Helpful Yesterday

Things that would have been good to know YESTERDAY, and why:

1. Before the Yom Kippur fast, you should stop drinking caffeine to avoid caffeine headaches. I've already had a cup of coffee and 2 diet Pepsi's today. Tomorrow is looking painful.

2. To minimize thirst from excruciating to merely unpleasant, avoid salty foods the day before the fast. Salty foods like the pretzels and pistachio nuts that I just ate.

3. During Yom Kippur, you are not supposed to eat or drink, have sex, wash, wear leather shoes, or apply lotion.  My plan to do laundry for our trip tomorrow is screwed. Also, it's a bad idea to go to the gym. On the upside, it will be one of the few days when general dishevelment and smelly breath indicates religious piety.

I should probably add that as a Catholic, I am a terrible observer of the fasting & dietary rules. I have no qualms about eating a donut on my way into Mass, I generally forget about the no meat-on-Fridays thing from years of vegetarianism where it didn't matter. I know from experience that it's embarrassing to bite into a ham sandwich in Good Friday. I generally come up with whatever excuse that I can to avoid the sissy fasting we do only 2 days a year.

So obviously, I'm a little reluctant about the serious fasting tomorrow. But I'm talking myself into it. Or at least I'm trying to.

Comments

[Dawn]

Dude, that's some hard-core fasting. Wow. I wish you luck with it.