::knock knock::

"Hey! You said you had some wellness numbers you wanted to show me," I said to A on Monday around lunchtime.

"Oh you're so good to remember!" she said.

A had stopped me in the parking lot Thursday afternoon after she returned from our annual conference. She had been to the wellness booth where they drew an unbelievable amount of blood to test cholesterol, glucose, A1C, etc. She couldn't remember exactly the name of the test she wanted to talk to me about but knew it was something like hemoglobin.

"I'll bring the paperwork on Monday and we can discuss it," she said as she got into her car.

I had forgotten, actually, that we were going to talk about it. I'm not sure what triggered the memory; maybe it was because I was walking across the parking lot.

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OK, none of us (that I know of) lives in a stereotypical shtetl, the small, insulated Jewish neighborhoods of Eastern Europe. Not all of us are Jewish, and not all of us can fast -- Yom Kippur, Ramadan, Good Friday, or other religious reasons notwithstanding.

Religious fasting has a couple of different stated purposes, including celebration, mourning, sacrifice, intense introspection, and attempts to "reach a higher plane of consciousness" or to "come closer to [the Deity]". The intended results of the fast may be a feeling of privation or a feeling of exultation, and a focus on improving the spiritual self. In any case, approaching the fast without preparation can make it much more difficult to endure, both in terms of subjective feeling and objective physical health.

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I wrote recently about my first fast. I loved the experience and I hope you decide to look into it for yourself to see if it’s something you’re interested in doing. But now that a few days have past, and I’m back to eating, “normal” again, I wanted to let everyone know how things are going.

Since the fast I have had a few highs, some mild depression (psychological, as well as physiological), but overall some WONDERFUL blood sugars!

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I just finished a fast a few days ago. It was one of the single most awesome things that I have ever done. I’ve been reading a very interesting book lately – it talks in length about many things in life – but one thing that I really wanted to try was a fast.

After I started reading this book, and I began to learn a lot about fasting, I decided to do a bit more research for myself online and by asking friends. I got a lot of mixed reviews. Some people were very anti-fast and some people raved about it. So I dug a little deeper and decided this was something that was going to be a very PERSONAL EXPERIENCE and I figured I would try it out for myself (just like you should do if your ever curious about something).

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Leo Reynolds

Eat dinner no later than five pm and fast until seven am. Perform five blood sugar checks throughout the night. Fast until twelve pm, six pm or ten pm. Check your blood sugar every two hours. Does this sound familiar?

You guessed it. Basal tests. My least favorite thing about the pump.

I hate having to eat at a required time (and worrying about what I eat to make sure there isn't a huge delay). I hate having to check my blood sugar every two hours. I find it a little frightening to fast for that many hours at a time. Plus, I just hate fasting (I like to eat when I'm hungry). (READ MORE)

In anticipation of my end of the month endo appointment, I have to go for fasting blood work this week. I'm dreading it. To me, this one of the most inconvenient things in the world for several reasons.

First off, it has taken years for me to get into the habit of eating breakfast. Now that I'm a regular at the breakfast table, I'm completely hooked on the most important meal of the day. I can't leave home without it.

Second, I don't think its safe for me to drive on an empty stomach. It's kind of like not drinking liquor on an empty stomach. It's just a bad idea. I'm low, I'm shakey, I can't see straight. I'm liable to curse at anyone who crosses my path, even if they do have the right of way. Granted, the doctors office is down the hill and around the bend, literally 3 minutes away. But still, I'm not fond of driving before eating. (READ MORE)