Brokenfast

That's it! Today was the last day of the Bahai fasting period and the end of my first fasting period as well.
I've been too busy for the last couple of days to reflect on the experience, but I think I'll do it again at some point. I like the idea of doing it as the seasons transition from Winter to Spring or Fall to Winter, but I plan to avoid Daylight Savings Time. Eating late isn't worth the extended breakfast time.
Back to work on applying for my National Board teaching certification. It may be a month or so before I post regularly again because of work, but here's a teaser of what project I'll be tracking when I do...
I'll either be documenting my progress on turning a trampoline into a greenhouse in my backyard,
or
I'll be documenting my progress on turning a futon frame into a multi-purpose shelf.
Stay tuned! And thanks for the comments. :-)

comments for the questions

Have you lost weight?
I don't think so. I'd lost quite a bit from marathon training. I'm pretty sure I've just kept it off. I don't have a scale, so I can't say with certainty.
Do you binge in the mornings or nights?
Yes. Both. Well, mostly at night. I'd like to in the morning. I try to in the morning. But I'm just not that hungry in the morning. That's probably due to my body adjusting a little and storing the food for longer than normal. Also probably due to not eating until 8 p.m. thanks to daylight savings time.
Do you get shaky during the day?
Nope. I got headaches for the first two or three days, but by day 4 those were gone.
Do people taunt you with food?
Yes. But not nearly as much as I would taunt them if the roles were reversed. :-)

Only 3 days to go!

Temptation

Maintaining the fast (why is it called a fast anyhow? not sure why that question hasn't occurred to me before now)...Maintaining the fast has been more challenging today than any other. I'm not sure why. I don't think I'm any hungrier than I have been in days past, but I resent the hunger that I feel. Prior to now, I'd looked at the food in my kitchen and reached for it out of habit and then caught myself. Today, I have to actively not reach for it. And it makes me a little angry.
The flip side is that the anger also makes me feel a sense of accomplishment. I like having to work for it. I'm not so sure about my strategy for "working for it" though: grocery shopping. It made sense that I would give myself something to look forward to by purchasing the fixin's for my meal. Then I got to the store. stupid. stupid. stupid. I made it out with my empty stomach intact, but it didn't improve my mood any. :-)

Two young fasters

A couple of young men, who happen to be fasting, are going to pick up two lovely ladies for a night on the town. Doing a quick appearance check before knocking on the door of their dates, one of the boys smiles wide, looks at the other and asks, "Do I have any food in my teeth?"
"Nope. All clear"
"That's too bad. I'm really hungry."

buhdumpbumpbump
My attempt at a little humor in the face of hunger.

stuck

I'm stuck on the ideas of snacking and consumption. Walking my dogs today and the hunger started walking me. I thought about what I would do if I wasn't fasting. I'd think about what sounded yummy. I'd go get it.
Prior to fasting I'd been wrestling with consumptive behavior and I'd gotten to the point where going and getting it would no longer mean driving to a restaurant fast-food or otherwise. At most it would mean bicycling somewhere nearby. At best, I'd eat something from home. I wonder if I'll take it to the next level as a result of fasting. I'm not even sure what the next level is. Growing my own food? A fruit tree in the backyard? I think this experience will strengthen my convictions, but I'm not sure about new or unique revelations.
More on musings while walking the dogs...
The hunger is most noticeable when nothing else is. That got me thinking about the degree to which consumption relates to boredom. For me, the pattern looks/looked a little like this. I'm bored. Thoughts of what I want enter my head. Not what I need; what I want. Might be food. Might be a movie. Might be a new gadget or game. I then relieve my boredom by acquiring whatever is I want. Assuming it's within my means to do so.
What's the grand conclusion from that observation? Don't be bored? I don't think so. I'll chew on it for a while and let you know.

Day 10 or maybe it's 11

Yet another reason to do away with Daylight Savings time: it means dinner starts really late. I'd rather get up at 6:00 a.m. and get to eat dinner at 6:45 than get to sleep in and eat dinner at 7:45. I get really lethargic after eating dinner. It takes between 1-2 hours for the food to turn into energy, so eating at 8 p.m. pretty much shoots the evening for anything except watching TV or going to bed early. Speaking of which...

Day 9

The Bahai fasting period lasts until March 20. I'm looking forward to that day. I suppose I could stop at any time, since I'm not doing it for religious reasons, but it would feel like a cop out. I recently completed my first marathon. At some point in my training, I realized that I didn't really know why I was running the marathon. I just decided to run one and did it. I had that same realization about fasting today. I don't really know why I'm doing it. I just decided to do it and now I'm in the middle of it.

Snack time

I'm becoming very aware of just how much snacking I do. I'm also becoming aware of how little snacking I need to do. And of how convenient food is for some, myself included.
Where's that line? That line that separates excessive from...not excessive. Is it right at the edge of need? I've thought for a long time that the word 'need' is one of the more overused words. Seems like a rationalization of 'want' more often than not. I hope this experience helps me more clearly define what it is that I need. And makes me more conscious of when I'm just taking what I want because it's convenient. I'd like to resist the temptation of convenience more frequently.

As an aside: Fasting and watching a movie changes the experience a bit. I went to see "The Lives of Others" today. Very, very good movie, but I found myself hyperaware of all of the scenes that involved food. I'm not sure it was the director's intent that I salivate while a character casually crunches a piece of toast, but that's exactly what happened.

Made it through Week 1

Empathizing with the hungry: check. Though I can't imagine not having food. I can't imagine going to bed without food and waking up without food. During the middle of the day, every spare thought is "I'm hungry."
I'm still looking for the mantra that I can follow those thoughts with.

I'm curious about noticeable spiritual effects. I wonder if they'll happen if I my fasting isn't coupled with meditation of some kind.

And consumerism. I've become more conscious of it in recent months. Fasting seems like a natural extension of my attempts to consume fewer material goods.

Stress

Stress intensified the hunger of fasting today. Stressful day at work and I was about to gnaw my own arm off. I don't get headaches anymore though. When eating on a normal schedule, hunger makes me irritable. That's not the case these days. I'm not bouncing off the wall with jovial energy, but I'm not any grumpier than normal.
I keep thinking I should have some sort of mantra for myself when I'm conscious of the hunger. Nothing's come to me yet.

If I continue with this blogging, here's a sneak preview of what's to come after the fast: turning trampoline into a ...

Day 6

A little late with the Day 6 report. I keep thinking that my body is going to get used to it, but that hasn't been the case yet. I still get hungry right around 10:30 a.m. and stay hungry until sunset.

Day 5

I like chronicling. Something about it appeals to my goal-oriented nature. Not much new to report. Day 5 was similar to Day 4. The hunger mellowed me out in the afternoon and I still enjoyed the sensation of hunger.
Dinner tastes twice as good when I've skipped lunch. And I'm more conscious of eating a healthy dinner and breakfast.

Day 4

I kinda like being hungry. Gives me a little edge. Of course, I have the luxury of knowing that I'll eat when the sun sets. On days 1 & 2 the irritability came with the hunger. On day 3, it energized me. On day 4 it mellowed me out.

Time flying

Time may fly when you're having fun, but it definitely doesn't when you're fasting.
My breakfast of 1 apple, 2 organic pop tarts, yerba matte and vitamin C lasted about 3 hours. Sunset seems a long, long time from now.

Unexpecteds in the early days of fasting

The first Saturday of fasting was tough. No snacking. The day off and no snacking. And I can't really sleep in. If I sleep past sunrise, then I miss breakfast. I wonder if I'll be able to wake up, eat, and then go back to sleep.
And I've decided against the "no water" aspect of the Bahai fast. I think of water as a physical cleanser. It takes some of the waste and toxins out, so I'm going to allow myself water.

Fasting

The "haiku and humor" format was a little to narrow. I've expanded the scope of this blog, mostly because I have a question and this blog seemed a good place to post it.

I've always wanted to fast during Ramadan (spelling?) but never done it. A lady I work with is of the Bahai faith and she shared with me that the Bahai have a similar fasting period, which started two days ago. I decided to join her during her fasting period. Or at least for the month of March. Fasting in the case of the Bahai tradition is no food or drink, including water, from sunup to sundown.

My primary reason for fasting is to build empathy for those that are forced to experience hunger everyday. I'm also exploring hunger as a spiritual cleanser of sorts.

My question is this: Does the Christian faith have a similar tradition in which one of the primary goals of the tradition is to build empathy with the less fortunate?