Re: Day 19, plateau?

"Thank you, Mighty!
I am grateful for such good info and your experience on this. I'm about 8 pounds shy of what I consider my ideal weight for longevity. I think I've lost about 20 pounds so far since starting the fast. I am looking forward to that day 30."

hey healthierguts, you're welcome :). Congratulations, it sounds like you are doing great.

"Today I decided that I shouldn't worry too much about refeeding gains as long as I stay true to the refeeding plans I have spent a lot of time reading about."

This sounds like a truly sensible plan :).

"I wonder if you experienced increased fatigue at this stage as well."

Well i was mostly laying down so i was detoxing maximally and i felt fatigue most of the time when i tried to do anything that didn't include staying in bed :).

"And did you experience the return of 'true hunger' and end any of your fasts based on this? If so, how did you know it was true hunger?"

In my first long fast which ended about 16 months ago i reached true hunger at 29 days, 16 hours and i fought it for 8 more hours to hit 30 days. My goal in each subsequent fast was a repeat of that experience, but it hasn't happened again... not yet. I'm sure i began to run low on some nutrient because i had fat stores to continue. Also i believe i ran out earlier than might otherwise have been the case because in that particular fast i was brisk walking 2 hours per day before becomming convinced that resting profoundly is the best way to go and embracing that idea in each fast since.

How i knew i reached genuine hunger (what a shocker when it happened) is that it wasn't like any kind of hunger i had ever experienced before or since. Truly my body was SCREAMING for food. It was a ferocious, all encompassing DEMAND to eat and it never diminished even for a minute. Resisting food for 29 days and 16 hours was very easy compared to resisting it for these final 8 hours.

"I still feel that I am experiencing detox symptoms. I still have some back pain and mouth/tongue cleansing effects. I am tired and somewhat irritable. This is normal too, I believe."

Yes i agree that it's all normal stuff. As to the irritability, I'd say your body would love to be laying down resting in peace and quiet, but is perturbed at having to get up and do stuff with so little energy... so irritability is a natural consequence. It would be nice to have no responsibilities while fasting, but as in your case this is so often not possible.

"So....10 more days for me. Let's hope they fly by!
Thanks again for your encouraging words.
:)"

Yes that would be great! You are so welcome, happy to be of help. :)  Great job.  Wishing you all the best and curious to see how each day goes from here :).