Fasting to Savor Food

The longest time that I went without eating was 2 days.

I did it on a yoga retreat as I was getting my teaching certificate. Three times a day we drank a water, lemon juice, cayenne pepper and maple syrup mixture and that was it. Over the two days I fantasized more or less constantly about food, imagining giant burritos and greasy oversize pieces of pizza on parade. I even went so far as to imagine what it would be like to take a bite, relishing the thought of biting into the hot pizza feeling melted cheese and and tomato sauce squish between my teeth and the pull of softened crust ripping apart. My imagination was definitely busy, however I also had some rare quiet moments where I wasn't thinking about food and my stomach was quiet.

On the way home I was so desperate for food that I scarfed down the first thing that was unfortunate enough to get in my way, which happened to be a super-processed blueberry muffin from the gas station. So that was obviously a bad choice, but even still I was surprised at how disappointed I was after the first bite so I kept trying it until the whole thing was gone. Despite ample amounts of sugar and fat, the muffin left me feeling completely unsatisfied. And it wasn't just the muffin; lots of things that I tried just weren't what I remembered. The real thing wasn't living up to my fantasies and I wasn't as starved as I had thought I was.

It wasn't that I couldn't enjoy food anymore, far from that in fact, but I was suddenly aware of how craving food wasn't the same as enjoying it. I noticed that when I had cravings, I was building up all kinds of expectations around the experience of eating the food and these expectations clouded the actual experience of tasting, chewing and eating. On top of that the experience didn't satisfy the craving. Eating the muffin left me just as unsatisfied as the pizza would have. 

Fasting helped me to enjoy and savor food as it was and also realize how much time I spend thinking about food, which I guess isn't a bad thing in itself but can be distracting. I was amazed at how much just a couple of days of only ingesting liquids would change my perspective.

However not long after the fast, I reverted to old habits. I have to say that I don't always take time to savor the food I eat and still cave in to cravings.
So I think it is time for another go.
I am curious to see what the next experience will bring.

I plan on researching some different fasts and cleanses to see which one is best for me and I will be posting during the process. 

Until then, bon appétit!