Should I do a fast for healing myself?

[Meat_Juice]

I am 20 years old. I am 5 foot 6 inches and weigh 139 to 141 pounds. I know that I will lose weight during fasting, but how much will I lose in the first week? I don't want to be under 120 pounds, because I will be underweight and will eventually become anorexic.

I don't have that much muscle on my arms and legs as most adult guys do.

I am scared of doing this but all I want is my skin to be healed up from years of damage :(

[adobegirl]

I am on day 10 of the master cleanse (last day for me). I lost a total of...2 pounds, lol. I know a lot of people seem to lose a lot on it, but I didn't. But I think mine was because I have too much family drama going on right now.

I think the best reason to do a fast though is to get healthy and to find balance, not to lose weight. IMO, the weight should be secondary (though I do wish I had lost more, lol). So I'd say go for it. It will definitely be healing for your body and your skin. Unless you already have an eating disorder or issues that will lead to it, I can't imagine fasting will give you one. Good luck with what you decide.

[MysticTree]

don't worry you won't lose enough to go under your limit in one week and you won't become anorexic in one week either. You can use a fast to kick start your raw vegan lifestyle or start with raw and move to fasting when you have started the healing process with the raw foods.

You don't sound as though you need to lose weight in any case. I think I would recommend starting with a raw vegan diet and see where that leads you.

You have an unfortunate user name for a raw vegan forum. Not sure if you can change that but it seems an odd one to have chosen if you are really interested in a raw vegan lifestyle.

[Meat_Juice]

What if I wanted to cure candida? I tried using hydrogen peroxide and it helped a little, but it didn't completely eliminate them and they flourished again quickly.

Can fasting be done to heal candida?

[MysticTree]

the popular idea is to do a coconut oil treatment.

It would be nice if you had the remotest interest in what this forum is about.

[siennagray]

Meat Juice, for the time being, I am going to give you the benefit of my doubt here, and assume that you are approaching this honestly, if awkwardly (starting multiple threads, not reviewing existing threads).

If you are scared to fast, do not fast. A good outcome from fasting is possible for almost anyone, but the most important factor is a calm and confident mental state. This can generally be achieved by doing a lot of research on the matter. I suggest starting with this thread (http://rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=62026)in the fasting "stickies". I also recommend reviewing several of the monthly fasting threads - good information in addition to personal experience is shared there.

No one can tell you how much weight you will lose fasting. This is not something that is consistent, and there are many ways to fast. In general, the amount of weight lost will be in proportion to what your body needs to be rid of. People close to an appropriate weight do not experience much weight fluctuation. Some under-weight people gain weight.

It sounds like you don't understand what anorexia is. Anorexia is not a physical condition (being underweight). Being severely underweight is a physical manifestation of the mental state of being anorexic. To my understanding, someone who is anorexic generally *is obsessed with the concept of losing weight *withholds eating for the sole purpose of losing weight *has a misguided body image in which they do not view their own body the way the rest of the world does. You may be interested in reading more about anorexia here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anorexia_nervosa).

Fasting for health reasons does not make someone anorexic.

As has been mentioned in your threads, you should be able to achieve what you want through a raw vegan diet. Fasting should not be necessary. This is a raw vegan forum, so if you look around at existing threads, there is tons of information to assist you in that regard. There are various existing threads about skin care and healing as well.

You don't mention here specifically what "skin damage" you have, but as someone mentioned on another thread, if it is an acne situation, you may be interested in this before and after (http://rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=59023), in which PixelLed shows how her acne was healed with raw foods.

Again, with candida/yeast, please search the forum. This is a common topic, and there is tons of information out there. Yes, fasting can be done to combat candida.

[Meat_Juice]

Meat Juice, for the time being, I am going to give you the benefit of my doubt here, and assume that you are approaching this honestly, if awkwardly (starting multiple threads, not reviewing existing threads).

If you are scared to fast, do not fast. A good outcome from fasting is possible for almost anyone, but the most important factor is a calm and confident mental state. This can generally be achieved by doing a lot of research on the matter. I suggest starting with this thread (http://rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=62026)in the fasting "stickies". I also recommend reviewing several of the monthly fasting threads - good information in addition to personal experience is shared there.

No one can tell you how much weight you will lose fasting. This is not something that is consistent, and there are many ways to fast. In general, the amount of weight lost will be in proportion to what your body needs to be rid of. People close to an appropriate weight do not experience much weight fluctuation. Some under-weight people gain weight.

It sounds like you don't understand what anorexia is. Anorexia is not a physical condition (being underweight). Being severely underweight is a physical manifestation of the mental state of being anorexic. To my understanding, someone who is anorexic generally *is obsessed with the concept of losing weight *withholds eating for the sole purpose of losing weight *has a misguided body image in which they do not view their own body the way the rest of the world does. You may be interested in reading more about anorexia here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anorexia_nervosa).

Fasting for health reasons does not make someone anorexic.

As has been mentioned in your threads, you should be able to achieve what you want through a raw vegan diet. Fasting should not be necessary. This is a raw vegan forum, so if you look around at existing threads, there is tons of information to assist you in that regard. There are various existing threads about skin care and healing as well.

You don't mention here specifically what "skin damage" you have, but as someone mentioned on another thread, if it is an acne situation, you may be interested in this before and after (http://rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=59023), in which PixelLed shows how her acne was healed with raw foods.

Again, with candida/yeast, please search the forum. This is a common topic, and there is tons of information out there. Yes, fasting can be done to combat candida.

Yeah but after fasting for awhile, your body rejects food doesn't it? I heard that breaking the fast is the hardest and most dangerous part to do, especially when you have a low bmr after fasting, and that's what I am scared of. I also heard that you can also cause eating disorders by fasting.

Would lemon juice be fine for breaking the fast?

[siennagray]

During an extended fast, your digestive system is shut down. So eating solid food before it's up and running again- especially large amounts, or non-vegan items -can be very dangerous.

This is part of the reason the calm and confident mindset is so important. People who freak out and eat something before their body is ready can hurt themselves. Most people who are fasting will have people in their lives who think fasting is dangerous and try to get them to eat. Some people fall prey to the pressures of being surrounded by other people who are eating. Some people feel physical or psychological hunger more than others. You need to be prepared to handle these obstacles.

Juice is a good way to wake up your digestive system. (Orange juice is generally recommended after the Master Cleanse.) The amount of time you take to work up from diluted fresh juices to solid food depends on the length of time of your fast.