Today, on day 7 of 10, I can finally say that I felt hungry at times. Maybe a better way to say it is that today I became aware of the emptiness of my stomach. This is not a feeling I usually allow my body to have. So it wasn't like I was craving any particular foods - as in, "Oh a pizza would taste so good right now!" This was different. I just recognized hunger in my body. When I felt it and thought about what I was hungry for, my next fresh juice actually seemed like a very appealling option. Or maybe some vegetable soup with beans. This was not just a craving. That's what my "hunger" usually is. Usually I crave things that taste good (and greasy and sweet or salty) and name that craving hunger. Like I said, this was different. This was my body simply asking me to give it nutrition. To give it what it needs - not just craving what my mind wants. Because my body and I experienced a lack of food it seemed like my fast really began today.
But that lack of certain things has created a deeper appreciation within me of certain other things. Like the smell of my fruits and vegetables. I juice each type of vegetable one at a time, so I can breathe in the the fresh cucumber smell, then the fresh lemon smell, then the fresh tomato smell. They don't just smell good to me. They smell absolutely delicious to me. Generally I eat so fast I don't take the time to smell my food at all, let alone notice the exquisite and abundant smell and taste of one simple unsalted, unseasoned ingredient. Then there's certainly the keen awareness of and appreciation for the overabundance of food I usually have available to me. A fast is a time of hunger with an endpoint for me. There are hungry people all over the world who aren't fasting on purpose, and don't have plenty of food waiting for them on Tuesday like I do.
These are important things for me to remember. I hope that the fullness of appreciation that the lack of food has given me will not be overtaken by overeating as soon my fast is over.
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