When the urge to take better care of our health hits, a lot of times there is also the push to make it big…
… something like diving into a 5 day fast (when you’ve never fasted before), going on a really strict diet, or working out daily like a maniac.
I do appreciate the volition of getting up and taking care of our health, which is why I want to bring us back to sustainable choices.
So look at fasting as an example, a 5 day fast truly has great healing abilities, but that’s assuming your body is capable of it.
At our core humanness, we are all awesome at fasting, because it’s it the famine part of the feast and famine cycle (which our bodies evolved with).
But if fasting is new, start with intermittent fasting (same goes for exercise, if you’re just starting, ease into it); if it’s dietary, cut out the worst ones first before nitpicking).
With the nutrient deficiencies, toxicities, poor sleep, lack of exercise, screen time, and EMFs, our bodies may have some broken down cells that can’t fast as they should.
That’s why we want to ease into the process, helping the body heal and ultimately get back to all the wonderful capabilities the body has.
So with intermittent fasting you don’t eat for 14+ hours and you only eat during a specific time window.
That already sounds more doable and sustainable than a 5 day fast, yes?
Playing around with this timeframe, keeping your body on its toes in terms of having to adapt all the time – changing how long you fast, which foods you eat, is where true healing comes in.
Switching up the variables keeps your body adapting, that’s true healing and health.
It’s when your body figures out what you’re doing and can settle into one mode that we slowly loose that adaptability. With variation we’re regaining adaptability and health.
Think about calorie restriction as an example: your metabolism is running at the level required for 2000 calories per day…
… you drop your calorie intake to 1,200 (don’t do that, this is an example only) and initially your body is still running at a 2000 calorie metabolism so you lost weight…
… but if your body continued this way you would end up starving, so the body is smart and realizes you’re at 1,200 calories and drops the metabolism to 1,200 calories…
… which is why people initially see weight loss with calorie restriction, and then plateau.
In short, the body figured out what you’re doing, adapted, then stayed. We don’t want to be in that “and stayed” area, we want the body to keep figuring it out.
Anyway, when we’re on the topic of fasting, aside from the not eating part, equally important is the food we do eat…
… and when we’re on the topic of eating, I cannot underline enough how important chewing is.
Modern humans have messed up breathing, sleeping, chewing, movement… most everything we need for just survival we’ve found ways to mess with it.
I know people who avoid certain foods because it requires more chewing and they just don’t feel like having to work that hard when they eat.
But highly palatable foods, often processed and packaged, are not helping your health on any front.
So eat real food and chew your food – it gets important enzymes involved that are only in your saliva, improving your digestion and absorption of nutrients!
Plus, it strengthens the bones in your face, keeping you looking younger, and can help improve facial structures and even airway health.
And I know, I KNOW, when people want to improve their health they don’t love me talking about chewing and breathing right and walking correctly.
But seriously, it is these tiny every day things that absolutely set the stage for everything else – these are the sustainable changes that have major impact.
Instead of trying to go for some huge change that you won’t stick with, make the changes that you can turn into a habit and make part of your lifestyle.
Work on actually improving your health, not falling for flashy fads and “quick” fixes that don’t last.
And as for the 5 day fast, the intermittent fasting is a stepping stone there, then comes the 24 hours, the 36 hours, etc.
