{"id":441,"date":"2009-05-28T17:39:11","date_gmt":"2009-05-28T08:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paulgoodchild.net\/blog\/?p=441"},"modified":"2011-11-23T00:36:24","modified_gmt":"2011-11-23T00:36:24","slug":"follow-up-benefits-fasting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paulgoodchild.me\/blog\/follow-up-benefits-fasting\/","title":{"rendered":"A follow up: What are the benefits of fasting?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a follow up to my previous article<\/a> on the benefits of undergoing a fast for the purposes of detoxification for your body.\u00a0 Probably best to give that a read if you haven’t already done so, and then coming back here again to see the aftermath.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

3 Weeks On…<\/h2>\n

Since I broke my fast exactly 3 weeks ago, I am still now amazed at the changes in my life that I’m now accepting as the baseline norm.\u00a0 So much so, it’s hard to know where to start, but I guess that that is where blogging really helps to journal your experience as well as share it.<\/p>\n

There is no one particular change that stands out from the rest since it all comes together as package and isolating one from the rest is difficult, at least to articulate.\u00a0 But I’ll do what I can.<\/p>\n

Firstly, energy<\/em>.\u00a0 I’ve always been a little bit slothful.\u00a0 Not lazy per-se, well, maybe a little.\u00a0 I’d rather sleep in on the weekend (in fact any day of the week) before getting up early to do my weekly laundry, or other similarly ‘mundane’ tasks.\u00a0 Now, it’s practically boundless.\u00a0 I don’t want to exaggerate and sound silly doing so, but in relative comparison I need less sleep than before, I get up 30 mins earlier on weekdays and I am more focused for longer throughout the day.\u00a0 Why is this?\u00a0 In part it is the detox process I have undergone, but there is more to it.\u00a0 I’ll address this a bit later in the article.<\/p>\n

Focus<\/em>.\u00a0 Being alert and focused throughout the day is a another big improvement.\u00a0 Obviously closely linked energy levels, being focused and directed with my time and my mind means I’m more productive more often, and rather than waste my time on things that are not beneficial to me, I’m concentrating more often on activities that have a larger payoff.\u00a0 Granted, we all need our down time and I take more of that than I should probably, but it’s all relative.<\/p>\n

Joy<\/em>.\u00a0 Now I’m probably going to lose some of you here, but stick with me for a moment.\u00a0 For some people, being around perpetually happy people can get rather annoying.\u00a0 But why is that?\u00a0 If you were fundamentally happy in your life and where you are right now<\/em>, wouldn’t you love to hang out with people of the same frame of mind?\u00a0 Those people wouldn’t annoy you but instead mirror you and you’d be caught up in a feedback loop with one another.\u00a0 Exactly the same thing happens with miserable people.\u00a0 Like attracts like.\u00a0 We attract into our lives events and people that reflect who we are inside and what we are focused on.\u00a0 Just try being miserable for a week and see how many happy people you can meet and retain.<\/p>\n

So joy, yes, I haven’t even been remotely close to having a ‘down’ day since I got back from my trip.\u00a0 I’ve been making major life-changing decisions in the last few weeks and that’s bound to contribute to the feeling that I’m moving on with my life and making progress towards my major goals.\u00a0 You can follow the progress that helped bring me to this point through my life coaching<\/a> articles.\u00a0 Being clearer in my mind about where I am in my life and where I’m headed provides an underlying enthusiasm in everything I do right now.\u00a0 I’m focusing on building and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships with friends, working towards the plans I’ve put in place for September, and trying to live the last few months of my life in Japan to their fullest.\u00a0 It’s very rewarding, and while I’m still working, having closure on this chapter also has infused me with a new level of enthusiasm for the work that I do and I’m ensuring I leave the job\/company with as many loose ends tied up as possible.<\/p>\n

Influential factors<\/h2>\n

Just like splitting up the benefits of this recent lifestyle into their seaparate parts, it’s equally as difficult to attribute those benefits to 1 particular change in habits.\u00a0 They all come together to create a new way of life.<\/p>\n

In combination with the detox, I believe the other factors that are playing a role here are:<\/p>\n