I'm currently on day 10 of my 30 day water fast. I've managed to surpass my last fast (8 days) and have begun to see the difference already.
My only concern is energy is starting to become less and less common and taking water from a jug in the fridge is extremely exhausting I have to sit down and rest a bit on a chair. I tell myself I have to start moving slower because of the loss of energy and when I do things aren't as strenuous. Is this a normal feeling when on a fast? What can I do to sustain enough energy until day 30?
I honestly don't know my current weight since I don't own a scale, although I was at 176 when I started/before fast. My target is to at least lose 20 pounds within 30 days. My height is 5"4. I took pictures of my first day and compared them to pictures taken earlier today and although I don't feel any weight loss my face is taking a bit more shape as opposed to its original roundness.
But prior to the last time I hadn't tried fasting so this is my second go at it. As far as I know I have no allergies, heart problems, or anything else that's medically complicated.
I just notice that energy is scarce now and something as simple as washing dishes gets my heart rate up, but I can understand that's because of using muscles in my arms. I'm just not sure how it's going to work when showering and washing my waist-long hair in the coming days/weeks. Heartburn also showed up about a day ago, but from what I've read it's common when fasting.
I don't know why you are low on energy, but when you finish fasting it's best to go on the type of diet at http://www.drmcdougall.com/ or http://www.drfuhrman.com/ - they are similar, but the first one is more starch based.
After your initial weight gain you should lose weight consistently with either of these diets, you wouldn't really need to fast again, but if you did I think you would find any energy problems would be gone.
I have lost 36 pounds in 138 days eating like this, that's just under 8 pounds per month.
I lost just over 70 pound overall by fasting - including my weight gain, in 437 days, that's just under 5 pounds per month.
The raw data is here and graph is here and below, go check it out. The changeover point was 25 January 2009.
I agree with Hopinso and others when they say that fasting is not the best way to lose weight.
Eating this way makes you live longer and not get ill. Healthy eating has many benefits over constant fasting and refeeding, and for weight loss it's quicker.
Fasting however can give you a kick start, and reset your taste buds. It may also give you an initial feel-good factor. But if things go wrong, don't let in give you an excuse to fast over and over again in a never ending loop, as some do here.
That's very impressive, losing all of that weight. And those links are extremely helpful as well. Although I was already eating healthy before, probably around 3 years ago when I changed my eating habits. I only ate fast food twice a month if at all (guess it wasn't that healthy huh?), and everything was homemade and full of vegetables. The reason why I didn't see a change in weight was more than likely because I didn't exercise, so it just accumulated.
I still plan to exercise religiously once I'm done with the fast because I don't want these 30 days to be for nothing.
Honestly I didn't start feeling this fatigue until I started my menstrual cycle a couple of days ago, could this be the problem?
Can't help you with the fatigue, but if you think eating a few fresh fruit and veg is eating a healthy diet, think again.
This lady gets it http://www.amazon.com/McDougall-Plan-John/product-reviews/0832903922/ref=cm_c... and I quote:
"It was somewhere in the mid-90's when I first was introduced to a Dr. McDougall book. I now own all of the books he and Mary have written. I remember how I reacted, upon the first reading of this book. It wasn't good. The diet regimen described frightened and depressed me. I, like so many Americans, was raised in my mother and grandmother's kitchens and learned to nuture through food, ahem! through the Standard American Diet. I loved the tastes of our S.A.D. diet! But, included in the SAD diet we did eat fresh salads, we ate the more substantial breads, we ate the best cuts of meat, we ate a lot of cooked vegetables and fresh fruit. We even ate oatmeal and did not eat cold cereal for breakfast. However, we ate and drank dairy products at every meal and, of course, we ate eggs and meat, poultry or fish every day, except on Fridays during Lent. And, we were all crazy about home baking. We loved our desserts. I was a smoker. Consequently, I developed allergies, asthma, ongoing and severe sinusitis. In my mid-twenties, I began to be plagued with every cold and flu virus that came around. I developed chronic bronchitis. I took a medication called, Respaire, daily, to unblock my sinuses. The medication was so hard on my heart that I developed severe and frequent palpitations and underwent both a cardioversion (my heart was stopped to return it to a normal sinus rhythmn) and a cardio-ablation to correct the areas on my heart causing the palpitations. I also underwent sinus surgery. I also had shortness of breath where I would become dizzy in the warm and humid weather. I stayed away from mammography because the first time I had one performed, it was done incorrectly and brutally. A couple of decades later, I had an area of suspicion on my breast and underwent 18 mammograms and calcifications were found. Then I had to have an open biopsy. Well, I didn't have to. I didn't have to go through any of the above IF I had eaten the way Dr. McDougall prescribes. I am a retired R.N. and I witnessed enough of the criminality of the medical community to never want to return. But, now knowing of the life saving diet that they could be prescribing instead of horrible (and often cancer causing) medications and invasive (and, often cancer-causing) procedures...well, I know I would never want to be a part of that community again. I kept coming back to that first McDougall book and finally, knew this was the only way to go. I wasn't perfect. I cheated through the years. But, every year I become more committed and, now I don't cheat at all. I don't even eat birthday cake or holiday food. I want to live long and vibrantly until I die and to die when I am very, very old. I have lost 43 lbs through the years and now I have a new goal. There is a chart for what we should weigh in one of Doc MdDougall's books and I want to get down to the low end of the parameter of weight for my height. I will lose the last 12 lbs. now. I cannot tell in words what this program has done for my life. I feel better than I ever felt. My mind is clear, I have boundless energy. I am no longer an allergy sufferer, I don't have asthma, my abdomen is flat, my sinuses are clear, I never experience bronchitis, I haven't smoked in 17 years, I am 58 and I don't need glasses, I run up stairs and never experience shortness of breath, my total cholesterol, at the last testing, was 112. I work out 2 hours per day and feel great doing so. I am not on any medication and when I think of the possibility of going to a doctor, I experience the same kind of fear I would if someone were to tell me I had to meet Satan. My last comment might appear insane to those who have not witnessed what I have witnessed or who have not experienced the things I have from the medical community. I could write my own book on those things alone. Please, read Dr. McDougall's books and summon up your strength and challenge yourself to do this, for yourself and your loved ones. Try it. Ponder the material and the consequences of NOT changing your ways. Then, if your still not convinced, go on the VegSource.com website and read the dicussions there, maybe get into purchasing and sharing the dvd's they provide from the yearly health conferences they hold, featuring speakers like Dr. McDougall, Caldwell Esselstyn, John and Ocean Robbins, T. Colin Campbell, Dr. Neal Barnard, Dr. Joel Fuhrmand and too many other big names to mention here. Go on to read The China Study, Dr. Dean Ornishes newer books, John Robbins's books, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn's book, Dr. Neal Barnard, Dr. Joel Fuhrman's books. Visit the websites of these doctors and researchers. Learn the truths that are being, actively, hidden from us. Oh, and above all, get a copy of Mike Anderson's DVD's EAT and Curing Cancer from the Inside. The DVD Eat is included, for free, with the purchase of a copy of his book The R.A.V.E. diet and lifestyle book. If you don't have a lot of time to read then these DVD's are a must and what an education is to be had, on many levels, through these DVD's. Go for it...this is your life and that is what you have to lose or gain...it's all up to you. This is long but I know it can help to encourage. Thank you."
It does take a lot of understanding and commitment to eat a REALLY healthy diet, and go against the flow of "normal" society. Check the Doctor's names in her review, this lady is absolutely spot on.
This website may be of interest http://www.processedpeople.com
and check the video clips. I hope to get that within a weelk or so, along with the cancer video that I want to pass on to several friends.
Here are the kind of rewards you get if you do it properly:
So basically what the lady was trying to say is that even though we believe we're eating a healthy Diet things like milk, cheese, and other foods aren't really that good for us to begin with. And although my target goal with this fast is to lose weight I want it to be the start to a much healthier, longer live.
It's difficult to stay on a consistent path since I grew up in a very traditional Mexican household. Things like tortillas are a very common staple for almost every meal and as hard as it is I've cut them out of my diet completely. Thankfully I don't smoke or drink. It'll be even harder when I move in the Fall since I'm moving to continue college and with a limited amount of money eating right will probably be replaced with eating cheap (Ramen probably). That's what I'm really worried about. I don't want all of this knowledge, effort, and help from others to go down the drain. But seeing as how the California job market is suffering too much I'll need to squeeze every penny possible.
So in the end, when this fast is over and I switch over to working out and a healthier diet, what can be one way to obtain cheap organic foods without paying a bundle? How could I stay on track with a very limited budget and not compromise my health in the long run?
hi Lizzy Liz,
I have read this thread with interest. I just want to comment on your question about affording food when your situation changes somewhat.
This is also an issue for me as I am on an incredibly tight budget. What I discovered after fasting numerous times (and I hope you and anyone else fasting makes a similar discovery, too). There is really no room for "junk food" in the diet, and therefore in the grocery budget. If you make it a priority to buy and therefore eat only the things that are healthy for you, you may find it isn't all that bad money wise. I can typically load up on fruits and veg from the local farmer's market for around $15-20 a week, and that is everything I need for an entire week sometimes since i eat mostly raw food. I make this trip first, because these foods are the most important. I have come to terms that I can't always afford organic produce, so I limit that to the items that really seem to be most affected with pesticide, or difficult to clean, like certain berries and lettuce. I also know I can't afford to buy random coffees and special things out, as these things add up fast, and that money could be better spent on the staples your body really needs.
When I am in non-fast mode, and I find myself just wanting to indulge, or 'go cheap' or whatever, I will usually do a 24 hour fast, which seems to reset my thinking, remind me of the work I've done, and what my priorities are with eating in general. Bragg encourages a one day a week fast (I think? it has been a while since I read that book...but I am pretty sure that is encouraged). I find it is the perfect reset button for the week sometimes, though I don't do it all the time.
Try to shop carefully for the other things you need, grabbing sales when you can. I love Whole Foods 365 brand, it is pretty competitively priced, maybe try that? I guess the whole point is, even if you are a busy student, make some time to shop once a week because your refeeding and ongoing feeding is too important to "waste" all that work you've done through fasting by eating Ramen when things get busy. It is so easy to fall into that trap, too. I know!
(And if you are really into eating soups, please make your own...it is SO easy, and SO cheap and you control the salt, ingredients, etc.)
You asked: "So in the end, when this fast is over and I switch over to working out and a healthier diet, what can be one way to obtain cheap organic foods without paying a bundle? How could I stay on track with a very limited budget and not compromise my health in the long run?"
Grow your own food from seeds. If you buy the correct type of seeds (non hybrid), each plant will produce it's own seeds, which can be kept for years safely. That is a lifetime's supply of food in abundance, from one seed. Just add manure. The more manure, the healthier and stronger the plant. It doesn't cost anything to live on this planet you know, if we do it properly. But as you are well aware, we have things around us that pull us in the wrong direction.
This blog will help http://www.diseaseproof.com/
Gerry is always showing how he lives really cheaply, and the health benefits. Scroll down and you will see his "garbage tomato", and he finds great organic stiff on offer at his local shop when they are approaching the sell by date.
Here is where I buy my seeds http://www.realseeds.co.uk/
buy you will need somewhere in the US (or Mexico) that sells on hybrids. however slight problem, I am a useless gardener. It will take time. So I end up visiting my local market when I take my elderly neighbor shopping. Te market also sells tomato plants, they are hybrids though, but they'll do for a season.
At the market you can look around for the best bargains, and you soon get to know the traders, and they get to know you.
If you haven't got land, use window boxes or pots, tomatoes even grow in hanging baskets. If you are determined you will, they did in Cuba in the late 80s - see my blog entry titled Peak oil, porn and a black cat. For some reason that one gets twice as many hits than all the others. Check out the Cuba videos in it.
For workouts, try a shovel or spade or garden fork, or walk to the market ;)