Fasting: It’s Not Just For Lent

going to be easy. No, there it's a freaking challenge, but that's what it's all about. Hello everyone, and welcome to this week's episode of your favorite podcast, Chicki's and Chill. I'm so excited to be recording another episode for you guys. We're going to be talking about something that has really transformed my life mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. So let's get into it. This is Chickies and Chill. Getting healthy and figuring out what works for you can be such

a process. There's a lot of trial and error when it comes to health because we're also different. Everybody is different. Literally, everybody is different. Now, before we get into today's topic, I want to say I'm not a doctor, and this episode should not be taken as medical advice. This is just something that has worked for me and something I'm passionate about, so I wanted to share my experience with you. Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about fasting.

So what is fasting. Fasting is when I see it as a sacrifice for your mind, body, and soul. The first time I ever heard about fasting was when I was like ten eleven years old. I was really into church.

I've said this before. I was like a Bible thumper, you guys, Like, I was really really into church, and I would go to church with my grandma and they would always talk about Ela, you know, And that's when I first discovered And we would do it as a whole at church, and it was basically on a spiritual level. It's when you sacrifice your body from food for a certain amount of hours. So we would do from seven to seven pm, so we would wake up and from seven in the morning to seven pm. We were not

allowed or not allowed because it was your choice. It's a choice that you make and it's for your relationship with God. And it's basically not eating anything, not drinking anything other than water, so all you could do is just drink water, and it's supposed to bring you closer to God, so it's opposed to so when you get hungry and you smell food and you're like okay, that's when you connect with God and you're like praying and you're like, okay, God help me, I can do this

and it helps strengthen your relationship with God. Is how I learned about fasting way back when, and I've been doing it since then. I would do it with the church, and my grandma was one that I would do it with her, so I was really really into church and that's when I first heard about it. And now there's different types of fasting. There's intermitted fasting, what's intermitted fastening.

I started doing that like two years ago, where it's basically the same thing, but you're doing it for weight loss. So I used to do twelve to eight PM that I could eat, so I would fast for sixteen hours. I would start eating at twelve before then in the morning, I could only have black coffee and it was with no sugar, no creamer, nothing. It was straight black coffee

or tea without anything as well, or water. That's all you could have when you're doing intermitt to fasting, and that's more for weight loss because you will lose weight. You're depriving your body from eating, so you come from fasting, so you wake up and you're still fasting and you're burning fat and it helps a lot, it really does. But it also helps you mentally, Like I feel like when I was doing that, I had a lot more mental clarity, and that was more for weight loss. So

I would eat from twelve to eight. After eight I was not allowed to eat anything, not even drink alcohol. Nothing. It was like you stop eating and all you could have after eight pm is just drinking water until the next day at twelve pm. So there are different types of fasting and I've done it. I just finished doing

a fasting. It was for about forty days, right before the American Grammy, you know, we were nominated, and it was my way of sacrificing my mind, body and soul from things that I felt I was getting somewhat addicted to and it was a spiritual thing for me. It was red meat, cheese, any type of dairy coffee, and marijuana. So I gave up those things because I felt like

I was doing too much of it. As you know, again, I'm not a doctor, you guys, but you know red meat causing inflammation in the body, so does any type of dairy. And coffee is just I just I wouldn't drink coffee like at all five years ago. I wasn't a coffee drinker. It just this is something that just started happening the past few years, and I found myself

getting a little addicted. And then marijuana, like I usually do it to sleep, but then I just started doing it to like chill, and I was like, I didn't really like that. I'm very again, I try to be a very disciplined person. So anyways, I sacrifice these four things for forty days and I was like, God, whatever's going to happen. I'm leaving getting your hands. I just want to feel good. I want to feel good. I want to feel calm. I don't want to be worried about am I going to win? Am I not going

to win? You know, because already being nominated in a category with artists that I absolutely admire and love is already for me. It's a it's a win and being there on that carpet was amazing. So I did it and not necessarily thinking I was going to lose weight, but it did help. I did lose weight because sometimes, honestly, when I smoke, you guys, especially at night, like nothing or anyone can stop me, I will eat everything. And

it was just getting out of hand. So I was like, no, but I did lose weight, So I didn't do it for those purposes. I did it more of I want to challenge myself, and that's how I see fasting, you guys. I see it as a form of sacrifice, and I feel like we live in an era that people don't want to be challenged. People want everything fast and they want it now, and even with weight loss, it's like I want it right now. I want the magic pill, I want the magic injection. And that's all good. I'm

not saying not to do it. It's just everyone wants everything so quickly, and I like to challenge myself. And I've done it with alcohol. I've done it where I'm like, don't drink any alcohol for forty days. I think the most I've ever done was sixty absolutely no alcohol. And it was tough because I go to events and I go hang out with my friends and they're drinking, and it takes a lot to be sitting there and it's like no, and I love steak, So these last forty

days we're tough. So anyways, I've been there at events where everyone's drinking and I'm like, oh my god, I'm really stressed out and I want to have an alcoholic beverage and I'm like, no, I can do this. Like having that willpower and knowing I got this shit helps me so much. It makes me horning. You guys like to know that I can fucking do it, that I

can challenge myself, that I'm not weak. So it's like a game in a way that I play with myself, but also in a way sacrificing and showing God, look, which is something like is happening, Like even with like La Guadintena. You know when you for ash Sunday and you have to give up something for forty days, like it's been happening for years. You guys are people that I was watching a documentary the other day. There are people that won't eat or drink anything for days. That's intense,

but it helps you so much. Like if we think about how much time we invest in figuring out what we're gonna eat, and sometimes we just eat because we're bored, and sometimes all your body is asking for is water, just down some water, and it's kind of like, okay, well, I don't know, I'm just gonna put this in my mouth.

I'm hungry. But like once you start realizing that, yes, our body obviously needs food to survive, but you don't need that much food to survive, which is why inner minute fasting is great, but also for mental health, you guys, mental clarity, like not putting so much junk in our body. It helps with so many things. Going back to this last fast that I did, which was you know, the red meat, the coffee, the coffee. Oh my god, you guys, I didn't realize I did have a headache. The first

week was super hard. I was like, why do I have a headache? And I'm not one to get too many headaches. So then I realized, I'm like, oh my goodness, it's the coffee. So even now that I'm drinking more coffee or I'm drinking coffee again, I'm like challenging myself, like I'm not saying no I'm not gonna drink coffee, but it's like I'm trying not to have as much of it or as much red meat, because I loved how I was feeling, you know, and I did feel,

I want to say, just that headache. Everything else I was eating everything else. I was totally fine. And I did miss cheese because I love cheese, like literally, I'm the type of girl that can grab a block of cheese from the refrigerator and cut it and just eat it like by itself. I love cheese, you guys. Sometimes I'll even just put a little bit of tapatio on the cheese and mozzarella cheese and I'll just bite it

like that's like a little snack of mine. But it's not necessarily the best thing I feel for our sinuses as a singer. It also causes a lot of phlem a lot of flemma, So I try my best to

stay away from cheese. But I love it, you guys, I freaking love it so And just you know, backtracking a little bit with fasting, especially when you're doing like the no eating for X amount of hours like I did back in the days, and sometimes I still do it, you guys, where I'm like when I started fasting and I did it more for like church and stuff like Spiritually, you do have to take it easy because you will

get a little dizzy. It's best if you don't work out, or like if you are going to work out, it like if you just take it easy, nothing vigorous, just walking, because you will feel depleted. And I remember once seven pm came around, I would freaking it was bad. I would eat too much. So it's also being mindful of like, Okay, I'm going to have a good portion, not be excessive,

because anything in excess is not good for us. And whenever I feel like I'm getting addicted to anything is kind of where I'm like, wait, hold on, let me backtrack a little bit, let me stop doing this as much, because I feel like that. That's when it becomes an issue when you're doing anything at all in exis even good stuff. I mean for a long time it was like, oh, I was on keto, I was eating healthy, but I was eating too much of it, you know. So that's

something to keep in mind. If you're going to do that type of fasting where you're not eating at all and you're just having water, I probably would not lift weights, I wouldn't run. I would take it very easy as far as like working out. And then once you're able to eat, don't eat too much because that's not good too. It's really bad for your tummy. So I'll make sure

you eat slowly and you eat a good portion. And I won't say it's easy because I was in situations where I said, like when I was giving up alcohol, everyone else around me would drink and like, come on, just one nothing's gonna happen if you have one shot or you're not eating me, come on, like just a little bit, just taste it. And I'm like, no, that defeats the purpose. It's not about okay, just one or a little bit. It's like, no, absolutely not having anything.

Like if I told myself for forty days, I'm not having this, Like I'm not having it. You know, and especially in our culture, you guys, as you know Latinos, it's kind of like you know, you go to your thea's house or your grandma's house or like that's the way they show their love to you is by giving you food to say, here, let me serve you. And sometimes I'll feel a little bit offended and I've I've

had that situation. I went to Mexico once with Amilia's family and I was fasting, and of course they made like this whole breakfast and likualo and everything. I was like, I didn't know how to say it, but I was just like, hey, Nando, and they didn't really understand. They're like, what my cat says, I'm not allowed to eat until I'm not allowing myself to eat, should I say until

a certain time? And They're like, okay. It was foreign for them, but I was like, I have to respect myself and the commitment that I made to myself, no matter who's around or what's going on, to do this for myself. During the time that I was fasting this last time before the Grammy, I was waking up towards the end by myself four something in the morning before my alarm went off at five in the morning, Like I would just wake up de Lana and I'd be like,

oh my gosh, I can't go back to sleep. And my mom would always tell me, when you wake up like that, it's because God wants to talk to you. So I always had that in back with the back of my mind, and sometimes I'm like, God, I just want to go to sleep. Please just let me sleep fifteen more minutes, literally fifteen more minutes, and I wouldn't

be able to. And this happened on January twenty six and twenty seven, and it was something that I didn't even know that I needed to know, but it was like, you guys might think I'm crazy, but I was like God is speaking to me right now. Like it becomes this crazy thing where it's like, no, I don't hear God's voice and he speaks to me directly. It's like it's something that I can't explain, something that I fell

in my heart, something that just gives me peace. And it's just like, oh my gosh, this is the answer. And I feel that it is because my fascinate was coming to an end, and it was kind of like it was just something that I needed to know and I can't necessarily tell you guys what it is, but I have it in my notes. And I sat there

and I was just writing. My fingers were just going in my notes in my phone, and it was just like talking like things that I want to do and plans, and I got so many different ideas and I don't know. I just had so much clarity about a lot of things, and one day maybe I'll read you guys those notes. I wanted to share this because I do it and it's helped me spiritually, mentally, emotionally, Like even knowing that I can do it, it makes me feel very proud.

It makes me feel very accomplished. And I try to do this at least at least four times a year where I'm like, I'm going to give this up and everyone around me already knows, like, oh, okay, I'm not eating me. Oh you're fasting. Yes, I'm fasting, or I'm I'm not drinking or whatever the case may be. Because I just like to do that, like I like to challenge myself, and I think it's a very important thing. And you feel so good after you do it, you know,

because it's good for your soul. Like I'm telling you, it's changed my life doing this, and some people might think it's sillier, like why are you doing it if it's it's unnecessary. I feel like sacrifice in so many ways, sacrificing self to things that you love that you feel like. There are a lot of people like, oh my god, I could never. I could never give up coffee. No, you could. You're starting off wrong by telling yourself I

could never. You could if you challenge yourself, if you set your mind to it, and you show yourself, I can do this. I'm telling you. I'm not saying that it's going to be easy. No. There, it's a freaking challenge. But that's what it's all about. It's saying, you know what, for me, I do it more on a spiritual level. To be honest, you guys like I do it because I'm like God, I want to be more connected to you.

I want to show you that I'm grateful for everything that you do in my life, that you've done in my life that you're going to do. So I'm going to sacrifice myself, my body, what my flesh wants, to have more of a spiritual connection with you. So when I come across those moments when my friends are trying to freaking scarfa a shot, you know, down my throat, I'm like, okay, God, please give me the willpower I

got this. Sometimes I would have to excuse myself and go to the restroom and be like, breathe a my God, help me, help me. I really want a steak, I really want a piece of steak, or I really want to have this shot, or I'm so stressed out, I just want to go to sleep so nicely, I want to smoke a little bit of marijuana, but I'm like no, and it just feels good. I don't know how to explain it. It's like it just feels good to be able to say no to something in order to say

yes to yourself and for your future self. It's something that I absolutely love and believe in that I wanted to share, and I think you guys should try it. I mean, you don't have to start off like I didn't let go with four things at once, But it's about something that you truly love that you're like, damn, you know. It could be anything with lent. A lot of my friends do it and they give up, Like I have a friend that's like, I'm not going to have any chocolate for forty days, or I'm giving up

social media for forty days. Whatever it is that you feel is like a challenge for you that you feel like, oh, I couldn't. I feel like that's what it's about it. They're even doing it at you, like at church, Catholic Church. You guys, I did it at Christian Church. I just you don't even have to go to church to do it. Like I'm just saying, try it. It could be anything. It could even be sex, but I don't know if your partner would be too happy with that. But I mean,

maybe no penetration. Maybe it's just like oral sex. I don't know, like just anything to be like I want to challenge myself. I like I said, you don't have to do it for the reasons that I do it. But the reasons I fast intermedi fasting was to lose weight. But the type of fact that I'm talking about right now is definitely more for a connection and to feel more connected with the higher power, with the universe, with God, with whatever you want to call it. And I'm telling

you it helps so much. I've been doing this for years and I feel that it is a part of why I've been able to be so successful in what I'm doing is because I'm disciplined, and it's part of showing discipline through sacrifice, and then that sacrifice turns into the world and the universe and God saying thank you, here is a blessing. It's kind of how I see it in a way, although we're not really supposed to do it for that reason of like I want to

be blessed, I want more good things I want. No, it's more of like let me show you I'm grateful, and yeah, you could be praying for something in particular. I've done that where I'm like, God, I really need an answer, I really need you to speak to me. The whole point is it's good for you. I feel. My personal opinion, my humble opinion, is that fascining. It is great for you body and soul. So try it.

If you guys didn't get enough information here on the Cheeks and Chill podcast, there are a lot of documentaries on fasting on Netflix. I've seen them on Amazon, I've seen them on YouTube. So if you want more information, there are also books on fasting. There are apps on fasting as well, if you want to learn how to do it. I mean there's spiritual ones. There's like some to lose weight for in a minute fasting. But inform yourself a little more. If you still don't feel like

you've got enough information. I always say knowledge's powers, So make sure you guys, inform yourself so Anyways, that is my take. That's my bit on fasting and what it's done in my life and how much I love it. And I hope that it helped you guys, and hopefully it inspires you to try it again. It could be anything, something small. A lot of my friends have done social media and they feel so much better, They have less depression anxiety. I'm just saying. I'm not saying to let

go of social media. I'm just saying giving you like examples. So AnyWho, thank you guys so much for listening to another episode of Cheeks and Chill. I am so grateful for your continued support. Like honestly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. And speaking of support, let's jump into our motivational Monday quote, which is a form of mental and emotional support in my opinion. Okay, so I have two motivational quotes you guys. I just feel very

inspired today. So the first one is fasting of the body is food for the soul. Now this is a little longer, but fasting big pharmas try to replicate what our bodies do naturally. But we're told to eat three times a day with snacks in between, giving our body no time to do so. When you fast, you're allowing your body to do its job and heal itself. It also puts your brain at peak performance. Here's another one. Okay, this is the last one. You guys, you are not hungry,

you are bored. Drink some water and learn the difference. Well those are the quotes for the day. I'm sorry there were three, but thank you guys so much. Elskiro mucho and I hope you enjoyed this episode of Chickies and Chill Laskiro Do you need advice on love, relationships, health emas. I'm so excited to share with you that my Cheekies and Chill podcast will have an extra episode drop each week. I'll be answering all your questions. Just

leave me a voice message. All you have to do is go to speak pipe dot com slash Cheeks and Chill podcast and record your questions. I can't wait to hear from you. This is a production of iHeartRadio and the Michael Dura podcast Network. Follow us on Instagram at Michael Dura Podcasts and follow me Cheekies That's c hi Quis. For more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app Apple podcast or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast, and check us out on YouTube.