We’ve officially decided to end our Water Fast on Sat. Jan 16th – Did I mention that Ray is fasting with me?? Oh yeah and he actually has a job that entails physical labor…. he’s rolling along just like me. Our combined weight loss (in just 5 days of fasting) is a whopping 31 pounds! Ray’s lost 15 and I’ve lost 16 pounds – isn’t that amazing?!?
While our fasting experience definitely isn’t the same, it’s not all that different either. The real difference is that I’ve had horrible headaches and he hasn’t. The one thing we can both agree on is that we are NOT HUNGRY and have plenty of ENERGY.
Ray has pretty much been drinking lots of water, hot tea in the evening and taking a few supplements (5,000 ius Vitamin C, 10,000 ius Vitamin D3 w/K, HSO probiotic & Magnesium) – He’s lost 15 pounds so far. Ray’s BG hasn’t dropped yet but fingers crossed it will.
I’m sure you are wondering why we are ending our fast next weekend — it has absolutely nothing to do with how we feel or the fast itself, it’s only because we will be celebrating Ray’s 44th Birthday!
Celebrations are a part of our lives (and by celebrations I don’t mean a weekly book club indulgence of cake & cookies! I mean real reasons to celebrate) and if we aren’t able to continue to partake in our lives in some manner, what are we doing all of this for anyways?
We will have 2 meals on the 16th – Scrambled Eggs w/avocado and sliced tomato for brunch and then we are splitting a Sous Vide Ribeye Steak w/sautéed mushrooms, green beans and a large tossed salad for Ray’s Birthday Dinner (it’s the meal he’d like to have).
Our plan is to keep our carbs low, don’t over do the protein and stay in ketosis following this fast. Sunday will be 2 meals again, Scrambled Eggs w/avocado and sliced tomato for brunch and pork chops, leftover green beans & mushrooms and another large tossed salad for Sunday Dinner.
While my blood readings have dropped nicely, we are still waiting for Ray’s morning BG to come down and to get into prime ketosis. Here’s a snap-shot of my fast-to-date stats….
If you are interested in understanding more about the correlations of Blood Glucose/Insulin and Weight – Check out Intensive Dietary Management and Optimizing Nutrition Blogs – they are fabulous resources..
Here’s a quote that makes me feel 100% confident in our fasting choice:
Doctor Fung made the observation that the typical modern practice of having three meals plus snacks doesn’t give the body any time that there is not insulin circulating in our blood. In earlier times this wasn’t the case. There would have been periods of feasting in summer when carbohydrates eaten were stored via insulin as fat along with periods of famine and winter where insulin levels were low and fat stores could be used.
Anyways… enough nuts & bolts talk.. let’s get back to the fun stuff! So yesterday afternoon I (still) had an awful headache and I decided to go ahead and do a very mild coffee enema.
I know you are probably freaking out, but please don’t.
It’s just poop.
Contrary to what you may think – it’s no messier than, well, pooping. Only you poop out a lot of water. And for me it’s a wonderful 20 minutes of time spent laying on the floor in my warm, dark bathroom, with lavender and cedarwood essential oils diffusing and relaxation music playing.
I then rinsed my sinuses a couple times, since I felt that much of my pain was in my forehead/face which can mean it is sinus related and also drank a quart of water since headaches can be caused by dehydration — within a couple hours my headache subsided. FINALLY.
Today I’ve just finished my warm lemon water and am moving on to a quart of water – I haven’t been monitoring my water intake so, today I am – aiming for a gallon of water first then I can have mineral water and hot tea. Hoping to keep all the toxins I’m releasing are flushed.
I know these posts are old. I’ve dabbled in a few 24hr fasts (my longest was 25hrs yesterday). I would like to start a 7 day fast tomorrow but wondering a few things. I know you mentioned headaches thorough out your seven days. I experienced this during the last few hours of a 24hr fast once, someone suggested adding salt to a glass of water to help the headache subside. Do you think this would break a fast or be counterproductive to the healing process or would this be ok? Also, do you have suggestions for a coffee enema method? I’ve never done one or heard of it until reading your blog. What are the benefits? I tied cleaning out using magnesium citrate but it was a complete fail. I used this because I remember the doctor telling me to use it before gastric bypass surgery a few years ago. It had me pooping like crazy. This time absolutely nothing happened.rs
I’m still regularly fasting and love it. Sea salt (or electrolyte supplements) are GREAT while fasting. I used Sole water for the first couple years and now playing with electrolytes. Breaking a fast with sea salt, coffee, tea, etc are moot points. Unless you are strictly fighting terminal cancer, I think all those additions are ok, along with bone broth which also helps with headaches.
Coffee enemas are really detoxifying, there’s no magic to it other than getting a coffee enema kit and following the directions. If magnesium doesn’t work, it might be the kind you are taking. Make sure it’s not buffered or time release. I like Natural Calm, when I first start a longer fast I take enough to get things moving quickly which for me is 1 tablespoon. I then take 1-2 teaspoons nightly to help with sleep and to keep moving things through as I detoxify
I’m 166 hrs (almost 7 days) into my fast and I couldn’t have done it without my electrolytes, especially salt. In previous extended fasts I tried putting salt under my tongue but it irritated the delicate skin there and I couldn’t stand it. I also tried putting salt in caps so that I didn’t have to feel the taste, but it had a funny effect on my bowels (I had terrible diarrhea!) I also tried adding salt to water but it had the same flushing effect. I found it difficult to get the required amount of sodium with all three of these methods – I once tried to force myself to take 2 tsp of salt everyday during a fast and not only did I not succeed, I also ended up with kidney pain. It took me days of ACV and baking soda diluted in water to get rid of the pain. I had cramps no matter how much salt I took and it wasn’t because of lack of magnesium since I take magnesium every night, fasting or not, and I got dizzy frequently from day 3-4.
Now I take sole water and it’s a blessing. It’s easier for me to take the required amount of sodium during a fast this way and while it still has a flushing effect, it’s not as strong as with the caps or saltwater, when I there were some times I literally soiled my pants. I don’t have cramps anymore and I don’t get dizzy. I didn’t think that the method by which you take your sodium would impact the result, but it does, it SO does! I’m a sole water convert. I’m in a FB group about Dr Fung’s book The Obesity Code and people kept recommending sole water to me. I can’t believe it took me that long to try it, especially given how easy it is to prepare. I wish I had tried it sooner. I take it every morning diluted in water and on an empty stomach. It’s less messy and takes less time than lemon water and tastes better than ACV in water (I tried those in the past)
I don’t know if you will see this but first of all you are amazing person and a great motivation!!! I just want to know if just drinking water is ok?? So that would mean not taking minerals or puting anything in my water. Thank you!!
I suggest researching Fasting and Water fasting to understand all the ins and outs. The answer is complicated and there are many variable to your question. Thanks for the compliment!
I came across your blog while researching water fasting and i notice this is somewhat of an older post! Its understandable if you dont see this but if you do, i just have one question about your experience. When during the fast do you begin to see physical change (face, tummy, legs) Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us!
do you mean when is weightloss noticeable? That will vary from person to person. For me it’s most noticeable in my face first.
I don’t know if you’ll be able to respond since this post is a year old but I am currently water fasting for 6-10 days (seeing how I feel) and would really like to not have to miss my yoga and pilatest classes. You said your husbad did his physical labor job while fasting. I am young (23) and healthy – do you think it’s OK for me to still go to my classes ? Thanks !!!!
It’s totally ok to KEEP doing your regular activities – including exercise but don’t add new stuff <3 Stay strong!
Wow!
Loosing all that weight in a week is amazing!
Im looking forward to start it tomorrow.
I’m a 21 years old boy , 190 pounds of weight! Height 6 ft.
I dont look fat because of muscle mass but i still carry fat.
And i have to loose my weight in 10 days as theres a wedding in our family.
I just wanted to ask you if its ok to eat raw veggies in between water diet ?
Do you think i will be succesful in loosing 20 pounds of weight?
And with diet im also going to do work out (more of cardio)
Do you think i will face any problem of fainting (i have never fainted till) but still i wanted to know!
Sorry to take your time!
I request you to please reply ASAP as i want to start it in less than 10 hours!
It’s a water fast, so no you cannot eat any raw vegetables. The issue arrises when you eat a low-calorie diet vs fasting.. low calorie diets destory your metabolism, pure water fasting does not. I cannot say as to how much weight you will loose and it’s fine to do your normal daily activity but I would not add new activity that your body is not already adjusted to doing.
You are such an inspiration and a rock star. Happy 44th to your love!! Xoxo
Thanks Kandice!!! <3
I really want to thank you for sharing this experience in so much depth. I have been experimenting with a nightshade-free keto diet for the last year and a half or so with good results, but I let myself slide during the holidays…
It sounds like a few days of broth fasting (if not water fasting) could really help me reset myself and get ready to go back to keto. Would you recommend going straight from a medium-carby eating pattern (it’s only been a month or so) to a broth fast? Or should I be eating keto before I do it, to avoid shocking my body or something?
Melissa – I say go for it! We ate carbs right up until our fast (grain free pizza was our last meal) I broth fasted for 30 days in Jan of 2014 – it was super fun!