fasting??
 

I have been thinking about fasting into the new year, but I have never done anything like this before. What are the rules to a fast? I've heard that you can drink juce, water, and unsweetened tea but that's it. also, I've a really low body fat percentage (about 7%) would this be a good idea?

Its a good idea if you don't go overboard with it. Don't just jump right in and do a 3 day fast or something. Sunup to sundown fasts are a good way to get started, once everyone week or 2. Definatly want to drink water, or something like unsweetened tea/green tea, but a lot of juices have tons of sugar in them, so I don't know about them. Fasting can be a good way to purge your body of garbage it collects, and give your digestive system a break and I would recommend it to any healthy person (don't do it to lose weight, heh).

The concern that I have with fasting is that, when your body starts looking for a protein source, it's going to break down tissue in the liver and the muscles first, which is not desirable.

I'm curious as to why you're fasting...is it a religious thing? Curiosity, maybe?

exactly.

so whats the reason behind you wanting to fast?

How to fast:
http://www.healingdaily.com/juicing-...ow-to-fast.htm

Wait, when the body is looking for protein it breaks down liver cells and muscle cells? There are perfectly good fat cells to be broken down! Whats up with this?

Well, I guess I wanted to do it out of curiosity, I still do, even though I wasn't able to do it into the new year. Fasting is just something that I have not really tried yet. I also think that the body will just decrease it's metabolism and feast on fat cells before it breaks down muscles and the like so that isn't really a concern for me.

Muscle and Liver cells are much more nutritious and easier to break down than fat. Fat is generally reserved as a last resort or a hold-over for lean times. Plus, from a genetic and historical standpoint, in the past humans were more likely to go hungry during the winter when fat cells would be needed for insulation more than food, so the body is programmed to go for the muscle and liver first.

No, it has been proven that when all caloric intake is stopped the body will start eating muscle and liver before it even looks at the fat storages.

I've done it before a medical procedure, for 24 hours. I was allowed white grape juice, clear broth, and some other clear juice. I went through a full work day on juice alone (I had one cup of beef broth and didn't like it), and did fairly well. I didn't initiate any heavy exercise. The juice took care of my carb needs and kept hunger to a minimum, and I believe that the fact that I did not exercise intensely minimized my need for protein. At any rate, I went back to weight training a couple of days after the procedure and wasn't appreciably weaker.

So, drink juice or other clear liquids, don't exercise intensely, and you should get through a day's fast with no particular after effects.

I have a cousin who fasted for 40 days for spiritual purposes. She drank a lot of water and some other fluids and also had a slimfast if she was feeling particularly weak. She said that it was hard but she has never had more energy or felt more alive or more spiritually connected.