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The benefits of fasting

post #1 of 20
1/5/09 at 2:22pm
Thread Starter 
As some of you may know, I have been fasting for almost the past 6 weeks for the Eastern Orthodox Nativity Fast. This means that starting the week after Thanksgiving, I ate no meat and dairy products. For the last week, I also did not eat any oil or seafood (which basically means that I've been living on bread, pasta, beans, fruits and vegetables).

I must say that I am very glad I did this. Basically, fasting from glutonous foods (and the associated prayer and meditation) has given me a lot of clarity of thought over the past few weeks, which has lead me to make some life-changing decisions. A lot of times, we are stuck in a rut in our lives because we are comfortable with our current situation, even if we are not exactly happy with that situation. When we are taken out of our comfort zone and put into a situation that is devoid of some of the physical things that we think make us happy, but that only act to cover up other deficits in our lives, we can see things more clearly and have the courage to take actions that can change our circumstances.

Anyway, I just wanted to spread the word and maybe inspire somebody to try this out for themselves (in whatever form your fasting may take).

/publicservicemessage
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post #2 of 20
1/5/09 at 2:29pm
My family tradition is to fast the day before Christmas. "Clarity of the mind" indeed!
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post #3 of 20
1/5/09 at 2:41pm
i fasted the last 2 days by way of food poisoning, nothing makes you feel more cleansed than puking and shitting so much that the water you start drinking comes out of your ass relatively unchanged
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post #4 of 20
1/5/09 at 2:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by odoreater View Post
Basically, fasting from glutonous foods (and the associated prayer and meditation) has given me a lot of clarity of thought over the past few weeks, which has lead me to make some life-changing decisions.
Examples?
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post #5 of 20
1/5/09 at 2:48pm
I've never felt as good as when I did a 2-week, no carb, no sugar (not even fruit) diet. Too bad I have no willpower whatsoever.
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post #6 of 20
1/5/09 at 3:31pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by gdl203 View Post
Examples?

I've basically decided to make a career move. I currently work for a big white-shoe firm where I have a market salary for a big firm lawyer of my experience level. I'm going to be leaving within the next couple of weeks to start my own solo practice. It's going to involve a lot of belt tightening at the odoreater household, but I think ultimately it will pay off.
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post #7 of 20
1/5/09 at 3:35pm
in india a lot of people fast, in many different ways - no meat, no cereals, no cooked food, etc, either for specific days of the week or month, or for a specified time. I always thought that is was very benifitial.
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post #8 of 20
1/5/09 at 3:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by odoreater View Post
I've basically decided to make a career move. I currently work for a big white-shoe firm where I have a market salary for a big firm lawyer of my experience level. I'm going to be leaving within the next couple of weeks to start my own solo practice. It's going to involve a lot of belt tightening at the odoreater household, but I think ultimately it will pay off.
Good for you. Wishing you the best. What type of law will you be specializing in?
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post #9 of 20
1/5/09 at 4:02pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by gdl203 View Post
Good for you. Wishing you the best. What type of law will you be specializing in?

Thank you. I come from a pretty tight ethnic community where a lot of people own construction companies (ranging from small to very large) that would be potential clients and I'd like to do commercial/business litigation as well as land use (both of which are useful in that industry). I will also do immigration, personal injury, and consumer fraud stuff to serve individual clients. Pretty much standard solo/small firm stuff. It will be a huge salary cut in the beginning, but I think it will eventually make me and my wife happier.
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post #10 of 20
1/5/09 at 6:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by odoreater View Post
Thank you. I come from a pretty tight ethnic community where a lot of people own construction companies (ranging from small to very large) that would be potential clients and I'd like to do commercial/business litigation as well as land use (both of which are useful in that industry). I will also do immigration, personal injury, and consumer fraud stuff to serve individual clients. Pretty much standard solo/small firm stuff. It will be a huge salary cut in the beginning, but I think it will eventually make me and my wife happier.

First off - Best of luck to you as you strike out on your own.

Second - I'd been considering doing some sort of fasting but you're making me think about it a little more seriously.
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post #11 of 20
1/5/09 at 6:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by odoreater View Post
Thank you. I come from a pretty tight ethnic community where a lot of people own construction companies (ranging from small to very large) that would be potential clients and I'd like to do commercial/business litigation as well as land use (both of which are useful in that industry). I will also do immigration, personal injury, and consumer fraud stuff to serve individual clients. Pretty much standard solo/small firm stuff. It will be a huge salary cut in the beginning, but I think it will eventually make me and my wife happier.

cool. good luck
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post #12 of 20
1/5/09 at 6:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by zjpj83 View Post
I've never felt as good as when I did a 2-week, no carb, no sugar (not even fruit) diet. Too bad I have no willpower whatsoever.

And thank your lucky stars for that, the no carb diet should not last a long time because it destroys your libido among other things. If you want to have another ago at it, follow the no carb diet for the 5 days of the week and then at the weekend eat your carbs. You can stuff quite a punch of them without them doing any harm, just go back to no carbs on the week days. In fact no carbs is too hardcore on the body, you should always get some of it through fruit for example, just don't push it
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post #13 of 20
1/5/09 at 7:28pm
Thread Starter 
Hey, who moved this to body consciousness? The point of my original post was not that fasting does anything for your physical health per se, but that it helps your mental and spiritual health. I guess it's all related.

Anyway - thanks everyone for the good wishes.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Thomas View Post
Second - I'd been considering doing some sort of fasting but you're making me think about it a little more seriously.

Yeah, I think sometimes people get the wrong idea about fasting. When I tell people that I'm fasting, a lot of time the first question I get is "Oh, does that mean that you don't eat during day time?" That's one type of fasting that's common in the Muslim tradition, but that's not the type of fasting I was doing. Eastern Orthodox fasting rules are unique and basically a product of what was available to the early christians (i.e., what they would have considered a luxury and what they would have considered a necessity). In fact, in today's world, there are a lot of substitutes out there that technically comply with fasting rules, but are questionable because they go against the spirit of the rules (e.g., non-dairy tofu ice cream). It's all about exercising control over the physical world and showing that the physical world does not control you.
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post #14 of 20
1/5/09 at 7:46pm
In my experience, commerical real estate attorneys partner well with personal injury attorneys.
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post #15 of 20
1/5/09 at 8:45pm
Very cool, and good luck OE.
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