These days fasting is often framed as wellness and lifestyle choices. Although there are nuances, when you are poor, fasting is a survival.
Can you tell a poor person who is hungry that fasting is good for them and they’ll live longer because they have undergone autophagy and their cells are being repaired?
Because that’s what I found on YouTube, people go on fast with their variations. Some do it for 3,20 and even 30 days, no food and just water. Some swear by it because it cures their cancer and helps them lose weight. While agree with all of it, fasting is good but when you put your shoes in a person without money and inability to buy any food, that shifts the narrative.
You can’t just tell them that their hunger is the result of their brain chemical and their biology. Or maybe you could.
I never try, but try to debate a hungry homeless if you dare to and talk about all the good things fasting do for our body.
As glamorous as my new job can be, there is a dark side to it all. I started this job with huge amount of debt. My bank accounts are negative, and I don’t even know how to keep lights on my home, eat, or even feed my cats.
In that desperation, I got this job and I didn’t really know what I was signing up for. While in my new job everything is covered but there is a buffer time when your operational fund has not been transferred. There is also time difference between where I am stationed and the main office. For someone with such financial status, having this buffer time is hell.
Most of the people I work with aren’t as poor as I did, they still have buffer money or rich parents to call when they need something. I also learned that you should never start this type of job unless you have some buffer or you’ll have to suffer a bit.
Through my recent suffering, I remembered days when I didn’t have the ability to eat. I didn’t have the guts to reach out to anyone when I was young. Even now, I still do. So, I was often fasting days on end. It was my way of survival. Recently that’s what I did except, these days I learned that fasting or not eating anything is packaged as wellness choice.
It made me remember times when I could afford all food I wanted to eat. I fasted because it was an option I could do and not out of survival. The narrative changed because I know that food is available and is there. It was an option. Doing it to be honest, I felt like I was better than thou, but I forgot about the dark reality of what’s happening around me and us. I forgot that I experienced what suffering was like.
During my college days too, I felt like life was hell, I wasn’t framing my hungriness, as something that would be good for me. I wasn’t framing that experience as those people in NY or parts of the more developed countries that fasting is great to cure inflammation, removes brain fog, and helps us have more energy.
So, was it my fault to feel like life is hell because I couldn’t afford food? Based on the narrative that’s around it seemed like it was.
It made me think about places where there’s war and there’s little to no food. Should they also think that they’ll be fine and eventually have more energy because that’s what fasting did for people that have choices. That fasting will make them smarter and remove their brain fog.
When I had to go without food for a few days recently, I panicked at first. But then I learned, I could just frame it as intermittent fasting or water fast, as self-help guru advocates these days. Somehow, I felt better about it all and I just go on about my days like nothing happened.
Maybe life is just about how we frame our experiences, but what do I know?
 | 𝘊𝘦𝘮𝘺 (𝘰𝘳 𝘔𝘢𝘤) 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝖼𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗏𝖾 𝗀𝖾𝗇𝖾𝗋𝖺𝗅𝗂𝗌𝗍 & 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘳, 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵, 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩. 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺, 𝘱𝘰𝘱 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘺; 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘱𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘏𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘣 𝘢 𝘤𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘴. |
I've fasted many times, for physical health and "spiritual" reasons, once for as long as 40 days.
One of the benefits is that I don't have any fear of hunger if I were not to have enough resources to buy food.
I have not found the courage to fast for quite a long time though.
As to discussing fasting with someone who has no food, idk. I guess it would depend on each case & the feeling I get.
Sat Nam
That's so true! I fear none of it anymore though it takes time to get used to but once I am reminded that fasting brings a lot of benefits both physically and spiritually, I am actually pretty fine with it.
For me, I quite like it too because when I work and have so many things to do, I prefer not to eat to keep my mind clear. These days, I have quite a bit to do so it takes my mind off from food or to eat. It made me learn that we actually need very little to survive and for sustenance.
Another thing that fascinates me is that perhaps it is basically our fear to be stripped of important resources, in this case food which in my case translates as security.
May be irrelevant but myself is obese for now and fasting certainly help me to get back to where I used to be, slowly but for sure!
How brave you are to face the reality of working in an environment that is harmful to poor people, haha, actually your bravery comes from the frankness of your words in this post.
I really admire people who can control their mood when they are hungry, who can manage their emotions.
This intermittent fasting trend that I see on social media seems like a mockery of poor people to me. I also know poor people who do it to justify their poverty and because they are ashamed to be honest about their reality.
I have fasted twice, the first time for three days, then I tried again for five days. During that time, I rested and didn't leave the house, didn't do any work, just lay down because it was a decision. Now, if it had been a choice, I would have had a very hard time.
I once read that a 13-day fast cures glaucoma. Sometimes I am tempted to try it to heal myself, but I lack the willpower and courage.
Thank you very much for your post. You are strong.
P.S. At some point, I stopped following you. It was a mistake. wonder I didn't see you in my feed. @macchiata 🤗
This really hit. The way fasting gets romanticized as discipline or wellness completely ignores the difference between choice and necessity. Hunger born from poverty isn’t a lifestyle experiment, it’s fear, anxiety, and survival. Framing it as “autophagy” or “mental clarity” feels almost cruel when the alternative doesn’t exist.
I actually do appreciate how honestly you talk about reframing just to cope, it’s wht most of us do. That line between mindset and material reality is thin, and sometimes reframing is the only thing that just keeps us going. But it doesn’t erase the injustice of the situation. Thanks for naming something most of us experience but rarely say out loud.
I remember that I did fasting for over three months before, where I didn’t eat for 16 hours straight. It wasn’t effective for me because I experienced bowel problems three times. The worst experience was when I had back-to-back fevers for three straight days, plus bowel problems. You know that feeling when you feel better after taking paracetamol, then the fever comes back again. I felt like I was in hell for three days, no fluff.
After I returned to eating normally, I was glad it didn’t last longer. I still diet, but more on calorie deficit. I get your point that some people do fasting because of their financial situation. When I was younger, I remember hearing on the radio about a sender saying he just slept to bypass hunger. He wasn’t doing it for dieting, but because he was poor.
I guess fasting is okay for many people but may not be suitable for everyone.
That's the state of the world, eh? Rich people starvin themselves to look great, poor people starving themselves and not giving a shit if they look great, they just want to survive! It's bizarre. A redistrubition of wealth is sorely needed.
Right? It's a bizarre world we're living in. I wonder if anyone dares to do a study comparison of intermittent fasting between regular person and homeless person, that would be interesting to see😅
I don't think it's be very pc!!! Imagine being homeless and being part of an unpaid study. Because if it was paid, you'd just go buy breakfast, and it'd be over!
hahahahahaa that's so true :D maybe that's why nobody talk about that bias or even look at it from that lens.
It's like when your kid says he is hungry here, we say: 'you don't even know the meaning of the word hungry!'
This is raw and honest. People often talk about the “glamour” of new opportunities but ignore the anxiety that comes with starting from zero.