Maintain fasting: With these tips it works

Lent has returned and many are taking the opportunity to either abstain from food completely for a while or simply to remove some luxury foods such as alcohol, chocolate or even the television from everyday life. Since it can be difficult to hold out, especially during total fasting, Koch-Mit gives tips that help to stay motivated.

FIND ALTERNATIVES
If your stomach grumbles too much and you find it hard to concentrate, a vegetable juice or vegetable broth can often help. However, you should be careful with fruit juice and not drink large quantities at once, because too much fruit sugar on an empty stomach can lead to digestive problems. A light soup made of rice or oats can also help to dispel the feeling of hunger. And if you don't want to eat anything, chewing gum can also help.

FAST TOGETHER
The same applies to fasting: shared suffering is half suffering. Fasting together is easier for many than alone. Because if you have a fasting partner, you can motivate each other and talk about your problems and experiences. Fasting forums can also help you to exchange problems and experiences with like-minded people.

CREATE DISTRACTION
If your thoughts are constantly revolving around food, it is only clear that fasting will become an ordeal in the long run. Therefore, it is important that during the fasting period, through various activities, you keep yourself from thinking about your hunger and thereby getting into doubt. Extensive walks, meeting friends, meditation or sports can help you to persevere, for example. However, if you want to do sports, you should be careful not to overexert yourself. Your body is on the back burner during Lent, so you should choose sports that don't put too much strain on your body. Yin Yoga or Kundalini Yoga, for example, are not too demanding and help you to get in harmony with your body.

TIPS AGAINST RESTLESSNESS
Fasting can lead to restlessness and sleep problems, as the body reacts more sensitively to various stimuli. These phenomena are typical in the fasting crisis. In order to be able to sleep anyway, one should consciously avoid disturbing stimuli such as mobile phone or television in the time before going to bed. It is better to concentrate completely on yourself and your own relaxation. You can do this by meditating or autogenic training, for example, and an evening walk can also promote sleep.

DEFINE GOALS AND RULES
Before you start fasting, you should set goals and define rules to help you not give up prematurely. Therefore, you should ask yourself in advance: What do you want to achieve by fasting? Be it simply that you want to show yourself that you can carry out a project from beginning to end, be it detoxification of the body, mental cleansing or religious reasons. It is best to write down your goal(s) so that you can hold something in your hand and remember it in between. You should also consider how you would like to reward yourself if you continue to fast. This could be, for example, the expensive shoes you have been flirting with for a while, a day at the spa or a delicious cake that you will bake for yourself after the fasting period.

TIPS AGAINST STOMACH PROBLEMS DURING FASTING
Fasting can cause stomach and digestive problems, especially in the initial phase, because the body has to adapt to the new metabolic activities first. You can counteract this with a fennel, aniseed or caraway tea. A hot water bottle on the stomach should help to keep the stomach in check during Lent. A tablespoon of healing clay dissolved in warm water can also relieve stomach pain.

THIS HELPS WITH CIRCULATORY PROBLEMS AND FREEZING
Circulatory problems and the associated chills are also typical symptoms of fasting. A tea made from rosemary, sage or peppermint can usually provide slight relief. In general, you should make sure that you drink enough when fasting. This not only flushes toxins from the body, but also supports the circulation. At the same time, it is important that you take in enough table salt if you have circulatory problems, as this helps against low blood pressure. In the morning, alternating showers and morning exercises can help circulatory problems to start the day more easily.