Getting Serious About Fasting...

by V.
(Tampa)

I am so tired of negative uneducated people in my life! Before I start on that let me just say this is going to be my 4th attempt at doing a 25-40 day fast.

I say 25-40, because I want to listen and respond to my body so if I must break early I will. I have done lots of research since my 2nd fast. The first time I did it for 3 days and everything went fine.

The 2nd time I decided to go 15 days and made it 7, however on the 8th day when I did eat, that "starvation mode" kicked in and I ended up eating like crazy.

I was even crying while eating. I never did much research on how to properly break a fast or prepare yourself mentally for it. Needless to say I gained 10 lbs more than my starting weight in just 2 weeks.

This last time I tried to fast quite a few very stressful things happened on my 2nd day and I ended up eating. My life is so crappy right now. I am unemployed with no real future sight of finding a job soon.

Since I lost my job last year I have gained about 40 lbs. I feel horrible, I was already very overweight to begin with, I am in my mid 20s and in horrible shape, not just weight wise but also health wise.

I have a 3 y/o son I am trying to keep up with, he wears me out daily. I am now suffering from depression, especially since I know my unemployment benefits will run out soon, and even though I'm searching hard to find a job, an interview will be tough because none of my clothes fit!

I know people aren't suppose to discriminate against you when they interview you, but I know for a fact if you are overweight people immediately think you're lazy and won't work hard.

So now I feel like the clothes not fitting in my first problem going to an interview, but being so overweight is a whole other issue actually trying to get the job.

Basically, by the beginning of next week I am going to start my fast and try really hard to stick to it. I have this one horribly negative friend who is much older than me and therefore thinks they have seen it all and know it all. No offense to older people, this person is very uneducated and slept around a lot, I don't consider knowledge.

They are constantly putting me down, saying I will never lose this weight, and if they find out I'm fasting I am, "going about it the wrong way, that won't work." I'm just sick of it. The sad part is since I've become depressed I can't really STOP talking to this person.

I don't need them in my life and I know that, but I only have one other friend who is constantly working and I don't get to see or talk to them much at all anymore.

I know this fasting process will do so much wonders for me, not only helping me lose weight and gain confidence, but also help me get over my current state of depression, make my headaches go away, help me concentrate and focus better, also maybe help with my carpal tunnel issues. This is the first time I am posting on a forum, I guess I am seeking some support from somewhere.

Even my family thinks I am crazy and trying to "starve" myself thin. That isn't even the half of it. I really am having issues with focus and memory. AND I get migraines EVERY DAY! Horrible ones at that.

It's been slowly getting worse in the last month. So I am making my statement now that I am going to start with my pre-fast diet and next week I will start my fast again.

I know this sounds like a big fat rant, but I just needed to find an outlet and I really want to find people who support my decision and have experience doing it. I am one of those people who doesn't like to prove other people wrong, I'd rather do things for myself.

So if someone says to me, "you can't do it" and being that I am already down on myself severely and have a major lack of confidence I get upset and frustrated and break down, which results in them being right.