The truth about food and zen retreats

"... I will opt for a more modest regimen: three weeks of tea and miso broth.

I am not trying to be macho. I am genuinely curious about the nature of desire. My whole life has been spent chasing one desire after another. Where does it come from and how does it control me? What happens if i don't follow each desire that comes into my mind? What happens if i don't eat for a short period?

What happens is what any idiot could have guessed would happen: i am ravenously hungry. ...There's no way to get around this feeling of hunger. No way to avoid the pangs in my stomach and the intense desire for a taste of bread, of butter, of anything. I make many cups of miso broth and tea each day. My mind is almost exclusively on food-related topics. I alternate between the mantra and visions of lasagna, pumpkin pie, and chocolate honey-dipped crullers. I write a few imaginary cookbooks and open an imaginary Zen restaurant called Cafe Joju.

What happened to all those other desires? Love, enlightenment, adventure, fame... All leveled to nothing. All extraneous. I only want food. Food in my tongue, taste in my mouth. I don't care what taste it is.

Food is life.
Why am i alive?
What is this life for?
What will i do with it?"
Jane Dobisz, The Wisdom of Solitude