It’s sundown and though I didn’t go to synogogue tonight (I’ll go tomorrow), my 24-hour fast has officially begun.
Unlike fad crash diets of yore, once a year, Jews around the world fast on Yom Kippur from sunset til sunset.
For a population whose every holiday revolves around food, Yom Kippur (the holiest day of the year) is clearly the exception to the rule!
Usually I just eat normally the day before Yom Kippur and treat it like any other day. But today, I had a weird, non-clean food day today … including a dinner that was totally out of “necessity” versus genuine hunger.
From my hotel in Chicago, I ordered room service for breakfast (dry egg white omelet, fresh fruit, dry whole grain toast). I had a FiberOne bar for a snack an hour later (that run this morning along Michigan Ave. did me in and I guess the breakfast didn’t do much). Lunch was on the road: a 6″ Subway turkey on wheat with veggies, Light Lays (gr!), and an apple. And finally, a snacky dinner of cereal and peanut butter, cocoa and FF ReddiWhip (gr!).
A 27 point day…high for a weekday.
Truthfully, I wasn’t even hungry for dinner but ate, simply because I knew once the sun went down, that was it and the little girl in me demanded to be fed.
Last year, I didn’t find the food part that challenging — so I don’t know what I was so anxious about. After a while, the hunger pangs honestly went away. It was almost scary, because I seriously think I could have gone to bed without ingesting a single thing that night.
In fact, I even extended the fast til about 9, when my friend arrived for dinner (services ran late and I’d cooked). I don’t recommend self-induced starvation but it did help me reset my hunger queues in a way.
Because it was the no-water-thing that really did me in much moreso than the food, tonight I chugged a good amount of water, hoping that will hydrate me for tomorrow.
I think it will be good to get in touch with my hunger signals again; they’ve been so out of whack lately.
For example, I wasn’t hungry at our event at all last night, but I jammed my plate with fruit because it was so unbelievably fresh and delicious … and I can never say no to fruit.
True, it’s “just fruit” … but I wasn’t hungry … and eating when not hungry is how my hunger signals have gotten so confuzzled … and how I’ve gained a little weight lately.
Then, I seriously didn’t want or even need dinner last night (I was full on fruit plus I’d had a late Subway lunch), which is why I only nibbled at my filet mignon (I brought it back home for my break-the-fast dinner, unless we go out).
I just loaded up on steamed veggies so it looked like I was eating more … I genuinely wasn’t hungry. Yet I had to eat to be polite because I was with my co-workers and we were at Capital Grill having a freaking amazing dinner. I wish I’d been hungry, to actually enjoy it.
Then this morning, I woke up literally starving! Talk about mixed signals.
So after my workout, I ordered in a healthy breakfast from room service around 9. That meant I wasn’t hungry for lunch until about 3, and so my dinner was totally not eaten out of hunger … but rather necessity.
Anyway, I am hoping to have an “easy fast” (what we Jews wish one another).
No food or liquid will cross these lips until sundown tomorrow. I’ll be in services all morning, and then home reflecting tomorrow, connecting with my faith, my heritage and my future. I might blog, I might not. I will play it by ear.
Either way, I know that I’ll go to bed tomorrow night feeling stronger for having made it through another Yom Kippur fast. I’m planning to succeed … and planning is half the battle.
How about you? Are you fasting today, or have you ever fasted for a religious reason?
It’s sundown and though I didn’t go to synogogue tonight (I’ll go tomorrow), my 24-hour fast has officially begun.
Unlike fad crash diets of yore, once a year, Jews around the world fast on Yom Kippur from sunset til sunset.
For a population whose every holiday revolves around food, Yom Kippur (the holiest day of the year) is clearly the exception to the rule!
Usually I just eat normally the day before Yom Kippur and treat it like any other day. But today, I had a weird, non-clean food day today … including a dinner that was totally out of “necessity” versus genuine hunger.
From my hotel in Chicago, I ordered room service for breakfast (dry egg white omelet, fresh fruit, dry whole grain toast). I had a FiberOne bar for a snack an hour later (that run this morning along Michigan Ave. did me in and I guess the breakfast didn’t do much). Lunch was on the road: a 6″ Subway turkey on wheat with veggies, Light Lays (gr!), and an apple. And finally, a snacky dinner of cereal and peanut butter, cocoa and FF ReddiWhip (gr!).
A 27 point day…high for a weekday.
Truthfully, I wasn’t even hungry for dinner but ate, simply because I knew once the sun went down, that was it and the little girl in me demanded to be fed.
Last year, I didn’t find the food part that challenging — so I don’t know what I was so anxious about. After a while, the hunger pangs honestly went away. It was almost scary, because I seriously think I could have gone to bed without ingesting a single thing that night.
In fact, I even extended the fast til about 9, when my friend arrived for dinner (services ran late and I’d cooked). I don’t recommend self-induced starvation but it did help me reset my hunger queues in a way.
Because it was the no-water-thing that really did me in much moreso than the food, tonight I chugged a good amount of water, hoping that will hydrate me for tomorrow.
I think it will be good to get in touch with my hunger signals again; they’ve been so out of whack lately.
For example, I wasn’t hungry at our event at all last night, but I jammed my plate with fruit because it was so unbelievably fresh and delicious … and I can never say no to fruit.
True, it’s “just fruit” … but I wasn’t hungry … and eating when not hungry is how my hunger signals have gotten so confuzzled … and how I’ve gained a little weight lately.
Then, I seriously didn’t want or even need dinner last night (I was full on fruit plus I’d had a late Subway lunch), which is why I only nibbled at my filet mignon (I brought it back home for my break-the-fast dinner, unless we go out).
I just loaded up on steamed veggies so it looked like I was eating more … I genuinely wasn’t hungry. Yet I had to eat to be polite because I was with my co-workers and we were at Capital Grill having a freaking amazing dinner. I wish I’d been hungry, to actually enjoy it.
Then this morning, I woke up literally starving! Talk about mixed signals.
So after my workout, I ordered in a healthy breakfast from room service around 9. That meant I wasn’t hungry for lunch until about 3, and so my dinner was totally not eaten out of hunger … but rather necessity.
Anyway, I am hoping to have an “easy fast” (what we Jews wish one another).
No food or liquid will cross these lips until sundown tomorrow. I’ll be in services all morning, and then home reflecting tomorrow, connecting with my faith, my heritage and my future. I might blog, I might not. I will play it by ear.
Either way, I know that I’ll go to bed tomorrow night feeling stronger for having made it through another Yom Kippur fast. I’m planning to succeed … and planning is half the battle.
How about you? Are you fasting today, or have you ever fasted for a religious reason?