Day 2: 142# Day 16: 131#
Day 3: 139# Day 17: 131#
Day 4: 138# Day 18: 132#
Day 5: 137# Day 19: 130#
Day 6: 137# Day 20: 130#
Day 7: 136# Day 21: 130#
Day 8: 135# Day 22: 130#
Day 9: 136# Day 23: 129#
Day 10: 135#
Day 11: 135#
Day 12: 134#
Day 13: 133#
Day 14: 13
"How dull it is to pause, to make an end, to rust unburnished, not to shine in use! As though to breathe were life. Life piled on life were all too little, and of one to me little remains: but every hour is saved from that eternal silence, something more, a bringer of new things..." --Ulysses
Day 2, 142#. Not bothered by sleepiness on Day 1 yesterday. I dedicate all merits and proceeds of this fast to the Avon Breast Cancer walk next October endorsed by Wil Wheaton, in memory of my mother who died of breast cancer last year (although it was a fall that did her in). Watched Girlfight on a dvd rented from netflix.com. Michelle Rodriguez: "I love you. I really do. -- Pow!" The classy red netflix self-addressed return mailer is a triumph of American packaging design.
Day 3, 139#. The Seven Samurai: the heroism of the warriers, the miserable suffering of the farmers.
Day 4, 138#. Slight nausea after drinking bitter morning black tea. Body feels creaky, out-of-sorts, tongue-coated. Long time earache drags on. Tired of endless self-centered thoughts revolving around declining savings, body aches and pains, communication failures with friends and godsons, and the second law of thermodynamics predicting the heat death of the universe. Physical state definitely affects mental state, no doubt about it. All these thoughts are only thoughts, there are better thoughts, think positive.
Day 5, 137#. Hunger gone. Feeling better. Sleeping lightly with vivid dreams. Cold coffee shake does not upset morning stomach like hot tea. Recipe: Blend instant coffee, creamer, no-calorie sweetener, a thin slice of fresh ginger and 8 oz. cold water in an empty 18-oz Skippy Honey peanut butter jar with an orange lid. Shake vigorously. Sit in a Burmese side-saddle position on meditation platform and enjoy as a waker-upper before 5:30 am session.
Day 6, 137#. A friendly black dog with a white-tipped tail followed me up the hill, and I chatted with my godson Cesar in Costa Rica for his first time by computer. A good day. To celebrate, made this satisfying hot atole drink: 1 tsp. corn starch, 1 tsp. chicken bouillon, dash of serrano pepper slices, fresh ginger and sage, 12 oz. boiling water. Estimated calories = 10 (starch) + 15 (bouillon) + 10 (hot water). This plus two coca-colas @120/ea = 275 for the day, non-zero but low.
Day 7, 136#. Fissured tongue still chalky, otherwise nothing remarkable.
Day 8, 135#. 1.5 billion people watching Rivaldo y Ronaldo football versus Kahn, two against one, teamwork wins.
Day 9, 136# (more weight ???). "I call them like I see them", as a highway policeman once told me. Could be that 20 oz. of coca-cola plus two teaspoons of corn starch and chicken broth contain more calories than thought, or else the body is digging in heels. Should limit caloric drinks to one (1) 12-oz can of cold soda pop with morning walk, and one (1) 12-oz hot atole drink in late afternoon. Tongue still coated. Maybe fast should end when tongue clears? Mental restlessness noted No overdue report cards received from godsons Kenneth and Cristian, but Greivin and Cesar met the deadline.
Day 10, 135#. Washed and dried clothes at the laundromat on a cloudy day. Mind definitely spacey, not inclined to talk. Uploading pages of Solo Hike 1993 Mexico to Oregon, an epic quest, remembering how it was.
Day 11, 135#. Tongue unchanged. Not much interest in food. Longest previous fast was 11 days."The most valiant explorers are those who ignore the appropriate time of their going"-- T. Williams, In the Winter of Cities
Day 12, 134#. July 4, Independence Day. Completed uploads of my Solo Hike Mexico-Oregon 1993 and linked them together (7 web pages). Lots of forgotten memories while reviewing 3,466 lines of text. Eating was very enjoyable on that hike. Tongue coat hasn't cleared yet. Billy Elliot the dancing boy, dancing out of the mine.
Day 13, 133#. Today is my brother Jim's 54th birthday (7/5/48). We talked on the phone about driving down to Galveston soon to visit Dad. Fast or no fast life goes on -- except for minor giddiness and a hollow feeling, my body is not very weak. Kind of wonder where this is going.
Day 14, 132#. Movie Running on Empty, River Phoenix, hiding true identity. Letter from Maria in Costa Rica.
Day 15, 132#. Little Flowers of St. Francis of Assisi, Chapter VII: he fasted 40 days on an island, eating only half of one of two loaves of bread in deference to the 40-day example by Jesus. (Question: why didn't he feed the crumbs to the birds or the fishes?) The Buddha also fasted a long time before accepting an offering of milk and rice to continue his quest for enlightenment after concluding that extreme asceticism was not the right way. Fasting weakens the desire to do much of anything. In Catholic writings "fasting" does not always mean complete fasting, but if Francis was marooned on an island in the lake of Perugia, his fast must have been complete except for the 1/2 loaf. Reading Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography. He says he tried a vegetarian diet once until one day he noticed a little fish in the stomach of a bigger fish. He concluded it is justifiable to eat fish which eat other fish. (In a wry note he observes how a logical mind can justify any action.) His life seems to have been happy and productive. Saint Francis is more of a mystery. Can saints be happy? Francis says (Ch. VIII) that Perfect Joy is self mortification for the love of God.
Day 16, 131#. Tongue still coated with a yellowish hue pretty much unchanged. Walked over to Wal Mart looking for a maroon knit tie (like the one River Phoenix wore to meet his grandmother), to dress up for Lorena's invitation to attend church with her on Sunday. Did not find any square knits, only pointy ties requiring a coat which I do not have and do not need in this summer heat. Now searching ebay online. "Sin Dios no somos nada"-- Cristian
Day 17, 131# Weight stubbornly hangs on but goal of 130# is in sight. Indifferent about starting to eat again, asking myself why? Mind lingering over details, the dotting of i's, the crossing of t's, colors, shapes, memories, words. New transparent PlayPal Visa card playfully suggests the world is not as solid as it seems.
Day 18, 132#. Upward bounce due to salt effect. Daily consumption of three quarts of water weighs 6 pounds. This tedious fast is like long-distance hiking, numbering otherwise unconnected days. Richard Feynman on his deathbed: "I'd hate to die twice, it is so boring." The Whoa Way is supposed to combine striving activity with meditation. However the last few months have passed idly in a sheltered apartment with internet diversions. How can godsons be expected to attend school without my industrious example? Instead I loaf and invite my soul like Whitman or Ryokan. Ben Franklin, champion of the puritan work ethic, always something to do. Even Defoe's Robinson Crusoe always busy excavating caves, building stockades or cultivating crops to make bread instead of fishing, picking fruit, watching cloud formations and sleeping in a hammock (see Johnston's lecture about Defoe's work ethic).
Day 19, 130#. Hooray! Reached primary target weight, however tongue still coated. Average loss after startup = 9 oz/day (9 lb / 16 days). At this rate a 40 day fast would end at 118 lbs on August 1. Huckleberry Finn (moving on), Gilbert Grape (not going anywhere) and Aliens (coming back) . Respectful letter from Yamileth. How Darwin dynamited my life recalled in Johnston guestbook.
Day 20, 130#. Wondering about going on. Marking time with a few calories: one can of coca-cola, a few sugarless coffees with artificial creamer, and a couple of soothing hot corn starch atole drinks flavored with chicken bouillon, salt, finely sliced wheels of serrano pepper, fresh ginger root and flakes of oregano Italian seasoning. Birthday letters to Marlon 16 (7/22/86) and Cristian 15 (7/23/87).
Day 21, 130#. Going on a ways more. Vivid dream of wandering thru a maze of hotel rooms on a quest for a far destination when suddenly Mary announces the morning time. Morning walks up to the hill to break the captivity of this room. "In this world all things, without exception, are unreal. Death itself is an illusion" -- Ikkyu. Pondering this and Costa Rica slipping away.
Day 22, 130#. Weight mysteriously stuck at 130. Sunday, invited to church by Leona who reaches 85 in two weeks. L'Enfant Sauvage (the wild child by Francois Truffaut, supposedly a true story of Victor de l'Aveyron found in a forest at age 12) unconvincing but attractive film portrays a pastoral France 1798, lovely as a pitcher of white milk. The educated aristocrat writes everything down about his experiment of raising an autistic child.
7.15 Day 23, 129#. Ended 22-day perfect joy fast this morning with orange-pineapple juice bought yesterday on an afternoon walk to Diamond Supermarket. Ending for these reasons: 1) body feels like it wants to maintain this weight level which seems appropriate for my present sedentary lifestyle, by contrast with a former weight of 145 pounds for my 5'7inch frame which was natural for active long-distance hiking 2) hunger and thoughts about eating food have returned 3) sleeping at night has become difficult 4) blood pressure has improved satisfactorily down to 111/65 with pulse 78 -- this indicates that cholesterol has been cleaned out of blood vessels 5) have no good reason to continue except curiosity 6) unsure where the line of danger begins 7) cautious about getting tangled up in an ego-building project as Saint Francis cautioned against spiritual pride 8) if I did not care about living any longer I think starvation would not be a bad way to go but this does not feel like the time. I still have some responsibilities to others. 9) the new challenge of maintaining my weight at 130 pounds (59 kilos) is worth attention. 10) I could always resume fasting later if conditions warrant. I might do occasional one-day fasts to stay alert. 11) I intend to continue observing the sixth optional Theravada precept against eating after midday (the first five precepts binding on all Buddhists, laymen and monks alike, prohibit violence, theft, unchastity, wrong speech and taking intoxicants). The remaining two of the eight Theravada precepts which I vowed in a formal ceremony at Wat Metta on 5/17/96 are (7) avoid exciting diversions such as dancing, singing or music [concerts, that is -- I interpret this clause loosely] and avoid wearing personal adornments such as flower garlands, scents (including deodorant) and cosmetics (unscented skin cream is OK for dry skin health), and (8) avoid high, soft seats or beds.
I will be evaluating the benefits of this fast in the coming days but can report four preliminary conclusions:
Firstly, it was a surprise to learn that the body can maintain a stable weight for a time even without any caloric input.
Secondly, this discovery leads me to conclude that the body needs much less food than we are led to believe, at least under sedentary conditions and shelter from cold weather, once it has reached its optimum level. The US Recommended Daily Allowance of 2,000 calories for adults is probably about double what is really necessary for a medium height 5'7inch frame.
Thirdly, I notice that just about everyone around me in this American culture of excess consumption is fat. I do not see lean hungry people anywhere in this local community of a rural Texas town. The fattest people I know are the Papago Tono Odham Indians on their reservation in Arizona. It is not a coincidence that this population has the highest per capita incidence of diabetes in the United States. When they board the mini shuttle bus I secretly hope they do not choose to share my seat because they overflow like floating clouds. When I walked across their reservation a few years ago in three solitary days of crossing, for which privilege I am grateful to their nation, I saw no one on their beautiful land abandoned now to birds and coyotes. It's not all their fault, as Tucson has pumped the water table down drying up their wells. Most of them crowd into shabby houses near highways. They have forgotten their outdoor heritage. When Jesus of Nazareth was tempted after his 40 day fast, he said man does not live by bread alone.
Fourthly, my improved blood pressure tells me that reducing cholesterol level to prevent heart attacks is a remedy available to anyone, especially those who can not afford medical insurance and must take care of themselves. I recommend fasting as an inexpensive, quick, medication-free and effective solution to cholesterol buildup, to be followed by exercise and a fat-free preferably-vegetarian diet.
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