EmbraceTypos

Returning to Discipline, Healing My Hip, and Rebuilding the Spiritual Practice I Lost

Last night, Saturday, November 15th, around 5:40 PM, I closed my eating window. I felt annoyed and aggravated as I wrestled with the thought of not eating for the next 36-40 hours. 

This marks week 1 of 12 weeks of fasting every Sunday. You might be curious as to why I would do this to myself.

Why am I fasting, and what does it give me? You may guess weight loss, sure, that part of it, but it’s not the whole story. 

In 2019, the year I left the US, I tried my first water fast. I had no clue what I was doing, and managed to fast for 10 days in my apartment in NYC. I was cooped up trying to track how many times I urinated and how much water I drank, but for the most part, it was a struggle, somewhat like a jail sentence. I remember sitting in this big brown seat in the corner of my bedroom, and writing down on a sheet of paper each time I finished the water in my mason jar. At the time, it was purely for weight loss and to reduce inflammation in my hip that had been bothering me since gaining a ton of weight after the death of my father.  

I took away a few things from my first 10-day water fast:

1) I am an extreme individual- I could have tried fasting for 1 day, but instead did 10 on my first attempt. Typical me. 

2) I didn’t die- The fear of not eating is real, but you only know the power of the human body when you live an entire day without food! It’s a fascinating feeling. 

3) My fear vanished. I usually deal with fear by planning and taking accountability for as much as I can. This is usually a great practice, but when my fear is running high, this process can become a bit obsessive, and I lose the plot. This fast removed the need to be obsessive and led me to feel more centered. 

That first 10-day fast was more than dropping pounds and helping the pain in my hip, it was the beginning of a spiritual practice. 

I was teaching Science at the time in a Middle school in Brooklyn, NY, and I completed that fast during spring break. Fast forward 3 months, and I booked a 26-day water fast at a fasting retreat named Tanglewood in Costa Rica. I wanted to challenge myself to see how profound the transformation could be both physically and spiritually.  I’d love to unpack more about how incredible that experience was, but to keep a long story short, the fear of chasing my dreams was utterly gone. I’d not only completed a 100-pound weight-loss journey (108 lbs total), but I fasted away the fear that my life wouldn’t be filled with making my dreams come true. The first order of business was leaving the country.  

I packed my bags, sold my car and all my belongings, bought a 1 way ticket to Thailand, and left the US for the next 6 years. 

I returned to the US in 2025 and moved to Tulsa, OK. I was craving the stability of living in one place after visiting 25+ countries and living in over 12 during that 6-year stint. I wanted to build a home base in a quiet, affordable place where I could easily come and go. I’m not quite sure if Tulsa is that place yet, I’m still figuring it out, but during all the stress of ending the lease to my apartment in Mexico City, leaving South Africa after a 6 month visit, and closing down my storage unit in London, I’ve lost touch with my fasting practice I’d built over the past few years. 

Weekly 40-hour water fasts, quarterly 3-5-day fasts, and daily intermittent fasting were deeply a part of my practice over the last 6 years. 

Since returning to the US, I put back on some of that unwanted weight & am out of alignment with some of my routines. The good news is that I picked up cycling as a new hobby in July, and I love it! 

So yeah, to answer why I am signing myself up for these weekly water fasts. It’s primarily because: 

The new year is coming, the holidays are coming, and I don’t want to get caught slipping! 

My hip pain has limited my mobility, and if my mobility is limited, it hampers my ability to explore. I want to drop some body fat and lean out a bit. But mostly, I want my discipline and spiritual practice back. I want to improve as a cyclist, and being lean and mobile will help with long rides. 

So yeah, this is week 1, and I am writing this at 12:21 PM on November 16th!

I hope that by week 12, on February 1st, my discipline has improved, my fear and need to control have subsided, and I have lost a good amount of body fat. I plan to meal prep and be active 5-6 days per week with short, slow bike rides. I also plan to pick up my physical therapy workouts 2-3 times per week, drink over a gallon of water a day, and get quality sleep! A full reset.

Let’s see how it goes!

hope you enjoyed reading this and eMbracE tYpos…