Before the Fast - Tips and a Fasting Plan

Posted by NebulaOde February 09, 2018

Before the Fast - Tips and a Fasting Plan

So you’ve decided to implement a three- day, nutritionally-supported fast as a health tool. How do you begin? The day I made the decision to fast, I nervous about “failing”. I didn’t want to be overcome with uncontrollable hunger, binge and feel horrible about it later! As the cook in my family, the temptation was worrisome, so I decided to plan my fast to minimize temptations and maximize success!

Mental Preparation: Meditation and visualization

The real battle of fasting is in your mind. It was helpful to me to pick a day and time the fasting would begin and end, sort of like setting an appointment with myself. I’d imagine how I would deal with temptation. How I would react when facing temptation. I even found myself preparing my reasons - a script if you will - for those who may not be supportive of my decision to fast.
I spent some time visualizing the experience, how I thought it would be.

Food Plan

If you’re the cook in the family, shop, plan, and cook meals in advance of your fasting date. It's a bit of work, but I promise you will be grateful you did it when you’re fasting! This gives you a real break, allowing you to focus on supporting your body’s work in cleansing. You can also assign cooking duties, or just keep things simple. Sandwiches, salads or even a healthy bowl of cereal at dinnertime for the kids, works just fine. Food is food as long as is it real, healthy, whole and filling!

Fasting Plan

Talk to your family about your appointment to fast. Let them know that you’ll be taking a break from food and explain to them why. It’s can be a teaching moment! When I explained to my children why I was fasting, they were intrigued by the body’s innate cleansing system! They wanted to try it too! Naturally, they didn’t last a more than a few hours. :) Make sure you’ve ordered and received your FAST tub in time if you’re international (Miessence FAST shakes are shipped from Australia). Order your FAST a week before your intended start date.

Brew a pot of tea to have on hand when you fast. Prepare for the possibility of detox symptoms. Have a few water-dense fruits & veggies stocked in case you experience severe detox symptoms. Hunger is NOT a detox symptom. 😉

Think about how you'd like to break your fast. You can decide to meditate or pray before you do. Journaling your thoughts and emotions are good too. If you’re fasting for weight loss, write down your total weight loss down before you eat. You should decide what foods you plan to break your fast with. Ideally, it should be very light. Soups, salads and water-dense fruits & veggies are options. Avoid heavy meals and bingeing. Eat slowly, chew thoroughly and eat thoughtfully. If you decide to have a soup or salad - I highly advise that you prep and store this before the fast. This way, when you’re ready to break you fast. Simply heat, if applicable, and eat.

I started my first three-day fast on my own. My second fast was done with my sisters. I loved fasting with someone! We kept in touch, daily with our experiences and shared our thoughts. It was really supportive, encouraging and uplifting. Share this article with someone in your circle that might be interested and plan a fasting appointment together. Miessence has a fasting support group with a coach if you don’t have anyone in your immediate family to do a fast with you.

Tips

Plan to begin your fast after the last meal the day before. For example, You may plan to have your fast begin on Tuesday, but technically, the last meal would be Monday evening. Your fast would technically end Thursday evening, but Friday morning would be when you actually break your fast. However, my motto is always to do what works for you. If you want to break your fast the evening before the fourth day, you are your own boss!

Plan to fast on days where there isn’t much to do. Don’t plan a fasting period when you’ve been invited to a wedding or a party! Low-key days are best for the first fast. After you’ve done this a few times, you should be able to handle regular days.

Headaches during fasts are usually a result of the lack of salt intake. If you experience a headache, try a pinch of pink salt in your FAST shake.