The benefits of fasting

Over the last few months, I have repeatedly set myself goals to give up certain things. In this article, I'll tell you in more detail how giving up certain things has affected my life and my general well-being.

In the last three months, I have given up various things.

• On alcohol in September
• In October on snacks of any kind
• In November on news (mostly political)

Of course, it is much easier to give up some things than others. For this very reason, I always chose something to fast from that I knew would be a challenge. As a result, I was able to gain some new experiences and learn more about myself. First of all, I will now go into the general and overarching insights, i.e. what fasting has taught me in general. Then I will go into what the individual months have shown me.

General information on the waiver

First of all, the obvious: It can be incredibly hard to give up things that you take for granted in your everyday life. Whether it's the cold beer on a Friday night, the ice cream after dinner or learning more about the current geopolitical situation on the planet. As humans, we are creatures of habit. Once a habit has become established in our lives, it can be difficult to break it again. This is exactly what I found the renunciation of certain things perfect for, because it interrupts our actions based on habits and shows us alternatives to them. In this way, fasting shows us new perspectives that we might not otherwise have discovered.

It can certainly be difficult to break your patterns at first, but with each new month and each new endeavor, I found it easier and easier. You get used to getting out of your comfort zone and trying new things. For example, it can seem strange at first not to drink a beer at a social gathering when everyone else is doing it. But once you have overcome the initial hurdle of temptation, you soon realize that you can do without it. Breaking through our normal patterns of behavior is sometimes all it takes to change our perspective. After all, where would this change come from if we never try anything new?

I particularly noticed the positive changes during these months of fasting after they were over. While I was now able to live my life as before, I noticed more and more that I didn't want to go back to my previous state. After the alcohol-free month, I drank less and after the month without snacks, the small hunger pangs came much less frequently or were conquered by healthy alternatives. None of this would have happened if I hadn't taken the plunge and given things up for a month.

In summary, it can be said that renunciation has the following positive characteristics.

• Breaking behavioral patterns
• Improving self-protection
• Insight into new perspectives
• Increase in general well-being

Specifics about my waivers

September showed me that it's okay to be the only one in a group who doesn't drink. Even though I was reluctant to do this at first, it became a little easier each time. However, I only realized the biggest advantage of this month in retrospect: my tolerance to alcohol was simply much lower, which ensures that I drink significantly less for a long time to come.

October without snacks brought an interesting realization. It was much more difficult for me to give up snacks than it was with alcohol. I often indulged in ice cream, jelly babies or potato chips after a meal. The first week of giving up snacks, I had unimaginable cravings for all kinds of snacks. When this happened, I tried to make do with apples or something similar. These then satisfied me more and more. In the meantime, I would say that my snack level is significantly lower than it was before September.

November has been the easiest for me so far. Of course, it's not always easy to do without news, as there are often conversations that are about nothing else. However, I would like to take this opportunity to praise my circle of friends, who are very considerate of my decision not to text. I can't say anything about the lasting benefits of not messaging yet, but I do have the feeling that my general state of mind is a little lighter and more relaxed.

Concluding words

Even if it can seem a little intimidating at first to change your life for the better, I recommend it to everyone. Of course, you can start with something easier and then venture into bigger endeavors over time, but not trying at all is a big mistake in my opinion. After all, it is up to us to become the person we want to be.