10 Days in the Struggleville

That Was Not Fast

Recently my wife and I decided to go on a fast. The Daniel Fast. Yes, I know YouTube and the rest of the social media universe is full of everyone telling you about their intermittent fasting, workouts and athleisure pants. But not this guy. I don't wear yoga pants. And a diet was not our goal.

For the record, I'm not new to fasting. This was not a trend we jumped on because our favorite algorithm kept suggesting it. When it comes to fasting, we've been there, done that, got the t-shirt and threw it away because fasting is awful. Who in their right mind would willingly deny themselves? For 10 days? Us. That's who.

Besides withdrawals, it is also awful because it slows time down. Literally the earth begins to spin slower. A 24-hour day becomes 36 hours, and 10 days becomes 6 weeks. Apparently, this superpower only works when I’m fasting. Every tick of the clock becomes torturous and cruel. Fasting is not fast. It is slower than a sleeping sloth.

Happy Meals

This was honestly the biggest takeaway for me from this fast: the loss of pleasure from eating. My wife prepared some incredible meals, truly impressive culinary delights. The problem was they didn't "hit" like we were accustomed to. We both made this remark to each other. It's like you hear ex-drug addicts say: "I had to use heavier and heavier in order to get the same high." I didn't realize the pleasure, or "high" that I was accustomed to from eating until I didn't feel it anymore. This was startling and amusing. Do I really need food in order to be happy? How is that possible? I'm not even overweight!

To be clear - I eat pretty healthy normally. I'm not eating-out all the time. We may order pizza on Fridays (two pizzas for a family of 5). A Jersey Mike's sub every now and then (Rosemary bread, Mike's way, no onions). And that's basically it. Most restaurant experiences are usually disappointing, and always expensive. So I generally eat at home. A simple breakfast of coffee, a bagel and egg, a sandwich or leftovers for lunch, and a home-cooked meal for dinner. But when I decided to cut out sugar, caffeine and processed carbs… oh boy. It was, as they say, the Struggleville. I realized how PLEASUREABLE food is. I realized how much of my day is simply looking forward to stuffing my belly with synthetic joy. Am I that unhappy or just addicted to the pleasure… or both?

Whole Pleasure

This really made me think - how much am I actually enjoying time with my wife and children? Am I having feelings of happiness because of the connection I am making with the people and environment around me, or because I also happen to be injecting sugar, carbs and caffeine into my blood via oral medication. And by oral medication I mean muffins, cereal, bread, chips, caffeine, candy or any other heavily marketed Standard American Diet snack. No wonder so many of us are SAD.

Maybe I'll talk more about our intentions and other benefits of our fast another time. But I’ll leave it at this: it slowed me down and made me consider what people, places, and things in my life provide deeper and longer-lasting joy. So much of what we eat is fast-food. Not in the traditional drive-thru way, but in the fat-and-happy kind of way. We go from hangry to happy in 6 minutes. That's a drug. Happiness and better mental health come from simple, wholesome, healthy pleasures. It may not be as quick and euphoric as we are accustomed to, but it will be meaningful and enduring. And it usually does not include a side of biggie-sized co-morbidities.