Fasting, and why you should do it.

Just a heads up.  I'm not an expert on this topic.  I'd say consult your doctor before starting anything new with your diet.  But you probably don't even consult your doctor about your diet now.  And doctors aren't nutritionists.  There are so many chemicals in food today that interact with your brain through your gut.  It would be unfair to expect doctors to be able to understand all of what's wrong with you without knowing everything you are eating.  So when I say consult your doctor, consult them as much as you already do.  They treat your symptoms.  What's the best way to avoid all the chemicals in todays foods?  Eat real food.  What's real food?  Everything not in the middle of the grocery store.  That's a good place to start.  Although generalizing.  There are some awful refrigerated foods too, but even those are on the inside fridges, not along the outside.

Anyway.  I wanted to write a little bit about fasting.  I read a number of responses from people about what they thought of when the term "fasting" was brought up.  Many just gave a definition, but for others it left a real bad taste in their mouth.  See what I did there?   As far as I know there is two ways most people have heard about fasting.  The first is from a medical perspective.  Fasting before bloodwork, surgery or another type of procedure.  These are most likely water only from anywhere from 12-48 hours.  The other place is from church.  A type of religions fast designed to make you give up something that you frequent.  For many people this is food.  In the bible it talks about fasting for spiritual reasons and that Jesus fasted for 40 days.  I don't recommend this.  Though I know many that are following a highly restricted food intake plan that can go as long as 21 days or longer.  There was even a man that did a type of fast for over 300 days and lost around the same amount of weight.  However, with those extended fasts, there are times of intentional eating.  But it's minimal.

I think the church has made fasting seem like you are being deprived of something instead of focusing on the "why" behind the fast.  It's more about what you are giving up then what you are striving to attain.  They make it seem like it's going to be really hard to not eat for a day or three depending on the length of the fast.  Last I checked, the church is not a nutritionist.  But yes, it is hard.  Your body is used to eating every 2-3 hours.  And when you stop, it's not happy.  It now has to work and do what it was designed to do. There are some people that have some medical conditions that shouldn't decide today they want to fast and start tomorrow.  Diabetics, for example.  Anyone with hypoglycemia.  Fasting though, is not out of the question.  You just need a few weeks or months to change your eating habits to make fasting possible and seek the advice of a professional or someone that's treated those disease with nutrition.   There are also those with eating disorders that ought to have that treated prior to doing a proper fast as well.

Back to Jesus.  When Jesus fasted, people were not eating the same diet as we do.  They
didn't have complex carbs, twinkles, ho-ho's, chips, bread on every counter, or the massive amounts of plants we do today.  I'd be willing to bet they were in a pretty good state of ketosis or their bodies were primed to burn fat.  They most likely at more fats and proteins than anything else.  So fasting wasn't as much of a shock to the system as it would be for us.  That allowed them to focus more on the connection to God than it did how their bodies were responding.  If you have a carbohydrate rich/low fat diet and go a few hours without food, I'd be willing to bet you aren't doing anything but focusing on the havoc that is happening in your body.  But if you tough it out.  By the start of day 3...you probably feel a lot better.  You have entered ketosis.  And while you aren't that good at using your own body fat, your body is happily producing ketones for you to use for fuel.  Studies have suggested that your body runs 70% better on ketones.

That all being said.  Do you have to fast?  Nope.  Should you?  Yep.  But what if multi day fasts aren't your thing.  You can still get a lot of benefits by Intermittent fasting.  The easiest way to do this?  Overnight.  Stop eating as early as you can, say 6pm.  And then only drink water until lunchtime the next day.  And don't go carb heavy at lunch.  Eat a light meal with some healthy fats. If you can do this a few times a week you'll burn a significant amount of body fat as well as benefit in many other ways.  All of those can be found here, citing various resources as well.  I highly encourage you to check them out.  

The Pacifist Missionary. I Really Want to Believe.

Christians lay down your guns

They will fail you on the battleground of love

Christians lay down your arms of hate

And stretch out your arms of love

Lay your life on the line for the persecuted 

Lay your life on the line for the persecutor

Lay your life on the the line for Jesus

For Jesus laid his life on the cross for us, 

the sinner the saint   

I wrote that.  Few years ago.  When I was just beginning the depths of the de/re construction of my faith.  I listened to several podcasts on pacifism at the time.  I still think that nothing can be solved by fighting.  Only delayed, or suppressed.  Which isn't always a bad thing.  I know it's sometimes difficult decisions have to be made.  But after a few years of reading and praying about it, I'm convinced Jesus doesn't want anyone to be hurt or be killed.  The main verse many people cite when trying to convince one Jesus was in favor of violence was when he talk his disciples to get a sword if they had none.  And the other when He says he came not to bring peace but a sword.  

Context is huge in this.  Jesus told his disciples two swords were enough.  Really?  Two swords were enough to defend all 12 in a scuffle when everyone had a sword?  And they didn't want to stand out, criminals had swords and they wanted to blend in.  Remember, at this time the disciples and Jesus were wanted men.  And a sword was needed in the Garden.  Remember when Peter sliced off the ear of a roman soldier and Jesus healed it?  It was then Jesus said if you live by the sword you die by the sword.  Which I believe to mean exactly what it means.  That the battle they were fighting is not going to be one by earthly measures.  

Hoping that I hear this call, and I
recognize it clearly. 

And that he came not to bring peace but a sword?  What does a sword do?  It slices, divides.  I came not to bring peace but division.  It's hard to live like Jesus.  I think there is a tension between people that truly live out Christ's commandments and those that merely go to church every Sunday.  It's one of the reasons I've stopped calling myself a Christian.  I don't want to pretend.  I don't want to be warm.  Jesus said be hot or cold.  But NEVER be lukewarm.  Being cold is better than half assing christianity.  If you believe in the bible, if you believe in the afterlife of heaven and hell, why are you so consumed by the things of this world?  Why do you spend 8-10 hours a day working a job so you can be comfortable?  Are there still people in the world that need Jesus?  If so, what are you waiting for?  Why waste time?  

Is it because you don't really believe?  That you like Christianity because it makes you feel good, but you don't really believe all the other stuff.  That you've created a christianity that fits your mold.  

Again...there are literally, hundreds of books on this topic.  And I've only scratched the surface.  I don't want to argue.  I'm not directly accusing anyone.  I'm just sharing the thoughts of where I'm at, where I've been and where I might be headed.  

I really want to believe in the story of Christianity.  I really do.  Sure is hard to do that when you have people like Donald Trump saying he'll be the best example of christians.  Is he wrong or right?  Hard to tell.   

When I think of Christians, I think of all my friends that have decided to live an uncomfortable life so they can make the lives of those in poor conditions a little more comfortable.  I have to think this is what God wants.  To care for the widow and the orphan.  Or really, to care for those that have a hard time caring for themselves.  Knowing that we all die, perhaps God wants to see how you'll respond to the least of these.  Will it be sacrificing your own comfort for their sake?  Or will it be trying to make yourself more and more comfortable?  I have to believe that it's not easy, but I also have to believe that anyone that does choose that path is glad they did.  

And the reward....if you believe in heaven, heaven.  

Stop Believing It

It's frustrating.  All the different ways we are lied to.  And sometimes we don't even know it's a lie.  And when you believe a lie, you repeat the lie.  Read, fake news.

It's everywhere.  And we all read it and believe it.  Not even the heavy stuff.  It's not even about the news articles that surface about people in power, scandals and all that other stuff.  It's not about bills that are passed or who said this or that.  Although, those are damaging as well.

It's about life.  Believe this, believe that.  Do life this way.  Do life that way.  There is not one special way.

So many people are focused on the short term.  Which is ok, you want to feel good now.  But not a whole lot of people think long term.  How will the decisions I make today effect me 10 years from now?  It's hard to know the answer to that, so many people just choose what makes them feel good now.

There's a quote that's been around for awhile by Maya Angelou, "At the end of day people won't remember what you said or did, they'll remember how you made them feel."

I'm not always good at that.  I never learned how to really build people up.  I learned how to get through each day.  It's hard when you are 34 years old and you need to learn things about life that you should have learned when you were 5.  It's hard when you need to learn these things AND teach your children these things at the same time.

And I know, it's not always about making people feel good.  But it's about keeping the best interests of others and yourself as a top priority.

Creating a Reputation of Dishonesty and Selfishness

Yep.  That's America.   I'm just gonna write some thoughts down here from a "This American Life" podcast I heard yesterday.  I'm sure I have a few details wrong.  But you can listen to it for yourself here.  Episode 607. 

Imagine you are young child, a boy, and you are living in Iraq.  All of the sudden your mom or dad leaves home for 27 days each month to go work the US Army as a translator and information gatherer.  Your mom does so good at her job and gathers more special intel than anyone in the history of the unit.  Your dad goes and fights against ISIS and is killed.  Those that killed him were overheard celebrating that they they killed your dad.  Because he was the husband of your mom.

Your mom was a hero for the US.

And when the US pulls out of Iraq, she becomes an enemy of ISIS.  And she is denied entry to the US.  DENIED ENTRY.  She was a hero and a saved hundreds, if not thousands of American lives.  But because she was falsely accused by an anonymous source that she had ties to isis, this is on her record.  This case was also thrown out in court by an American judge for having insufficient evidence.

While in jail for this false accusation, $20,000 from her living quarters was stolen from her.  She couldn't keep it in a bank, banks weren't safe.  But yet, she still protects her family when she gets out.

She takes you and your siblings to Jordan to live.  If she hadn't, you'd all be dead.  You won't be growing up with an education.  You won't have a good life at all now.  It will be the same old....

All because, despite the letters of recommendation from hundreds of AMERICAN Soldiers, immigration control won't let her in because of that one tiny proven false accusation.  

How do you feel about America?  I'd be upset.  I'd be furious.  My mom laid her life on the line for America and now we are being treated like shit and being denied access to safety.  Because if it wasn't for my mom...America wouldn't have had the success it did.  Many more would have died.

I'd probably end up not giving a shit about America and maybe even want to get back at them.  Anger would grow.  

We used them.  Even if they were never gauranteed anything other than a paycheck, their lives are now at risk because of the help they gave us.  And we left them for dead.  Is that what we do?  Leave people that help us for dead?

I don't believe these are unique stories.  I believe there are hundreds of thousands of stories like this.  Our own fear of welcoming people is most likely the very thing that will create what we are afraid of.

Just thinking out loud.  I know there is always more to every story.  But I feel people like Sarah, the woman in the podcast, deserve a first class ticket with her and her children to America.

What kind of reputation are we leaving?  Do you even know?  I don't.

The Power of the W

I don't know how many times I've heard someone say I have a lot of will power.  Especially when it comes to dieting and losing weight.  Yes, that's the first W power.  I hate that.  I don't have will power.  If I had will power I wouldn't have had to gain and lose 30 pounds on 4 different occasions over the past 10 years.  Will power has nothing to do with it.  Will power comes into play when your back is against the wall and the outcome could be a disaster if you don't do something.  That's Will.  

I have a fair amount of want power.  The power you get when you want to do something.  When you want to accomplish something.  Want power is pretty good to have.  You get stuff done.  Lot's of people have want power.  

But so many people give to much energy to their other W power.  Won't Power.  Won't power isn't necessarily a bad thing.  It's just the power that says you won't do something.  

But there is one more W word that you need if you want to maintain a lasting result or effort for anything you do.  One big takeaway I had from Amway was a phrase, and it's not Amway specific.  "Don't worry about the how.  As long as you know why you are doing something, the how will take care of itself."  That's right....it's your Why power.  This will give you great strength.  If you don't have a big Why, your will, want and won't don't really put their own....weight.  

When you have a solid "why", will, want and won't work really well together.  You know what you want, you know what you don't want, and the why gives life to the will.  

Well.  That's where....totally kidding.  I'm not going to keep coming up with W words.  Word.  

Yes, I do still read the Bible.

"Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don’t see things the way you do. And don’t jump all over them every time they do or say something you don’t agree with—even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently.

For instance, a person who has been around for a while might well be convinced that he can eat anything on the table, while another, with a different background, might assume he should only be a vegetarian and eat accordingly. But since both are guests at Christ’s table, wouldn’t it be terribly rude if they fell to criticizing what the other ate or didn’t eat? God, after all, invited them both to the table. Do you have any business crossing people off the guest list or interfering with God’s welcome? If there are corrections to be made or manners to be learned, God can handle that without your help."    Romans 14

There was an article floating around the internet saying that the Bible says we should be Vegetarian because we are supposed to care for animals or something like that.  In the comment section someone posted this response saying that it doesn't really matter what people eat.

Except...this verse has absolutely nothing to do with food.  And it got me pretty good.  I don't always see eye to eye with much of modern American Christianity.  But technically I guess I have to let God sort all that out.  However, when I see Christians hurting others in the name of Jesus, I most certainly will speak up.  And I see a lot of that happening on social media platforms.

This verse is about putting your theology, education, and understanding of scripture to the side and welcoming a brother/sister to the table.  Do you have the business of crossing people off the guest list or interfering with God's Welcome?   See Passion 2017, Carrie Underwood.  Except that Passion is not God's event.  It is a mans event.  If corrections are to be made, God can handle that without your help.  And yes....I know that applies to me as well.  I trust that God will make it incredibly clear to the American Family Association that it's ok for "sinners" to lead worship.

Beth Moore 

I remember who I used to be.  I changed.  And people like Christian leader Beth Moore tells me that I'm being used by the devil.  Well, maybe she is the one being used by the devil.  How is this for accepting all believers at Christ's table?  What if the TRUTH IS LOVE? What was that number one commandment, Love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself.  And God says, through scripture in Romans 1 that you can love him without ever knowing what  bible is or who Jesus is.

So....yeah.  I guess I'm not much better.  I'll let God sort out Beth Moore.  And instead I'll continue to focus my efforts on healing myself and many others relationships with God and Jesus that have been hurt by christianity.

Eat this, Don't Eat that. And Read your Bible.

Sometimes I get a lot of pushback for talking to much about my keto diet.  Lets start with the definition of diet, the types of foods that a person, animal or community generally eat.  That's the number one definition of diet.  Most people think about slim fast, weight watchers, dry chicken, low fat yogurt, and some type of God knows what shake.  Keto is most definitely not that.

Remember though, I'm not a doctor.  This is just information I've gathered over 6 months of reading about Keto diets and nutrition and listening to over 400 hours of podcasts on the topic.  I still could be wrong though.

Some people say it's crazy to not eat carbs.  I say it's no more crazy the need to take medication so you can continue to eat a diet that is not good for you.  That's what insulin is.  But before I go to far down that rabbit hole, I'll stop.  I'm not saying everyone needs keto.  Lots of people can eat a healthy, balanced diet that works for them to help keep them healthy.  And I'm not talking simply about weight and appearance.  But the health of everything inside your body like organs.

So what does a healthy diet look like if you aren't eating Keto?  For me, when I decided enough was enough I weighed in at over 220 and was making VERY poor food choices basically eating whatever and whenever I wanted I would have to consume 55g of fat a day, 181g of protein, and 193g of carbohydrate. This is a diet to lose weight being lightly active.  This is only a 2000 calorie diet.  I don't think I could actually do that and enjoy the foods and amounts of it that I had to eat to get healthy and lose weight.  How do I know this? I've lost and regained about 75 pounds doing diets this way.  Here is the macro calculator I used for this. 

If you think you are eating fine and healthy, I highly recommend tracking your macronutrients to see how they add up.

I don't go off diet for a cheat meal.
I don't need to.  Not because I'm strict,
but because of the foods you are allowed
to eat on a keto diet are so good. 

Food is hard.  So much of it is so good.  I get it.  Why couldn't I follow a "regular" diet?  I've been addicted and have an unhealthy relationship with food.  And in some cases, I still do.  So don't ever think I'm being preachy or judging.  I'm not.  Me saying "I'm better for doing these things" is NOT the same as me saying "I'm better than you because I do these things".  Never.  I don't think I'm better than anyone else.

So what did I have to eat on Keto?  Here is a good Keto Macro Calculator. This is when I started...200g of fat, 99g of protein and 20g or less of Carbohydrates.  I rarely reached my fat mark and lost 20 pounds the first month of eating this way. I've lost 35 pounds within two months and have been able to maintain that eating what I want, when I want it.  I found what works for me.  Now I'm onto the next phase....losing another twenty pounds.

So...to recap.  It's not about Keto.  It's about eating the right foods AND the proper amounts.  Do it for a few days.  Download an app like My Fitness Pal or Carb Manager and see what the macronutrient amounts are that you are eating.  Track EVERYTHING that has calories.  Don't worry about tracking your exercise as well.  You already adjusted your numbers for your activity level.

I forgot about the bible part.  I'll do that tomorrow.