My 40 day water fast

[greentara]

Hi there!

Today I begin my 40 day waterfast. This blog will hold me accountable.

When I mention being accountable there are several things I would like to achieve during this fast aside from the abstinence of food.

To any of the modern day slaves, please refrain from discouraging me by making ill-informed posts. I am posting here as I have found some of the members both educated and inspiring.

A few facts before I go on.

I have completed a 21 day waterfast before.
I am very committed to yoga
I have thoroughly researched waterfasting including Shelton's research and that of several other websites such as fast.ws and the ultimate diet.

Okay so let us get started on what I would like to achieve:

1. Detachment from my deeply seated emotional attachment to food. I am not obese. I can however afford to lose at least 30 pounts of my 5"11 frame.
I do, however realise that I have an emotional addiction to food, which results in overeating - albeit healthy foods, is not the point. And it often leads to binging and abdominal pain. I discovered this addiction after my last fast through which I was able to get rid of my addiction to nicotine and coffee - which had previously been masking my food binging.

2. I broke my last fast incorrectly. Not entirely, but it could have been done better. I should have stayed on the thing longer, but I was forced/ allowed myself to break the fast due to emotional concerns with a house guest who had come to visit. The point is, these fasts are amazing experiences and while support is important, the solo adventure is what makes it all possible, peoples attitudes in the form of energy can be very sabotaging to the outcome. The long and short of it is - only open minded people who understand you well need know. This forum Is different. I need it to document my progress. So this time I will be very concentrated on ending the fast correctly. It is one day ofr every four that is to be dedicated to breaking. So that is basically breaking it in my case for two weeks in a juice fast before solids.

3. Meditation. I am also doing this 40 day fast for further spiritual enlightenment. I got some pretty amazing glimpses on that last extended fast and now I am a lot cleaner, this fast will be pretty, beautifully mind blowing - I'm excited. I shall be learning how to deeply meditate as part of this 40 day fast.

The affects of my last fast were nothing short of magical. It is for this reason that I was so disappointed to end the fast sooner than I had intended (30 days).

So far the mental OMM (universal voice) aspect is getting to me and so I have to go to bed, even though I am not tired. Some crazy voice in my head keeps telling me to "eat cous cous" since it is the only thing left in the cupboard. I have been trying to get onto this fast for almost a month ( it is so important to me!) - i have managed one 7 day and one 5 day - neither are any good in my book as the real strength doe snot happen until week two. Today - I start, No slips!

More tomorrow - mahalo!

[funchy]

What goal to do you hope to achieve by starving yourself?

I hope you're working closely with a doctor, and that he's informed you of the damage that may occur to muscles, kidneys, and organs.

I had a friend who was anorexic and she'd go for periods pretty much not eating. She just died last winter, all of about age 40, in her sleep suddenly. The organ damage finally caught up with her. She appeared to be in good health otherwise, didn't drink or use drugs, was active, and seemed happy. She just laid down one night and went to sleep but didn't wake up.

[3GoodDogs]

Greentara, best of luck to you, and pay no attention to the naysayers. I have no idea why they cannot restrain themselves from raining on someone else's parade. I think you will learn a LOT of valuable stuff about yourself and our society. I will be following your effort. Hope you update frequently, especially about any mental revelations.

[ginkgo]

Originally Posted by funchy

What goal to do you hope to achieve by starving yourself?

I hope you're working closely with a doctor, and that he's informed you of the damage that may occur to muscles, kidneys, and organs.

I had a friend who was anorexic and she'd go for periods pretty much not eating. She just died last winter, all of about age 40, in her sleep suddenly. The organ damage finally caught up with her. She appeared to be in good health otherwise, didn't drink or use drugs, was active, and seemed happy. She just laid down one night and went to sleep but didn't wake up.

Here is quote from my webpage on fasting with quotes from 19 different MDs.

Hereward Carrington, M.D. wrote a book called Vitality, Fasting and Nutrition. He says "fasting is a scientific method of ridding the system of diseased tissues, and morbid matter, and is invariably accompanied by beneficial results....The whole secret is this: fasting commences with the omission of the first meal and ends with the return of natural hunger, while starvation only begins with the return of natural hunger and terminates in death."

[ginkgo]

When I first saw your post I was wondering if you have fasted before since 40 days is too long for someone who never fasted, unless it is supervised by a doctor. But since you fasted before for 21 days then it should be OK.

Fasting goes great with yoga. Morris Krok wrote books about yoga and fasting. It sounds like it may help to adopt a better diet after your fast. There is no need to call it a "water fast". By default, it is on water and if it is on juice then people call it a juice fast. At the beginning you can say that it is a fast on water for emphasis.

Here is my page on fasting with quotes from 19 different MDs: Fasting. One woman asked me if fasting was bad for people and I told her that it was healthy according to 19 different MDs on my site. So you can refer people to it who have strange ideas about fasting. The above response to funchy is one of the 19 quotes. Actually you may have already seen my site on fasting (Ultimate Diet). Or you may have seen the one where someone copied the page that I wrote and put it on their site and put the author as Dr Cott, who was one of the MDs that I quoted.

I do yoga and meditation. Also oddly enough I have just done 21 days of my 31 day fast which is posted on here. 31 Day Challenge-- No Food, Just Water-- Fasting

I used to be extremely psychologically addicted to food but it looks like I finally am not so addicted to food. Other fasts that I did I was always thinking about eating. With this fast that is not the case. I guess practice makes perfect. I also have more time for yoga and meditation while fasting. In fact I just realized that I do not have time for eating in my life.

Also Greentara sounds female. Are you a woman? Just curious since before me the last post about a fast was a man. I am Chuck as you can see on my Twitter profile. Go look at it. You should join Twitter. It has many yoga teachers on it and also yogis and yoginis. Also you can do searches for famous yogis like Ramakrishna, Yogananda, Vivekananda and read all the quotes by them on Twitter. You can follow the ones that you like and see their future quotes by famous yogis.

[greentara]

Originally Posted by 3GoodDogs

Greentara, best of luck to you, and pay no attention to the naysayers. I have no idea why they cannot restrain themselves from raining on someone else's parade. I think you will learn a LOT of valuable stuff about yourself and our society. I will be following your effort. Hope you update frequently, especially about any mental revelations.

Thank you for your support GoodDogs. I know from life experience - particularly during my last fast - that naystayers are usually insecure about their lack of knowledge or insecure about their own lack of will power. And quite often it's a combination of both. I have no intention of feeding their negative ill-informed projections (even less so when their examples are absurd and only serve to prove the author projecting them as ignorant).
When I tested out an 'openminded' girlfriend the other day. I said, " I'm going on another 'de-tox' tomorrow. And she said, "so what do you do?'. 'Oh I fast for 7 days' (no way was I going to say how long at this point). ' She says, 'What? That's insane!'. " My response (ever so calmly - I am a very chilled yet extremely direct person). ' Oh is it? Even though it is a practise conducted successfully for centuries. Your response tells me you don't have any idea what you are talking about'. Her response. ' You're right. I have no idea! How very judgemental and conventional. That was my ****. Sorry. I'm sure you know what you're doing'.

To any of the naystayers, if you actually care (which you don't, you ignorance clearly screams pretence veiled as care, you just like to see your post count increase and your little comment published - you're self absorbed and ignorant - the irony!), you would read up on the countless references there are for fasting. As it happens, my doctor knows I fast. I don't need to be constantly monitored as I am fit and healthy from the 'standard' medical point of view. I am not anorexic, or bulimic. But I did have a chronic addition to cigarettes, weed and coffee for some time. This addiction was emotional, and now I have successfully removed these toxins from my life (during my last fast I finally managed to say goodbye to cigarettes indefinitely - I will explain how I know this later on.) Fasting helps/forces you actually see the addiction in its many spheres, emotional, habitual, physical etc. The clarity and emotional evolution is nothing short of spectacular. It's similar to what happens when the hunger disappears - your senses clearly separate. You smell food and think, ' wow that smells great' but it does not trigger feelings hunger. In the opposite spectrum, You can smell a cigarette a street away. My friend wants me to come to her house next week to 'sniff' her wardrobes. She was told the tenant that stayed in her room while she was away did not smoke and does not believe them! Haha. But anyway. Point is, fasting is amazing if you know what you are doing and are doing it for the right reasons. A person with an eating disorder anorexia or bulimia should not fast, but that is obvious to an informed person. When I talk of emotional addition to food, I am referring to the same emotional addiction you will find 95% of the western population have (and certainly the naystayers of which I'm willing to put money on the possibility they are insecure, overweight and very unhappy with their lives and the lack of emotional control they have in it).

Basically what I a doing is admitting that while I am strong, I am not perfect I am very committed to being as enlightened as I can in this lifetime. I am committed to paying forward some beautiful karma to my next life. I am very curious and I am passionate about seeking information about the unknown, naturally. I am committed with conquering my weakness' in order to uncover more and repeat. In doing so I know I will be able to help others help themselves.

Even my very own mother supports what I am doing (And she is a retired medical practitioner). Sure she didn't know last time, but she now supports the evidence - the before and after. That is how far I have come spiritually, physically and mentally since discovering holistic healing and moreover, since I completed my last 21 day fast.

So for anyone who feels tempted to post some annoying, ignorant, ill-informed comment on here. Feel free, and feel the fool when I don't even so much as acknowledge your input. I have researched fasting for some time. I am not here to have your ill-informed, ego based arguments quashed.
Ask yourself? Are you greedy, lazy, a control freak, domineering?
Do you know anything about how corrupt the medical world /diet world is?
Think about it? If we all realised could heal ourselves of many ailments (both physical and mental), can you imagine what a spin that would put on the economy? Worse still the food industry? Imagine if everyone started to only buy organically, or worse still grew their own food? Imagine if millions less people dined out because they wanted to ensure the food they ate was healthful. There are so many more points and arguments to be made about what a cleansing fast can lead to in society, but the point is this: ultimately, a cleansing water fast if done for the right reasons leads to both spiritual and physical enlightenment and improves the community in which the faster habitats.

I am possibly wasting my time here, because ignorant readers would not have read this far... Or would they? I hope so. Because points like that, I bother typing in the hope that at least one person would open their mind up enough to research before making ill-informed comments.

Do you actually read any true, factual documentation before you go spouting off information that you heard from someone who heard had a friend...?
I find that boring and I prefer to concentrate on positive, uplifting information. So with that, I say to the naystayers, goodbye. No more comments will I invest in you. And I wish you well.

Positive thought patterns are what will change this world. It is in a shift right now - the world. And good positive thoughts, gestures and attempts at insight, sharing and open-mindedness is what will change it.

I am here because:

Writing about this helps me on my journey; both in times when I am weak and when I am strong.
Writing about it helps others (some not as strong in their communication skills who would otherwise be discouraged by the naystayers).
Writing about it allows other positive people like GoodDogs and Ginko reach out and offer support, information and advice.

And Ginko, in response.

Yes I am female.
Thank you for the references.
I have read your account of your waterfast as well. You make some very interesting comments and observations.
I'm not sure about the whole twitter thing, it does not really appeal. But maybe as the fast continues and I have less need for sleep my curiosity will be pealed.
I am confused what you are on about, regarding calling it a waterfast. That's what it is, and I will be breaking it with a juicefast. So, in essence the entire fast shall be for 54 days before I will begin on solid food again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DAY TWO:

I wake up and I'm excited. The first 24 hours is over and there is no more chatter in my head. The first 24 hours is the worst, because you are still digesting food, which makes your appetite stimulate, which in turn makes you 'think' about food and hunger, which is where the voices come in.

For me, the cupboards needed to be bare this time. I tried to get started on this fast about 5 times over the past week and always crashed into miso soup or cooked oats by midnight. Then I would overeat and think, 'oh I start the fast tomorrow, better give myself a good full tank'.

It's the overeating, not what I eat. I am not getting fat by my overeating. So do not misunderstand this. Actually on that note, since my last fast I have maintained a loss of 5 kgs. And I have been eating a lot - albeit a lot of healthy, easily digestible, mostly vegetarian food. I have realised I am better off with a vegan-like diet with seafood. So I guess a Japanese style diet.

Since I broke my last fast, I have wanted to understand how I may be stronger in my approach to how I think of food, how I digest it, how much time I take to prepare it and eat it. I have had a tendency for some time to eat too quickly. There are some guilt issues there, I think they may be from childhood and also an abusive relationship in my early adulthood and they are issues I would like to see if I may address here.

Today is a good day. I am excited. It is Day two. So now I have gotten through that 24 hour hurdle. I now just need to get through the next 7 days before I start to experience the real joy.

What I need to do each day.
Prepare hot water bottles. I have a big pot that I reheat the water in, to save it and not waste it. Hot water bottles are an essential comfort during a fast where your body temperature plummets. This time round, I will keep one wrapped up for the morning as I tend to kick them out of my bed by accident during the night.

Meditation. This one is harder than abstaining from food. I always fall asleep. Though I have a new Buddhist course in it now. One that forces you to learn yourself without props like canals and so forth.

Meditation is much easier to learn and achieve and able when fasting (This is why monks fast and also when not fasting, do not eat after 3pm).

This is the REAL day one I guess. And so the journey has begun!

Weight 194.00 LB. Height 182 CM

WATER FAST ESTIMATED FINISH DATE: 4 September. If REAL hunger returns before this date then I will break the water fast. Otherwise, I will wait until 4 September which is when I will break it with a two week juice fast and slowly incorporate solid foods back. The breaking of the fast will be the strongest, most interesting part. Very few people seem to bother documenting it. I promise I will!

[greentara]

Today I spoke with my yoga teacher. She informed me that she was so impressed with the improvements to my yoga practise since my last fast. This was very encouraging. I am due to start studying to be a yoga teacher again after having deferred just before my 21 day fast. I was experiencing some major emotional problems and had been spreading myself a bit thin with commitments. Now I have balanced this all out, I am ready to study with her again. Being on this fast in conjunction with yoga study should be magic; especially because I am not due to start for two weeks - it's after the first 10 days that you really get all the brain and body energy back, that's what I experienced anyway. And the more yoga i manage during fasting the better I feel. Yoga is a detoxification on its own. As is meditation. Which reminds me, I need to do my meditation session for today. I am writing a list of nice things to achieve each day. It will be my tick list.

Meditation on rising.
One hour walk first thing.
One yoga class.
A beauty routine eg pedicure/manicure/
Sunbathing.
Gardening/weeding/veggie patch/ worm farm.
Diary of thoughts.
One hour of house spring cleaning.
Read up on yoga notes.

[ginkgo]

In Dr Shelton's book on fasting, he uses the word "fasting" hundreds of times. He never calls it "water fasting". The same with other books on fasting. Maybe you were confused by the word default. But I see that is a computer science definition that I am using. Default-- 2. Computers: an instruction to a computer to select a particular option unless the user specifies otherwise.
3. by default: happening because something else has not happened: they gained a colony by default because no other European power wanted it.

Now if I wrote a book on walking I would not keep saying that it is about walking on my feet. For example "I went walking on my feet today." Then someone says just call it walking since it means by default, on your feet. Then I say that I should call it walking on my feet since that is what it is. Now if someone walks on their hands, then they would call it walking on my hands.

Another example is people do not say and labels do not say, "refined wheat." They call it wheat since it means refined wheat. If it is whole wheat then you call it whole wheat. That is the same with labels. If it does not say "whole wheat" then it is refined wheat.

It is the same with rice. People say "rice" and not "white rice" even though that is what it is. If it is brown rice then they say "brown rice." Same with labels. If it says "rice" then it is not brown rice.

So the cous cous you have is made of refined wheat. Refined wheat is not a whole grain and is bad for health. They do sell whole wheat cous cous that is a whole grain. And it will say under ingredients "whole wheat."

If you have a baby, should you bury it? No, because by default it means a live baby. If it were a dead baby then it would be called a dead baby. People do not say "I heard that you had a live baby." They just call it a baby.

Even the bible says that Jesus and Moses fasted for 40 days. It does not say that they water fasted for 40 days. I think that I will go take a walk on my feet now.

It is normal to fall asleep when people first start meditating because it is very relaxing. But it is good to get that sleep since you need it. After awhile you will be able to get all the sleep that you need while sleeping at night. But you can also say that insomnia is normal in America since most people have it.

But you have already come a very long way by giving up coffee, cigarettes and weed. On Twitter a woman, Stephanie, left a tweet saying that she was was giving up coffee, cigarettes and alcohol. Also for most Americans a 5 or 7 day fast would be an incredible feat (a notable achievement) for them.

[JSB]

What is the most beneficial element of the fast? Is it the caloric restriction or the removal of stress on the digestive system or something else?

I ask because I am considering trying a fast (perhaps a week to start) and I would like to continue taking some supplements and drinking a few cups of green tea per day, along with water(supplements include fish oil and organic, whole-food vitamins/minerals, for a total of 50 calories per day).

[Liveformx64]

Originally Posted by greentara

DAY TWO:

I wake up and I'm excited. The first 24 hours is over and there is no more chatter in my head. The first 24 hours is the worst, because you are still digesting food, which makes your appetite stimulate, which in turn makes you 'think' about food and hunger, which is where the voices come in.

For me, the cupboards needed to be bare this time. I tried to get started on this fast about 5 times over the past week and always crashed into miso soup or cooked oats by midnight. Then I would overeat and think, 'oh I start the fast tomorrow, better give myself a good full tank'.

It's the overeating, not what I eat. I am not getting fat by my overeating. So do not misunderstand this. Actually on that note, since my last fast I have maintained a loss of 5 kgs. And I have been eating a lot - albeit a lot of healthy, easily digestible, mostly vegetarian food. I have realised I am better off with a vegan-like diet with seafood. So I guess a Japanese style diet.

Since I broke my last fast, I have wanted to understand how I may be stronger in my approach to how I think of food, how I digest it, how much time I take to prepare it and eat it. I have had a tendency for some time to eat too quickly. There are some guilt issues there, I think they may be from childhood and also an abusive relationship in my early adulthood and they are issues I would like to see if I may address here.

Today is a good day. I am excited. It is Day two. So now I have gotten through that 24 hour hurdle. I now just need to get through the next 7 days before I start to experience the real joy.

What I need to do each day.
Prepare hot water bottles. I have a big pot that I reheat the water in, to save it and not waste it. Hot water bottles are an essential comfort during a fast where your body temperature plummets. This time round, I will keep one wrapped up for the morning as I tend to kick them out of my bed by accident during the night.

Meditation. This one is harder than abstaining from food. I always fall asleep. Though I have a new Buddhist course in it now. One that forces you to learn yourself without props like canals and so forth.

Meditation is much easier to learn and achieve and able when fasting (This is why monks fast and also when not fasting, do not eat after 3pm).

This is the REAL day one I guess. And so the journey has begun!

Weight 194.00 LB. Height 182 CM

WATER FAST ESTIMATED FINISH DATE: 4 September. If REAL hunger returns before this date then I will break the water fast. Otherwise, I will wait until 4 September which is when I will break it with a two week juice fast and slowly incorporate solid foods back. The breaking of the fast will be the strongest, most interesting part. Very few people seem to bother documenting it. I promise I will!

Good luck, and thank you for sharing on here. I will be watching your daily updates for inspiration and information.

A fast has been tugging on my heart strings for quite some time now, and the synchronicity of this is awesome.

[greentara]

Originally Posted by JSB

What is the most beneficial element of the fast? Is it the caloric restriction or the removal of stress on the digestive system or something else?

I ask because I am considering trying a fast (perhaps a week to start) and I would like to continue taking some supplements and drinking a few cups of green tea per day, along with water(supplements include fish oil and organic, whole-food vitamins/minerals, for a total of 50 calories per day).

Have you actually read my posts this far, or are you looking for a quick fix answer your your own questions? People fast for a multitude of reasons, and yes weight-loss AND digestive break are major ones. I would not tell you what to do here. I don't know your background, or reasons for wanting to fast. I am not an expert either and would never claim to be just because I am well read and have completed my own 'personal' fasts. I will say that though fasting is a good thing to do - YOU NEED TO KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING, it's not something you just 'try out' like a new diet. If you don't know what you are doing, it can be dangerous - in more ways than one. Arm yourself with information about "preparing for a fast", "conducting the fast", and possibly most importantly "ending the fast".

I also think that too many are looking for an answer that suits them, rather than the facts.

Instead, do your research with factual information.
The best place to find sample based facts is here :

Shelton: Fasting, Chapter 1

I wish you well.

[greentara]

Originally Posted by Liveformx64

Good luck, and thank you for sharing on here. I will be watching your daily updates for inspiration and information.

A fast has been tugging on my heart strings for quite some time now, and the synchronicity of this is awesome.

Thanks. It is comments like this that will encourage me to ensure I update daily.

I'm off to bed now ( I'm in Australia).

[lmtjumper]

i am embarking upon my first go with water fasting, though my plans for seven days hardly will compare in strenuousness to your 40 day trials. i am a 17-year-old recovering bulimic and so i find myself frequently discouraged by people from conducting such a detox. but i am actually aiming to funnel these seven days as a means of breaking myself from the emotional and routine attachment to binge-eating. as you know, with other addictions, the path to sobriety is also harsh and difficult, but i envy other addictions in the aspect that for most of them, breaking out of their routine entails dropping "cold turkey" their abused substance...whereas in the case of a bulimic, food cannot be permanently avoided obviously. so stopping my intake of food for seven days will presumably not only detox my body, but throw it into the state that a substance abuser experiences in the early steps to sobriety.

i have done quite a bit a research on the subject over the last two months, so i know both the bad and the terrible things to expect, but i also know that my body is in desperate need of a (perhaps harsh) cleanse.

i am really inspired by your enthusiasm and dedication towards your fast, and i intend to approach mine with as much of each as i can. i am really quite worried about the first day because in times that i have attempted to do a fast, by 4 or 5 in the afternoon i have been crouched into a ball having these shaking little withdrawal like pains.

i think my greatest means of preventing these this time is to drink greater amounts of water (i have the tendency to not want anything at all) and to occupy my mind with other subjects then what i am doing without...which is why i hope to find a little sanctuary here on this thread...

also, would you discourage going to the gym during my fasting period? i have always found a long run on the treadmill to be almost a spiritual experience for me, so in your experience with fasting, would you consider my continuing my routine runs (perhaps at a slower pace) alright, or something to be avoided during the fasting process? i would love to become more learned and practiced in meditational skills, but at the moment cardio is my only real physical discipline...

i guess i mainly just wanted to say thankyou, you are really so motivating, best of luck with your fast..though it doesn't sound like you need luck...though i sure do

[JSB]

Originally Posted by greentara

Have you actually read my posts this far, or are you looking for a quick fix answer your your own questions? People fast for a multitude of reasons, and yes weight-loss AND digestive break are major ones. I would not tell you what to do here. I don't know your background, or reasons for wanting to fast. I am not an expert either and would never claim to be just because I am well read and have completed my own 'personal' fasts. I will say that though fasting is a good thing to do - YOU NEED TO KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING, it's not something you just 'try out' like a new diet. If you don't know what you are doing, it can be dangerous - in more ways than one. Arm yourself with information about "preparing for a fast", "conducting the fast", and possibly most importantly "ending the fast".

I also think that too many are looking for an answer that suits them, rather than the facts.

Instead, do your research with factual information.
The best place to find sample based facts is here :

Shelton: Fasting, Chapter 1

I wish you well.

Thanks for the info & link.

[greentara]

Originally Posted by lmtjumper

i am really inspired by your enthusiasm and dedication towards your fast, and i intend to approach mine with as much of each as i can. i am really quite worried about the first day because in times that i have attempted to do a fast, by 4 or 5 in the afternoon i have been crouched into a ball having these shaking little withdrawal like pains.

i think my greatest means of preventing these this time is to drink greater amounts of water (i have the tendency to not want anything at all) and to occupy my mind with other subjects then what i am doing without...which is why i hope to find a little sanctuary here on this thread...

also, would you discourage going to the gym during my fasting period? i have always found a long run on the treadmill to be almost a spiritual experience for me, so in your experience with fasting, would you consider my continuing my routine runs (perhaps at a slower pace) alright, or something to be avoided during the fasting process? i would love to become more learned and practiced in meditational skills, but at the moment cardio is my only real physical discipline...

I am glad I have inspired you to consider ways to improve your health. I will admit though, based on what you have said here, some alarm bells have sounded. It would seem to me that you have not armed yourself with enough information.

1. 17 years of age is too young to be doing a fast of this nature without professional monitoring.

2. You are a recovering bulimic - it would be very dangerous for you to do a fast, which is why you are in a ball of pain by the afternoon. The more sick (there are many definitions of sick) the faster, the more difficult the fast.

Have you considered a raw food diet first? This may be the best step to take for you. Evidence shows that in the holistic world it has done wonders for recovering bulimics and anorexics. It helps with your relationship with food, while maintaining a healthy lean weight.

3. Hi energy Exercise is not recommended on a water fast. You won't be able to without passing out. A paced walk and light yoga are the most one should be able to manage if they were active before.

To be frank, your post indicates to me that really need to be seeking the guidance of a professional. If you had done your research you would have never asked me if you could do cardio on a water fast. I strongly recommend that you get some professional help with your journey. From what you have said, you are a long way away from being able to safely conduct a water fast for one day let alone 7. It's a long time! 40 days Is a long time too, but I am quite healthy, a yogi and extremely knowledgeable on the subject of fasting. I also have several friends and family who are quite aware of what I am doing and are checking in on me. I am also 33 years of age, my body is fully grown.

I do not recommend you do even a one day fast. Your body will not cope from what you have told me. Even if you had not told me of your illness - the fact that you are 17 is enough reason to be concerned about you doing an unsupervised fast, especially one for 7 days!

Some links that I strongly suggest you look at as they may help A LOT. PLEASE USE THEM!

Living and Raw Foods: The largest community on the internet for living and raw food information

Troubleshooting Problems in Raw-Food and Living-Foods Diets

We Like It Raw - Raw Food Goodness: Share Your Secrets Week

Best wishes.

[greentara]

Originally Posted by ginkgo

In Dr Shelton's book on fasting, he uses the word "fasting" hundreds of times.

Yes I have read Shelton's publications, as I have read many publications on water fasting or 'fasting'.

Okay, I see, you are quite into detailing the semantics of it all. That's fine - I respect that. It just confused me why you made a point of it. Personally, in the make up of casual blogs such as this, I don't see that it matters what one 'calls' it if they explain what they mean by what they are calling it or are doing. So I will call it water fasting and you can call it fasting. I will call a granny smith apple a granny smith apple and you can call it a green apple or an apple. It's not really why I am here mate, but you seem lovely so...

For a start, I am definitely doing a few things differently to what Shelton says for various reasons ( medical opinion, other expert faster's opinion, personal opinion)

1. I am drinking spring water. I believe from experts that I trust, Distilled water is no good. I'm not going to go into why. Look it up and form your own opinions. ( I used boiled and warm-room temp tap water last time - tap water in Australia is very clean but treated with fluoride - this time I want it clean but with minerals)

2. I am using a warm water enema. (faeces gets very interesting after you enter ketosis. I'll go into this another time)

3. I am taking some exercise: walks, yoga and study. (I didn't do exercise on my 21 day fast, but that one was much more brutal as I was giving up nicotine and coffee - it was also my first extended fast - exercise was difficult, I just did what i had to to get from a to b where necessary. I was not working full time either.

[ginkgo]

Originally Posted by greentara

Yes I have read Shelton's publications, as I have read many publications on water fasting or 'fasting'.

Okay, I see, you are quite into detailing the semantics of it all. That's fine - I respect that. It just confused me why you made a point of it. Personally, in the make up of casual blogs such as this, I don't see that it matters what one 'calls' it if they explain what they mean by what they are calling it or are doing. So I will call it water fasting and you can call it fasting. I will call a granny smith apple a granny smith apple and you can call it a green apple or an apple. It's not really why I am here mate, but you seem lovely so...

For a start, I am definitely doing a few things differently to what Shelton says for various reasons ( medical opinion, other expert faster's opinion, personal opinion)

1. I am drinking spring water. I believe from experts that I trust, Distilled water is no good. I'm not going to go into why. Look it up and form your own opinions. ( I used boiled and warm-room temp tap water last time - tap water in Australia is very clean but treated with fluoride - this time I want it clean but with minerals)

2. I am using a warm water enema. (faeces gets very interesting after you enter ketosis. I'll go into this another time)

G'day Mate,

It is a waste of space and words to continually say water fast. Now I um not sying U write like this to save space. Joel Fuhrman MD is recognized as the leading expert in the U.S. on fasting and he uses distilled spring water. See my page on pure drinking water. Did you know that legally (in the U.S.) you can put tap water into a jug and call it spring water. Yes that is semantics just putting putting "organic" on a label is semantics.

Dr. Joel Fuhrman (according wikipedia): "is an American author and board-certified family physician who specializes in nutritionally-based treatments for obesity and chronic disease."

"Fuhrman is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine [first school of medicine in country & one of the top ten] and is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Health Association. He serves on the Advisory Panel of The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, as well as on the medical staff of Hunterdon Medical Center in Flemington, New Jersey, where he specializes in nutritional medicine."

"Fuhrman is the author of six books. He has appeared on radio and television shows including: ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CNN, CBN,[2] The Today Show, Good Morning America, Discovery Channel,[3] TV Food Network, CNBC and XM Radio." He studied fasting under Shelton.

"Fuhrman advocates fasting (under qualified medical supervision) as a therapeutic modality for many chronic diseases for which conventional medicine would offer only palliative, if not harmful, treatment with drugs and surgery. His book Fasting and Eating for Health reports recoveries via fasting from ailments that were considered intractable."

This book, Amazon.com: Fasting and Eating for Health: A Medical Doctor's Program for Conquering Disease: Joel Fuhrman, Neal D. Barnard: Books , has in it the following:

"Dr. Fuhrman's powerful and practical guidelines apply for conditions ranging from the common cold to serious heart problems. This program provides an alternative to the costly and all-to-common side effects of sugery and drugs."--Andrew Nicholson, M.D., Director of Preventive Medicine, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine."

"This is where the future of medicine should be heading."--Ronald Cridland, M.D."

"This is neither alternative medicine nor conservative medicine, but rather progressive medicine. Dr. Fuhrman's approach offers individuals suffering from [chronic] diseases the only real chance for a meaningful cure. I have been fortunate to observe many of these outcomes firsthand and can testify to the power of this approach for certain diseases."--James Craner, M.D., M.P.H. [Masters in Public Health]"

"Dr. Fuhrman's book is revolutionary. It shows clearly and unmistakably the way to recover health, and could change the prevailing way of treating disease."--Theodore Coumentakis, M.D."

"If you are lucky, you will read Dr. Furhman's book before you have subjected yourself to medications and medical procedures. This book is for those who want to take charge over their health and well-being, and for those who want to embark on a journey toward a more satisfying life."--Don Jeret, M.D."

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor so I cannot give medical advice. I am not a lawyer so I cannot give legal advice. The above quotes are allowed on this site due to the fair use rule of copyright.

I took an enema on the 7th day of my fast since I needed it. Or actually a few in a row. Besides that page explaining about pure water, I also have a page on enemas and how to do it. Dr Shelton fasted 40,000 patients, and the first 6,000 he gave enemas to.

[3GoodDogs]

Greentara, I think you are doing a great thing by chronicling your feelings and experiences. Those of us who have never done a strict water fast will know what to expect when we get to it. Thanks!!

[Salivanth]

Wow: I've never heard of a water fast. I was going to post my concern, but after reading the entire thread, you definitely know what you're doing in my opinion. I'm not intending to try this in the near future, but I'll be following along! Thanks for documenting it. It should become a good reference for people wanting to attempt a water fast.

[greentara]

Originally Posted by ginkgo

Joel Fuhrman MD is recognized as the leading expert in the U.S. on fasting and he uses distilled spring water.

And I am very familiar with Fuhrman. I am very familiar with a LOT of fasting publications. I read EVERYTHING I can. I then discuss with people I physically know who are in the medicine/science/holistic practise. And by then I have made an informed opinion on what would work for me. When I don't agree on all the 'opinions' (rather than scientific facts) regarding certain aspects of fasting (enemas, water type, exercise), I am relating them to ME and my personal experience, because I know MY body very well.

I know you mean well, but I didn't open this thread to open up huge discussions about semantics. This is my thread about my journey. I am not wishing to be here to PROVE anything to people. I am here to share my experience.

I see an error with what you have mentioned and at the risk of getting another 20 page essay from you on this personal water fasting journey thread of mine, I will define the difference between certain common drinking water.

My dear, There.is.no.such.thing.as.DISTILLED.SPRING.WATER.

I'm assuming you made a typo there or else America has some very different scientific explanation for how H20 is treated.

Distilled Water. The impurities in this water are removed through the process of distillation, which is boiling the water and leaving the impurities behind. The water is boiled to a steam and then condensed back to water. Distilled water has had some criticism though because while the impurities are removed during boiling also are minerals that are important to a person's dietary intake. These missing minerals include calcium, sodium and magnesium. It also lacks fluoride which is important to keeping your teeth healthy and ward off cavities. Despite the lack of minerals it isn't uncommon to drink distilled water. It is best used to make coffee and tea because it is free of the mineral flavour.

Spring Water. Unlike distilled water spring water contains minerals important to one's dietary intake. The water is bottled by tapping the underground source at the spring. Hence the name spring water. It is naturally filtered. This water is also good for coffee and tea because of its quality taste. The price of spring water can vary depending on the location of the spring.

Mineral Water. Mineral water contains a variety of minerals including iron, potassium, magnesium, silica and chromium. The minerals can also change the taste of the water. You may notice there is sometimes a difference in tastes between various brands of mineral water. After the water is collected at its source additional minerals can't be added.

Drinking Water. The term drinking water means that is meant for humans to drink. There are various methods the water can be prepared including distillation. Drinking water meets the standards for consumption including being calorie-free and no added sweeteners. It may have fewer minerals than spring or mineral water.

So in summary, I drink spring water because it's clean and keeps me with the minerals and electrolytes I need to keep me well. I believe the detoxification is more beneficial this way. And I believe distilled water is no good - regardless of what Fuhrman or Shelton have to say on it. They also believe a lot of things that other experts don't. And I'm not about to have an argument on here about facts like "distilled water being stripped of minerals and having adverse affects on one's health". I didn't start this thread to spend hours explaining my opinions. I started it to document my journey and feelings during the journey .

Okay. Now my darling Gingko, please don't get all needlessly 20 page essay on my thread (But feel free, of course to do it on yours). If you want to read more about this here is quite a good extract of an article on it:

Early Death Comes from Drinking Distilled Water

[greentara]

Originally Posted by 3GoodDogs

Greentara, I think you are doing a great thing by chronicling your feelings and experiences. Those of us who have never done a strict water fast will know what to expect when we get to it. Thanks!!

Originally Posted by Salivanth

Wow: I've never heard of a water fast. I was going to post my concern, but after reading the entire thread, you definitely know what you're doing in my opinion. I'm not intending to try this in the near future, but I'll be following along! Thanks for documenting it. It should become a good reference for people wanting to attempt a water fast.

Aloha to both of you! how are you today? Thanks for the supportive comments, it really is appreciated and one of the main reasons I felt it necessary to blog my experience. When I was first fasting there was very little info in the way of personal blogs of the experience on an extended water fast (more than 7 days).

Gooddogs - I will make sure my 'feelings' blog is done each day. While it helps you, it helps me too. It's a good reminder of what I am doing and more importantly - why. And the 'why' part evolves every day - That in itself is a major part of the magic of fasting.

Salivanth - It's so important to reserve as much judgement as possible on subjects one is factually uninformed about - so we have space in our heads and hearts to become informed. I respect that you have acknowledged that.

Okay, I have a few things to do and then I will update you all on my Day three progress. I may do two instalments today if I have time. One this afternoon and one before bed ( after my favourite yoga class of the week!.

[greentara]

Okay so I didn't get to bed until the wee hours of the morning, about 4am. At this point I felt wide awake and considered just staying up to go to the 630am yoga class. I decided it would be better to just listen to my Buddhist meditation tapes instead - and boy was I awake, I nearly listened to the end of the CD. I do believe they help with an extended sleep if one is restless during fasting. I had my concerns about not sleeping much this time round, since I am quite healthy in comparison to all the toxins that needed to be outed last time.

When I tried to do this fast a few weeks ago and got to day seven, it was my legs that were getting to me. The problem would go away for a while if I did yoga or went for a walk, but basically they feel heavy as logs, especially in the calves. This is because the legs accumulate the most toxins as so they work the hardest during the detox being the body's largest muscle. It can be quite off putting to someone as physical as me. So one night I decided to dilute some cayenne pepper. Big mistake! Though it helped a bit with my legs, It also had my appetite return within 24 hours. The next night when I took more, I soon wanted to eat, and suddenly - I was! And far too much! I was on the couch holding my stomach! Mind chitter =chatter! Only compounding both my need to do this properly and prepared, from beginning to end.

During my 21 day fast I also got aches midway under my right rib cage and left lumbar. Because it was at about day 18 I decided to see my osteopath for a cranial osteopathic treatment. and just like that, it was gone. He's amazing - I didn't even tell him where the pain was, he just worked his magic and moved the fluid. By the next day, there was no sign of it, the toxic fluids obviously made their way out.

I woke today, happy with a strange dream of playing tennis going on in my mind - more on that later. And except for heavy legs, getting up and getting into the day was easy. I got up several times in the night to urinate of course. Weight 192.00.
The other thing I love about fasting is the lucid dreams. I have very 'living' dreams at the best of times, so this fast should be very interesting in that respect.

I had an inspiring chat with my yoga teacher today and I am back at school next Thursday, which is plenty of time to get over the first 10 day (possible blues) of fasting. I also spoke with the place where I do massage therapy and they don't need me back for at least another week as well, so all is clear to focus on this great new challenge.

It's amazing how much energy is used to digest - Just three days in and it's like my body has gone, " well thank you - finally! thank you very much - now we can get along again and finish what we started, lets get it all in order and really evolve shall we?' okay then.

[Creative]

Your posts are fascinating- I wish you luck. It is brilliant as you have researched everything and know what you are doing. I have only fasted for one day, but I do eat a very healthy diet. I think I shall give fasting a go in the future (perhaps a weekend fast) just to detox.

However at the moment my weight is quite low as it is and I don't think I am mentally there yet. Maybe next year? I cannot even imagine going seven days without food!

[ginkgo]

Greentara said "My dear, There.is.no.such.thing.as.DISTILLED.SPRING.WATER."

It is no mistake. I had never heard of it before so Fuhrman invented it. Have you heard of the nutritarian diet. It did not exist, but if you search it, then you will see Fuhrman invented it since a vegan diet could be mostly crackers, jelly beans and pretzels.

But as soon as I read what Fuhrman uses I knew what it was. He wants the water so pure that he buys spring water from a spring that is relatively clean and then he distills it instead of taking tap water.

I used to be a chemist. Do you know what water chemists use in their experiments. They use triple distilled water. You distill it and then take that distilled water and distill it again and distill it again. My link explained the different types of water so there was no need for you to do that.

Many feel the way you do about water. That is why I am going to write an article about drinking tea instead of water. You can take the distilled pure water and make tea and then it will have plenty of minerals and 4,000 chemical compounds, but none of the pollutants in spring water.

But this is not as important to you as it is to Americans since your water has a lot less pollution in the land down under. But here all the water has lots of pollutants including the medicines people take.

The spring water does have minerals in it from animals urinating in it and from dirt. Plus the pollutants depending on where you live. Now nature creates distilled water. Did you know that? It is called rain water and it has no minerals in it.

Biology teaches that animals consume foods and plants create foods out of non-foods like water, air, sunlight and minerals. So animals were meant to get their minerals from food like tea, instead of water. Also there is a difference between the iron in a nail and the iron in spinach that I did describe in another thread.

Now if I wanted to I could beat the chemists and Fuhrman in pure water. The inflexibility in your mind was probably from cigarettes and weed. That is what kept you from figuring out what distilled spring water could be. I could invent triple distilled spring water. Now you can figure out what that would be. Could you beat that? Yes with quadruple distilled water.

You learn in chemistry that nothing is 100% pure. But some things are 99.9% pure and some things are 99.99999999999999999999999% pure.

[ginkgo]

A Google search for "distilled Spring water" shows the following on just the first page:

#
River Sage Soap Co.
Fine ingredients include: Italian pomace olive oil, pure coconut oil, palm oil, jojoba oil, sweet almond oil, distilled spring water, and bay essential oil ...
riversagesoap.com/ - Cached - Similar -
#
International Bottled Water Association: Statistics
Shenandoah Distilled Spring Water Click here to obtain water quality information about Shenandoah Distilled Spring Water Shenandoah Spring Water Click here ...
International Bottled Water Association: Statistics - Cached - Similar -
#
cart32
Oct 1, 2005 ... Glacier Mountain Spring Water Co., Inc. - product line includes bottled and distilled spring water. Also offers water cooler sales and ...
cart32 - Cached - Similar -
#
Pure Distilled Spring Water at WebVitamins
Pure Distilled Spring Water. Distilled water is considered one of the most pure forms of water although it is not highly recommended for drinking. ...
https://www.webvitamins.com/Nutrient.aspx?id=4193 - Cached - Similar -
#
Amazon.com: Manetti Roberts Acqua Distillate Alle Rose (Distilled ...
... or colorants and are designed to give the skin a pleasant fresh scent. Created with pure essential oil of Rosa Centifolia and distilled spring water ...
http://www.amazon.com/Manetti-Robert....../B000O8SQJ0 - Cached - Similar -
#
Poland Springs Distilled Spring Water 1 Gallon at FoodServiceDirect!
Poland Springs Distilled Spring Water, 1 Gallon -- 6 per case.
http://www.foodservicedirect.com/......r-1-Gallon.htm - Cached - Similar -
#
Pure Drinking Water. Pure Water for Best Health
Joel Fuhrman, MD, has been fasting people on only water for 3 decades. He uses distilled spring water. This is very pure drinking water. ...
Pure Drinking Water. Pure Water for Best Health - Cached - Similar -
#
water - Kitchen Dictionary - Recipezaar
How to select: Water comes in a many forms: distilled, spring water and tap (or municipal) water. Usually, you can get it right out of your faucet in your ...
water - Kitchen Dictionary - Recipezaar - Cached - Similar -
#
Minnesota medicine - Google Books Result
by Minnesota Medical Association - 1920 - Medical
This is then followed by a rapid rinsing first with ordinary distilled water and then with distilled spring water. If this procedure be carried out on new ...
books.google.com/books?id=ZCMCAAAAYAAJ... -
#
Brand Names < Drinking Water < Shopping in the Yahoo! Directory
Product line includes bottled and distilled spring water. Also offers water cooler sales and rentals. www.glaciermountain.com; Glacier Water ...

I use reverse osmosis purified water. Do they have that in Australia? The distiller copies how rain water is made and the R/O purifier copies what the kidneys do with its semi-permeable membrane.

[greentara]

Gingko again with the semantics! And shame on you for taking google listings as gospel. I do not believe that there is such a thing as distilled spring water. Distilled mineral water perhaps, which is just a fancy name for mineral water really.

Mate, I am not keen to spend time discussing semantics with you every time I come online. I am using this blog to discuss my journey and experience with my 40 day fast. Call that inflexibility due to having once smoked cigarettes etc if you like, make your judgements, I don't really mind. All you are doing is using the personal information I shared to project your views on someone who happens to disagree with your opinion or questionable marketers references. As far as I know, Fuhrman is not god. Anyway, cheers.

[greentara]

Originally Posted by Creative

Your posts are fascinating- I wish you luck. It is brilliant as you have researched everything and know what you are doing. I have only fasted for one day, but I do eat a very healthy diet. I think I shall give fasting a go in the future (perhaps a weekend fast) just to detox.

However at the moment my weight is quite low as it is and I don't think I am mentally there yet. Maybe next year? I cannot even imagine going seven days without food!

Thanks. I'll update today's feelings and thoughts a little later on. I was going to do it just now but I think I will watch a movie instead. It's cheap Tuesday night at the movie shop and I indulged in lots of new ones - in case I have another alert night - that need to be returned tomorrow.

[kimberleee]

The Buddha did the same thing...

"Siddhartha and a group of five companions led by Kaundinya then set out to take their austerities even further. They tried to find enlightenment through near total deprivation of worldly goods, including food, practicing self-mortification. After nearly starving himself to death by restricting his food intake to around a leaf or nut per day, he collapsed in a river while bathing and almost drowned. Siddhartha began to reconsider his path. Then, he remembered a moment in childhood in which he had been watching his father start the season's plowing, and he had fallen into a naturally concentrated and focused state that was blissful and refreshing, the jhana.
After asceticism and concentrating on meditation and Anapana-sati (awareness of breathing in and out), Siddhartha is said to have discovered what Buddhists call the Middle Way—a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification."

Gautama Buddha - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

...And then he discovered that starving himself to death was NOT the way to Enlightenment.

[ginkgo]

Originally Posted by kimberleee

The Buddha did the same thing...

"Siddhartha and a group of five companions led by Kaundinya then set out to take their austerities even further. They tried to find enlightenment through near total deprivation of worldly goods, including food, practicing self-mortification. After nearly starving himself to death by restricting his food intake to around a leaf or nut per day, he collapsed in a river while bathing and almost drowned. Siddhartha began to reconsider his path. Then, he remembered a moment in childhood in which he had been watching his father start the season's plowing, and he had fallen into a naturally concentrated and focused state that was blissful and refreshing, the jhana.
After asceticism and concentrating on meditation and Anapana-sati (awareness of breathing in and out), Siddhartha is said to have discovered what Buddhists call the Middle Way—a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification."

Gautama Buddha - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

...And then he discovered that starving himself to death was NOT the way to Enlightenment.

Before Jesus preached to anyone or performed any miracles, he fasted for 40 days first. The devil tried to stop him and he said "Get thee behind me Satan." A fast is for a certain length of time. I know a great deal about Buddha. See my Twitter page for a quote by Him.

Fasting is not trying to live off a nut and leaf for the rest of your life. That is austerity or torturing yourself which was popular in India. Self-mortification-- Voluntary self-punishment in order to atone for some wrongdoing. Food was just one of the things Buddha denied himself of according to your post. If Greentara is watching a movie, like she said, that is not self-mortification.

Here is the last post I made on Twitter 2 days ago: FEAR: False Expectations Appearing Real. The whole secret of existence is to have no fear--Buddha. Where fear is, happiness is not--Seneca (Roman philosopher).

[greentara]

Originally Posted by kimberleee

...And then he discovered that starving himself to death was NOT the way to Enlightenment.

Well it's a good thing that I am 'fasting' and not 'starving'.

Perhaps you may look up 'water fasting' on your 'beloved. factual, reliable' Wikipedia. And while you're at it, have a look up where they get their information from as well and why universities reject it as a source of factual, well researched information. You claim to study Buddhism ay? The mind boggles.