Fasting

I'm reading a side-article titled In Defense of Hunger in the latest issue of GQ (June 2009), which claims I've never felt actual hunger. Instead, my stomach has gotten used to receiving food at certain times in the day, and, when I miss a meal, it complains.

That piqued my curiosity. What does hunger feel like?

If that wasn't enough, the other interesting point from the article: "a hungry mind is a focused mind," which makes sense from an evolutionary perspective. If they partly evolved as survival tools, our minds should be active and focused when they need to find a scarce necessity. The author, Mark Adams, fasted for a few days and found that his memory and focus improved... after he started eating again.

I heard some maxim somewhere that the body can last 3 seconds without blood, 3 minutes without oxygen, 3 days without water, and 3 weeks without food. Gandhi apparently pushed the three week limit... on two occasions. I'm not that ambitious.

60 minutes also ran a segment this week about a 'survival' gene that gets activated when we go on extreme diets. The gene purportedly fights heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and slows aging (are you kidding me?). And, of course, a drug company is testing a new one that tricks the body into activating the gene. ...where's the merit or discipline in that?

The Goal: consume only water and a daily vitamin for 5 days.

Workouts are going to be a bit of an issue. It kind of has me wondering if these people extolling the health benefits of fasting do any kind of strenuous physical activity.... ever. But the idea here is to push a boundary; so I'm still going to attempt a workout or two and see what I'm capable of.

I don't want to die only ever having played it safe.

This will be fun...