Re: Day 7 of my water fast and have some questions...

Hi there,

Congratulations on making it to day 7. Your back-aches are likely due to toxins in that area being stirred up and removed.

Your questions...

1. Generally the body won't enter it's healing phase until much later in the fast. The first 1-2 weeks you're mainly just detoxing (of course, this will allow you to better heal afterwards as long as your post-fast lifestyle is healthy). The longer a fast goes the deeper the healing and cleansing. Where a 20 day fast will produce better results than two 10 day fast at seperate times.

2. Yes, the metabolism does drop during a fast. The longer the fast goes the lower your metabolism will drop, but don't worry. After breaking the fast the body will right itself in due time, there's no need to do anything to make it jump start the process. Just be patient. You won't need as much food after the fast is broken, and should start off with light exercises during the later days of refeeding. Remember your body is in a resting state on the fast, you don't want to push it by trying to rev up your metabolism right after, taking it from one extreme to the other is bad. Give it time.

3. Your refeed plan sounds good for the first few days, but you may want to hold off on nuts. Introduce salads by themselves first, then add cooked vegetables or soups. These foods contain the most nutrients and are easiest to digest after fruits. Just remember to chew your foods slow and not to overeat, you won't be needing much and don't want to push your resting digestive system too hard. Tweet