What's the diff twixt "dieting" and "fasting" in the religious sense? That's a "thumb on the scales" question, as already tilted towards the "religious" meaning of fasting, whereas plenty of dieters fast to tone up and lose weight.
That being buff can't likewise be a religious undertaking was dispelled in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Many religions have preached this same dogma in so many words: to fight the devil, you need your physical health, literally. Work it from either end. Strong body ⋈ strong mind.
So, on the advisory side: don't feed into the melodrama, as dieting (fasting etc.) especially is characterized by mania and depression in successive bouts, as one loses but then gains it all back, Apollo versus Dionysus or something along those lines (to get Greek about it).
In practical terms, what this means is you don't have to forswear this or that forever more. Think like a scientist, not a moralist. You're interested to see what Guinea Pig [your initials] does when deprived of milk, not for forever, but for the purposes of this experiment.
You're exploring the plasticity of the homunculus, the avatar, with some degree of medical aloofness, not because you hate yourself, but because you find yourself plenty interesting as is (your own "self" is the one you get to treat as yours).
I bring up milk for a reason. The documentary Got the Facts on Milk? took an interesting look, one might say anthropological, at an ecosystem's efforts to economize. If you're planning on eating lots of steak, figure out how to use other bovine features as well. If you're not lactose intolerant, enjoy this land of milk and honey. Lots of BBQ. Lots of good bye rainforests.
That was me growing up, the milk chugger, because our moms well knew that milk built strong bones and teeth and we'd likely need those to get ahead in the world. These were old wives tales says the movie, to be blunt about it. I'm happy for lobbyists to debate the relevant science, but in some other column. Milk is just and example food here, one I can well relate to, so as the storyteller, I exercise my prerogatives.
Play on our love of dairy, with milk not just an ingredient, but a beverage we'll wanna chug, over soda even. I found the therapy (by which I mean this fun movie) effective in a way I hadn't expected: I lost my craving for milk as a beverage, even on cereal. Some months or years later, I picked up on Soylent and went through many boxes of the stuff. I doubt I'd have gone through that Soylent phase without first relinquishing milk in a previous one.
It's like the milk lover in me gave up without a fight and went off to haunt another being. For a window at least, I was free even of the temptation, which is saying a lot, as it's usually around "fighting temptation" that all the melodrama occurs. The hankering just went away. The movie was like a drug trip in that way, setting me back on my feet a different person in some ways. I'd been abducted. Lucky me.
Then I went back to milk later, plus I'd never given up on diary as a genre. I'm not saying my doctor was super impressed by any of this.
But then, fast forward, and I'm back to dropping milk while cutting back on dairy. Exploring plasticity. Experimenting for a next role, having been the corpulent batman (have you seen the meme? Fat batman eyeing baked goods -- hilarious).
First step: don't stock it; stop buying it (whatever the it is that you're giving up). But then be polite and remember your guests: be a good extrovert and remember cream, or half-and-half (which you won't use anyway -- talking to myself here -- as you're a black coffee kinda guy). As an American I have an advantage over my British counterparts: I'm don't practice a daily tea ritual, complete with scones, a place where milk-the-beverage frequently enters the ceremony, irrespective of scones.
I have some rum for my guests as well, some Bacardi. This bottle is left over from my drinking days. I'm still doing the 0.5% beers, down from above 5% average a few years ago. Oregon is a destination state if you like IPA and Pinot (Noir or Gris). Sticking to non-alcoholic beers constitutes "quitting" in my book.
But it's milk we were talking about.
I'm not swearing off it forever. I still have some breakfast cereals. But I'm not cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs or buying into the milk subculture, just for the time being. A kind of fasting. That doesn't mean I'm off pizza (I had some yesterday with a retired lawyer, at a swanky pizza place downtown).
Most dieticians would say what I'm doing is medically immaterial but for me it's about balance. When it comes to balance, we each deal with our own set of weighted axes.
That's my last piece of advice for this column: recognize the reality of different body types.
I'm not saying don't strive to leap into another category if you sense you must. Destiny calls.
Stamina is required to reshape.
But learn to take some satisfaction in where you're at as a destination, not just a passing phase. All we have are passing phases, from birth to grave, as time marches by.
So why be too impatient about moving on to a next life or incarnation?
Fully be the character you've become, even as you realize such complete acceptance tends to catalyze a next overhaul (R&R leads to makeovers). Today is the last day of you as you've known you so far.
