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Wallace D. Wattles on When to Eat

 A.K.A: Intermittent Fasting Ain't Nothin' New!

Wallace D. Wattles was a popular early New Thought writer


I was reading through a book this morning from one of the early New Thought writers in American history - and one of the lesser known ones:  Wallace D. Wattles.  In 1910, three of his "prosperity" books were published.  (And I don't think they were called "prosperity" but rather "New Thought" since the word New Thought had been in usage already by 1910.)  The three books were entitled, "The Science of Getting Rich," "The Science of Being Well," and "The Science of Being Great."  Of the three, the "Science of Getting Rich" was his most popular, and you can find quite a few copies/versions available from different book dealers.


But the book I was reading this morning was The Science of Being Well.  I wanted to share a few quotes from it with you, and to show you how intermittent fasting really is nothing new, along with any other sound dietary advice!  (All italics below are from the 1910 publication of Wattles' The Science of Being Well.)

It is a self-evident proposition that the natural time, and the healthy time, to eat is when one is hungry; and that it is never a natural or healthy action to eat when one is not hungry... Always eat when you are hungry; and NEVER eat when you are not hungry.


We must not fail, however, to make the clear distinction between hunger and appetite.  Hunger is the call of the subconscious mind for more material to be used in repairing and renewing the body... and hunger is never felt unless there is more need for material, and unless there is a power to digest it once taken into the stomach.  Appetite is a desire for the gratification of a sensation.  The drunkard has an appetite for liquor but no hunger for it.  A normally fed person CANNOT have a hunger for candy and sweets; the desire for these things is an appetite.


For instance, if a person has been sufficiently fed from the preceding day, it is impossible that he should feel a genuine hunger after arising from a refreshing sleep.


Hunger is not caused by sleep, but by work.  And it does not matter who you are or what your condition, or how hard or easy you work, the so-called "no-breakfast plan" is the right plan for you.  It is the right plan for everybody, because it is based on the universal law that hunger never comes until it is EARNED.


If you are going to live according to the Science of Being Well, you must NEVER EAT UNTIL YOU HAVE AN EARNED HUNGER.



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