I'm so hungry

While reading about Islam and Ramadan in my religion course, I thought it would be helpful for me to fast sometime. In the case of Ramadan, Muslims do not eat or drink between daybreak and dark for a full lunar month (roughly 28 days). I mentioned to my wife that I was thinking about fasting for a month at some point and she suggested (in the nicest way possible) that maybe I was setting my sights too high and should start off with a single day (or week) rather than a full month. Perhaps it was due to the fact that I stepped on the scale this morning and didn't like the results, but I decided that I'd try to fast today.

I'm not sure if this is normal or if God is making this harder for dramatic effect, but I am really hungry - and it's only 2:20pm. This reminded me of the lecture on this topic in which the instructor said:

I don’t know how many of you have ever tried to fast, but if you have you know that it can be quite difficult. As a result one can become kind of focused on the hunger or thirst to the exclusion of all else. This is natural, but it can also lead to missing the whole point if you don’t try to do something about it. Ultimately fasting is to help us spiritually. It is not simply a physical thing. Muslims are not fasting to lose weight even though that might be a nice side benefit. Fasting is a reminder of our spiritual hunger for union with God. If we let our physical hunger remind us of our spiritual hunger and let that reminder turn our hearts to prayer then we are beginning to gain the benefits intended.

I haven't necessarily turned my heart to prayer yet, but I am definitely reminded of my spiritual hunger. I'm also hoping this (and subsequent fastings) will make me more charitable. As Smith puts it in The World's Religions, "people who have fasted for twenty-nine days within the year will be apt to listen more carefully when next approached by someone who is hungry."