A man in Iowa is going the full monk. Following the lead set by German monks—who 300 years ago fasted throughout the entire season of Lent, and who sustained themselves solely by drinking water and hearty, calorie-packed beer—he explains the mission at hand: “Getting drunk is the last thing on my to-do list at this time. This is an historical study.”
The Des Moines Register recently profiled the odd fast being conducted by J. Wilson, a newspaper editor who is blogging about the “historical study” at Diary of a Part-Time Monk.
When the experiment began a couple of days ago, Wilson left open the possibility that he’d break the fast on Sundays, which is what many believe the German monks did:
I have a feeling that if the monks of the 1600s broke their fast on Sundays, they didn’t break it with anything too substantive. They probably just pulled out their blender and threw together a yummy smoothie of some kind.
Two days in, Wilson awoke with headaches. Perhaps more surprising: He didn’t really feel like drinking beer. After tending to some errands, he returned to his office and sorta had to force himself to have a frosty beverage:
I really didn’t care if I drank a beer or not just then. I did simply to get it out of the way and take advantage of its sustenance. Interestingly, that’s not the discipline I expected I would need to keep.
This is one instance that the boss might actually request that an employee drink on the job.
MORE:
Lent as Money Saver
Learning How to Budget with the 21-Day Financial Fast