The FastDay Forum

1. play the piano. This is a good one because it is very engrossing and I am supposed to practice every ngiht.

2. a couple of fasts ago, I found myself surrounded by all the plastic carrier bags that had accumulated over the last few years (and were taking up silly amounts of cabinet space), and found myself folding them into little origami triangles like all the Japanese ladies do. (if you knew me at all, you would know that this is incredibly strange behavior for me). It kept me distracted for HOURS. And, it kept my cats entertained as well.

3. tidying and housework in general (as you might guess from #2 I'm not the neatest person on the planet)

4. going for a run. It is hard to do when I'm really hungry, but once I get going, it's a good appetite suppressant.

Anyone else?

Hi! I live in Japan, too. I also do a lot of cleaning to distract myself.

Other things I do:
-read books
-come to the forum for inspiration
-study (I'm a grad student)
-do errands, go to the laundromat or the library
-go to a cafe with a book or a friend for a black coffee
-go window shopping

konnichiwa! I wish I had windows to shop in. I live in Okinawa.

I:
Drink some more water
Come here
Decide to do new hobbies and open a million browser tabs full of ideas
Take the dog for a long hilly walk while listening to podcasts (the most effective distraction by far)
Garden
Go to the library

I'm grateful I work from home and can juggle things so I can distract myself when needed.

I've never been to Okinawa, but I really want to go there sometime. Are you on Okinawa itself or one of the smaller islands?

gardening is a good one!

3koneko3, I'm on the main island. I'm not sure I could survive for long on one of the smaller ones, beautiful as they are!

I tend to hit the sack earlier on a fast day, also try and exercise early evening at that really takes the hunger away and lasts for a few afterwards too.

More interestingly, back to Okinawa, not been to the main island yet but got down to Ishigaki and Iriomote summer before last, was v impressed, so different to honshu. Had the unique experience of getting into a japanese taxi and wondering if it would get us to our destination without breaking down.

Try on old clothes!