40 days of water fasting....

[countrygal]

This was not any easy day by any means.....hoping tomorrow's easier. Not much to say except that my headache is gone but I'm tired and my stomach was a bit uncomfortable but not too bad

[Cado]

Originally Posted by MightySunTzu

Hey there Cado,

It is interesting to hear that you encountered nausea so early. I have done a lot of 7 day fasts over the years and never experienced it until my 2nd and 3rd long fasts and then not until after about 25 or 30 days. Every individual is indeed different. Out of curiosity, how many 3 day fasts have you done and how many of these led you to feel nausea?

I've done around four, and the reason for the nausea during at least one of those was I had a lot to cleanse out of my body. It happened two other times and it was far more mild; it probably had more to do with being hungry and not being acclimated to it than it did any physical issues, but it was enough that I took noticed and monitored myself carefully.

This is true that a 3 day fast can be amazingly beneficial. I really think that with countrygirl's issues, though, it will likely take a lot longer to eliminate them. 3 days can wipe out arthritis symptoms, brain fog, many sore muscle issues and other quirks and make a lot of other corrections, but asthma and food allergies strike me as the kind of ailments that will take quite a bit longer. I was not able to heal my breathing in a 10 day fast but when i followed this up a few months later with 30 days my lungs emerged feeling like new.

The thing about more severe stuff is that it seems like it's gonna take a while no matter how you do it, and it's important to develop a regimen you can maintain after you're finished with a long fast. Jumping right into this kind of thing is more often than not a recipe for failure because we have a tendency to underestimate how much willpower we have at our disposal, and if emotional issues surface while she's doing this that will make it all the more difficult to stick with it.

A long fast may indeed be necessary to get rid of the symptoms for good, but I figure if it won't kill you tomorrow take the route that eases you into it steadily as opposed to the most efficient route. Sticking with a goal is more beneficial than jumping in, failing, and entering into a cycle of that.

There are outliers who avoid that, especially with strong motivation, but without intimate knowledge of a person I'm going to go with generalities over gung-ho encouragement. So countrygal, there's no ill-will here, just make sure you focus on your long-term success over what happens short-term with your current fast.

[IvyW]

hows day 3 going for ya?

[countrygal]

That was really tough getting thru those first couple days. Now its just a mind game cause I'm not hungry at all...I am pretty weak and it seems like my sleep is broken up but who cares!

How are you holding up?

[IvyW]

I broke the fast today with juice.. holiday season just isn't the best time for me to do this. I have too much going on right now, to not have any energy. sorry:/ good luck to you though!

[Sandstone]

Thanks to you both for posting frequent updates. This has been a fun thread to watch. I wish you both the best of luck!

[countrygal]

Well after the first of the year you can try again...have a great holiday season. For me I will be past the hard part when thanksgiving hits and then completely done by Christmas so I am just trying to stay positive. I am glad the hater doesn't post negative craps anymore. He was not a great post to read going thru this...on the other hand for someone like me it kinda pushes me because I can't stand when someone says I won't be able to complete this.

Hopefully the last person who posted will keep checking in so I don't feel like I am completely alone in this journey. This is such a mind game at this point. I do not know how people live like this (anorexics). Really a sad life....glad mine is temporary

[russianrocket]

Originally Posted by countrygal

Well after the first of the year you can try again...have a great holiday season. For me I will be past the hard part when thanksgiving hits and then completely done by Christmas so I am just trying to stay positive. I am glad the hater doesn't post negative craps anymore. He was not a great post to read going thru this...on the other hand for someone like me it kinda pushes me because I can't stand when someone says I won't be able to complete this.

Hopefully the last person who posted will keep checking in so I don't feel like I am completely alone in this journey. This is such a mind game at this point. I do not know how people live like this (anorexics). Really a sad life....glad mine is temporary

oh, I'm still here. I'm just waiting for something new to respond to. I've already said plenty to tide the thread over for now.

Oh, but keep calling me a hater... that will get you very far. I'm still in the camp that says you won't finish this tho.

[Sandstone]

I am not saying this in a sarcastic way, I am 100 percent genuine. Why do you post messages on this thread if people have said that you aren't wanted here. I don't get it. It seems like purposeful antagonizing.

[countrygal]

I cant understand why you would even waste your time with MY fasting if ypu are just waiting for me to fail so you can open your mouth again....pretty boring life if you ask me. But oh well you know my thoughts about you. I wonder what kind of blogs you start??? Probably a gamer or a bored hippie

[IvyW]

Originally Posted by countrygal

Well after the first of the year you can try again...have a great holiday season. For me I will be past the hard part when thanksgiving hits and then completely done by Christmas so I am just trying to stay positive. I am glad the hater doesn't post negative craps anymore. He was not a great post to read going thru this...on the other hand for someone like me it kinda pushes me because I can't stand when someone says I won't be able to complete this.

Hopefully the last person who posted will keep checking in so I don't feel like I am completely alone in this journey. This is such a mind game at this point. I do not know how people live like this (anorexics). Really a sad life....glad mine is temporary

yeah, water fasting is not easy! next time im going to make sure i have the time to just lay around if I need to. I hope you have good support at home.

[russianrocket]

Originally Posted by Sandstone

I am not saying this in a sarcastic way, I am 100 percent genuine. Why do you post messages on this thread if people have said that you aren't wanted here. I don't get it. It seems like purposeful antagonizing.

Eh, only one person said I'm not wanted. That's never stopped me before tho.

Plus, I was pretty much done, until she brought me back in, and even called me a hater... in case you missed that part? Not to mention, a poster even thanked me for posting.

Originally Posted by countrygal

I cant understand why you would even waste your time with MY fasting if ypu are just waiting for me to fail so you can open your mouth again....pretty boring life if you ask me. But oh well you know my thoughts about you. I wonder what kind of blogs you start??? Probably a gamer or a bored hippie

As I said before, I think the lack of food might be getting to you. You keep judging me as such and such person, and calling me things that you think I am, or things I do. You're usually wrong on all parts. Don't even have a video game, and I'm as unhippy as it gets.

But, I am really into food, and health, and how the mind works. That's the kind of blogs I start.

And, it's not so much that I'm waiting for you to fail. I just feel that you've put up something, that is unhealthy, and doomed to fail. you've pretty much goated me along the way, so I continue. I've been on here for awhile. And I've seen this EXACT same thing, over and over again. I'd say that it is entertaining, but the situations people put themselves in, is usually pretty dangerous. So, I add my own little flavor into the mix. If people hate me, they hate me.

I fully support people who come on here wanting to have a reasonable fast, or a long fast, who actually have the knowledge and experience. But, when people come on, and post completely unreasonable, and dangerous things, with a complete lack of knowledge of how they actually work ( remember, tea, on a water fast?), then I speak up, whether or not that person sees it as mean. Hey, if it motivates you, then more power to ya. If anything, you should probably thank me?

Oh, and I didn't ask you . What you might consider boring, others might consider fun.

[countrygal]

Weekends suck so for once I am looking forward to Monday!!

[Mariana Trench]

Why did you tag this with "weight loss"?

[countrygal]

Weight loss my my original question when I came on this site. I am doing this to get rid of my asthma primarily but am nervous about becoming a skeleton in the process. I wanted to know how much weight people have lost during their fasts. Have you fasted or do you fast regularly and if so how much weight did you lose?

[Karen TDQ]

Good luck with the fasting! It is a tough thing to do and one that was enlightening for me. I have done several water fasts but my longest were two 12 day stretches. I found it fascinating how much my head was involved in the eating and not my body!! My only tip for lasting the course has to do with the smells of food. I found that resisting them made my life harder. In the end the best thing for me was to go into the kitchen when the food was being prepared and chat and SMELL the food. Lean into the wind.
For the record though, IMHO if a cup of warm water with a tea bag shaken at it will help you through the day - then do it. It is a better alternative than giving up. I suspect that 40 days may become hard on your body - I think 30ish is probably quite sufficient. Truth to tell my body thought 12 was really quite enough thank you very much!
It is a magnificent feeling of achievement to do a water fast! Go for it!

[countrygal]

Do u remember how much weight you lost and did you only drink water? Did u do it to heal a medical issue or just weight loss?

[russianrocket]

Originally Posted by countrygal

Do u remember how much weight you lost and did you only drink water? Did u do it to heal a medical issue or just weight loss?

Considering you've done a "15 day fast", I'd say you would be the better judge of what happens on a long fast, then the person who only did a 12 day fast

[IvyW]

how was today?

[Karen TDQ]

Originally Posted by countrygal

Do u remember how much weight you lost and did you only drink water? Did u do it to heal a medical issue or just weight loss?

I did the first one for a medical condition. It was that or get a colonoscopy. I chose the fast! It worked extremely well. I noticed then that I had lost weight and was delighted with that. So then I tried it for that purpose. I generally lose 2 pounds a day and then at the end I put back about 4 when all is said and done. Coming out of it slowly and carefully is essential for me. Lots of tiny meals with easily digestible foods and work my way back to regular foods and meals.

Some I did only water and some I occasionally did 5 cups of water with 1/4 of a cup of juice mixed in for flavour. My mouth was soooo incredibly bored! It was important to me to last the time I had set out and that was what it took.

Hope that helps

[countrygal]

So today was a breeze as far as hunger goes. I even cooked a full meal for my family tonight and then did the dishes while they were eating. My headache is pretty bad tonight but not nearly as bad as the day 1 headache. I'm not having any naseua which im thankful for since it seemed pretty common to the people who responded.

I am sp glad to see people checking in. I'm sorry I haven't been as active as the first 2 days but my mind is pretty blah and my body isnt feeling the energetic surge some folks have mentioned. Maybe mine is on its way.....I hope!

I will check back in tomorrow and make it a point to check in at least once in the middle of the day and then again before I go to bed. I want to offer as much personal feedback as possible so that future fasters might know what to expect.

Goodnight and talk to y'all tomorrow

[countrygal]

So today was easy ....what helps me is to drink a full bottle of water whenever I start to think about food...it really helps a lot! I think the weird.part now is that my midsection doesnt feel like the one I have been used to for 28 years...kind of hard to explain but that's as best as I can say. I cooked an amazing dinner tonight and walked thru Costco with all the wonderful food and samples and not one ounce of me wanted to quit my fast. I also managed to make some chocolate cookies tonight and now what I am in the habit of is washing the dishes while my family is eating dinner....while I miss joining them I still talk to them while they eat but I am glad this is over before xmas.

[Sandstone]

Wow. Good for you. I can't believe you are able to be around food like that. I don't think I'd have the willpower to stay the course. Good work!

[IvyW]

Good job!!!

[countrygal]

I really appreciate the encouragement from y'all. This is mentally tougher than it is physically. I will say that I have blocked out 30 days from my schedule to pretty much lounge as needed. I go thru my day pretty normal but I take the needed time to relax throughout. I really think this has been the smartest decision I made prior to giving this a real go.

One thing for future fasters.....whether you decide to do a 10, 20, or 30 day fast...all I have to say is that this is not easy or even probably manageable for most people (I'm not even a quarter of the way done) but it is such a short time frame to dedicate to the better of your health. Think about how many days of your life that you have spent complaining about your weight, or how many doctors visits you've made for your medical condition and how everyday of your life needs a maintenance medication of some sort....now give up 30 days of your life and give your body a chance to cleanse itself and see if you think it was worth it. How proud I will be of myself for completing this....hopefully asthma free. I will add that my usage of my inhaler has already gone down....hopefully that keeps going down to almost nothing if not completely nothing!!!

I will check back in tomorrow

[MightySunTzu]

All agreed here Countrygal, very good points. Congratulations on your excellent progress.

[countrygal]

Thank you for checking back in mightysun. I have to say that last night was one of the worst nights sleep....it seems that my sleep is getting more and more broken up thru this. Which sucks cause I love a great nights sleep. But hey not anything worth breaking a fast over....I can sleep good later for now I take it as a sign that my body is working overtime to cleanse itself. I am so thankful that my body takes care of me everyday that this my little way of thank you and I see your having trouble fixing my lungs so let me help cause you must be tired....lol. I can for sure tell that my mind is slipping...memory isn't as great as it always is....I normally have the memory of an elephant but not during this!

[IvyW]

I am so glad that you are not letting anything break your fast! I may be starting again in december.. i moved some stuff around that will make it a lot easier for me. of course your probably going to be done by then=)

my current diet is of a pescetarian... so about a week before I start im going to cut fish out of my diet.. eat fruits & veges for 3 days,then im going to do a 4 day juice fast and then start the water fast. I am not going to do yoga this time around LoL. I will be going for walks though.

ill most likely be rereading this thread when i start=)

[countrygal]

I am excited for you to do this...I'm telling you that the first 3 or 4 days are the absolute hardest. If you can get past those days you will rock thru it. Today is a really easy day although I will say that I am physically drained....the lack of energy is the most frustrating part so you have to make laying around available. My mind is completely scatter brain...I will check in whenever I see you start your fast. I am hoping to be done no later than Dec 3rd or around there.

[countrygal]

I just stood up too fast and got so naseas I then went right to the bathroom and puked! Not cool when u have nothing to throw up....