- New here - Days 1-4 of 21 day water fast by earlybird14
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Blog: Water Fasting - 21 days
I decided to join and start a blog just so I can have a record of the things I've experienced in this water fast as well as contribute to experiences for others to read as they go through or consider doing a fast. I am doing this for overall physical and mental health.
I have been experimenting with fasting on and off for some years. Mostly 2 days at a time but sometimes 3 which doesn't sound like much compared to people who do 10 days or longer. In the beginning, 2 days felt like 100! Now, it's not a big deal and I find that it's very true - the more you fast, the better you get at it!
I am 42 years old, female, started at 203lbs, size 14 and 5'7" tall. I don't live an especially healthy lifestyle but I don't want to delve so deeply into it that I'm sitting here beating myself up and go over every terrible thing I've done to my body over the years. Let's just chalk it up to the typical crappy diet/cocktails/sedentary lifestyle/stress/exhaustion/parenting (4 kids). Oh and I have no major health issues but instead a list of the typical middle aged issues so many of us attribute to age but I know it's diet and physical conditioning more than anything else.
I have been through times in the last 12 years that I've been on a raw diet, green smoothies, low carb,... not so much to directly lose weight but to support my on and off again kick of weight lifting. Weight lifting is my only only only love in exercising. I like to lift heavy so I have a decent amount of muscle and when I'm in the zone, I progress fairly quickly, lose weight, get stronger and then slack off months and sometimes years at a time but I wanted to mention that since those of you who are fasting for weight loss might be interested in some observations I've made while fasting. Overall - I am not one to try fad diets as I feel that I have a strong understanding of what I "should" do but don't do...water, plant based diet with some proteins and fruits - avoid refined carbs and exercise. Pretty simple and I know it to work better than anything for overall health but I never stick to it. This time I want to make a long-term commitment.
I will try to post here everyday and if I need to get things out during weak moments, maybe more than once a day.
Here are my notes so far:
Day 1: I had a couple of false starts over an 8 day period leading up to "Day 1". I'd make it 1 or 2 days and then eat.. but then it clicked and I'm in the zone. Ironically - the 2 days I had fasted the week prior, I felt amazingly OK. No real hunger except at dinner time and no dizzy spells or shakes or anything. However, on my "official" Day 1 - I felt a wee bit weak and a little dizzy, a little shaky.
I think this is because my glycogen stores were probably already lowered by the "pre fasting" (and probably not the best idea but better late than never I guess). I can't say that it was hard because on a typical day of eating crappy foods I will get dizzy and ravenously hungry throughout different times of the day because of carbs fluctuating my blood sugars. I slept fine and was down a few pounds the next day. I will add actual weights to this as of day 4 as I am just creating the blog.
Day 2: Energy is fine, resolve is good, I enjoy the smell and vision of food but am able to fix meals for my children and not so much as lick my fingers! I will add a bit of fresh squeezed lemon to my water in the first week every now and again (not every glass) just for cleansing and in my personal opinion, it helps stave off headaches that one can get from starting a fast. I drink about 100 ounces of water a day but I don't measure so I am not sure, estimating on the size of my cup and how many times I think I fill it up. I drink to thirst and it's a lot more than I usually drink as I am usually not that thirsty. I'll try to keep a closer eye to that measurement to document here.
Day 3: Much like day 2 but the hunger pangs are more frequent. Now here is what I think is the most important conversation I have with myself when I get hungry - it doesn't feel any different than being hungry when I'm not fasting. In fact, I'd say the hunger is much less intense than when I know I am about to sit down to a big meal. I am simply less interested in food and am able to step back and really think about how it has affected my body. Inflammation, joint pain, extra weight, depression & anxiety... all affecting my quality of life because I have made poor nutrition choices and not exercising regularly. I ignore the hunger, have some water and the feeling passes.
Morning of Day 4: Ok, weight loss - I'm down to 193 - so 10 lbs and I actually weighed more this morning than last night - weird. BUT, I think I may know why:
One of the symptoms I've had starting at the end of day 2 was my tailbone and hips were hurting! I sit a lot for my job and this can happen sometimes but oh wow, not to this degree. I even had a bit of sharp pains down my thighs... nothing alarming but definitely got my attention and I don't know if it's fast related but I can't help but think it is since these are not normal annoying things I deal with. So yesterday, I did some realllly light weight lifting as well as using the weights to get a good stretch. I think this made my muscles retain a bit of fluid and I'm guessing that I will weigh less this afternoon than I did this morning.
My hunger level is very tolerable, energy is great, I slept fine last night but woke up at 3:30 am for the day. I feel LESS dizzy and hazy than when I am eating. I've had some depression issues in the last year and I feel like that fog is lifting more everyday. I plan to go for a long walk today. I work from home so when I say I'm sedentary - I mean even the lack of walking to my car, through a parking lot, up stairs, around the office...all that has attributed to a 30 lb weight gain in the last year. Amazing that a little walking kept off! :)
I will probably be back to post more this evening about day 4 since this is actually the start of it.
Strength and peace to those going through fasting and healing.
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earlybird14
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