Re: hey guys! just need a bit of advice if ye dont mind.. Would love to read Chris' viewpoint.

"Well, 'mighty' this is an additional nonsense from you. Just because you went through 36 days fast without any problems doesn't mean that is safe for everyone. And just because you read a book or two on this topic doesn't make you 'expert' either.

Every fast over 20 days should be supervised especially if person is not overweight. And being skeleton look like is not a figure of speech.

How would you feel if your daughter is in question and some 'expert' is telling her to go on with fast because being skeleton is just a 'figure of speech'.

Maybe her 'poor' father is right, maybe she will develop anorexia, but geee that is not your problem, isn't it?"

Hi Nothingbutwater,

More nonsense for you to follow:

I'm afraid you are completely misunderstanding me. When i say that "skeletal" is mentioned as figure of speech, what i mean is that people don't actually look like a skeleton, it is an exaggerated expression. If i had made a post at 29 days describing how my visiting mother and brother and friends perceived my thinness, and how i reminded them of a concentration camp victim (definate exaggeration on their part), i expect you would have had a strong emotional reaction and would have been recommending that i stop fasting immediately with the utmost of urgency.  Instead i ended up going to 36.5 days, everything was fine and 21 days later i no longer looked too thin.  Another factor is that a large percentage of peoples' idea of "normal" in the United States seems to be about 20 pounds overweight.  If a person is at their ideal weight, most will already think them too thin. 

But as Chiron has mentioned, looking overly thin is what happens in a long fast unless we were significantly overweight when we started. If somebody truly was underweight at the start, i completely agree with what Braindamage said about putting on some healthy weight before commencing a fast as is his plan for himself. From what Kara has stated, i don't believe she was describing such a situation.

We need to be every bit as concerned for something going wrong in a fast if we are overweight as we could reach a dangerously low level of a mineral or vitamin. Having extra fat does not in any way guarantee against this and it would be wise to not allow ample body fat to create a false sense of security.

I'm not saying there is zero risk, but Kara is an adult and has decided to take the same risk that i and Chiron and many others have taken in undergoing a long fast without supervision and she is no more or no less at risk than we were.