Water Fast Day #3.5 - updates

It's Thursday today and pretty much during lunch time starts officially the fourth day of my Water Fast. So far I'm ok, just ok; I cannot say that I don't have cravings or not dreaming about food but I know that the first 2/3 days are usually the hardest one. After these days pass, then it's smooth sailing…or something like that.

I had a bad headache during the first 24 hours of fasting, maybe for the sugar withdrawal or just for the detoxing process, although I'm not really sure I was already "detoxing" during the first 24 hours of fasting. It was not a huge pain or anything like that, I still recall my first Water Fast – I had terrible headaches for 2 days! It was mostly for the coffee withdrawal though…and sugar too I guess, although I was not eating refined sugar anymore, only Stevia.

I'm having often hot water with lemon and sometimes I go to Starbucks to get a Passion Tango hot tea, it's 0 Calories and it's nice to have something warm looking at the snow outside. I usually try to drink distilled water, especially if I'm home; but if I'm in the office I drink either the filtered water that we have in the kitchen or the smart water brand that's vapour distilled, as I found out it's made by Coca Cola, but to me it taste delicious when at the right room temperature.

This morning I had only small traces of Ketosis and my weight is nicely going down, I am 58.7Kg which compared yesterday weight at 59.3Kg is a 600gr loss (1.32 pounds) – of course first days are easier on the scale since I'm releasing a lot of weight that comes from my GI tract; but once I'm a good Ketosis I'll be sure I'm also burning fats.

I'm planning to continue the Water Fast till all day tomorrow (Friday) and on Saturday I will break the fats with Bone Broth for the whole day. I'm not really happy to break my Fast but Sunday evening I have a dinner with my boyfriend and I know he cares a lot about this dinner so I don't want to be the bad one and ruin the plans….we didn't see each other for Valentine's Day so it's like a belated celebration. The reason why I'm not happy to take this break from my Fast is because being in Ketosis makes things easier to carry over, and the dinner will throw me out immediately of course….getting back in that phase will require another few days of strong willpower on not indulging in food and sweets. Oh well I hope I will find the strengths to start again my Water Fast…

Starting a new Dry Fast

I'm starting a soft Dry Fast today and I'm thinking to buy 2 Bone Broth jars on my way over, so I can break this fast with the Bone Broth in few days. Because of the TOM I don't feel extremely well, I did not weight myself today because I'm confused, between the gym, my weight gain and the period, I don't know exactly how much fat I gained vs muscle or water retention. The Dry Fast will definitely help me with most of these symptoms. I wish I could stay all day in bed today, I might leave earlier if I don't feel staying in the office, there's not much to do for me here today anyway.

So far I'm taking every day probiotics, one in the morning with 50 billion and one in the late afternoon with 30 billion, going forward though I want to stick with only an 80 billion per day – I found it way more effective for me and easy to remember than 2 dosages. I didn't take anything this morning though, because of the Dry Fast I don't want to ingest anything that might need to be processed by my body; I want just to be focused on healing whatever needs to be healed. I still have some problems on my right knee, especially when I go into the cold, I wish all the issues I have on my ligaments can be fixed with this Dry Fast, sometime I'm afraid that exercise can further damage whatever is wrong with it.

 I am not crazy about Dry Fasting I must to say but – based on my researches – it is the most effective and absolute Fast out there, so whenever you're doing such an extreme action for your body you want to go with the most effective way on doing it. But in general I want to give another chance to Dry Fasting, I feel my body needs to be accustomed to this type of Fast to get all its benefits, plus every time we fast is different from the previous one. It also helps with the water retention and since I'm under TOM in these days, it would definitely help my body with that.

Yesterday I went for a 20 minutes run outside, it was a bit cold but not much to be unbearable during the run, what I didn't like though it was the pollution from the traffic on the street that I breathed while I was running. I can feel it now, coughing here and there….but I don't have a park nearby my place where I can go running and using the thread mill is not always appealing to me, sometimes I just want to try doing some HIIT changing speed while running. I know that often people say to change city, location if living in such polluted places, but seriously do you think I wouldn't like living and working in Costa Rica? Eating fresh juicy fruit every day? Staying in the sun every time I can? Of course I would! Who wouldn't?! But I live in Canada and we're not in the Tropics here - let's face it, this is a huge city and pollution is the least we can expect when living in the downtown area of such a big metropolis. Fasting also helps to get rid of those toxins we ingest, breath every day – it might not help with the Vitamin D but at least cleanses something else from the body.

Bone Broth Fast - My results after successfully completing 4.5 Days

So I completed successfully 4.5 Bone Broth Fast Days. I cannot say it was a pleasant experience I have to admit it, but after finding the low sodium Bone Broth at the store downstairs my office, it was definitely easier keep going. Overall I did not feel sense of hunger or weakness during the Fast; it was easy to compensate my cravings with a mug of warm broth – that might sound gross I know, but I always added so much water I could barely feel I was drinking the broth of dead animals bones.

At the end of the fast I did not feel miraculously younger, neither my skin looked different, so I thought that for me it was just a chicken soup, nothing to look forward to do again. I did not feel any mental clarity during the fast; nothing improved comparing to other regular days. However something different happened to me after 2/3 days of completing my Bone Broth Fast. My mental clarity came back, my cravings too ok…but slowly I felt lots of energy and motivation that brought me to exercise 4 days in a row without feeling tired or sore after that (maybe the L-Glutamine supplements that I'm taking helped too).

Yesterday TOM came back, regular period – after just a month! It didn't happen since at least 2 years – so I'm wondering if this could be due to the Bone Broth I drunk in those 4.5 days. It might be only a coincidence by all means, but I feel good so far, I gained some weight during the refeeding, trying to eat less fruits, mostly blueberries and half persimmons but my sugar addiction is still there unfortunately.

I usually start very well my refeeding process, I eat slowly, very clean, portion controlled; and then a bit more fruits, a bit more shredded coconut, maybe a couple of dates….maybe more, and on and on – out of control on everything, even my salads look for a 5-people meal! Good thing though is that the refeeding process for a Bone Broth Fast is not so drastic as the Water Fast or worse like the Dry Fast. I still needed to go easy on what I was eating but I didn't have 5 watermelons as the other Fasts!

During my Bone Broth Fast I had lots of BMs, maybe helped by the probiotics I was taking regularly twice a day, it was mostly liquid of course but I felt that definitely helped in my cleansing process, I did an enema only once during the 4.5 Day of my fast – just to give a cleanse to my colon. So far I'm not 100% negative on the Bone Broth Fast but I might need to try it again to collect more results.

Bone Broth Fast - Day #1 will I keep going with it?

Today is my first day of an anomalous fast that I decided to try: a bone broth fast. I started to drink chicken bone broth today, only that and some water – occasionally with lemon. I heard so many amazing things about the bone broth, how the collagen helps the skin, what great pack of essential amino acids it has, great for joints, for the health of skin, hair and nails and the list goes on and on. So I decided to give it a try for at least 4 days, however just one day into it I'm not sure I want to keep on going for another 3 days. The reason why I don't feel going forward with this fast is mostly due to the large amount of sodium contained in the bone broth. I bought the broth in a local restaurant nearby, I thought I would save some money and it would be more natural than the store-bought one. It is extremely salty though, especially for me that I'm not used to salt anymore with a Raw Vegan diet. I also don't feel very comfortable going back on having animal products, even if it's just the broth of it. My main reason for choosing to try this fast was also because I was reading online and watching YouTube videos mentioning that it can be very beneficial to fight the Candida Albicans, now here I have my serious doubts that it can do anything to the Candida in just only 4 days but I guess doesn't hurt to try after all. Today I'm working from home so I didn't mind having a warm broth as meals during the day but I might not bring it with me tomorrow in the office, I will have a cup in the morning here as "breakfast" and continue my day drinking only water.

One thing that I'm already noticing is that I really look puffy now, most likely due to the high amount of sodium in the broth. I hope drinking plenty of water will help me release a bit of the puffiness in the next few hours. Doing a bone broth is definitely easier than a regular Water Fast, I didn't feel any hunger so far, I don't feel tired; apparently another good thing of a bone broth fast is that there should not be any muscle loss while fasting – because of the high protein content. It's been not even 24 hours in this fast so I really cannot say much, I guess in few days I should have a better picture, if I will keep on doing it. I'm definitely thinking on continuing with a Water Fast once I enter in a good ketosis.

I was going through my old posts, while I was Water Fasting and I felt missing those feelings, I gained weight in the past weeks, if I don't have a meal plan I usually tend to binge and some days I can't really discipline myself on portion control. Right now I feel almost depressed, I looked at myself in the mirror and I saw again that desperate girl fighting for her weight loss in so many crazy ways, so tenaciously and always with scarce results. Sometimes I think that this is just my life, dealing every single day with what I can eat, what not and how to amend on my bad food choices. Some days the only thing I want is sweets, bananas and lots of nuts, peanuts, I want to stuff myself with food full of fatty things, healthy yes but not conform to my diet life style. Some days I think I'm a lost cause and I should just surrender to my weaknesses.

Dry Fasting - my personal experiences

In the past few weeks I did for the first time a Dry Fast, where you don't eat or drink anything – including water. Now, before you think I'm crazy and I'm out of my mind with suicide tendency, let me say that I found a lot of information regarding Dry Fasting and its benefits, so I felt confident that this type of Fast would help me achieve my goal of having my own perfect health status that I'm so tenaciously trying to reach.

As opposite of a Water Fast a Dry Fast cannot be done for prolonged number of days or weeks, and that is for obvious reasons. It usually goes from few hours to few days; apparently the maximum registered so far was 18 days of nothing but air. Performing a Dry Fast is mainly done when a person wants to let the body heal itself, cleanse, letting the body generate the superior water that it needs and reconnect spiritually with it.

I personally didn't become Gandhi neither I connected with anything rather than my bed during the Fast; but I guess everyone is different. My first Dry Fast was for 36 hours, followed by a 12 hours water fast and a sort of refeeding in the evening. Since I felt really tired and lethargic during my first Dry Fast I wasn't impressed about the result or the way I was feeling. As often happens with a Fast I was constipated and overall my energy was lower than normal. I did some researches on Dry Fasting and noticed that almost everyone was suggesting not spending all day in bed, since your lymph need to get in motion in the body with light exercises or walks; so I thought that could be the culprit of my results. So the next week I tried again with a 48 hours Dry Fast, started during the regular working days, so I was in the office forced to walk and do my things normally. This time around I didn't feel lethargic I have to say it, however I still had constipation issues and in general not drinking water for 2 days was not a pleasant experience for me. I did not connect to my body, I did not feel the mental clarity I usually have after few day of Water Fasting and I'm not sure my body decided to produce this superior water to clean and heal itself, most likely it did not get the memo within 48 hours!

Based on my personal experience the only thing I liked of this type of Fast were the reduced number of trips to the bathroom; but rather than that, I won't likely do again a Dry Fast. My ketosis even after 2 days was not high as the Water Fast; I had a lot of water retention after completing the 48hrs and the digestive system was off for a couple of days – way longer time to recover if compared to a Water Fast.

I believe everyone is unique and we respond to a fast in different ways; you have to find what works for you and what not. For me it's a trial journey, I push my body on trying new thing every month, trying to listen on how I feel. I completed earlier a fast often, just because I wasn't feeling right. I know now that my willpower is nothing when my body doesn't listen; this is my life from binging to fasting!

My Colonics Experience

I had my first Colonics on Jan 6^th, this year and another one 10 days after that. The experience overall was not bad, painless for sure and the feelings after the procedure were normal, I can't tell if I really felt cleaned inside or not; I guess I just hope my colon thanked for that anyway.

As personal experience I have to say that the second Colonics made me a bit constipated believe it or not; during the first one I was at the end of my Water Fast – so I didn't have much to release during the procedure. One thing I learned though is the importance of taking daily probiotics. When you do a colonic or even an enema, you remove a lot of bacteria good and bad, so you need to replenish your gut with the good ones, so taking probiotics is essential in this case.

The procedure is very easy, I was lying on a bed and they put inside me like a 2 way tube, one for the water to go in and the other one the release it, with all the stuff stuck in the colon. Some people actually see the worms coming out! You can see it because the tube is transparent so it's easy to monitor what's going on with the irrigation of your gut and what's coming out.

Apparently the ideal is doing a series of Colonics one after the other one so you can remove all built up from your colon and start from fresh with a clean environment. Unfortunately I had to cancel last minute my third appointment – due to some work related issues – but I still have another 2 sessions from my groupon that I can use, and I'm already thinking to make an appointment in the next few days if I find a free spot that fits my schedule.

Overall I personally think that if you have constipation issues and digestive problems, doing 2/3 Colonics in a row can definitely benefit your colon; keep in mind though that any type of procedure you do to your body has always a risk factor, especially if you have serious health issues; so always do your homework, ask for a consultation with your GP is you're not sure.

A New Water Fast - Cleansing and Detoxing

I just want to start on saying: thank goodness the holidays are over! I gained enough pounds to feel like a balloon on my mid-section.

Today is my Day #3 in my newly started Water Fast, so far so good, this morning I registered high traces of ketosis with 80mg/dL. I'm planning to keep going for at least 7 days, hopefully a bit more than that. My weight this morning was 57.9Kg, which is way higher than a month ago when I was between 53 and 54Kg. I'm also trying to go to the gym as much as I can, and I believe that slowly is somehow working. This coming Friday I have my first Colonics, I'm actually excited on doing it, I think it will be very beneficial for my cleansing and detoxing process. During a Water Fast is essential doing a colon cleanse, either Colonics or enemas, especially important during fasting since the BMs are really not easy to have and it could be very painful if nothing is used to help the bowel movements. So keep in mind that if you're starting a Water Fast you need to buy few packages of enemas – or whatever product you prefer for this type of procedure.

So my Raw Whole Food Plant Based Diet is going well so far, I had some cooked food during these holidays, but always vegan, no animal products, just roasted nuts or seeds, a veggie burger, deep fried or roasted tofu and some steamed vegetables. But overall I eat all raw if I'm cooking at home, those episodes were mostly when I didn't have much choice while going out with friends.

I have to say that I ate a lot of bananas recently and for the amount of fruits or in general raw food I was having, my weight did not go crazy as it used to go, I believe is due to the raw food and my exercises that help me to keep my weight under control. After my Colonics, when I break my Water Fast I want to be more disciplined with my food intake. I'm planning to have a mono-fruit breakfast in the morning, like papaya, mango or watermelon, some fruits to snack during the day and for lunch a spinach salad with tons of fruits as I used to have, which I really love; only for the evening I will have a salad with some sort of fats. Fats are the culprit of my weight gain, I get addicted very easily so I promised myself not to buy anymore nuts, only seeds and avocados to provide the 10% of fats that I need, but I'll take it slowly after the end of this Water Fast.

This evening I have a ping pong game with my new boyfriend, not sure if I can say boyfriend yet since it's not even 2 months that we're dating, but for the matter of this post I'll use this label for him. I really hope I won't fall in food temptations, he loves food and he cannot really understand being on a water only diet and not even drinking anything but water! Being around friends eating is really hard while fasting; I would suggest avoiding those types of situations, at least until few days into a fast, like after 7/8 days. At that stage you can feel strong enough to avoid any food temptations.

I often think about food, I'm not into the full fast yet I guess, the idea of quitting and eating something comes often into my mind, but I'm trying to be strong, I know this is normal, we're humans and food is one of the pleasure of the life, well at least it is for me. I would also add that for me is an expression of family love, the way I was raised so it becomes very tough denying myself of this comfort. But I know I will be super happy in few days and even more after successfully completed this Water Fast.

Tomorrow I'll try to go to the gym for a noon class, 45 minutes of my favourite Body Attack class, it's tough usually when I'm eating, let's see tomorrow if I can complete the whole 45 minutes, I won't push myself too much if I feel weak during the class, I've been doing things very slowly in the past 2 days so I can't tell really if part of my energy will be back tomorrow since the Ketosis is high now.

This time around for my Fast I'm having hot water with some lemon juice, so far it's not destroying my lips, which I'm really happy for it. For my personal taste I guess – I have to say that nothing is better than real lemon squeezed into a hot cup of water, all those 100% organic pure lemon juices are a scam, stick on real fruits and you will never regret it!