[MightySunTzu]

Ok, we have reached 16.5 days and the fast continues to go well... still no nasty symptoms of any kind, not even a moment of heartburn.

As with each day leading to this one, i continue to hike, walk or bike 2 hours per day. Physical hunger remains absent and cravings in the past 3 days have diminished from what they were in the days leading to them... making the whole adventure proceed with even greater ease even than it had been . Mixed nuts remains my food of choice to whif on a little bit, even if cravings are well under control. I only do this on some nights once l settle in to sleep which is when any cravings, however slight, tend to arise. Enjoying the aroma of the nuts is a sensory delight, one which makes the day a better one .

I continue to feel well and keep wondering if a "healing crisis" will arise to make the fast "even a little bit difficult". Still dealing with the coated tongue (coated mouth is more accurate), most especially first thing in the morning and to a lesser extent throughout the day. At this point, 20+ days is looking like a near certainty, unless something exceedingly unexpected came up. As i said in the last post, it is primarily a matter of patience and also of enjoying each day immensely. I do still miss food, sometimes a lot, and i am very excited about getting to the point where i can enjoy it again, but it can definately wait. The benefits i achieve in this fast will be magnificent... so it is well worth the sacrifice.

I actually "dry fasted" (no water) for about 18-20 hours per day for 3 days then launched into a 40 hour dry fast which was very difficult for me. 20 hours seems to be what my body is happy with and i can do this comfortably, with only minor feelings of thirst in this time. I am confident my body's water reserves can handle this very nicely. However, in the 40 hour "fast within a fast", i was pretty thirsty the entire 2nd half. I took a couple of days to help assure i was fully rehydrated and now i will be back to drinking to thirst within a 4-6 hour window (surrounding my 2 hour period of exercise) and then dry fast the other 18-20 hours per day for each remaining day of this fast. My "thirst" is demanding about 6-8 cups and this would be considerably less without 2 hours of walking.

No more bowel activity since day 10 and 11, but that's ok and to be expected.

Weight Log at 16.5 days:

Scale weight and "estimated real weight" upon start of fast: 192
Scale weight today: 164.75
Overall weight loss: (which still still still means nothing to me ): 27.25
Estimated real weight today: 178.6
Estimated real weight loss (fat loss): 13.4
Estimated temporary weight loss incl. water, intestinal content and other (i consider the small amount of protein i am losing to be temporary as well, expecting to put back double that amount within a very short time upon refeeding with a newly rejuvenated supercharged body): 13.85

Note that this 13.85 pounds of temporary loss will most assuredly be back on my body within 2-3 weeks of breaking the fast.

Feeling pretty great. Next mini goal is 20 days which i am very excited about.