Fasting Journal, Day Seven - Time for the Break-Fast

So after a strong cup of coffee I fry up a bit of onion on some lard, then add grated potatoes, cheese, and eggs, while a few strips of bacon and sausages are sizzling in another pan... Hold on!!! This may still be part of my mental cooking from the previous chapter. In any case, this is no way to break the fast! (Though I'm sure I'll get around to enjoying this kind of hearty breakfast at some point along the way.)

Back to the Apple

Remember the apple from before the fast? It was the last meal I had before I stopped eating. It was also supposed to notify my body of my intention to fast. So accordingly, my first meal should be just that: an apple. While I started out my seventh day with my morning tea, lime juice, and a bit of honey, just like every fasting day, at noon I had the apple for lunch. While enjoying the sensation of chewing food again, it's also a good practice to savor every bit of taste, and observe the body's reaction. It may actually tell us very clearly when it has had enough. Should that happen, don't force yourself to finish the apple. For me, I felt it just as I was finishing the last bite: a sense of fulfilled satisfaction.

Jump-starting Digestion with Soaked Prunes

Even if your body tells you to finish the whole apple, and then some, it's generally best to take it easy on the food the day after the fast. The reason is, that our digestive tract has pretty much shut down for the week. We may have had an occasional minor bowel movement, but nothing worth the mention. It makes sense too: if there was no food coming in, why should it remain active? So if you start stuffing it with food right away, you may be in for some constipation.

The best way to prevent it, is by eating a few dried figs or plums, which have been soaked in water overnight. You don't need to know about fasting to guess what those goodies can do. Once our guts are working again, we are ready to get back into eating... bit by bit.

Preparation Reversed

Again, it's important not to jump the gun. Heavy, greasy foods can wait for later. A light salad is the best start, which is quite suitable for dinner on the seventh day. Following that, the recommendable practice is to apply the same rule of thumb as for the three days of preparation before the fast, only reversed: the first day only carbohydrates (veggies rather than bread and pasta), second day add proteins, third day add oils and fats.

Following that you can go back to indulging in your old vices... if you really have to. You'd think that I'd be yearning for a coffee by now, or a cold beer, but in fact none of those things seem to be of any interest to me right now. Even the heavy breakfast I described in the beginning is only moderately appetizing at the moment. What makes my mouth water, however, is a slice of mango, or some coconut flesh, scooped out of a fresh coconut. YUM!