Entrance to fasting on the water. Therapeutic fasting - how to starve correctly. Fasting as a way of life

Fasting is a process of voluntary refusal of food for the purpose of cleansing and normalizing internal systems. The procedure has various techniques with their own characteristics, which have found adherents and ardent opponents. A constantly loaded digestive system needs rest, proper therapeutic fasting will provide it without harming the entire body.

Therapeutic starvation is a clearly structured process that requires preparation and mandatory adherence to the regimen. During the procedure, the body uses internal reserves, the digestive system receives the necessary break for cleaning. Intermittent fasting on a regular basis helps to get rid of diseases and stabilize weight.

Periodic beneficial fasting improves tone, positively affects the appearance, and solves health problems.

How to properly fast

With hunger, the body loses its usual regular nutrition, which plunges it into a state of stress. There may be a deterioration in well-being, the appearance of problems with the gastrointestinal tract. To eliminate or reduce negative effects, you must follow the instructions.

The correct refusal of food consists of three stages:

Training

In other words, the entrance. Should have the same duration as the refusal of food. It is necessary for the mild preparation of the body for a lack of nutrition. The entry process is a gradual rejection of heavy foods, a reduction in the amount of food consumed.

Thanks to this, the body has time to digest leftover food, switch to self-sufficiency mode, and reduce stress levels.

During entry, a person refuses sugar and switches to plant foods. Before abstaining from food, it is advisable to do an enema with warm water.

Self-tuning is important, mental preparation for the coming period of hunger, meditation or prayers will help to realize the importance of refusing food, to rebuild. Think about the desired cleansing and getting rid of diseases.

Starvation

It is advisable to conduct therapeutic fasting in summer or autumn, during periods when the body is saturated with vitamins. Be sure to consume plenty of water. Some have problems with drinking, the body rejects the liquid. In this case, you can add a little lemon juice or honey to the water.

Despite the emerging feeling of hunger, the intake of any amount of food is prohibited. Even a small portion will cancel all the effects, starting the digestive tract again.

During this period, there will be a breakdown, pressure drops, headaches are possible. It is good to combine the refusal of food with a weekend or vacation so that it does not affect performance.

Output

Repeats the login process in reverse order. Even for a one-day cleansing, it is advisable to prepare for up to three days. With this mode, a smooth entry and exit, a return to normal products is possible.

The first meal after cleansing is recommended in the form of a salad of grated carrots, apples. If a day before cleansing a person was on a fruit diet, repeat this at the exit. After you can come to a balanced diet, dairy products, carbohydrates, proteins.

Meat and fats are allowed on the last day of release. Refrain from overeating at the end of the procedure.

Options for intermittent fasting at home

There are two short-term options for cleansing the body through hunger, professional methods have been compiled for each.

Start with entry.

Daily fasting

Gentle, available for weekly repetition. To enter this option, the kefir diet is ideal:

• morning meal is divided into 2 parts, during which half a liter of fat-free kefir is consumed. In the second meal, you can eat diet cookies or bread;
• lunch from a glass of kefir and cottage cheese;
• dinner - one glass of kefir and raw vegetables;
• Before going to bed, drink half a glass of kefir.

After 24 hours of fasting, the kefir diet is repeated. If you strictly follow the exit mode, the lost kilograms may not come back.

Three-day

A fundamental shake-up for the body, which is not recommended if there is no experience of daily abstinence from food. Due to the duration of stress for the body, strict adherence to the rules for entry and exit is required.

The following scheme will help you survive 3 days without food easier:

• go into denial of food for a week;
• give up alcohol and tobacco;
• the amount of harmful and heavy food in the diet decreases, the last 2 days the food consists of fruits and vegetables;
• in the preparatory period, eat lean meat, steamed or baked;
• during 3 days of refusing food, the daily intake of water is at least 2 liters. Since the metabolism in the body occurs at the expense of internal resources, moisture will leave the skin, it is recommended to take a shower more often;
• to get rid of hunger, you can use infusions of parsley or prunes. Mint tincture received good reviews. Light gymnastics distracts thoughts from food. If the appetite does not go away, you can drink a quarter glass of milk or eat a small piece of boiled chicken breast.

There is a radical way of dry fasting, with the rejection of food and water. During such treatment, it is forbidden even to contact with the liquid.

Home Treatment Table

Short-term fasting is designed to cleanse and improve the body. The effect of weight loss is compensated by weight gain after the end of starvation.

Benefits of not eating:

• normalization of the state of the digestive tract. Having received a respite, the digestive and excretory systems self-purify, destroy putrefactive deposits, and renew the microflora. The tissues of the stomach are contracted, reducing its size, subsequently the feeling of fullness comes faster;
• the body destroys old and dead cells, the skin becomes younger, the body gets rid of toxins, oxidants. Cases of reduction and even disappearance of malignant tumors are known;
• treatment of inflammation of the pancreas and gallbladder;
• increased testosterone levels;
• short-term refusal of food helps with gastritis;
• if you get out of fasting correctly, the achieved body weight is maintained;
• with a cascade (alternating hungry and full days), you can significantly lose weight;
• in addition to the healing effect, the tone, clarity of thought, lightness increase, many note an improvement in vision, working capacity, and general condition.

Contraindications

Any shock affects the body. Fasting affects the cardiovascular, digestive and excretory systems. People with problems and diseases should consult a nutritionist. If this cleansing method is approved, the process must be supervised by a doctor.

You can not engage in self-starvation with diabetes.

It is forbidden to starve pregnant and lactating mothers. At this time, the woman's body shares nutrients and minerals with the child. Even a short period of refusing food will damage the exhausted body of a woman and have a catastrophic effect on the development of the fetus. A starving mother risks losing her milk.

Therapeutic refusal of food is contraindicated in people with muscle atrophy. With a lack of nutrients, the body takes them from the muscle tissue, leaving fat deposits as an emergency reserve.

Therapeutic starvation is contraindicated for people who have problems with the cardiovascular system, liver, kidneys. A sharp decline in strength will negatively affect blood pressure, the heart will hardly withstand this period. The body, which is engaged in the processing of toxins, sets an intensive pace for the liver and kidneys, if they are not in order, this will result in complications. Before deciding to cleanse the body with hunger, you should take tests, on the basis of which you can draw a conclusion about the harm or benefit to the body.

Therapeutic fasting is a great way to improve the body, raise vitality and improve health. It is suitable for people who are going to treat diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. This procedure requires a careful approach and the implementation of strict rules so as not to harm yourself. If a person wants to start leading a healthy lifestyle, improve performance, rejuvenate, then with the help of fasting this is easier to achieve.

Fasting is one of the most controversial topics in nutrition. It has both its ardent supporters, who refer to authorities like Paul Breguet, and opponents.

Some consider fasting to be a way to improve the body and longevity, while others consider it an unnatural state for a person.

The benefits of fasting

1. Fasting rests the gastrointestinal tract.

   In the entire history of mankind, there has never been such food abundance and affordable food as it is today in civilized countries.

   For many centuries, people had to try hard to get food, whether by hunting, farming, associated with hard physical labor. And now the only effort required is to walk to the refrigerator or the store.
   Because of this, the digestive system is overstressed. It is good to let her rest from time to time.
   During this period, the digestive organs will rest and use the released energy for recovery.

2. Fasting helps to cure diseases. It has been proven that fasting contributes to the treatment of diseases such as allergies, neuroses, disorders in the hormonal system, and cardiovascular diseases.
   When fasting slows down the growth of tumors, there have been cases of cure for cancer. And with such diseases as a cold or SARS, one has only to connect the fasting process, as the symptoms subside and the recovery process takes only a couple of days.
3. Fasting prolongs life. The same Paul Breg died at the age of 81, although doctors from his youth made diagnoses and made the most unfavorable prognosis regarding his health.
   It was a set of measures, which included therapeutic fasting, that helped him gain health and live a long active life, in old age look much younger than his years. Laboratory studies on rats also confirmed that animals that were systematically deprived of food for some time lived longer than their counterparts who did not have food restrictions.

Harm of fasting

You can learn about therapeutic fasting for prevention using the Paul Bragg method from the video.

How to fast properly to lose weight, and with health benefits

The main rule of preparing for the process is that the entry period should take as much time as the process itself, or at least half.

Preparation consists in reducing the amount of food - the methods themselves do not need to be reduced, it is enough to reduce the volume of servings. It is advisable to switch during the entrance to plant foods, juices, let's say kefir, but low-fat. Other animal products, fatty and protein foods should be discarded.

If everything is done correctly, the process will be easier, without disruption, and there will be no problems with the appetite and digestive system after.

One day fasting rules

One-day fasting is most beneficial for the body and does not pose a health hazard. At the same time, one day is enough for the digestive organs to rest and the intestinal microflora to improve.

During the day, all the putrefactive microflora dies, while the beneficial flora of sour-milk fermentation is preserved. It is easier to tolerate, even in comparison with a low-calorie diet, when drinking enough water, there is no feeling of hunger.

General rules:

1. To prepare for a daily refusal of food, it is necessary to follow all the rules for entering fasting: refuse heavy food in advance, do not overeat, drink more water, plan this process for a day off. To enhance the effect on the first day, it is useful to make a cleansing enema.
2. You should try to spend a lot of time outdoors, water procedures are shown.
3. Weakness, slight dizziness, headache, bad mood, bad breath and tongue coating are acceptable. These discomforts decrease or disappear if fasting is practiced regularly.
4. The recommended duration is 24-27 hours.

Improvement in well-being and a surge of energy and strength after the exit will be noticeable even after the first such experience, regular repetition gives a noticeable healing effect.

Three day fast

A three-day refusal of food is already more stressful for the body than a one-day one, it requires careful preparation and compliance with all recommendations for entry and exit. It is best not to start without first trying a few food refusals for a period of one day.

Practitioners also note a healing effect, improved skin condition, increased immunity - such fasting contributes to the complete disappearance of all symptoms of a cold or SARS.

There are successful examples of getting rid of alcohol, nicotine and even drug addiction after a three-day practice.

In three days, changes in the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract occur, digestive processes slow down, the body prepares for the transition to the so-called internal nutrition, and the process of splitting its own fat is launched.

In general, this is not the best term for refusing food, as a rule, it is used to prepare for a longer weekly process.

Rules for a three-day fast:

1. Preparation is very important. For a week, it is recommended to refuse harmful and heavy food, alcohol.
   For 1.5-3 days, the transition to plant foods, reducing portions, a day began to make a cleansing enema.
2. Unpleasant symptoms such as headache, dizziness are more likely. Brief bouts of hunger are possible.
3. Drink plenty of water and shower more often than usual.
4. Weight loss in three days can amount to several kg, however, half of them return the next day after the exit, in order to maintain the effect, it is important to continue to exit smoothly and not overeat.
5. If fasting is very difficult, you can get out of fasting earlier, you should listen to your feelings. Better to quit and try again later.
6. A symptom that indicates that you need to immediately stop fasting is highly cloudy or very dark-colored urine.

week fasting

For seven days without food, the body completely switches to internal nutrition. It is during this period that the so-called acidotic crisis occurs, characterized by the smell of acetone from the mouth.

This type of fasting is used for medicinal purposes, since during this time the diseased tissues are destroyed, the body's ability to regenerate increases.

Weekly Fasting Rules:

1. Preparation starts at least 2 weeks in advance. It is necessary to reduce the amount of animal products in the diet, exclude alcohol, semi-finished products, harmful food additives, preservatives. Don't overeat.

1. The day before the start, you should completely abandon meat and animal products.
2. Fasting for seven days is best planned for a vacation, and preferably for the summer or autumn period.
3. In addition to cleansing the intestines, before fasting with an enema, it is recommended to clean the liver in advance.
4. Headaches, nausea, dizziness, mood swings are typical for the first five days. After the onset of an acidotic crisis, all practitioners observe an improvement in well-being, mood, a surge of energy and strength.
5. Sometimes an acidotic crisis occurs only on the seventh day or later. In this case, immediately stop fasting is not recommended.
   It should be extended for another 2-3 days.

How not to break down while fasting

Of course, hunger is hard. Especially when it comes to practicing more than one day.

In order not to break loose, it is important to remember the motivation that prompted you to starve. It is useful to keep in mind the benefits of practice and the positive impact on health.

Drinking plenty of water will help keep you from feeling hungry. During the cold season, you can drink warm water.

Frequent change of activities contributes to switching. Walking, reading, music in the background will help you occupy your thoughts with something other than food.

It is important not to allow overwork, at the slightest fatigue go to bed and rest.

Breaking out of a fast should be taken as seriously as entering it and given as much time.

With one-day fasting, it is better to plan the exit in the evening. At the first meal, eat a small amount of vegetables or fruits, a vegetable salad with olive or linseed oil, or stewed vegetables.

Until the evening of the next day, try not to eat meat and dairy products, follow a plant-based diet, drink plenty of clean water. It is important to try not to overeat after you break your fast.

Only juices, fruits, vegetables, can be stewed. It is advisable to stay on a plant-based diet for a week after practice.

Of the seven-day period without food, the exit is the longest and most responsible. During the first day, only juices are shown, on the second day you can already grated fruits and vegetables.

Bread, soups, cereals are introduced into the menu no earlier than 3-4 days out, and protein foods and nuts only after a week. Then, for at least another week, they adhere to a milk-vegetable diet and the principles of fractional nutrition in small portions.

Contraindications

Fasting is a serious experiment with health, so this method should be used carefully and consciously.

It is better to fast for longer than a day for medicinal purposes under the supervision of specialists; there are special clinics.

It is strictly contraindicated to starve women during pregnancy and during lactation. It is not recommended for muscle atrophy, renal failure, hepatitis and cirrhosis of the liver, heart failure.

Fasting can be beneficial for the body if you treat it responsibly, weighing all the pros and cons, choose the right time for refusing food and follow the recommendations.

You can learn about the experience of a seven-day fast on the water from the video.

In contact with

Mother Nature has provided a unique mechanism for renewing the body - starvation. When we refuse food, the body begins to actively use its internal reserves. First of all, carbohydrates are consumed, then adipose tissue. When it ends, dead cells are burned, then the weakest and most unviable. Some of these cells are the cause of disease. It's almost like Comrade Darwin's natural selection: the fittest survive.

Treatment with hunger has been known to mankind since antiquity. It is mentioned in ancient Indian and ancient Chinese manuscripts. “Instead of medicine, starve for a day or two,” advised the Greek writer Plutarch. Avicenna echoed him.

Pythagoras, before revealing the secrets of his teaching, forced his students to starve for forty days, believing that only after such preparation could knowledge of the secrets of the world order be perceived. Finally, all world religions - Christianity, Islam and Buddhism - order their followers to refuse food in order to purify the spirit and flesh.

By the way, improper, excessive nutrition leads to the fact that undigested food particles are exposed to ... rotting! As a result, a person eats a lot and with pleasure, but he doesn’t have enough strength for anything and he gets tired too quickly. So we still live to eat? Or, on the contrary, do we eat to live?

Of course, fasting can have catastrophic consequences for the body if it is not treated according to science. That is, the practice of “thought to get healthier, threw the bitten donut into the trash can and now I don’t eat anything” is unlikely to improve your health.

But short one-day fasts are recommended to all healthy people without exception. Starve for a day - the gastrointestinal tract rests. Starve for 2-3 days - the body returns to normal after surgical operations and respiratory infectious diseases. Hold on and starve from 3 to 10 days - there is a deep cleansing, excess weight goes away. For treatment, refrain from eating for 21-25 days. Long-term (30 days or more) fasting has been successfully used in the treatment of high degrees of obesity, skin and mucous ulcers, skin rashes and eczema.

However, you need to accustom yourself to hunger gradually. First, spend 3-4 one-day fasts once a week, then move on to three days. Then the body itself will tell you if it is ready to starve further. If a person has just started practicing fasting, he may first experience discomfort: weakness, dry mouth, bad breath, dizziness. That is why you need to get used to fasting gradually, so that the technique does not lead to irreparable violations.

By the way, remember that even one-day fasting must necessarily be carried out along with bowel cleansing.

So, where does therapeutic fasting begin?

Fasting is not just abstaining from food, but a process that has its own rules. The vast majority of people are advised to fast only on Ekadashi days. This rule is based on the laws of nature. If you act in accordance with the lunar cycles, you are guaranteed complete success.

Therapeutic starvation begins with the preparation of the body. A day or two before fasting, exclude from your menu: bakery and confectionery products, sugar and salt, dairy and meat products, eggs, pasta, mushrooms, and alcohol. Food should not be fried, salty, peppery and fatty. The ideal option would be boiled and steamed, dishes and cereals on water and without oil. On the same day, you need to eat cleansing cabbage and carrot salads with a little olive oil, but without adding salt. You can also not drink black tea and coffee. Drink only fresh bottled water and green or herbal tea. Start the next day by drinking pure water, to which you can add half a teaspoon of fresh honey. Be sure to make a cleansing enema from 17-19 hours to better remove toxins and toxins. During the fasting period, be sure to take a shower or bath to wash away the toxins that come out through the skin. Drink purified or melted water in the required amount. (Not less than 2 liters)

With prolonged fasting, a person experiences a feeling of hunger only for the first two days, then it becomes dull. At first, you want to eat, rather out of habit. During prolonged fasting, all processes in the body slow down, the pulse and breathing slow down, so in no case do not overwork.

It is very important to get out of fasting correctly.

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If you have been starving for one day, start the next day with a cleansing vegetable salad and exclude animal products, starchy foods and sweets from the menu. It is also worth leaving a 2-3 day fast.

Exit from prolonged fasting lasts from 1 to 2 weeks. The transition to a normal diet should be gradual. Drink juices for the first two or three days, then move on to grated fruits and vegetables, then include nuts, legumes and bread in the diet. After two weeks (not earlier), return to your normal diet.

When exiting from fasting, it is very important to observe the measure, not to immediately pounce on everything that is found in the refrigerator. It is clear that in this case the entire effect of the procedure is in vain, plus some unpleasant consequences.

Ideally, fasting treatment should take place in a hospital under the supervision of a specialist. However, if you can arrange for yourself the necessary conditions at home, go ahead. The main thing: starve wisely and do not rush to extremes. Then the body will improve and repay you with excellent health.

Anastasia Krainer

Today we are going to look at the following popular questions:

• How to starve?
• Why, with our 24/7 access to food and abundance in supermarkets, does the practice of fasting continue to be relevant?
• How is dry fasting different from water fasting and juice fasting?
• What do modern nutrition and health experts think about therapeutic fasting? How does Ayurveda relate to fasting?
• What is Ekadashi?
• How to combine fasting with office work?
• And most importantly - why deprive yourself of one of the main pleasures - food? These and other questions about therapeutic fasting are answered in this post.

There are many types of therapeutic fasting, which differ in duration and permitted drinking, but in general, any fasting involves the rejection of solid food.

Dry fasting It is a complete rejection of food and water. It is believed that with such fasting, on about the third day, the state of health improves and a therapeutic effect is achieved. Adherents of this approach to fasting believe that dehydration does not go beyond a mild degree if you fast for no more than three days, while a rejuvenating effect is achieved, blood vessels are cleansed, and the mucous membranes of the stomach and intestines are updated.

Starvation on the water implies the rejection of any solid food and liquid, with the exception of purified water at room temperature, which can be drunk in any quantity. There is an opinion that a sufficient intake of water during fasting helps to eliminate toxins and prevents possible complications that may occur during dry fasting.

Detox with fresh juices- Another type of fasting, when for several days the diet includes only freshly squeezed juices, mainly vegetable, drinking water and herbal tea. The advantage of such detox programs is that, while receiving nutrients from freshly squeezed juices, the body does not experience such powerful stress as during complete starvation, and useful enzymes and microelements also contribute to the effective cleansing of the body.

“For a long time, ancient healers have realized how important it is to give rest to the body systems. Fasting, periods of silence and meditation were considered necessary for a healthy, peaceful and enjoyable life. And this was not at all the practice of exclusively sages and healers. Human genetic evolution itself - the way our bodies function - has been influenced by a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, of which starvation was an integral part. Forced starvation could not be avoided, it naturally followed periods of gluttony. This, perhaps, was the ancient secret of health. The system of detoxification of the body "turned on" and could work for quite a long time and with high quality, performing its main function - cleansing the body. At the same time, she did not have to compete with the digestive system for fuel, ” - Alejandro Junger, detox specialist, author of the Clean system.

"Therapeutic fasting for weight loss"- a very often promoted means for a quick result, however, there are less noticeable advantages of fasting. For example, this is a great way to cleanse the body. In addition, fasting can have a rejuvenating effect, be an excellent prevention of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and even cancer, and improve human cognitive abilities. But still, is fasting the best way to lose weight and cleanse the body? Not for all. There are pros and cons to fasting, and if you are interested in experimenting, choose the scheme that suits you and monitor your well-being, ” - Kimberly Snyder, nutritionist, author of The Beauty Detox Solution.

"Fasting is nature's surgical table." It affects us on all levels: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. This ancient practice has a rich history in both culture and religion. However, fasting has gotten a bad rap lately. He began to be considered a senseless fashion trend and a dangerous experiment on the body. But let's look into the animal kingdom for a moment. When my dog ​​Lola has a stomach ache because she stole something from the trash, she doesn't call the vet or go to the pharmacy. She is starving: she drinks water and chews grass, and she gets better. Therapeutic starvation should not be synonymous with "hunger", "deprivation", "restrictions". Fasting is simply taking a break from solid food. In doing so, you can get a huge amount of nutrients in liquid form. The human body spends a lot of energy on digesting food, and fasting allows it to rest from this and direct all energy to detoxification. Through fasting, we release toxins from the intestines, liver, lungs, kidneys, and skin.” — Chris Carr, bestselling author of Crazy Sexy Diet.

“Give up solid food for one day a week. Drink only freshly squeezed vegetable and green juices, purified water and herbal teas. These days of fasting will force stagnant toxins to leave the body before they have time to cause significant harm to it. Do you regularly change the oil in your car? Starvation is the same Dr. Brian Clement, author of Living Foods for Optimum Health, director of the Hippocrates Health Institute.

“Any negative that is now in the press about fasting, comes from people who just didn't do it right. Fasting can be a powerful tool if it is thoroughly prepared and approached wisely. Fasting on green vegetable juice saturates the cells with enzymes, chlorophyll, vitamins and minerals. It is they who are able to remove from the body all the accumulated toxins and toxins, ” - Natalia Rose, nutrition and detox specialist.

When we eat cooked food(boiled, fried, baked, canned), we force our main digestive gland to work with hundreds of times the load, and it, like shagreen leather, decreases, wears out and gets sick as we live for years. Moreover, we note that by eating after 14-15 hours, we make it work around the clock, which leads to very bad consequences, because it still does not work around the clock, but stops the release of digestive enzymes at about 18 hours, ” - Marva Oganyan, general practitioner, biochemist, candidate of biological sciences.

Ayurveda and fasting

According to Ayurveda, spring (the cool and humid season) is the most suitable time for fasting - at this time, the body's self-cleansing forces are enhanced. In Ayurveda, frequent and short fasting is recommended, as it increases the fire of digestion. Long periods of fasting are discouraged as they can lead to an imbalance of the doshas.

Ayurveda identifies several types of fasting:

• eating only light meals (for example, dishes such as kitchari);
• eating only vegetables, fruits and juices;
• refusal of any solid food (drinking plenty of water and herbal teas);
• complete renunciation of food and drink.

The choice of the type of fasting depends on what type of dosha you belong to: Vata, Pitta or Kapha. For example, Kapha-type people tolerate fasting quite easily, because they tend to be overweight and have a strong physique. Vata types are lean, easily lose weight and are not recommended to starve.

“Fasting releases your inner doctor, it breaks the cycle of unconscious eating, naturally cleansing the body and enlightening the mind. I recommend panchakarma as it is a more complete and holistic system of cleansing the body through nutrition, massage with special oils, bowel cleansing and bath treatments. Dr. Mark Lorsen, Ayurveda doctor, author of Start Living, Stop Dying

Ekadashi - without meat and porridge

In Hinduism and Jainism, there is the concept of "ekadashi". It is the eleventh day after the full moon and new moon of each lunar month. Ekadashi days are considered the most favorable for fasting (either a complete rejection of food and drink, or only animal products, grains and beans). It is believed that fasting on Ekadashi not only cleanses the body and cures many diseases, but also helps spiritual development.

16 Mondays without food and water

We asked Olga Pysina, director of brand marketing at Tsvetnoy Department Store, to tell us about her experience of fasting, who managed to adhere to dry fasting for 16 working Mondays.

“The idea of ​​fasting on Mondays came about quite by accident.” Once, with a friend of mine, we discussed attachment to food: how difficult it is sometimes to deny yourself the pleasure of eating delicious food, how through this pleasure we are strongly attached to food, and it becomes something more than just satisfaction of needs. At some point, I realized: eating has become almost the most desirable time during the day, and a fragrant cup of coffee is the only thing I thought about after waking up. I decided that attachments need to be disposed of so as not to become addicted. The idea of ​​16 Mondays seemed the most appropriate - exactly 16 weeks left until the New Year, and Monday was the most suitable day of the week when I could make time for this.

I've been trying to stick to a vegetarian diet for about two years now. therefore, fasting was easy for me, since meat, poultry have long been absent from my diet, and other animal products are rare. It is from such food that you need to give up a few days before fasting in order to prepare your body. On the rest of the days, I ate as usual, with the exception of Tuesday, when I made the “way out” of fasting on freshly squeezed juices.

I starved for 36 hours- from Sunday evening to Tuesday morning. That is, if I ate dinner and drank the last glass of water around 20:00 on Sunday, I already made my next meal and water on Tuesday at 8 am.

Oddly enough, fasting without water seemed easier to me. When I drank only water during the day, my body expected a portion of a more substantial meal each time - this sensation led me to break fasting several times. Dry fasting seemed to me more optimal and easier.

Feelings change from month to month but, as a rule, in the afternoon there was a slight weakness, which intensified towards evening. I tried to go to bed earlier and not plan anything for Monday evening. It was quite difficult to hold many meetings in one day, so I tried to devote as much as possible to planning and internal meetings. If there were any important meetings and urgent matters, I put them in the first half of the day in order to plan my strength as much as possible.

In the early days, it was difficult to accept the fact that you did not eat or drink anything.- it was more emotional than physical “breaking”. The most surprising thing for me was that I did not want to drink at all. Sometimes I wanted to eat something during lunch, but instead I went for a short walk or read. Over time, the feeling of weakness gradually dulled and fasting became easier. The last days I had practically no weakness, and I could be active until late in the evening.

The next morning, as a rule, I still didn’t feel thirsty, I practically forced myself to drink water and caught myself thinking that, under the supervision of specialists, I could continue dry fasting for a few more days.

The exit from fasting was always easy and pleasant. After water with lemon, I drank freshly squeezed green juice or made a salad of grated carrots. By the afternoon, I could fully return to my usual vegetarian diet and felt great.

The strongest effect was in the realization that food is still just a necessary part of life, and not a means of satisfying one's desires, that one can safely survive the day of dry fasting, on water or juices. Gone is the habit of constantly chewing something or eating large portions. I began to eat food without salt and feel the real taste of food. During this time, my weight stabilized, and digestion was completely adjusted. Now I plan to repeat fasting twice a month on Ekadashi days.”

With all the variety of methods of therapeutic fasting, experts agree on one thing: fasting must be approached individually, thoroughly prepared for it and properly exited from it. Prolonged fasting must be carried out under the supervision of specialists.

Fasting is a good way to improve your health and strengthen your body. Thanks to fasting, the gastrointestinal tract, blood and the entire body are cleansed. It contributes to the production of additional energy. All these effects are achievable only if fasting is competent. It is necessary to starve very carefully, because if the rules are not followed, a fatal outcome is possible. It is recommended that you consult a doctor so that he takes into account the individual characteristics of the body and draws up a scheme for you on how to fast properly in order to lose weight and improve your health.

How to start fasting

Fasting should begin by determining its timing. 1-3 days are enough to cleanse the body. If you have a goal to lose weight, then its duration can be from 10 to 30 days, it depends on the degree of obesity.

How to start fasting? First of all, you need to prepare the body. Approximately 1-2 days before giving up food, fatty and flour foods, eggs, meat, cheese, cottage cheese, milk should be excluded from your diet. The best option is to eat only fruits and water on the day before fasting. Fasting should start gradually. At first, unpleasant sensations may occur: dry mouth, weakness, dizziness. Over time, there is a dulling of the feeling of hunger. For the first 3-4 weeks, one-day fasting should be arranged for yourself, then an increase in the fasting period up to 3 days, etc. is allowed. Fasting is combined with bowel cleansing, and therefore, before entering the main phase of fasting, an enema should be done.

Short-term and long-term fasting

Therapeutic starvation can be short-term and long-term. The duration of the first fasting option can be up to 3 days. Fasting at home for up to 5 days is considered safe. After you master the technique and methods of exiting from fasting, you can increase the duration of this process. With short-term fasting in one day, you allow the gastrointestinal tract to rest. When fasting in 2-3 days, the body returns to normal after suffering respiratory infectious diseases and surgical operations. In the case of fasting lasting 3-10 days, a deep cleansing of the body occurs, getting rid of excess weight.

To recover from some disease, you should refrain from eating for 21-25 days. Fasting for 30 or more days is used to treat skin rashes and eczema, high degrees of obesity, skin and mucous ulcers. In the case of prolonged fasting, the feeling of hunger persists for the first two days, after which it becomes dull.

Rules for proper fasting

For proper fasting, there are certain rules. During the fasting period, smoking and drinking alcohol are strictly prohibited. With prolonged fasting, all processes in the body are inhibited, there is a slowdown in the pulse and respiration, and therefore it is not recommended to overwork during this period. Every day you need to drink at least 2 liters of clean water. If dizziness occurs, you should drink half a glass of water, adding 1 tsp there. honey.

Contraindications to fasting

Fasting is an unsafe procedure, as a result of which it is not suitable for everyone, and there are some contraindications to fasting, which include:

The final phase of fasting is the exit from it. To get the result from fasting, and there were no problems with well-being, a gradual return to normal food intake is necessary. The duration of the exit from starvation depends on the duration of the fast itself. You should start by preparing a drink consisting of vegetable or fruit juice. To do this, dilute 500 ml of juice with the same amount of water. Drink the resulting drink before lunch, after dinner you need to eat raw or boiled vegetables. As a dinner, porridge is suitable, in which salt and sugar will not be added. The next day, the use of animal proteins, salty and spicy foods is not allowed. In the case of prolonged fasting, it can take one to two weeks to get out of it. The first 3 days are allowed to drink only juices, after which grated fruits and vegetables are introduced into the diet, then you can add legumes, bread and nuts. The final transition to a normal diet occurs 2 weeks after the start of the exit from starvation.

Coming out of fasting, it is important to observe the measure, since the results from the fasting itself will not be obtained and, in addition, some unpleasant consequences may occur.