Fasting "Tips"

One thing I'm not doing is to wake up before 3:50am tomorrow morning to eat/drink before the 17 (delayed to the 18th) of Tammuz fast begins. 

Losing sleep will be worse than not drinking.  Also, if I try to drink, my body will expect coffee and food.  If I don't drink, then at some point it will realized, like a well-trained child, that "this is a day, you're not getting fed; get used to it."

Generally, as the day goes on, my body begins to behave, stops whining.  Of course, I'm miserable.  I hate fasting.  Each year, each fast bothers me more.  I don't know how much is physical and how much is emotional.

I hope to sleep as much as possible tomorrow.  I wish I could store sleep, like a camel stores water.  I also wish I could store water in my body.  It doesn't work.  Most mavens say you should drink lots of extra water before a fast day, but if I do I end up having to pish so much at the beginning of the fast that I'm sure I end up eliminating more water than I've taken in.

Some people manage to function so well when fasting.  I'm not among those blessed ones.  My mind starts going blank if I don't eat frequently enough.  I guess that's low blood sugar, or a warning sign that if don't eat properly I could be a diabetic.  When I refuse to take a shift on a fast day, my employers should be happy.  They shouldn't want a worker who can't work.

I don't faint when fasting or anything like that.  It takes me a long time to "wake up" and function without my water and coffee.  Recent studies say that coffee can "sharpen us," so it makes sense for me to say that my mind is a haze at least in the morning when fasting.  My body slows down, inside and out.

If you feel like I'm describing I wouldn't drive.  If you must take a cold shower to make you more alert.  Yes, except for Tisha (9th of) b'Av and Yom Kippur it is permitted to shower.

If you have to be out when fasting, stay out of the sun.

Eat normally or even slightly less the days before a fast.  It's better to shrink your stomach than to stuff it.   But if you go to bed hungry the day before a fast, you may wake up starving.

Just don't overdo anything.  Each of us is different so try to discover what's best for you.