Nothing focuses the mind like the prospect of being hanged.  So said Mark Twain.

I haven’t faced that prospect myself.  I have experienced the very real possibility of getting beat up.  In fact it happened a few times, in grade school. And I can tell you that after the first time, the prospect of it indeed focuses the mind quite sharply.

What also focuses the mind is fasting.  I have just gotten hip to fasting.  I’m 36 percent of the way into a well-known book by Dr. Jason Fung, called The Complete Guide to Fasting.

So I am not the world’s foremost authority.  (Dr. Fung may be.)

A central point of the book is that fasting is not dieting.  The untold variety of prescribed, familiar diets out there are based on the same essential plan:  Eat less, move more.

Which is a fine idea.  Millions have lost weight and gotten healthier by consuming fewer calories and getting more exercise.  I too have dieted, usually with some degree of adherence the South Beach Diet.  But I have not had lasting, noteworthy results.

Fasting is different.  It does not just reduce your consumption of food and drink.  Instead, you simply stop eating.  It can be for a period of 18 hours, a day, three days, or a month.

Recently I have taken a humble stab at fasting.  The results have been stunning—both physically and mentally.  My mind and thinking seem more focused than in quite a while.  I’ll save the details for another post.