Dec 12 2007
Fasting for Weight Loss - Part 2
Interesting things have happened since I wrote my first post on fasting for weight loss. I found some information that disagrees, at least slightly, with what I wrote in that post. Here’s how I found it:
That evening I finished my last mystery novel from the library, and needed something to read, so I started rummaging through my bookshelves. I did find an old book I hadn’t read for a long time, but it wasn’t a mystery - it was Fasting as a Way of Life, by Allan Cott, MD.
I’ve owned this book for years, but it’s been ages since I read it. Dr. Cott was quite well known back the the ’70s, and many celebrities, athletes and business executives were following his instructions to fast - which he called the “ultimate diet.” He recommends only a true fast - or water fast, so there are no juices to buy or make, no points to count, no menu charts to read, and no special foods to buy. You just stop eating.
Dr. Cott would disagree with my previous statement that you are likely to regain all your weight after a fast. In fact, he claimed that hundreds of his patients and thousands of his readers were able to maintain their new, thinner bodies.
He attributes this success to two things:
1. The fast itself is supposed to make the body much less willing to accept chemicals, toxins, and excess food that it doesn’t need.
2. And people get such a big boost to their self-esteem after the loss of a fairly large amount of weight, so they are willing to go on short fasts (one day or two) if those extra pounds start creeping back on.
I do know several people (thin people, of course) who regularly give up a day of eating in order to keep their weight at a healthy level. But that wasn’t the thing that excited me when I re-read Dr. Cott’s book.
As you may know, I’m the author of a book about sugar addiction and other food cravings. I state in my own book that one of the best ways to overcome our natural, primitive urges to eat sweet food is to use simple meditation techniques.
The meditations do work for many people, (and they worked for me), but if another ancient spiritual technique - fasting - could boost the body’s own ability to fight off addiction, as Dr. Cott claims it will, then this could be highly beneficial to my readers.
So, the only way to know for sure was to give it a try. As of yesterday morning, I am on a 5-day fast. This will give me time to go through the fast itself and the 5-day after-the-fast diet that Dr. Cott recommends - all before the big Christmas celebration that’s coming up in just a few weeks.
The holidays are always a big challenge for me, because it’s so hard to turn down all the family favorites, like pumpkin pie and second helpings of turkey stuffing with gravy. Not only are you surrounded by the sights and smells of all that wonderful food, but there’s also some social pressure to do what everyone else in the house is doing.
So, I’m going to find out what a five day fast feels like, (I called my doctor and she said it’s ok) and then I’m going to stay alert during the holidays to see if the fast had any effect on my sugar cravings. If fasting can help alcoholics and drug addicts overcome their addictions, as Dr. Cott claims, then it should work for sugar addicts, too.
So, I’ll keep you posted.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
