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I have always wanted to see if I could fast for an extended time.  This year after some 1 day and some 5 day fasts over previous years,  I undertook to fast for as long as I could, one day at a time up to 28 days.  I started in the evening of March 9th and hoped to continue until late evening on April 5th, 28 days. Having started fasting I wondered if I might use it as an opportunity to raise funds for hunger in the world - since this is a choice for me and not my daily reality and that decision definitely has helped me to keep going on the difficult days. I used information from Dr Jason Fung who explains very carefully how to fast without doing harm.  I found that I needed to have two cherry tomatoes with some salt as 'snacks' many days.  

I also made a drink suggested by The Master Cleanser from lemon juice, cayenne pepper and a little Maple Syrup - again for needed minerals.  This became my 'starter' to help me keep to a routine of nourishment.

Following Dr Fung's ideas I made two other drinks that were delicious and nurturing and gave me a focus for Breakfast time, lunch and dinner instead of eating.  I made plain bone broth, which became my 'main' to keep up the needed minerals and something Dr Fung calls Keto Coffee which I took as a 'desert'. I made it with decaffeinated coffee as I already had enough adrenaline floating about in the early days (it settled later) and was very delicious and creamy and punctuated my days. Unfortunately though both systems said to use their drinks ad lib I thought that would be cheating and I paid for that idea three times by needing help to raise my sodium levels twice and my calcium levels once - which was unpleasant.  However, most of the time, I had great energy and felt very clear and 'light' and flexible and I have lost some weight which has absolutely delighted me.  Two days ago I added in a vegetable juice. This was a very quick transit and I had to stay at home. Instead of increasing to two vegetable juices on Tuesday I took one in the morning and a half of a small avocado instead of a second juice in the afternoon. I am very, very happy to have arrived at April 5th. Today I ate three times, I ate very sparingly.  I had a vegetable juice this morning and no gurgling afterwards, with a poached egg which was my first protein since I began.  It tasted amazing. I had a little soft brown rice and some mung dahl with warming spices to encourage the digestion in the afternoon and a little clear soup this evening - because I thought I was finishing tomorrow, April 6th. And tomorrow I will try my luck with medium portions.

I have thought a lot about going without all the while.  Adults can cope with famine here and there but children really cannot.  They must be nourished to grow and develop.    

 I have chosen SCIAF because it is a Scottish charity and there is a local group at our Church (SCIAF is similar in action to Oxfam) and asked for the funds to go to their East Africa Appeal: South Sudan, The Yemen, Ethiopia.  Your donation will be gratefully recieved by me and deeply appreciated by those it helps.  People you will never know will be out there thinking kindly of us all and that is a blessing. Thank you for reading.