"Something amazing happened today."
21/7/2000 dennis woojun yang(age30 male) (dennis@alum.mit.edu)
Nationality: Korean-American
Job: Internet Entrepreneur
Fasting purpose:
It was more of a Christian fasting for cleansing the soul
rather than fasting for health reasons
Fasting period 10 day
6/1/2000 - 6/10/2000
This is his E-mail message
"Hello,
Sorry that I haven't sent the journal that I kept while fasting a while back
as I promised despite all the hellp you kindly provided to me. Although
it's not an excuse, I have been swamped with work all this time. I have
been meaning to translate the journal before I send it off, but haven't been
around to it yet. Attached is the English version of the journal. I hope
that it can be of some help to someone. I will try to send you a translated
version some time.
Regards,
Dennis Woojun Yang"
Follow is his fasting record
"6/1/2000
Had a hunger headache. Could do all the activities that I normally do. It’s a
blessing that I am given this period all to myself. It would have not been
easy to go on a fast if I were employed at a normal company. I give thanks
to God.
6/2/2000
The hunger headache was worse today. I wonder when it’s going to go
away. I lifted some weights with a slight fear that I would lose too much
muscle during the fasting period. I did back and biceps exercises today with
a couple of light sets of squats. I didn’t lose any strength on my back and
biceps, but since I was afraid of getting dizzy with heavy weights on my
traps, I only squatted with two 45 pounds on the Olympic bar.
6/3/2000
I was definitely physically tired today. I walked for about 2 hours or so on the
beach. Since it was really sunny, I took my shirt off to soak in the rays. I felt
fine during the walk, but the headache was persisting. Since I didn’t feel like
working, I spent the most of the day reading.
One annoying thing that started happening to my body is that my feet feel
cold. It takes a while for them to warm up when I go to bed. I wore socks to
warm them up.
6/4/2000
Something amazing happened today. I noticed yesterday that things far
away across the bay outside my balcony looked sharper, but I just thought
that it was because the weather was nice. Now I know that it was because
my eyesight improved. I keep a pair of sunglasses in my car, and I wore
them when I was driving to church today. Since the prescription on those
glasses were old, they are one notch weaker than what I usually wear, making
it difficult to read street signs. Today, however, I could actually make out the
street signs with the old pair on. It was quite amazing.
I took a nap after coming from church, as I felt more tired than usual. I found
it hard to begin to read books, as it was quite difficult to start concentrating
on something. However, once I got into it, keep reading was normal. I did
some back and biceps exercises again, and amazingly enough, I broke my
personal records on chin-ups and incline dumbbell curls. The reason that I
have not been doing any pushing type of exercises is that my left elbow
hurts. I am sure it will heal itself pretty soon, as it’s not really injured.
One more thing that needs to be noted is that the hunger significantly
subsided and the headache became very dull.
And, still one more thing to note is that water is starting to taste great. It’s
almost as if someone put a bit of sugar in it. I guess my taste buds are
resetting themselves.
6/5/2000
I weighed myself today, and have lost about 8 pounds: from 204 to 196lbs. I
don’t notice much loss in the muscle tone. If anything, I can see my
abdominal muscles better than before. I plan to lift weights, albeit lightly, for
the duration of the fasting.
I have been doing stretching exercises from day one, and the progress I have
been making is astounding. Since I studied Kung Fu when I was little, I was
once used to doing full splits, etc., but as I aged and became serious about
bodybuilding, I have lost a significant amount of flexibility in my legs.
Although I can’t do a split yet, I can touch the floor with my palms easily,
and I can even go beyond that. My stomach almost touches my upper thighs
when I bend over now. Not bad for a very built guy who stands 5’6” and
weighs (or, used to weigh) 204lbs.
There was a minor bowel movement today, and the excretion was watery and
the smell of it was like a carbon box. Interesting, I thought.
6/6/2000
I was expecting to see those effects that most people who undergo fasting
seem to experience, including itching, skin breaking out, etc., but none of
those has happened to me. Will some of them happen to me in the near
future? Or, am I not a candidate to those physical changes? Perhaps I have
kept my body purer than I thought. Perhaps so, considering that I don’t
crave for sweat or greasy food.
I worked out my chest and triceps today. Although I didn’t have the energy
level to do lots of sets, the strength level hasn’t gone down at all. I am
pressing just as much as prior to fasting. I have to note, however, that my
endurance is gone.
I require more sleep. Last night I slept about ten hours. It’s about one hour
more than usual. I wonder that is causing this. Am I just more fatigued? Or,
is it because I am not sweating as much as before?
6/7/2000
Whew! Today was tough. I felt weak and fatigued. Although I could work
okay, I found it hard to move around. I took a short walk on the beach, but it
was exhausting. I went to the bathroom twice to rid of more excretion, and it
was rather watery with dark brown color. Took some salt with water.
My lower back hurts a little. I’ve read that old diseases and aches come
back to be completely cured during fasting, and perhaps this is why since I
have a history of series of lower back injuries. Perhaps it’s just the way I
slept last night. I will see.
I felt I could continue fasting till the tenth without much problem as of
yesterday, but I don’t feel as confident today."
Have a nice day !
Thank you for your writing
21/7/2000 dennis woojun yang(age30 male) (dennis@alum.mit.edu)
Nationality: Korean-American
Job: Internet Entrepreneur
Fasting purpose:
It was more of a Christian fasting for cleansing the soul
rather than fasting for health reasons
Fasting period 10 day
6/1/2000 - 6/10/2000
This is his E-mail message
"Hello,
Sorry that I haven't sent the journal that I kept while fasting a while back
as I promised despite all the hellp you kindly provided to me. Although
it's not an excuse, I have been swamped with work all this time. I have
been meaning to translate the journal before I send it off, but haven't been
around to it yet. Attached is the English version of the journal. I hope
that it can be of some help to someone. I will try to send you a translated
version some time.
Regards,
Dennis Woojun Yang"
Follow is his fasting record
"6/1/2000
Had a hunger headache. Could do all the activities that I normally do. It’s a
blessing that I am given this period all to myself. It would have not been
easy to go on a fast if I were employed at a normal company. I give thanks
to God.
6/2/2000
The hunger headache was worse today. I wonder when it’s going to go
away. I lifted some weights with a slight fear that I would lose too much
muscle during the fasting period. I did back and biceps exercises today with
a couple of light sets of squats. I didn’t lose any strength on my back and
biceps, but since I was afraid of getting dizzy with heavy weights on my
traps, I only squatted with two 45 pounds on the Olympic bar.
6/3/2000
I was definitely physically tired today. I walked for about 2 hours or so on the
beach. Since it was really sunny, I took my shirt off to soak in the rays. I felt
fine during the walk, but the headache was persisting. Since I didn’t feel like
working, I spent the most of the day reading.
One annoying thing that started happening to my body is that my feet feel
cold. It takes a while for them to warm up when I go to bed. I wore socks to
warm them up.
6/4/2000
Something amazing happened today. I noticed yesterday that things far
away across the bay outside my balcony looked sharper, but I just thought
that it was because the weather was nice. Now I know that it was because
my eyesight improved. I keep a pair of sunglasses in my car, and I wore
them when I was driving to church today. Since the prescription on those
glasses were old, they are one notch weaker than what I usually wear, making
it difficult to read street signs. Today, however, I could actually make out the
street signs with the old pair on. It was quite amazing.
I took a nap after coming from church, as I felt more tired than usual. I found
it hard to begin to read books, as it was quite difficult to start concentrating
on something. However, once I got into it, keep reading was normal. I did
some back and biceps exercises again, and amazingly enough, I broke my
personal records on chin-ups and incline dumbbell curls. The reason that I
have not been doing any pushing type of exercises is that my left elbow
hurts. I am sure it will heal itself pretty soon, as it’s not really injured.
One more thing that needs to be noted is that the hunger significantly
subsided and the headache became very dull.
And, still one more thing to note is that water is starting to taste great. It’s
almost as if someone put a bit of sugar in it. I guess my taste buds are
resetting themselves.
6/5/2000
I weighed myself today, and have lost about 8 pounds: from 204 to 196lbs. I
don’t notice much loss in the muscle tone. If anything, I can see my
abdominal muscles better than before. I plan to lift weights, albeit lightly, for
the duration of the fasting.
I have been doing stretching exercises from day one, and the progress I have
been making is astounding. Since I studied Kung Fu when I was little, I was
once used to doing full splits, etc., but as I aged and became serious about
bodybuilding, I have lost a significant amount of flexibility in my legs.
Although I can’t do a split yet, I can touch the floor with my palms easily,
and I can even go beyond that. My stomach almost touches my upper thighs
when I bend over now. Not bad for a very built guy who stands 5’6” and
weighs (or, used to weigh) 204lbs.
There was a minor bowel movement today, and the excretion was watery and
the smell of it was like a carbon box. Interesting, I thought.
6/6/2000
I was expecting to see those effects that most people who undergo fasting
seem to experience, including itching, skin breaking out, etc., but none of
those has happened to me. Will some of them happen to me in the near
future? Or, am I not a candidate to those physical changes? Perhaps I have
kept my body purer than I thought. Perhaps so, considering that I don’t
crave for sweat or greasy food.
I worked out my chest and triceps today. Although I didn’t have the energy
level to do lots of sets, the strength level hasn’t gone down at all. I am
pressing just as much as prior to fasting. I have to note, however, that my
endurance is gone.
I require more sleep. Last night I slept about ten hours. It’s about one hour
more than usual. I wonder that is causing this. Am I just more fatigued? Or,
is it because I am not sweating as much as before?
6/7/2000
Whew! Today was tough. I felt weak and fatigued. Although I could work
okay, I found it hard to move around. I took a short walk on the beach, but it
was exhausting. I went to the bathroom twice to rid of more excretion, and it
was rather watery with dark brown color. Took some salt with water.
My lower back hurts a little. I’ve read that old diseases and aches come
back to be completely cured during fasting, and perhaps this is why since I
have a history of series of lower back injuries. Perhaps it’s just the way I
slept last night. I will see.
I felt I could continue fasting till the tenth without much problem as of
yesterday, but I don’t feel as confident today."
Have a nice day !
Thank you for your writing