This is probably not what you want to hear

...but you'll give my post a read anyway.

Like you, I saw fasting as a way to reset myself. I figured I'd emerge from the fast as a new person, someone who could control herself and get into a healthy lifestyle after a bad past. You want to hit two goals in one go: break ties with your cravings and beat that candida. I've read the messages, I get the enthusiasm. I was like that too.

Then I broke my fast. The first day my stomach was like a bear slowly waking up from hibernation. I got by with sipping OJ. Then the trouble started. I got really bad cravings. Really bad. So I caved and ate. I hadn't eaten for all those days, so what harm was a little bit of this and that going to do? A little bit of this and that turned out to be a LOT. So I felt miserable, shitty and guilty. What to do? Get back on the fast? It's tempting, isn't it? You'll vow that you'll do better next time.

Chances are you're a normal human being of flesh and blood and you won't. Like me. Sorry, this is not what you want to hear. You want me to tell you that ofcourse fasting will help you gain control of those cravings.

I say: the damage is done. To make sure you don't end up miserable and 20 pounds heavier like I did back then, try to gain control by easing back into food slowly like you would if you'd broken your fast the correct way. There are a lot of good threads around with manuals how to break your fast properly. You have broken your fast badly, but don't feel discouraged. There's still hope.

Since you have food in you right now, a flush, cleanse or whatever won't undo it. Just like laxatives don't make you digest foods quicker. Going cold turkey again by fasting isn't a good idea. The food will rot inside your body because your body will be brought back into a state of ketosis. Talk about being toxic.

I get that when reading about fasting, is like reading about the best thing since sliced bread. Nobody ever talks about the downside of it. One thing is your metabolism. It slows down. It can take months to return to normal. That's why breaking the fast is more important than the fast itself. The way you break it determines the benefits you get from it.

Also fasting doesn't change your mindset. Breaking the fast is like a hard test and only people who are armed with healthy routine that has been branded into their brains will end it well. An experienced waterfaster like "High On Water" on the forum is one of the few that I know of who have successfully fasted.

I think the best thing for you to do is to set up a healthy eating pattern to fall back on. You even had cravings during the fast, so it's clear these need to be controlled first before you can take a stab again at fasting. Don't be too ambitious. There's a reason you're still battling these issues. It's because if there was an easy solution, you would have found it by now.

If you don't believe me, take a look at the forum posts, weed out the one timers and look for the long, day by day updated fasts. How many of these people broke their fast the right way? The ones that do usually post about their experiences. The ones that don't mysteriously disappear or they show up after a few months attempting the same thing again.

I might sound harsh but this has been my experience. Others might disagree so it's up to you to choose who's advice to follow.
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