Reloading My 2019 Fast - Dry/Water Fast Day #7/#8

So after 160hrs, during my Dry Fast Day #7, I broke my Fast with water. What a bummer. After my eye surgery I went back home and my mouth was so dry, I could barely talk. I couldn't resist to the desire to drink some fresh water.
Apart from my dry mouth, all my vitals were good - I didn't sleep more than 3 hours that night but I wasn't feeling tired or sleepy at all. In the contrary, after starting sipping on water, I felt so tired I had to lye in bed for most of the day. Right after drinking some water I had a lower abdominal pain and a BM, maybe I drunk the water too quickly, but it was so good drinking again that I didn't actually pay attention on how much water I was ingesting. Ideally you want to start very very slowly with water, sipping here and there only. At least for the first few hours. My sleep was much better last night, I think I slept at least 5 hours, which is a lot considering the previous nights. This morning I didn't feel very energetic, believe it or not I was feeling better during the Dry Fast. My scale reported 1Kg more than yesterday - I was expecting this gain, my body is now retaining as much water as it can! This morning after drinking a half glass of water I had again a pain in my lower abdomen, followed by another bowel movement. I don't mind cleaning up my bowel anyway, hopefully next time it comes without pain! My plans are to start again soon another Dry Fast, it is definitely better than anything else for me. Not sure why this time around my mouth was so dry, I never had this feeling before, but then again: every Fast is different from the other one. So, after breaking my Dry Fast I'm now trying to hydrate myself, as much as I can. I still feel a dry mouth if I don't drink for few hours. No I'm sipping on a glass of 30% coconut water and 70% smart water, hopefully it will boost my hydration without compromising much my Ketosis. Strangely when I drink I feel suddenly a slight pain in my Kidneys area, maybe they're slowly waking up, I should have started with the Baking Soda / ACV mix to remove some acidity from my Kidneys, not sure if I'm saying something that makes sense though. Let's see how long it will take me to feel hydrated again.
Dry Fast Day #7 - 66.6 Kg (Dry Fast broken with Water only)
Water Fast / Refeed Day #8 - 67.6 Kg   

A day after breaking my Dry Fast

First day after breaking my Dry Fast is passed, yesterday I had lots of Coconut Water, too much maybe since this morning my Ketostix was reporting only some traces of Ketosis – too much sugar. I also registered a 600gr weight gain today; I guess is not fat but some water retention. Let me tell you: Dry Fasting is absolutely amazing; the level of healing and impact with the body is beyond what I was expecting. From the outside it does looks the same like a Water Fast, but once you break the Fast then the magic starts to happen!
I have to say that even with a can of Coconut Water my stomach gets cranky and I have to run to the washroom, so I’m having episode of diarrhea every time I drink the Coconut Water – oddly doesn’t happen if I drink just water with lemon juice. In any case yesterday during one of those BMs I think I released a tiny worm, it looked like a filament, thicker than hair but not that much and long approximately 15cm or so – I didn’t measure it really.
Since I’m drinking water now I took my probiotics last night and this morning as well, with this diarrhea I need to help my friendly bacteria with some probiotics, also I hope they will continue to fight the Candida Albicans Overgrowth, since it should be starving and weak at the moment.
Even though I fasted only for 6 days the refeeding process for a Dry Fast is way longer compared a 6 day fasting with water only, by now I would be able to eat normally – instead I cannot even drink Coconut Water that I need to run to the bathroom. So keep in mind that the longer is your Dry Fast the longer is your refeeding period.
I wanted to do an enema this morning but I really didn’t feel the need to do it, plus I have these liquid BMs so I don’t want to stress too much my colon. I know it sounds gross but this is life, it’s just poop, everybody poop, so I think is normal describing it, plus everything is related to our GI tract here so it’s almost inevitable not to talk about BMs.
Yesterday evening I felt very well with amazing energy and good mood, I believe it was the sugar but I had no hunger whatsoever, not even thirsty really – but even now I’m just drinking because I like the sweet taste of the Coconut Water, I’m not really thirsty.
I’m thinking to continue drinking water & Coconut Water for today but tomorrow I would like to switch to Bone Broth, I don’t like the idea of having so much sugar and I need a proper refeeding plan since I’m going out of town for the long weekend and I might eat solid food during the trip – unless I want my man being grumpy all the times!

How I feel after 4 hours of breaking my 5.5 Days Dry Fast?

I broke the fast since 4 hours now and I can tell that my body is retaining a lot of the Coconut Water I’m drinking; I had already almost 2L of liquid and didn’t pee once! I don’t think I’m gaining fat though, but I don’t like the idea of drinking and not using the washroom.
After my first can of Coconut Water I had a BM, very liquid of course but I think it was a normal reaction of my stomach that suddenly got all that liquid. I feel my Kidney a bit sore I must to say, nothing unbearable but just wondering if the Coconut Water was the right choice to break my 5.5 Days Dry Fast.
I was thinking that Dry Fasting is a bit easier than Water Fast, I really don’t like going to the bathroom every 5 minutes, it’s really annoying, plus I’m not sure it’s good to force this filtration with just water whole day every day. I don’t even know what I’m saying anyway, just guessing how my body can take the 2 types of Fasting.
Needless to say I want to continue my Water Fast till I reach my goal, maybe I’ll alternate between Dry and Water, just to give a break to my Kidneys from time to time. This was the longest Dry Fast I ever done; the previous one I think was 48hrs only.
In terms of weight loss results they are not much different from Water Fasting I think, with the exception that I did only one enema  while during the Water Fast I tend to do it once every other day. Even without eating absolutely anything, it’s really not that easy losing weight but the most important thing is being into Ketosis; I really hope all this Coconut Water is not compromising my Ketogenic state!
My journey to reach my goal weight is still long, this Dry Fast taught me that I can push my body to limits that I never reached before, without bad detoxing effects; I still don’t have the mental clarity that I get with a Fast around Day #7 so I don’t really believe the rule of 1 Day Dry Fast is equal to 3 Days Water Fast – obviously I don’t know what’s happening inside me; did I starve my Candida Albicans? I hope so!

Water Fast - Refeeding Day #1 my experience so far...

Today is the day - I started my refeeding process. This morning I brought in the office my 3 meals of 2 ounces of watermelon. First meal I had at 9:00am, I stopped to drink water at around 8:30am; I took roughly 15 minutes to eat my watermelon – chewing it very carefully - and had some water again at around 10:00am, waiting 45 minutes after my meal.

My first meal was not as I was expecting it, I've watched so many videos on YouTube on people refeeding after 21 days, or even less than 21 – and everyone was like crying while eating the watermelon, almost as it was a mystic encounter never experienced before, the burst of sensations and taste was from another world! For me….it was just like eating a watermelon really. I mean, it was good sure, sweet enough but nothing that I would cry for.

So far I'm not experiencing any sort of side effect from my stomach; I don't feel hungry nor full, I'm sipping on my bottle of water, trying to be conscious today on drinking enough liquids – I feel I'm being really bad with my water intake, yesterday definitely I was under the 2L and while doing a water fast is definitely a negative thing to do. In fact this morning my weight was same as yesterday, my Ketosis was between small and moderate traces, definitely the sugar content in the coconut water impacted my ketosis and my weight, but I want to think that also not drinking enough didn't help the whole process.

My next meal will be at around 11:15am or so, depending on how I feel but I don't think I should have any problem, let's faced it 2 ounces are really nothing and watermelon is almost all water anyway. I think tomorrow I'll register a gain in my weight, I don't think I'll have any bowel movement for what I eat today, but it's not that I'm gaining fat or anything so I'm ok with that. I guess this rule will apply for the next 2/3 days, even more going forward since the food intake will increase day by day; I don't want my body feel that I'm in starvation.

Today for some unknown reasons my skin is really dry, maybe is the cold weather and Canadian winter coming but it feels really dry, and I always wonder if it could be due to the amount of water I'm drinking, in any case I'm constantly sipping today; the key is to do small sips every now and then. I also feel always cold – apart from the weather and the office temperature – I'm sure the Ketosis doesn't help either, but I don't really feel anymore drinking the hot water, I got bored of it. I might have some decaf tea or chamomile tea after the full refeeding process. I need to do some researches to see which one is the best decaffeinated beverage I can have in the morning, I like hot drinks so I hope I can find something that will not make me miss my morning coffee; sometimes I think on buying that odd tea that the acupuncturist gave me a while ago, it was tasting like chicken broth but it was definitely tasty.

Ending my Fast - Coconut Water disappointment!

It's officially started somehow my refeeding process after 23 days with water only, so today I had a can of coconut water. I have to say I was expecting a more engaging experience from it but in the contrary: I was disappointed. I really don't like coconut, even less the water; it was like feeling forced to drink down some sort of disgusting medicine, I'm here thinking that I should have the second can but I would rather fast for another week instead!

My original plan was to drink coconut water for the first two days then during the weekend to go on real food, 2 and 4 ounces of watermelon, but…hey plans can change, especially when the experience is the first ever. So tomorrow I will have my three meals with 2 ounces of watermelon; I'll stop by to a grocery store on my way home this afternoon, I hope I can find some organic one, not easy in this time of the year in Toronto though. I will prepare 3 portions of 2 ounces each, I'm supposed to start the first meal at 10:00am and from there every 2 hours another meal, counting by the end of my meal I guess, since it might take some time for me to carefully chew and eat my fruit, that's all I will have for the day.

This morning my ketosis was still very high, I believe more than 80mg/dL, the Ketostix was extremely dark, that's a sign that I'm still burning fat, and I can believe it since I still have lots of fat to lose anyway.  I know I might go longer on this fast but I really feel it's time for me to end it, I'm getting bored of drinking only water and some days my energy levels are not great, so I don't feel doing much, mostly I feel slow in whatever I do, especially when I walk. I want to be able to go back to the gym, I lost lots of weight so quickly and my body shape is terrible at the moment, so a good exercise routine now is really needed.

Water Fast Day #23 - Ready to break my Fast

Today is my 23^rd day of my Water Fasting journey. I can't believe it's been 23 days without food, only water. Some people might think I'm crazy but overall I think this experience was amazing, I reconnected with my body, I discovered my deep emotions driving my binge episodes, I healed and cleansed my body and I found back my perfect weight. Now I have plans of a healthy eating and I hope I can be disciplined with my goals. I find that the weight I'm right now (~54Kg) is the one I'm more comfortable with, it's a couple of Kilos over my original goal weight but I don't mind at all, and I'm personally not concerned about the number on the scale rather than how I feel in my clothes or how I see the shape of my face in the mirror. I planned also to go to the gym once my energy is fully back, overall I don't have much of muscle mass so I need to build it back somehow, I'm thinking to go at least 3 times a week.

In the past few days I had a lack of energy but today I feel good, not weak at all but at the same time I'm ready to break my fast. Some time it's just the brain preparation that pushes us in the direction that we planned in advance, not necessarily because it's the right time to do it. In any case, I bought two little cans of pure organic coconut water during my lunch break, I left it in the fridge here in the office for now; I might take one home and the second one I will use it tomorrow as my "lunch", but not the pure coconut though, I'll add some distilled water, just to go slowly with the refeeding, but I may drink here and there in the afternoon, I don't think it will harm my system if it's diluted.

Saturday and Sunday will be my first 2 days of real food for my refeeding process, I think I'll buy some organic watermelon on Friday afternoon, not sure if I'll be working from home on that day, but I can definitely go to the grocery store and buy a small piece; I won't have much for those 2 days so I guess a small half will suffice. Depending on how those 2 days go I'll decide what to do on Refeeding Day #3; that will be in the office so I hope the digestion will not drown me down too much by Monday. 

Water Fasting - Refeeding Plan Observations

For the refeeding process I have a specific plan that I'm supposed to follow, in summary I have the following two basic rules (on top of some others of course):

• Avoid drinking water 30 minutes before eating
• Avoid drinking water 45 minutes after eating

Also it's important to handle the food that I'm eating in the best way possible:

• Cut the food in small pieces
• Chew the food until is completely dissolved into the mouth

One thing I planned for my refeeding days – at least the first 2 full days – is to stay home and dedicate the days to the process, since I will basically: drink, eat and rest in between; the digestion phase will take a lot of energy from me that I'm used to anymore since days now, so my body will need for sure.

So I will stop drinking 30 minutes before my first meal starts, I'm supposed to take my time to eat my 2 ounces of water melon, so it might take up to one hour, I don't want to rush it and I really want to enjoy the experience, enjoy the re-discovered taste of the fruit that I'll be having.

After my water melon I will take a rest, just trying to sleep or just watching TV on the couch, to let my digestion system wake up gently. After 2 hours or so I should have my second meal – another 2 ounces of water melon – but let's see how I feel; I read of people sleeping more than expected or just not feeling eating much, so I will just listen to my body and see how it goes. I'm not planning to have more than 2/3 meals anyway, but only if I'm hungry.

The coconut water that I planned to use for breaking my fast I actually thought I could drink it the Friday before my refeeding weekend, so I sort of prepare my body for the fast. A read a lot of contradictory suggestions on what food can be the best one to break the fast; some people suggest juice instead of fresh fruit, some other even vegetables or bone broth.

I personally don't want to start with nothing complicated, I think a small piece of well chewed water melon should not harm my digestion system, so I'll take this path for now; I am also thinking on checking out some juice-maker places to see what are my options out there, just in case I change my mind.

Water Fast Day #21 - My Experience Updates

Today is my 21^st day of my Water Fast experience, so far is going well, I've been a bit weak and with no much energy in the past couple of days, but overall I managed to do everything I had planned, Friday afternoon I even went to the movie theatre by myself, which is a great achievement for me and my mood challenges, and also I can say that not having my usual M&M's during the movie was not that bad at the end, I sipped on my water and I was fine.

This morning my ketosis was still in large traces, which is great since I want to lose a bit more weight before the end of my fast, planning on being around 53 Kg, but I'm not sure I can achieve this goal before real hunger comes; I've lost quite a bit so far, all my clothes are fitting me large, but I'm not complaining; I feel I have a new whole wardrobe now that I can choose from; till few weeks ago nothing was fitting me and I was frustrated every single morning. I hope after the end of this fast my weight doesn't come all back, I know some will but I have to do my best to maintain a healthy Diet, possibly raw vegan diet.

This afternoon I planned to go to a grocery store to buy coconut water, I never had it before and really I hate coconut but for the re-feeding it might be a good choice, I saw some YouTube videos of people breaking the fast with it, let's see… I'm still not sold for it.

During this past weekend I had some breakouts which I believe were part of my skin detox, strangely they were gone in a day, which usually doesn't happen that fast, I'm really looking forward on seeing my skin cleared out thanks to this water fast, one of the priceless benefits for me. Another odd thing that is happening to my skin during this fast is the hydration; usually during my past diets, every time I was eliminating fats, my skin was getting so dry, I had to constantly put on creams, which was also in contradiction with the diet – since I was supposed to refrain to use anything had oil or any type of fat. This time around I really don't need it, my skin is good is not breaking as usual so I'm not using anything unless I really think is needed a little help.

Watching one YouTube video the other day made me realized that really I'm not drinking much water maybe, most of the people suggested drinking roughly 4L of water daily, sipping and never drinking too much in once, but even sipping here and there I cannot manage to have more than 2L so far, I would rather drink the whole bottle than sipping, I just cannot remember to drink!

One good thing that is improved during these past days has been the number of times I wake up at night to go to the washroom; I heard that this thing would happen eventually but I never believed it, well it's actually true and I'm basically not waking up anymore, actually last night I think I had a full night sleep, the first time since days now. I have to say my sleep is improving with the days, at some point I really had hard time sleeping, often I would wake up, and just didn't feel sleeping but always forced myself to rest and stay in bed. Lately I have increased the amount of hours that I'm in deep sleep and I believe now is much better and I can manage to stay in bed as any normal person without feeling like a night owl.

Weight = 55.1 KG

Ketosis = 80mg/dL large traces 
FAT = 23.3%
BMI = 20.0%