My physical activity level is also supposed to be reduced at this time, as I receive a set amount of calories and hydration. Doing too much of anything would put me at a deficit or mess up my i.v. line. Basically the rules are don't sleep on my left side, don't lift more than 10 pounds and don't do anything to the level of causing me to sweat.
No eating, no drinking, no doing anything. Sounds like worse than jail but without the threat of rape. Detainees at Gitmo potentially do more than I do.
As part of my spiritual development I fast for two meals the first Sunday of each month. I believe there is a spiritual world and a physical world and that we as human beings reside in both. By fasting I subjugate my physical self to my spiritual self.
Normally on this day going without food from 7am till 3pm can be moderately challenging. But as I haven't really eaten in 21 days, fasting today was a non issue.
I still sometimes have considerable hunger pangs though. Yeah, my first dentist as a kid was Dr. Pang and pang is back in my life again. I always thought it was hunger 'pain' but in my boredom and researching whether this feeling would ever go away, I learned the correct term is hunger 'pang'.
They say, those horrible know it all "theys", that a person's physiological desire for food should go away and that what is in my i.v. sustenance has enough fat and protein for you to feel satisfied.
They're WRONG. I'm suffering horribly from what is technically called hedonistic hunger. My stomach doesn't growl or feel knotted up, but my mind races to, latches on and is often obsessed beyond my control with food.
Oddly enough it is not sugar that I want but savory things. Meat. Spicy stuff. Things you chew with a multitude of flavors. Complex food with textures, aromas.
May 21st makes me a Gemini, though I don't hold much into astrology. But my life and much of what happens it does seem to be a dual nature. Is it fasting if I can't eat? Are they hunger pains or pangs?
hey man. i stumbled upon this from youtube or DT. i can kinda relate to your situation but not nearly on the same scale.
ReplyDeletei had a ruptured appendix back when i was in high school and during the week and a half or so i was in the hospital i wasnt allowed to eat or drink for about 4 days. the worst part about it was the cotton mouth from not having water. my doctor said it was ok to eat an ice cube.
i dont know what your doc would say but that might help man. i cant imagine going through what your goin through man. i will say its pretty damn inspiring though
Studying nutrition you learn there is appetite and hunger, one is mental the other is physiological. Although you may not feel it in your stomach, the mind is stronger. As always.
ReplyDeleteI think you can consider it fasting. Given that the idea of the first Sunday fast was for your body to "rest", to not use energy to digest foods, but to use that energy to be spiritual. Your body isn't using energy to breakdown foods for digesting, since your calories are given intravenously.