First, let me admit that as a faster I am somewhat of a failure.
Day One I had some soup (most of the ingredients in the soup were on the list of approved vegetables, but still. I also had some decidely unhealthy crackers).
Day Two Middlebrow, after doing some back-breaking work in the garden, proclaimed, "Let's go to the Pub!" followed quickly by "Am I a bad person?" So I ate some soup, then we went to the pub where I consumed 1 pint of UPA and a roasted veggie salad (sans cheese).
Day Three my fellow fasting friend called me (from the Pub) and said, "Come on down!" There I was treated to a few glasses of UPA by two retired (or semi-retired?) mathematicians. I ate some chips and salsa and watched The Race. We had a good discussion about whether the TV series "Numbers" realistically portrayed math in a way that did not mis-represent math theory etc. The math dudes said the show was good. Hooray! Math can be sexy!
Day Four (today) I kept up my juice breakfast and veggie lunch (today, chard! delish!) and then indulged in veggies, bread, humus, brownies! and wine! during book club. We even actually discussed the books, which got mostly positive reviews: Eyeshot by Heather McHugh and Loving Che by Ana Menendez.
Last night I chided Middlebrow for what I took to be a gluttonous response to my Puritanical fast. In order to prove to me that he is not, in fact, "Fat" (his word) he took off his shirt. At the time, I believe we were between episodes of "The Sopranos." Now, of course Middlebrow is not fat. But does that give him the right to eat enough for two during my fast? Anyway, I agreed that he is not, in fact, "fat" and in order to prove his fitness, he began to jump up and down, promptly hitting his head on our basement ceiling and falling to the floor in a fit of laughter.
The upshot is, however, that today Middlebrow went out and bought some running shoes and, upon returning home, went out for a quick run. Then he went to Fiddler's Elbow for four hours, so I'm not quite sure that Self-Control won this round. Let's call it a draw.
4 comments:
Yes, it's clear that fasting is best done in a monastic environment--aka, w/o pubs, pints, book clubs, or beer-swilling, sausage-and-taco-eating (I read his blog) spouses.
Plus, don't you think a five-day fast is too damn long?
I for one am impressed. I think if you're going to fast, you should be able to have a normal life too--ala going to the Pub for beer. I can imagine a fast that included only liquids--therefore, beer and wine and soup would all be OK. Of course, I'd end up pureeing brownies or apple pie and sipping those from a straw.
Still, it sounds like much self-control was applied. And whatever pastries were eaten were my fault entirely.....
I like the term "glutonous reponse." Middlebrow seems to have translated "gluttony" into the state of being fat. Now I will admit that one tends to lead to the other, but one can be glutonous without being obese, don't you think. Perhaps it is gluttony in moderation. How very Aristotelean that is.
As a witness to (and participant in) the aforementioned "Fiddler's" event, I would like to report that we shared a light salad, then did sprints around the restaurant.
I'd like to report this. Of course, I can't.
I can say that there was some very good discussion about the nature of copyright and some moderately enthusiastic high-fiving when an amazing basketball play unfolded.
This does count as burning calories.
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