If you are anything like me, you love food: cooking, eating, smelling and chewing.. all that comes with it. But then you also, naturally, hate what keeps you away from food, when you crave it: being trapped in the hardware store with you husband with no end in sight, being stuck in traffic when you haven’t even started cooking yet and you are starving already and … fasting.
I totally get the enormous advantages of fasting, but I am absolutely afraid of it, because: I have to go for days without food! While I am not afraid that I will starve to death, it seems to me like all the fun is disappearing out of my life, all at once! Crazy, I know. But when I looked deeper into this I found out, that this is absolutely normal and I am not a freak without a proper life aside from food. Our brains want to keep us safe and that means eating and having „business as usual“. So the little suckers try to convince us any way they can. And since your intestines are still full and working, it just seems to your brain that you just forgot to take up some food.
Anyway, I decided to go on a five day fast when I didn’t feel well during this night, after eating a lot of crap yesterday and after feeling quite sick for some time now, with no really bad symptoms, but regular headaches, stomach pains and brain fog. I already postponed fasting once a few weeks ago, not feeling up for the challenge. But this time I felt bad enough to see that the advantages of a fast were clearly outweighing the disadvantages, so I kind of made a decision to go for it and stay with it. I told my husband, son and best friend about it, so that I cannot skip it easily any more. But I must tell you that I am really anxious about this and I cannot tell you how often since I woke up this morning I had the reflex to grab something to eat, just so sooth my mind that is not easily coming to terms with not eating. My body is fine, except for some headache I am not expecting any kind of trouble while fasting. The problem is my fixation on food and how that plays out during a normal day without me even noticing under normal circumstances, because I just go for it, when I want it. And you have so much more time on your hands if you are not preparing and eating all the food that you normally eat!
Since I want this to be a success, I looked what I could find about essential oils helping me through this and there are quite a few, that can be a strong supporter and I am going to need every single one of them:
Black Pepper: It is known for its ability to break addictive behaviour (ok, I might need to clarify, that I am not REALLY a food addict, I do not stand in front of the fridge at night and I can go 12 hrs easy without eating) of any kind and helps your endeavour big time!
Grapefruit: This essential oil is not only known for its ability to get rid of surplus fat in our bodies, but it uplifts you and curbs your cravings.
Peppermint: This one has the ability to make you feel full and satisfied without eating, while refreshing you at the same time.
Cinnamon: Satisfies cravings and breaks the cycle of food fixation.
Make a blend of those oils and apply them to your abdomen. There you will have a quick absorption into the blood stream and you can smell them as well.
But: We are not only used to regular meal times, we also have a kind of oral fixation on food and love to chew on something to keep us calm, entertained or just distracted. Dr. Eric Zielinsky had this great idea in one of his books where he sais to take some wooden toothpics, put them in a blend of olive oil and 10 drops each of the essential oils black pepper, grapefruit, peppermint and cinnamon. Let them soak for some hours, then let them dry and take one to chew on whenever your gravings come up and want to get the best of you.
And, to make a fast work and a little bit enjoyable along the way, treat yourself well: take walks, baths, foot baths, sleep long, meditate and listen to music. Read a great book, do a puzzle or visit a friend and chat over a cup of herbal tea.
Stay strong and see you soon!