It’s an old story: you were doing well, following your eating plan, ideally getting some fasting in there… but then the holidays hit. There was food everywhere. If your workplaces are anything like mine, there was food in the break room – somebody’s cookies, or boxes of chocolates, or – randomly – a giant platter of samosas one day. (What can I say, my coworkers are very generous with their food sharing!) There were parties and family gatherings and get-togethers with friends. And at every last one of those gatherings, there was food. LOTS of it. And so much of it was the sort you’ve been trying to avoid.
And you didn’t.
You ate the stuffing and the mashed potatoes and your mom’s sugar cookies (in my case!) and a samosa from the platter and a brownie at the Christmas party and your aunt’s famous trifle and and and and and… you can easily populate the rest of the list!
Listen: it’s okay. It really is. Life is about balance: about both fasting AND feasting. The holidays are a time for feasting. I’m well aware of how difficult it is to let go and actually enjoy a food I wouldn’t normally eat, and also how darned easy it is to make that exception. There’s a balance in there, too. It isn’t meant to be all denial, though. Celebrations tend to centre around food. It’s just the way humans work. Honestly, the only aspect of fasting that I don’t enjoy is the social awkwardness of showing up at an event of some sort and refusing to eat/drink anything. For the past two weeks, I’ve been feeling a bit exasperated in terms of feeling as though I’ve done nothing but make exceptions, and yet I’ve also stoically held strong through staff parties, ignored the break room cookies, refused offers of wine and this and that. On balance, I think I’ve done pretty well. I don’t regret having partaken in Christmas food. I think that in North America at least, very few people of a similiarly-privileged background come out of the holidays feeling that they didn’t overindulge, honestly.
Again, it’s okay. But if you’re feeling a bit panicky, or that the holidays have caused you to fall off the wagon, don’t. Just because you let down your guard, or made a conscious decision to indulge, doesn’t mean that you’re forced to do the same thing forever. Every day is a new opportunity to start fresh! Rather than focusing on the foods you want to avoid, reframe it in terms of foods you want to seek out to feed yourself with. Find yourself those good, healthy fats, some delicious proteins, and leafy greens. I find a good, crisp, crunchy salad so refreshing after I’ve been eating carbs, all the better if it’s paired with a good quality olive oil, some toasted nuts, maybe some delicious cheese.
Even better than eating better? Fasting. For every indulgence, we can always balance it with a new fast. Fasting is the best possible way to reset. A 72-hour fast is long enough for a complete metabolic reset, in fact!
If you’re new to fasting, or haven’t ventured into it yet, you may have just spat out your tea in horror at that notion. It IS long: it’s three full days! But if you’re feeling sugared-out and slow and heavy, a three-day fast will get you back on track, detox you from all those carbs, and get you feeling good again! If you’d like to try it, do it like this (on any schedule – I’ll just use “Sunday” as a random day to start from):
Sunday: eat dinner at 6pm. Start fasting.
Monday: fast
Tuesday: fast
Wednesday: fast until 6pm. Eat dinner.
You can wait and launch into this on January 1st. I’ve got 90 hours on my fasting timer as we speak, with plans to end it at lunchtime on Saturday, enjoy the weekend (it’s my birthday!) and New Year’s Eve, then start another longer one come the new year. You can work in a 72-hour fast during the week if you want to get a head start on the new year, or you can wait until 2019 has officially rolled in.
If you’re new to fasting, here’s what you do:
- drink lots of: water, tea (especially green), coffee (up to 1 tbsp of good fats per cup, to a maximum of 3 tbsp per day – includes: whipping cream (33-35%), coconut oil, MCT oil, butter. Excludes: 10% cream, milk, sugar or sweetener of any kind. Optional: cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves.)
- do not eat
- on days 2 & 3: take a pinch of unprocessed rock salt 1-3 times per day. You can do it on day 1 as well, if you like. Most people prefer pink Himalayan salt for its mild flavour. This will keep your electrolytes in balance. Do NOT supplement with potassium! This is a dangerous practise and should be done only under specific medical direction. Salt will do the trick, and in a 3-day fast, this isn’t a huge concern in the first place.
- If you get a headache, you’re probably not hydrated enough. Go ahead and take some Advil or Tylenol. If you feel nauseated, stop fasting! If you’re new to fasting, it’s normal to feel very occasionally dizzy, but if you feel actively unwell, stop fasting.
Bottom line: if you’re feasting, then enjoy it! Fasting before it or after isn’t meant to feel like a punishment for enjoying the holidays – just balance. For me personally, after four days of indulgence (within reason), I feel more than ready to fast again. Bring it on! 14 hours down, 76 to go. 🙂
The Fasting Life 
I too enjoyed feasting with my family. Oh the food! It was sooo yummy! Yesterday after dinner I was ready for a fast! I think I can do a 36hrs to help get me over the holidays splurge. Even if we’re still at the cottage. Board games and tea here we go! Hour 12 into a 36hrs 😉
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Nice, way to go!! Hard to do when you’re still surrounded by family and leftovers and all that! Way to go, though! Keep chugging that tea! ❤
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