A rule in life is equilibrium. It is also the rule in Nature. Cyclone is Nature's restoring the equilibrium in atmospheric pressure. What we call health is an equilibrium of physical, vital and mental energies. Life constantly disturbs the equilibrium of the bodily health. Body and mind constantly restore that equilibrium. Our problems of life and problems of health - disease - are the process of that equilibrium being disturbed and restored. Obesity is one such expression. Its expressions are many. But, its most pronounced form is the body overcompensating a prolonged period of starvation. Poverty consciousness becoming Prosperity consciousness has one generation of obese individuals in between.
Sri Aurobindo is not for fasting or keeping awake as we do on sivaratri, ekadasi, etc. He says fasting does not serve any purpose as the body compensates as soon as fasting is over. In fact, it overcompensates. When Lal Bahadur Sastri requested the nation to forego one meal a week, he asked people not to eat on Monday evenings. Eating establishments were closed all over the country on Monday night. Mother did not agree with him. She said the body has a way of adjusting. It eats more before and after. There is no real savings of food. To miss a meal without that compensation is possible for yoga. Sri Aurobindo tried that experiment of fasting for 23 days. During that period he never experienced lack of energy. He walked as usual. His writing work continued. At the end of it, he resumed eating abruptly with a full meal.
His experiment was successful. Fasting entailed no loss of energy, and there was no compensation. Still, He said the body drew its strength from the bone marrows. In that measure, his experiment was not a success. Sleep missed for over prolonged periods, He said, is compensated by the body. Therefore, in His formula, there is no use of fasting or keeping awake. Generations that have missed food, compensate the loss when food is available. It is not the only rule. When the mind is fully developed, to that extent that compensation is less. They say a third of the US population today is obese, according to a national standard. Mental and spiritual development can mitigate obesity to the extent there is development in those higher planes.