1 month long Water Fast

[Samson]

So it is the beginning of a new month and I figure its about time to start this fast.

I tried water fasting twice last month but I could never last more than 4 days. My resolve always weakened and I gave up.

I believe this time will be different cause I am now relying on a community of people out here for support. Even if it is just online I think it will be a lot easier to do if I am not alone.

So I weighed my self this Afternoon and I am 275.1 lbs

I plan on updating this at least once a day with my weight, thoughts, and struggles...

I thank you guys in advance for your support

[mikej]

i've always wanted to do a water fast but only for a week or two. never got round to doing it unfortunately.

anyway good luck, should be interesting following your progress.

[neilpage]

Just water? all month long?
Here I am for support... I to need to fast.
The longest time without food for me is 4 days and thats with drugs induced.
What gives?
a whole month without food? Is it possitble? Human to go without food for 30 days?

[Samson]

Originally Posted by neilpage

a whole month without food? Is it possitble? Human to go without food for 30 days?

I am pretty sure it is possible I heard of people going 40 days

[Samson]

So one of the things that will make this fast so difficult is the fact I am a delivery driver for a takeout/sushi restaurant. I am literally surround by food all day and even when I am not fasting I can smell it pretty strongly.

Also I am offered free food very often. Like today they made a mistake with someone delivery and put twice as much as they order and my boss just told me to keep it and enjoy.

I almost broke day 1 of this fast but I some how manage to just barely hand the food over to one of my hungry co-workers

So yeah still hanging in there

[MightySunTzu]

Originally Posted by neilpage

Just water? all month long?
Here I am for support... I to need to fast.
The longest time without food for me is 4 days and thats with drugs induced.
What gives?
a whole month without food? Is it possitble? Human to go without food for 30 days?

Hey Neilpage ,

Not only is it possible but it has already been done many times. I can think of 4 or 5 people on this site alone that have reached 30 days or longer fairly recently.

How is this possible you wonder? The body transitions into a place where it is effectively and efficiently meeting all of its needs from within.

Ketosis is a big part of this (stored fat becomes the predominate fuel source), but the body is also receiving everything else it requires from it's internal reserves including vitamins and minerals... as well as the relatively minimal protein that is needed for essential glucose conversion, much of which is attained through superfluous tissue (which will include tumors in every instance where they exist) and in all cases with extraordinary selectivity choosing the least essential (and even the most harmful) tissue first.

More information can be found here, especially in the "Physiological changes of Fasting" section: The Health Benefits of Water Fasting by Stephen Harrod Buhner

Best wishes Samson for a delightful and prosperous fast .

[mikej]

and then there's this guy...

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Fasting fakir flummoxes physicians

[Samson]

wow MightySunTzu that was really encouraging thank you so much for that post.


Well I am on day 2 of the fast. I weighed myself this morning and I was 272.9 lbs. I lost a little over 2 pounds now I know this is probably just water weight but it is still pretty encouraging.

Yesterday I drank 1/2 a liter of Perrier mineral water

and then I drank 1/2 a liter of spring water

I am pretty sure I should be drinking more than just 1 liter of water a day but I am not sure exactly how much.

Also I was thinking about whether or not I should drink fitness water.

Propel Enhanced Water

check out the nutritional facts. I am not sure if I should it kinda seems like cheating

[russianrocket]

it is cheating, and that water isn't good for you either. I'll be the naysayer here, but 30 days is really unnecessary for you at this point. Especially if you've only gone a few days prior. You don't have any experience, or knowledge on the subject. Start off slow. Then do it longer a few months from now. But 30 days on your first try? I don't know why other people aren't discouraging you from this. Especially if you are a delivery driver. You pass out while on a delivery, and this fast will no longer be worth it.

[mikej]

Originally Posted by russianrocket

it is cheating, and that water isn't good for you either. I'll be the naysayer here, but 30 days is really unnecessary for you at this point. Especially if you've only gone a few days prior. You don't have any experience, or knowledge on the subject. Start off slow. Then do it longer a few months from now. But 30 days on your first try? I don't know why other people aren't discouraging you from this. Especially if you are a delivery driver. You pass out while on a delivery, and this fast will no longer be worth it.

yeah good point. i just assumed he was taking time off work to do this.

[Samson]

The longest I ever fasted before was 1 year ago and I was able to make it 10 days. Even by the end my energy was just fine and I was never even close to passing out or even stumbling. If anything I was more alert and energetic than normal.

If I do feel that I am putting myself and others at danger of course I will stop the fast, I carry a bottle of juice with me always just to be safe.

But despite the fact that working around food is hard it would be much harder to maintain this fast if I was not working. Boredom is one of the biggest reasons I eat. Also I am a big social eater, whenever I am hanging with friends or doing anything fun food is always a big part of that. So working while fasting is a big help

[Samson]

Oh yeah before I forget

Day 3

Still going strong, 269.2 lbs

I lost another 2 lbs or so and even though I know its probably just water weight these number are so encouraging I am really getting hyped over this. I haven't weighed less than 270 in a very long time.

I do hope that when my weight loss stops being so rapid I will still be motivated to continue but for now its good times!

Yesterday I drank a liter of mineral water and a liter of distilled water so 2 L of water altogether. Still not sure what a good amount of water to drink is...

[Arcturus]

I was in hospital for a week in 2007 and I hardly ate a thing while I was in there. When it was time to go home I was so weak I could hardly walk because, I assume, I was malnourished and had no strength.

Good luck.

[mikej]

Originally Posted by Arcturus

I was in hospital for a week in 2007 and I hardly ate a thing while I was in there. When it was time to go home I was so weak I could hardly walk because, I assume, I was malnourished and had no strength.

Good luck.

actually i had a similar experience two years ago so i have unintentionally done a water fast

i couldn't believe it when i got home and weighed myself. i'd lost over a stone in weight!

[Samson]

Question a friend of mine wants to get some tea with me after work

Would drinking unsweetened Green tea be cheating?

[russianrocket]

Originally Posted by Samson

Question a friend of mine wants to get some tea with me after work

Would drinking unsweetened Green tea be cheating?

for water fast, yes

[Samson]

Another Question

I was caught in the rain a lot yesterday and that reminded me about catching a cold. Usually I just drink a bunch of apple or orange juice or if I really think I will get sick i take some vitamin C pills.

Can i still take vitamin C pills on a water fast?

Will my body retain it or will it pass right through me?

[russianrocket]

Originally Posted by Samson

Another Question

I was caught in the rain a lot yesterday and that reminded me about catching a cold. Usually I just drink a bunch of apple or orange juice or if I really think I will get sick i take some vitamin C pills.

Can i still take vitamin C pills on a water fast?

Will my body retain it or will it pass right through me?

Not only is "catching a cold from the cold" pretty much a myth, but taking vitamin C hasn't really been shown to prevent it. Pretty much taking anything other then water is restricted on a water fast.

And on top of that, your stomach acids are essentially "off", to an extent. It will not only upset your stomach, but be completely useless.

[Samson]

Man I am really glad I joined this forum thanks for all the answers!

[goldberg]

Originally Posted by Samson

Man I am really glad I joined this forum thanks for all the answers!

The best way to not catch a cold is to practice OCD cleaning. Never let your hands touch your face. Always wash your hands with soap, make sure to rub for at least 10 seconds like you are going into surgery, regularly, generally wash whenever you touch any outdoor surface. Oh and don't have kids as you can forget about it because they get everything

Hmm the water fast does not sound like a great idea to be honest. If you are looking for weight loss then its simple, eat less and do more exercise. All studies say that doing this any kind of crash diet like this does not help in the long term, all that happens is you focus even more on food and end up gaining more weight afterwards. I suggest taking up tennis or football, you will get fit and drop the pounds quick and its fun.

[MightySunTzu]

Originally Posted by Samson

wow MightySunTzu that was really encouraging thank you so much for that post.

My pleasure Samson .

Originally Posted by Samson

Yesterday I drank 1/2 a liter of Perrier mineral water
and then I drank 1/2 a liter of spring water
I am pretty sure I should be drinking more than just 1 liter of water a day but I am not sure exactly how much.
Also I was thinking about whether or not I should drink fitness water.

It is widely encouraged among fasting experts that we drink only to thirst and not beyond this, and i am assuming if you were thirsty for more than a liter you would have had more... so it sounds like you're doing great. Thirst will depend upon many factors and might lead us to drink 2 cups per day or it could be 8... and either is perfectly fine as long as it is guided by our thirst. It's interesting to note that as with stored vitamins and minerals which will nourish us through the duration of the fast, water also is held in reserve, so if we're not getting as thirsty as we might expect, this is part of the reason.

Also widely encouraged is distilled water as opposed to mineral or spring water and for various reasons. This is true when eating too, but especially when fasting. Not only are inorganic (unassimilable) minerals worthless to us, they are in fact harmful and treated by the body as waste (aka toxins)... something the body must expend a portion of its finite energies eliminating, energies which could be vastly better utilized eliminating unwanted materials which were already in place . Distilled water is also better able to carry this waste out.

For more on this you can see: Distilled water, safe or not? and Distilled water, safe or not?

A final aspect of fasting that is widely encouraged among experts is that we abstain from vitamins, minerals, teas, lemon juice, anything with taste or anything else that is not water as they will interfere with our desired transitions to feeding from within. A water-only fast is quite perfect the way it is and is not improved upon by adding anything .

Originally Posted by russianrocket

it is cheating, and that water isn't good for you either. I'll be the naysayer here, but 30 days is really unnecessary for you at this point. Especially if you've only gone a few days prior. You don't have any experience, or knowledge on the subject. Start off slow. Then do it longer a few months from now. But 30 days on your first try? I don't know why other people aren't discouraging you from this. Especially if you are a delivery driver. You pass out while on a delivery, and this fast will no longer be worth it.

I believe the hardest part would be getting up, taking a shower, getting dressed and walking to the car. If he can make it that far, i think sitting down and driving is like rest compared to that. The threat of fainting is in getting up too quickly, not in sitting in the same position once we have adjusted to the postural change. Loading and unloading the truck on the other hand is a potential deal breaker, especially if the cargo is particularly heavy. I'm not saying it's impossible, but it's not something i'd want to be doing on a fast if i had any choice in the matter.

As to your other point, if Samson is not ready for 30 days, then he'll fall short. No big deal. But he might just pull it off. As to the knowledge of the subject matter, hopefully he will pick that up quickly and learn what he needs to know as he goes.

Finally Samson as to the "fitness water", if you were able to drink it and have it not interfere with achieving the optimal benefits of the fast then i'd say go for it... but unfortunately this is not the case . Vitamins and minerals will interfere with the cleanest possible transition to (and maintainance of) nourishing from within. I don't think of tea or apple cider vinegar or toothpaste... or vitamins/minerals as cheating, merely as things that will make your fast (your cleansing and healing and even muscle conservation) proceed less optimally. To reiterate the point i made earlier, the water-only fast is perfectly designed and anything we add will only detract from it.

Additionally and finally, it is actually easier to fast without supplements or anything with taste as these will tend to keep our feeling of hunger from going into hybernation. How much nicer is the fasting experience where our appetite has completely disappeared .

[Samson]

Thanks again MightySunTzu you post are always so helpful

Day 4

267 lbs

Still going strong! Today is my day off so I just plan on running a few errands but talking it easy for the most part

[Samson]

Day 5

263.7 lbs

I was woken up today to take my siblings to school and i was feeling pretty weak when I got back home. I thought I was in trouble but then I realized I only had like 3 hours of sleep

I went back to bed and a got a good amount of sleep and I am feeling pretty good right now.

Now that I am on day 5 I finally beat my record from last month. I am just going to take it one day at a time now and hope I make it

[ginkgo]

On a fast the best thing to drink is only pure water like distilled or purified (R/O) water. Other types of water have unhealthy things for you. Here is a webpage on fasting. It has a link to a webpage all abot pure water.

There is no such thing as "cheating" on a fast. A school will flunk you for cheating if you get caught. You can do a water fast and eat only jelly beans and marshmellows if you want. But that would not be very healthy, but it is up to you. A fast means only pure water. A juice fast means only juice. You just have to list everything you consumed during the fast before the word fast like a green tea, Propel enhanced water fast.

[neilpage]

Originally Posted by MightySunTzu

Hey Neilpage ,

Not only is it possible but it has already been done many times. I can think of 4 or 5 people on this site alone that have reached 30 days or longer fairly recently.

How is this possible you wonder? The body transitions into a place where it is effectively and efficiently meeting all of its needs from within.

Ketosis is a big part of this (stored fat becomes the predominate fuel source), but the body is also receiving everything else it requires from it's internal reserves including vitamins and minerals... as well as the relatively minimal protein that is needed for essential glucose conversion, much of which is attained through superfluous tissue (which will include tumors in every instance where they exist) and in all cases with extraordinary selectivity choosing the least essential (and even the most harmful) tissue first.

More information can be found here, especially in the "Physiological changes of Fasting" section: The Health Benefits of Water Fasting by Stephen Harrod Buhner

Best wishes Samson for a delightful and prosperous fast .

Wow! This sounds so incredible, Good luck to all.

[neilpage]

hum'... I suck!
Ok.. I couldn't do it! I thought I was gonna past right out anywhere any second... and I was only on my 4th day.
I tried to tell my brain "I can do this, my body is able to last", proven fact.
I'd speak positive affirmations, I meditated on quotes in this tread for reinforcement to push on, I would recall words of willingness from the people here that have more knowledge and a passion with a strong desire to BE BETTER! FEEL BETTER! and just ENJOY LIFE in positive direction.
YES!! I want that too!
by the 4th day I was dizzy, light headed, my back and neck hurt, no energy, dry hives, head hurt, didn't wanna talk to anyone..& hoped no one would talk to me because rude I was sure be. I hurt everywhere. I belive pain is just weakness leaving the body.
failure and fatty I feel
How does one get past these sensations of feeling like hummm' Dying?

[russianrocket]

Originally Posted by neilpage

hum'... I suck!
Ok.. I couldn't do it! I thought I was gonna past right out anywhere any second... and I was only on my 4th day.
I tried to tell my brain "I can do this, my body is able to last", proven fact.
I'd speak positive affirmations, I meditated on quotes in this tread for reinforcement to push on, I would recall words of willingness from the people here that have more knowledge and a passion with a strong desire to BE BETTER! FEEL BETTER! and just ENJOY LIFE in positive direction.
YES!! I want that too!
by the 4th day I was dizzy, light headed, my back and neck hurt, no energy, dry hives, head hurt, didn't wanna talk to anyone..& hoped no one would talk to me because rude I was sure be. I hurt everywhere. I belive pain is just weakness leaving the body.
failure and fatty I feel
How does one get past these sensations of feeling like hummm' Dying?

Going into a fast, eating really healthy, for starters. People always do fasts, to clean their bodies of all the junk. They go through the riggers of NOT eating, but don't give two shits about when they DO eat. Don't know if that's the case for you, but I'm just assuming that, by the detox symptoms you mentioned. What did you eat when you quit the fast?

Start working out and eating healthy, and your next fast will be easier. Keep in mind, that fat holds a lot of toxins. So the cleaner your body is before your fast, the less toxins your body will have to deal with from the fat.

[metamorph]

Originally Posted by MightySunTzu

Also widely encouraged is distilled water as opposed to mineral or spring water and for various reasons. This is true when eating too, but especially when fasting. Not only are inorganic (unassimilable) minerals worthless to us, they are in fact harmful and treated by the body as waste (aka toxins)...

Your advice is downright harmful and I find it frightening how you can give the OP such advice without any knowledge of physiology. Just because there are some books on amazon on fasting X, does not make them experts.

If the OP drinks only distilled water for one months without food and minerals etc, it is downright dangerous. Maybe he will survive, but that does not prove it is the right thing to do. That "inorganic minerals are are worthless", just shows your ignorance. Considering that sodium, calcium and potassium are critical for cell function. The OP will not only get his endocrine system totally out of sync (aldosterone, renin, antidiuretic hormone etc), he may also damage his kidneys (medullary washout, etc), weaken his body and concentraiton (he is a professional driver after all so concentration is critical on the road)...

[MightySunTzu]

Originally Posted by MightySunTzu

Also widely encouraged is distilled water as opposed to mineral or spring water and for various reasons. This is true when eating too, but especially when fasting. Not only are inorganic (unassimilable) minerals worthless to us, they are in fact harmful and treated by the body as waste (aka toxins)...

For more on this you can see: Distilled water, safe or not? and Distilled water, safe or not?

Originally Posted by metamorph

Your advice is downright harmful.

Actually it is not my advice, it is the advice of the vast majority of fasting experts and i am just passing it along... and they actually do know quite a bit about fasting physiology . Dr. Shelton, for example, fasted 40,000-60,000 patients in this way.

Originally Posted by metamorph

If the OP drinks only distilled water for one months without food and minerals etc, it is downright dangerous. Maybe he will survive, but that does not prove it is the right thing to do. That "inorganic minerals are are worthless", just shows your ignorance. Considering that sodium, calcium and potassium are critical for cell function.

I'm not saying our body does not require minerals... it certainly does... but they need to be organic from a chemical standpoint (chelated) and thus assimilable to be of any value, such as the ones our body is holding in reserve to carry us successfully through a fast and the ones we get from our food. The dissolved rocks we get from our water do not qualify. If you are open to a possible revision of your existing view, perhaps you might consider reading the article i provided on the subject by Dr. Kennedy: Distilled water, safe or not? Permalink might not be directing perfectly, but it's post number 10.

One exerp:

Originally Posted by Dr. Kennedy

A mineral, to be useful to the body, must be in a form in which it can be taken up by its matching enzyme. There is only one way a mineral can be utilized by an enzyme: when it is delivered to its enzyme by an organic molecule. An organic molecule is made of a string of carbon atoms. When a mineral is in such an association with an organic molecule, it is said to be chelated. A chelated mineral can be transferred to an enzyme, so that mineral can then function as a co-enzyme. A non-chelated mineral cannot be transferred; therefore, it is worse than useless.

[metamorph]

Originally Posted by MightySunTzu

I'm not saying our body does not require minerals... it certainly does... but they need to be organic from a chemical standpoint (chelated) and thus assimilable to be of any value, such as the ones our body is holding in reserve to carry us successfully through a fast and the ones we get from our food.

sodium, potassium, calcium are always partly free, and partly chelated and some are partly protein bound. There is a balance between those forms.
Every athlete knows that isotonic drinks (containing sodium, potassium etc) work, because they are taken up by the gut. Rehdyration drinks to treat diarrhoea contain sodium, potassium, glucose, chloride.

Your suggestion to use distilled water while the OP has no food intake means: input is H20, output (sweat, urine etc) is water+electrolytes etc. So the OP will essentially deplete himself off those electrolytes which really is not healthy - in fact it is dangerous.
If the OP drinks isotonic solutions or mineral water while he does his fast, he can go ahead, but not eating for a month while still doing his job is certainly not healthy. The guys that did a hunger strike in prisons did not work, they just sat in their cell, remember.