I wasn’t aware fasting was used as a weight-loss plan until I read the “Intermittent Fasting� article on the Mindful Muscle blog. And, having read it, I found myself wanting to know more about supposed benefits and risks. My impression, from the article, was that outside of spiritual benefits, fasting was not an ideal method of weight loss.

Upon further research, what I found was contradictory. There were those who lauded fasting and those who emphatically denounced it. One aspect that appears to be universal—at least universal in the articles I delved through—is that no one actually prescribes it as a weight-loss method. Those who recommend fasting usually do so because of its supposed cleansing benefits, not because it was a guaranteed pound-shedder. To be honest, I find that a relief; the idea of not eating for a long period of time to lose weight just sounds too much like anorexia or starvation to me.

The Spiritual Side of Fasting

With the intent of centering oneself through fasting in a spiritual context, however, I can understand and appreciate the testimonies of practitioners. Depending on one’s religious or spiritual knowledge, many people have some familiarity of when fasting occurs today. Read more…