissful!!!

People DO say that they've "been eating nothing but melons for days" I've been wondering if that is the equivelant to a fast. SO how would that work? Do you juice them or just eat them?

If people's metabolism stayed down after a fast everyone on this board would be so fat! The third world people who have limited food supplies and go for periods of time with little food would also be fat. I don't think you have anything to worry about!

well does mono eating a fruit as cleasing as a real fast? Cause apples will be in season in a month or so, so i could eat them for days and days...


Bryan- The first time i fasted, it helped me more on the mental side than on the physical side, i was less anxious, more happy and alot more zen after the fast....

Mira, actually, yes, you DO want to slow down your metabolism.

Slower metabolism = longer life, slower rate of aging.

mira,

i can see that you want to fast because you like the feeling.

i'm hoping you're aware that you can get that feeling by eating normally.

consider that to talk of metabolism is not very meaningful.

metabolism is simply a general term that consists of anabolism and catabolism, and those processes consist of other processes.

it is not accurate to apply the word "metabolism" to our digestion of food or fears that we will become fat.

it is more accurate to speak of anabolism and catabolism which are simply the building up and breaking down of bodily tissues/cells.

its like saying, i pour water into a cup with a hole in it. i pour fast, anabolism is relatively higher than catab. and the water rises. if i pour slowly, catab. is at a higher rate than anab. so what? it's not meaningful.

yes fasting will affect the relative rates of anab and catab. during the fast because theres not food intake. to be expected

consider that to try and control your body and go counter to its needs (hunger) is not beneficial and in fact injurious and stressful.


[healself.org]

Fasting is physiological rest. Starvation is pathological. When you are not hungry, fasting is temporary abstinence from your ingestion of all food but drinking as much water as your thirst demands. When you are hungry, starvation is abstinence from your ingestion of food and water. Fasting exists until your body's surplus or stored fats are consumed and harmful accumulations are eliminated. Fasting is remedial, restorative and healthful. Starvation is denying your body essential food for its maintenance and is injurious to your body. When you fast, drink only water, lie down and close your eyes. Keep your eyes closed every moment of the 24 hours, every day that you water fast. During a water fast, you must have total physiological rest. You can only accomplish total physiological rest, by keeping your eyes closed. Feel, meditate, think on and concentrate on whatever are your symptoms until you are asymptomatic. Eat when you are asymptomatic, i.e., when you no longer have any symptoms or when you are genuinely hungry, i.e., when you are salivating for food.

Differentiate between two fasts: We water fast for healing. We juice fast (or mono-eat fast) for internal cleansing. The latter should be the main priority of any beginning/intermediate healthy person. Just my opinion. Once a person gets scrubbed clean internally.....everything else becomes much less of an issue....including proper nutrient absorption and 99.9% of disease resistance.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

I just can't see how i can feel so blissful if i just eat normally, or do a juice fast.... ?

I hear you Mira. Feeling good is great...but true bliss is going to come from a LIFESTYLE...and not an event (or even multiple events). If fasting makes you feel good....try one day a week regular. Then, just make sure you are eating the right caloric and nutritional levels that are right for YOU during the rest of the week...and you should be fine.

After that, you could do your long-term fasts perhaps quarterly or bi-annually - you know? Power to you!

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

The one day fasts are a very good idea, but as far as i can remember, i started feeling really good when i had been fasting for 3 days or so...!

It's when the hunger stops that everything goes in place and becomes so zen and peacefull! For me, it happened after 3 days

mira,

It is possible to learn how to have this zen energy without fasting. It requires taking a hard look at the mind, and seeing how certain thoughts and behavior patterns take away the peace. And once you can see how your thoughts and behavior affect your peace, you are in a place to do something about it.

bliss is highly overrated


; )

Everyone is advising caution, because you are admittedly interested in the emotional and physical high, and fasting while good for Health if applied judiciously, is damaging if used regularly for emotional, or other reasons.

You are of course free to do what you want, but you did ask for advice, and now seem to want to argue; it would seem the more you want to argue the more correct the advice is.

Meditation, yoga, pranayama, and Tai Chi Chuan are alternative ways to cultivate the peaceful state you are in search of. These time tested methods are safe and will build strength and health. There are of course many ways, and only you know whether you prefer hiking in the woods, playing the flute or something else entirely.

Mira, you mention you were anorexic and have fear in fasting, in that context you should not fast but learn to eat liveing foods. I have fasted because of health reasons, I have high blood preasure and a bad tooth. The fasting lasted over 11 days and was a wonderful tool. I felt so much better and learned a lot about my body and felt a freedom from food. We need food though While eating raw liveing foods you may experiance the same freedom and start to realize what eating is for and that is to nourish your body. Much luck to you and keep seeking what is good for you
Pam

I certainly do feel alot better with a raw food diet ( wich i started 5 months ago)

The reasons for my first fast were;
1- I had been taking meds for 7 years, and had finally stopped! So i really wanted to wipe out all of the @#$%& it had built over the years in my body, and mind...
2- I was in a bulimia phase, and i needed something to cut the viscious circle of eating disorders (wich was my greatest achievement!)
3- I had been trying to go raw for a couple of weeks before, and i kept binging, overeating, and cheating on cooked foods...


I just realised that being anrexic was the worst thing i could do to my metabolism... So no matter what, my body has seen so much worse! I'm really not afraid of that anymore.

So....Talking about fasting...yes, i'm in love with the blissful feeling, but i believe in fasting too. It helped me soooo much in the beginning...

I don't have major health issues now, but still, despite the fact that i like feeling high, there is a couple of things that are bothering me and i think that a fast could help. I've been craving/cheating/eating cooked foods for a week or 2, so i'm pretty ashamed of myself, cause i was on the right way, i've been 100% raw with no slips for almost 2 months...And then everything went wrong, i don't know why...
And i'm constipated...!!!! Can someone tell me how the hell can a raw vegan who drinks loads of water can still be constipated??? This is insane...! And it's driving me nuts...
I also have skin problems, wich i did NOT have before...? I have weird outbreaks, i think it started 4 weeks ago, before my... many slips.

Well, that's about it... Do i have valuable reasons to fast now?

- if you want to fast, then do it, but fasting doesn't necessarily help you with learning how to eat high/all raw long term.

- what went wrong is that you're human. just do the best you can, don't undereat and eat high water content foods and minimize eliminate salt/spices. anything dehydrated or spiced will cause cravings for cooked.

- hard to say what else because you don't describe your usual diet or anything else...

I think i eat way too much salt... I still use condiments like tamari, wich is loaded with salt, and is not raw, i know... So i'm more like 95% raaw, cause i still use it,quite alot... So i guess it doesn't help for cravings...

And i also came to this conclusion... I don't know if it makes sense, but maybe it could explain my constipation. I think the balance between sodium and potassium is 1:2 right? So maybe i'm just eating way too much salt, and unbalancing my system?!

this simple magnesium product will help with constipation-very quickly
[www.vitacost.com]

By the way any salt is too much.

this book
" The Raw Secrets: the Raw Food Diet in the Real World 2nd Edition
by Frederic Patenaude
( 204 pages, July 1, 2006 # ISBN-10: 097309303X # ISBN-13: 978-0973093032 )
is the best and shortest book for getting the basics of making the whole raw diet work. It is available from Amazon.

You are correct that a fast would seem to be just the right thing at this time. Many of us are hesitant to recommend it because of two reasons. One your history with eating disorders, and two that long term it will do you no good if you don't understand the basics. The book "The 80/10/10 Diet" by Dr. Douglas N. Graham is also very good. It is longer and more expensive, and would be a good second book. It explains in detail the science of balancing the carbohydrate, protein, & fat, 'elements' in raw diet.

There is also the question of grounding. Of dealing with our emotions. Both those that may "cause" us to slip up repeatedly, and of forgiving ourselves when we do.
We all have to learn to deal with this stuff. I wish all my fasts had inoculated me with an immunity from that roller coaster ride. But they didn't. The culture in the USA is of no help in this matter. We all have "personal baggage" to work through. This is not an easy journey we are on. Finally it turns out that even now that I'm working on diet and with feelings, I also need to have an exercise program...then there's the whole social sphere of life....

I listen to this 3 CD set ( I got from amazon) to work on "opening and letting go" emotionally:
Radical Self-acceptance [AUDIOBOOK] (Audio CD)
by Tara Brach
# Publisher: Sounds True; Unabridged edition (May 30, 2005)
# ISBN-10: 1591793211 # ISBN-13: 978-1591793212

And I meditate and do pranayama, but am still working on developing a regular practice. This has been a great stumbling block for me. However over time some equanimity begins to build.

for free scientific information about fasting available on the web go here:

[www.soilandhealth.org]

then click here:

"I agree to respect the library and the copyrights within it: Take me to the library. "

then here:
"Alternative Medical Therapies"


then scroll down & click here: ( and you can download a pdf file of a great out of print book )

"DeVries, Arnold. Therapeutic Fasting. Los Angeles: Chandler, 1963.
A complete, sensitive and intelligent survey of fasting and of fasting literature. Arnold DeVries was an American researcher, writer and hygienist, who already in the 1950's changed from a fruitarian (Fountain of Youth, 1946) to a paleolithic understanding of what constitutes optimum human nutrition (Primitive Man and His Food, 1952, Elixir of Life, 1952). Therapeutic Fasting, 1963) has been one of his most popular and widely used titles. Downloads as a single PDF of about 275 kb. Thanks are owed to Dr. Bass of the International Natural Hygiene Society for providing this excellent book. OUT OF PRINT."

then scroll down and you will find a "gold mine"
the books of
Shelton, Herbert among many others
if you can't afford "The Raw Secrets" then read some of this stuff

Ultimately you make your own decision. You have many choices. A fruit diet for some period of time. A juice diet or fast for a number of days. A mono diet of a high water content fruit for a few days, Or even a short fast of five days ( "to start the ball rolling" ) followed by the "half fast" you will find described in Frederic's book. The information on the "Half Fast" is fascinating, and available nowhere else in english.