Water Fasting

[Landrysmom]

Hi Everyone!

I decided that I want to try water fasting, but I feel as if I don't have enough information about it. I am primarily doing it to jumpstart my weightloss. I am 5'5 and 187 lbs. (I am a woman) Once I am done I want to do 2 weeks on fruit and vegetables and then jump right into my Insanity dvds I have. How should I break the fast? And are water only enemas ok if I get to feeling a dizzy or if headaches start to kick it? Ohh and does dry brushing really help the skin?

Thanks so much for the help!!!!!

[Landrysmom]

Today is day 2.. I finally had a successful day 1!!! but it was so weird because I wasn't hungry at all yesterday. So hopefully I can make it to day 7...

[MightySunTzu]

Originally Posted by Landrysmom

Hi Everyone!

I decided that I want to try water fasting, but I feel as if I don't have enough information about it.

Hi Landrysmom,

As a couple of condensed sources of information i like these:

The Health Benefits of Water Fasting by Stephen Harrod Buhner and

Moser: Chapter 3

Originally Posted by Landrysmom

I am primarily doing it to jumpstart my weightloss. I am 5'5 and 187 lbs. (I am a woman).

Since effective weightloss (specifically fat loss) often takes a major shift in mindset and in re-setting the foods we crave, something a fast can be invaluable in accomplishing, it can be very useful in this capacity. If we emerge from a fast excited about vegetables and fruits (and eventually other healthful foods) and completely uninterested in sweets, refined grains and other processed foods, it puts us in a good place to continue burning fat as well as continuing to improve our health in all other ways.

Originally Posted by Landrysmom

Once I am done I want to do 2 weeks on fruit and vegetables and then jump right into my Insanity dvds I have. How should I break the fast?

This sounds like a very good plan. I am partial to breaking initially with live juice. After 7 days of water-only i would want to juice for about 1.5 or 2 days before going into whole fruits for a day or two then adding whole veg. After this and as touched upon above, the avoidance of sweets, refined grains and other processed foods will go a long way in keeping you on track.

The fast will help a lot to diminish our interest in these bad foods and will make it easier to be disciplined in continuing to avoid them, but it's important to recognize that our need to be disciplined does not completely disappear. We still have to choose daily the foods we know to be beneficial and to avoid those we know to be detrimental to our goals.

A few days after the fast has been broken you should be in a very good position to begin exercising, gently at first. You could even engage in gentle exercise during the fast if you were so inclined, though while fasting you will benefit greatly with or without this and each alternative has its merits.

Originally Posted by Landrysmom

And are water only enemas ok if I get to feeling a dizzy or if headaches start to kick it?

Taking enemas would not be the worst thing you could do, but your body can very effectively manage itself in their absense and in my opinion, arrived upon from everything i have read on the subject and through my own experiences, you would be better off without them.

Originally Posted by Landrysmom

Ohh and does dry brushing really help the skin?

Our skin being a major organ of elimination, dry brushing is very useful in promoting optimal cleansing/detoxing through this medium.

Originally Posted by Landrysmom

Thanks so much for the help!!!!!

You're welcome!

[Clint Cora]

Your biggest challenge if you want to lose weight is not only to lose weight but to keep it off for good. Do you think that you can accomplish this without a permanent lifestyle change?

[ChrisGinsburg]

Water fasting can be quite beneficial in a number of respects but doing so to lose weight is a recipe for disaster in the long term with the majority of people who approach it as their primary way of weight loss.