2019 Fast 3.0 - Dry Fast Day #7

160 hours into the Dry Fast - 65.3 Kg (144lb)
I'm officially into Day #7 and outmatching my previous prolonged Dry Fast - which was exactly 160hrs. I feel full of energy, way more than the previous days, regardless my lack of sleep, since I was able to sleep only 2.5hrs last night. Yesterday I had to work at the banquet hall from 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM; it is a no-stop work with a lot of walking and heavy lifting, but I did not feel any sign of weakness or intense thirst - I guess it was the normal one after 6 days without food or water. I was actually surprised to see how much energy I had, even after coming back home I was so chatty and happy with desire of accomplish as many tasks as I could! I removed my makeup, I took a shower and I went twice downstairs to talk to the concierge; I also had conversations with my parents showing them what I had bought during the day in my lunch break. I guess my body was using a lot of ketones for energy due to the demanding work-evening. I had a terrible sleep last night though, maybe that hyper activity affected my sleep somehow; I was able to sleep only 2.5hrs I believe, tossing and turning in my bed. This morning when I woke up I checked my Ketones with my ketostix and it was down to 50mg/dL, now I'm wondering if this was because my body was using the excess of ketones to sustain the strenuous activity. I feel well today and the energy is still pretty high; I walked to come to work at -7°C and enjoyed the whole ride, I was breathing deeply and be thankful to inhale the cold and fresh air. I could have run all the way here without issue. Human body is an amazing unpredictable machine, if it needs energy - somehow it will find it.
Yesterday while working, I wasn't tempted by the food at all; I actually used two big containers to bring home some food for my parents, I hope they will like everything, because there's food for 5 days in those containers!
At this time of the Dry Fast last time I was constantly washing my hands to feel the water running on it, I was washing my mouth to refresh and make it less dry; this time instead I don't really feel an urgent feeling to do these things; sure I like feeling the water contact, and most probably it will be nice to swish some water in my mouth, but it's not a big issue so far. Let's see how I will feel tomorrow when another 24 hours are passed. Thankfully is Friday today and, although I don't have nothing to do at work at the moment, I have the feeling the day will go fast and it will be weekend soon. I don't have many plans for this weekend; I will be working again at the banquet hall on Saturday at 5:00 PM and Sunday will be free to do some house chores and maybe a chance to go to the gym and relax. I was actually contemplating the idea to take a warm bath with Epsom salt, to help relaxation and maybe give the chance to my body to absorb some of the salt; maybe will help the dehydration and it will let me prolong this Dry Fast even more than planned. I feel so good right now that I'm sure if I broke the Fast I will lose all these benefits and I'll be back to square one, struggling to lose weight and unable to restart a new Dry Fast. It really doesn't seem a wise decision at the moment, so I'll do my best to be strong for these next few days and achieve better results.

2019 Fast 3.0 - Dry Fast Day #4

89 hours into the Dry Fast - 68.65 Kg (151lb)
My Dry Fast is proceeding well so far. Yesterday I felt so normal that I couldn't believe myself I was Dry Fasting since 3 days. I went to the gym after work, I didn't do any strenuous exercise, just brisk walk on the thread mill, a bit of exercise for my legs and a good stretching. It was a gentle workout I would say, but I felt I needed to move in some way; I'm always sitting at my desk - so sedentary is not good for muscle sparing.
I didn't do any enema yet, but I'm planning to do it this afternoon, I have somehow a feeling that something is sitting in my colon that need to be removed.
This coming Thursday and Saturday I have to work at the banquet hall; there, I always eat so much, so late at night; there's so much free food that I always feel wasting all that goodness for nothing. But this time around I would need to bring my own plastic containers and save that food for home, bringing it to my parents - although I know they won't eat it and most likely I will throw it away.....such a waste. They're picky like small children!
Today I have a bit of dry throat, I feel it's still too early to feel thirsty, I hope this sensation will go away soon, because I want to achieve my 200-hours goal this time around. My sleep is not affected so far, which is good - I hate when I can't fall asleep at night. I'm wondering why my throat is so dry, I never experienced this dryness in my previous Dry Fasts. I guess every fast is different from another. This morning my Ketostix was showing only 40mg/dL - the ketone levels in my urine are very low, considering that I had no food and no water for more than 80 hours. Maybe my ketones are used to boost the energy in my body? I read somewhere that when the ketones are used as fuel, the concentration shown on the ketostix tends to be lower. I guess I will have a proof of that in the next couple of days, checking if the ratio changes or not. To be honest I didn't see much of a change in my weight, no matter what the scale says, I don't see myself getting thinner. I usually can tell when I'm losing weight, my face looks skinnier, my big belly slims down, and even a bit my large hips. This time is not yet happening, well after all it's just 3.5 days into this Dry Fast. Maybe after 5/6 days I will see some improvements in my appearance.
So far I'm peeing with an almost normal frequency, but definitely the amount of urine is very little. This morning my urine was a lot and it was extremely dark, like more than usual healthy colour, but I think it's normal since I'm not drinking any water - not sure if this is a sign for healthy Kidneys filtration or the opposite?

Reloading My 2019 Fast - Dry Fast Day #3

60 hrs into the Dry Fast - 71.55Kg
Another Day is passed and I'm now on the 60 hours mark, I'm doing ok so far, not much thirsty but the desire of water is increasing a bit. Last night I woke up around 12:30 AM and I could not fall asleep for about 2hrs; I'm guessing is because of the Fast but I'm not 100% sure about that.
It's been really cold here lately (-20° C) and the heat is always on in my apartment, causing extremely dry air. This morning I woke up feeling my throat really dry, I thought of breaking the fast for that. However, I do feel fine, I think is the Dry air that is causing me this dryness. I walked outside for a bit and - despite the freezing weather - I felt better. Now I'm in the office and I still have a bit of a dry throat - but it's definitely bearable.
Yesterday evening I checked my Ketosis but my Ketostix wasn't showing any sign of it - that was at the 48hrs mark or so; I need to wait another day to see some colour on my Ketostix. People says that when you get fat adapted you get into Ketosis faster, I don't think is true; it all depends on what you ate before beginning your fast. Best way is to do a Pre-Fast Ketogenic-Diet.
This morning I don't feel great, my mental clarity is definitely not there, I feel a bit slow actually. Sometime I wonder if I'm lacking on Vitamins, especially Vitamin D - due to this weather I am never in the sun. Fortunately is Friday today and this weekend I'll have the chance to rest a bit, well I hope so - with my parents around is always a challenge. I'm not allowed to stay in bed past 8:00 AM!
I am seeing great loss results so far, although is just 2.5 days that I'm fasting, but my hope is that the pace of how I lose weight keeps this rate while Dry Fasting. I lost more than a Kg in the past 24hrs. I know a lot of this weight is water but once I get into Ketosis I'm sure I'll burn more fat as well. I have often temptations on breaking this Dry Fast and drinking some water or decaf coffee, but I have to be strong, stronger than ever before. I want to continue this Dry Fast as long as I possibly can. I know I can reach 7/8 days without major issues, I just need to be disciplined. After all, any water, coffee that I'm craving today - is going to be there when I'll end my Dry Fast - in just few days from now. Days will pass and I will be skinnier and closer to my goal weight.

New Year's Fasting Resolution

With the 2019 approaching soon, I decided to have a New Year’s resolution starting a new prolonged Fast - mostly to shed some of my dreaded extra pounds and also to kick in autophagy to help my body get rid of some unhealthy cells – possibly.  

This time around I don’t want to poison myself with tons of decaf coffee cups and creamer; I’m working on quitting coffee for now. I want to start this Fast with only water - and maybe salt here and there to maintain good levels of electrolytes, since I’m aiming for a long Fast.

This morning I bought on amazon a Body Fat scale, so I can track also my BMI and body Fat % during the Fast. I’m planning on taking various types of measurements before, during and after my Water Fast.

Here’s a list of tests I would like to have done in this new fast journey, divided by timelines.

BEFORE the Fast

• Blood Pressure
• Glucose Level
• Body Weight
• BMI
• Body FAT %
• Blood Work
• Body measurements

DURING the Fast

• Body Weight
• BMI
• Body Fat %
• Ketones
   
  Every 10 days / 2 weeks

• Blood Pressure
• Glucose Level

AFTER the Fast

• Blood Pressure
• Glucose Level
• Body Weight
• BMI
• Body FAT %
• Blood Work
• Body measurements

I will look around if I can find a different type of Ketostix, where I can also check ph levels and protein in the urine – I believe they’re called dipstick – but I would know better once asked in a pharmacy.

Wish me luck! I haven’t fasted on Water-Only since a while; I hope I will find the strengths this time around.

My prolonged Dry Fast - Day #5

Monday – Dry Fast Day #5
10:30 AM – 108hrs

This morning I was able to check my Ketosis with my new package of Ketostix purchased from amazon; it was a nice purple with large traces of ketones at 80mg/dL – I am happy I’m now fully in ketogenic state. Definitely helps with the hunger and the cravings – disappeared altogether fortunately.
My Dry Fast is proceeding fine, apart from my awful mouth feelings – a terrible staple now in all my fasts – I feel perfectly fine; my tongue is light pink, slightly coated, not much though, I don’t know if it will become worse the more I go into the fast, let’s see.
My sleep is ok so far, I was able to sleep a fair amount of hours in the past 2 nights, not uninterrupted sleep but enough to rest. So far I don’t feel weak, but it’s been just 5 days so I’m not surprised really; maybe I’ll see some lack of strengths in the next week, when more than 10/12 days have passed.
It’s been only a bit more than 100hrs in this Fast but I’d like to remind myself that, although starting a Fast is a really a hard thing to do, it gets easier and easier with the days; the hunger disappears, the cravings are gone, all the benefits of a Fast start to come by, and, what I think is important, the self-esteem tends to come back again; because let’s face it, gaining weight, being overweight and fat does not help the self-confidence in any way. I know we should love ourselves just the way we are, and I do, I don’t really care sometime if I’m fat, but I don’t think we shouldn’t try to get fit, to have a normal healthy weight and help the self-confidence, it is all beneficial after all.
My weight goes down quickly with a Dry Fast, or maybe it is also the syndrome of the first few days’ weight loss. Nevertheless I lost 5.3Kg (11.5lb) in 4.5 days – I wish I could keep this rate till the end of my Fast but it’s not going to happen and, also might not be healthy losing weight so quickly.


1:30 PM – 111hrs
I went downstairs for a walk in the mall during lunch time, the energy levels are good, but dreaming about drinking fresh water, but I’m not thirsty per se.
Today I bought a swimwear, for the swimming pool though, one piece bathing-suit, it was depressing, I look like a sausage in it. I’m thinking to go to swim twice a week; I feel my shoulders lost a lot of muscles during these past years. I used to swim twice a week when I was younger and enjoyed a lot; I hope I can go back into the routine of swimming, slowly maybe. Swimming is an easier workout than a regular intense cardio workout, it involves lots of muscles and being into the water constantly helps with the sweating and skin hydration. It is gentle on muscles, if done properly, so I can set my pace and slowly increase the speed; I only hope my anxiety attacks and difficult breathing won’t give me any problems during the workouts.
I’m thinking on stopping by the gym today after work, to see how long the pool is – hopefully it is at least 25m. I know that I’m dry fasting and I’m not supposed to do any exercise but I want to try and the water seems a good place to start.
Strangely this time around I did not have any headaches whatsoever starting my fast, I thought at least for the sugar withdrawal I would feel something, but no, nothing, that’s good though.
I’m still urinating normally, maybe the quantity is less but the bathroom trips are roughly the same, I woke up in the night too! I think is positive though, it means my body is melting some fat and getting rid of waste.
Another thing that I noticed in all my Dry Fasts is my period; every time I do a Dry Fast my period comes, maybe I didn’t have it for 4 months, but as soon as I start going Dry, it comes! It happens similarly with the Water Fast, but after lots of days in a Water Fast, or not at all.

Combined Dry & Water Fast - Days 15, 16 and 17

It has been a long weekend for me and my Water Fast, I went to US with my parents on a road trip, it was not very tiring but at the end of the trip I felt a bit weak and fell asleep very fast once back home. So far my fast is going well, I don’t see much changes on the scale but energy is good, mood is ok, and anxiety is gone, well at least most of the part of my days – I might have some episodes in the early mornings.
During this short trip I’ve been watching my parents eating delicious things and I must to say I did not feel the desire of cheating or breaking my fast, I didn’t feel deprived or anything, which means my Ketosis is working wonder! Unfortunately, I ran out of Ketostix so I can’t check what the ketone's levels are but I would assume I’m in a ketogenic state right now.
By Sunday evening I had very dry skin but maybe was due to the fact that, during the trip, I didn’t have much chance to drink water, we were always running around, so it was hard for me drinking and stopping to go to the bathroom, so I ended up drinking just around 1L of water or so. But after I resumed my water intake, my skin went back to normal.
Last night I was watching a YouTube video of a guy doing an extended Fast and his tongue was incredibly white! I never seen something like that, my tongue is just a little bit white compared his. I guess everyone is different but that was shocking for me.
I’m thinking of starting a new Dry Fast tomorrow; the weight loss rate while dry fasting is way higher than Water Fast, and since my weight is basically not moving at all (I’m still 61.7Kg), I want to try to give a boost to this fast, plus I’m getting tired on drinking water and I’m sure once I stay few days without water I will appreciate drinking again much more.

Combined Dry & Water Days 11 , 12 and 13

Not much to report for the past 3 days, my Water Fast is proceeding well, I don’t feel hungry at all and my ketones are usually pretty good, always 80mg/dL up to 150mg/dL. For some reason the Ketostix are backordered and I could not find any at the drugs stores, so for now I would just assume I’m in ketosis since I’m not eating anything, I hope I will be able to find a package somewhere in the city.
In the past couple of days I had 2 BMs, mostly liquid of course but it’s amazing to see how after more than 10 days my body is still cleaning up my GI tract. I noticed that when I suddenly drink a big jar of hot lemon water I always need to use the washroom, maybe too much water in once or the lemon effect? Who knows?!


My weight loss is slowing down consistently - unfortunately, I know it’s a normal body reaction but it’s frustrating seeing the scale barely moving, but mostly not seeing on my body the fat going away at the same rate as the Dry Fast. I was actually thinking on starting a new 5/7 days Dry Fast, but I’m still undecided, it is very easy doing a Water Fast when able to sip on lemon water or my kidney tea. Well I guess this is the price I have to pay to please my palate.


Tomorrow I’m going out of town with my parents for the weekend, I hope I can stay away a bit from the lemon water and sip only on pure water that might help the weight loss. I just hope my mother will not start to complain 24/7 about me not eating anything; it will be a tough weekend if I have to listen to her no stop. I know it can be hard to understand for people around you that you’re not eating anything, but I believe concerns are moved by genuine worries though, at least most of the times - and in my case from my mother - for sure. I just try to let her understand that I know what I’m doing, that I feel very good and if I ever experience any problematic discomfort during the fast, then I’ll break it without thinking twice.


Sometime I feel I am a masochistic person, I know exactly that if I drink my lemon water or my kidney tea my stomach really hurts, but no matter what, I do it and do it again all the times! Why is that I really don’t know. When Water Fasting the stomach is very sensitive to everything you feed with, so even a little bit of tea or just a bit of lemon juice in a liter of water can be felt as a stomachache in no time.


One thing I noticed in these days is that my strengths are slightly going down; I feel my purse is becoming heavier and heavier when I walk around, and 2 days ago I went out during lunch time for some errands with few things in my purse, now my left trapezius muscle is killing me. So be careful on where you push your body during a prolonged Water Fast or you might regret it.
Just to say though, that in general I don’t feel weak or tired, is like the mind is super focused, alert, mood is good, the anxiety is almost gone; but my body is on a different wave – maybe busy detoxing and repairing other things inside.


My mouth still feels kind of awful, but my tongue at time changes colour, from stinky white coated to light pink. The “thirst” that lot of people think to feel during a Water Fast is actually the mouth sensation that doesn’t give a rest to a Faster, is not actually thirst – especially when drinking so much water all day. Unfortunately there is not much that can be done with the tongue issue, at least that I’m aware of. We just need to cope with it, it gets better with the days – I tend to get used to, still not feeling right but I don’t complain like during a Dry Fast. Hot water usually helps though – I would suggest giving it a try.

My Prolonged Dry Fast - day by day - 7.5 Days! (180 hrs)

Dry Fast Day #1
(Thursday)


11:30 AM (16.5hrs) – My Dry Fast is finally started, so far so good but I’m still in the first few hours anyway. I don’t feel thirsty at all but at times I’m a bit hungry. I’m going to the washroom normally so far, as I was drinking water as usual, I guess it’s still for all the food I had in the past days. My last meal was yesterday at 7:00 PM with my mud pudding. I think if I will feel constipated in the next couple of days, I might do an enema.


1:30 PM (18.5hrs) – The usual headache is starting, not much yet but I can definitely feel it now; I guess it’s a mandatory step for my sugar withdrawal. I’m neither thirsty nor hungry, my mouth feels ok, I’m still peeing regularly and it’s very clear so far, I feel a bit constipated though – contemplating on doing an enema today after work.


2:30 PM (19.5hrs) – Strangely the mucus is back in my mouth, I had it even the first few days in my past prolonged Dry Fast; I’m urinating less now but still frequently enough. My headache is not strong yet but I feel very sleepy, it might be due to the fact that I have nothing to do at work.


5:30 PM (22.5hrs) – I walked to go home without issues, I had a small BM but I feel a bit constipated, I’m going to bed early tonight, my headache is still there annoying me.


6:00 PM (23hrs) – I did 100 rep of 10 different types of squats today too, second time. I felt my legs a bit sore so I think the mini-workout is working and it’s not intense to do while fasting. I’m going to bed to watch videos and read something; my head is still bothering me.


Dry Fast Day #2
(Friday)


7:00 AM (36hrs) – I did an enema this morning since I felt a bit constipated all day yesterday; it was good doing it, lots came out. My headache is still bad, I didn’t sleep very well last night, for some reason the A/C was bothering me on my head and I slept with a pillow on top of my forehead. I had strange dreams but work related.


Note
I was reading something from a blog yesterday - no matter what you do, dry fast, water fast or eating food, time will pass anyway so you can choose to wake up and see you scale going down or wake up as usual feeling miserable with your fat.


9:00 AM (38hrs) – I still have headache. I see my face really puffy right now, I’m wondering if I’m retaining any water or something else, I look at my mirror and I see myself so ugly as never before. My self-confidence is underground at the moment. After the enema I had to urinate once more plus I think I’m eliminating some mucus with my BM, I’m not sure what else could be otherwise – I’ll do some researches online.


11:00 AM (40hrs) - I have this darn headache that doesn't seem going away, it's so annoying. I don't feel hungry, although I think about junk food sometimes, but those are stupid cravings not hunger. My mouth is not dry and I'm not thirsty, I'm not talking at all this morning in the office and pretty much just sitting at my chair. I had to urinate another couple of times, which is good for me, I also started to have again that odd feeling like I have an UTI, not sure if it's due to the lack of hydration or something else.


1:00 PM (42hrs) - My headache is almost gone, sometimes I can slightly feel it, some moments I'm good. I'm feeling really nervous and irritable right now, I'm not sure if it's due to my hormones or I'm grumpy for the lack of food, water and headaches driving me nuts. I feel I don't want to see anyone, I just want to go to bed and wake up Monday morning. I'm seriously thinking on ditching my boyfriend sleepover tonight, I really don't feel of great company.


3:30 PM - (44.5hrs) - I feel better now, maybe because the weekend is close, I can't wait to go home today; I know I have to get ready for tonight but my man won't be home before 10:00 PM so I'll have plenty of time to do my things, I might take a nap before he comes - I feel I need to lye down for a little bit. I don't have headache but I didn't urinate since a couple hours now, wondering if it's normal. Still good in terms of hunger or thirst though.


Note
I checked what could be the white-ish jelly mucus in my stool and apparently is not something to be much worried about; it could be due to the dehydration, although I've seen it after 3/4 days of back on drinking. I'll check again this time around if it happens again.


7:00 PM (48hrs) - I wanted to take a nap but I couldn't fall asleep, maybe because I knew my boyfriend was coming over so I was a bit worried I would be late to get ready. I dried my hair without issues, I don't feel weak at all and my headache is gone now.


Dry Fast Day #3
(Saturday)
9:00 AM (62hrs) - I checked my Ketosis and it's still a peach pink colour with just small traces of Ketosis. I felt really cold during the night, especially my feet, but it didn't last all night, I was fine in the morning though. I'm urinating normally I would say, plus between showers and washing my hands or brushing my teeth I've been in contact with water a lot yesterday and again today.

3:00 PM (68hrs) - My stomach is growling a bit for some reason, just for few seconds but it always makes me wonder if I'll feel soon really hungry or not. I had strange noxious feelings this morning and some air in my colon/intestine, maybe I need to do another enema but I would rather wait a bit when I really feel the need to do it. I am neither hungry nor thirsty but sometimes I have my usual stupid cravings to eat this and that like chocolate bars or ice-cream. But I need to be strong and I'm repeating myself that I'm not missing anything, all those food will still be here in 2/3 weeks or months for that matter. My legs feel a bit sore today, most likely due to the 100 rep of squats I did home, I'll try to do another 100 rep today too, they seem working!

Dry Fast Day #4
(Sunday)
10:30 AM (87.5hrs) - I checked again my Ketosis this morning and the ketostix was really purple, I have high traces of ketosis. I got my period last night so I'm done with my negative days and I'm cleansing even deeper now. I don't feel doing anything today so I might stay all day in bed, just folding some laundry and a load of the dishwasher. I don't feel tired just lazy and, although I know it would be better for me to go at least for a walk to breath some fresh air, I feel too lazy today to do it.


Dry Fast Day #5
(Monday)
9:00 AM (110hrs) - Back on Monday and fifth day of my Dry Fast. My mouth feels really awful today, I did brush my teeth this morning but I guess it's the lightly white coated tongue detox symptom that makes everything worst...I think. I have a small pain on my back this morning, not sure though if it is for sleeping all day yesterday or something else. I didn't do any enema yet so it may be that too, let's see how I feel today and when I'm back home I might decide to do an enema. My arms felt a bit weak this morning when I was doing my makeup, but just for a moment or so, in general I don't feel weak, I even walked to come to work without any problem, and I wasn't even slow! Usually when I'm Water Fasting I can be really weak and even a simple walk can be challenging.


1:30 PM (114.5hrs) - So far I don't feel any difference in how I feel, my mouth most likely is terrible but I'm not talking much anyway. I had just a long phone conversation with my mother but I listen most of the time. My period seems way less now, odd since it's just end of day 2 and it should be way more, but every month is different I guess. I'm urinating normally I guess, not big flows and my urine is pretty clear, wondering if my kidneys are filtering or not. I should check with my sediments but I'm not really into storing in a jar my smelly urine really. I can't wait to go home today, I'm getting really bored here and the more I do not do anything the more I do not want to do anything! My back is feeling a bit uncomfortable now, nothing major and maybe it's just my posture but I can feel a sort of pain in my middle spine.


4:00 PM (117hrs) - I feel my lips very dry today, just my lips, the rest of my skin is pretty moisturized fortunately. My back pain comes and go but it's not that bad, I'm definitely doing an enema today when I'm back home. My period became very light for some reason, not complaining but just wondering what could be the cause; last month it lasted 7/8 days! I have again that strange and uncomfortable feeling like a UTI infection when I'm urinating, which I'm still doing it regularly - of course the flow is very small but I still have same amount of urges to go. I'm not hungry at all but sometimes I would like to drink something refreshing, I wouldn't say that I'm thirsty but just my mouth feels really bad. I read today about the white-coated tongue and how it changes the taste buds, maybe it's for this reason that I would like to wash it out this awful taste from my mouth.


6:00 PM (119hrs) - I did an enema once back home, it took me one hour! I'm still not very confident on what I'm doing with the enema kit, but I guess I will learn with the time. I had a good release, at some point my stomach was hurting me a lot, but eventually my body released other nasty stuff and I felt much better. Went to bed very early, just to watch some YouTube videos and read something; another day is gone!


Dry Fast Day #6
(Tuesday)9:00 AM (134hrs) - I had a sleepless night pretty much last night, at some point I wanted to just wake up and read my book, but I figured would be better to just let my body doing nothing in the bed with my eyes closed rather than reading and get tired. I feel good this morning, I see myself still very fat of course but I cannot expect miracles in just 5 days really. I walked to come to work and my energy is very good so far, surprisingly; also my Ketones were very high this morning. During my previous Water Fast or MFS I would be already super weak at this point, fortunately for some reasons is not the case when Dry Fasting. My back pain disappeared but my tongue still feel awful and white-coated. I often think on when I'll be breaking this Dry Fast to switch to Water Fast, but I don't really feel the need at the moment, I feel perfectly fine - well apart from my breath I guess. If you think you're going to die after 3 days of not drinking water, well think again. When there's enough fat tissues on the body the Dry Fast is very easy, our perfect body will break down all that stored fat to make pure water and get all the nutriments it needs. Fascinating. 


11:00 AM (136hrs) - So far I'm doing good; my period seems almost over, really quickly this month but I'm not complaining. I have a lightly white-coated tongue that gives my mouth an awful taste, apart from that I feel great. Although I didn't sleep much last night, I don't feel sleepy or tired; I'm getting bored here in the office, but this is another problem. I do have to admit though that my legs don't feel super strong, I have hard time squatting today, but nothing major. During my lunch break I want to go to the City Hall square to look around the Tuesday's Market that is on today, I can see it from my window and it looks fun, with people in costumes performing and lots of tables and chairs!


4:00 PM (141hrs) - I went outside during my lunch break but it wasn't really a market in the square, it was more a Caribana celebration event, with the mayor and TV and lots of beautiful women dressed like flowers and butterflies! It was nice to see the colours, the weather was also gorgeous - just perfect! I don't have to report much, I feel pretty normal, since I didn't talk much this afternoon my mouth didn't bother me. I urinated less today I think, still 4/5 times though, but the flow is not much, oddly I cannot keep the urge to pee so I usually run to the bathroom when I feel the need to go. I was sitting all day so my back hurts a bit but it's not due to the Dry Fast really. Today I have to do few things home, let's see how I feel on completion of my 6th day of this Dry Fast.


6:30 PM (143.5hrs) - I took a shower and washed my hair this afternoon, I thought I would feel my arms weak while drying my hair but it didn't happen, so my energy levels are still pretty good. I'm a bit slower though in doing my things, but not complaining, I don't want to raise my heart beat too high, apparently it's really dangerous while Dry Fasting since the blood becomes thicker in this type of fast, who knows but better safe than sorry. I didn't do an enema, I just felt I didn't need it yet, I'll see tomorrow how I feel. I had a couple of breakouts on my face today, one and my eyebrow, unusual place really, who know if it's because of the period or another way of releasing bad stuff through my skin?


Dry Fast Day #7
(Wednesday)
8:30 AM (157.5hrs) - Another sleepless night last night, this is one thing I don't like of fasting (plus my awful mouth feelings), not able to sleep properly is annoying, not that I feel sleepy in the morning or during the day but I just would like to have a proper 8 hours sleep at least. Today I feel good, my mouth is still awful, my energy levels are great, I walked to come to work with a good pace, trying to force myself to walk slower. I checked my Ketosis this morning and it is very high with 120mg/dL, I rarely see the Ketostix so purple! I had to wake up last night to go pee, unbelievable that no matter that I had no food or drink for the past 6.5 days, I'm still urinating as usual. My urine is way darker now, at least the one in the morning when I check my ketones. Let's see how I feel today and if I want to break the Dry Fast tomorrow or keep on going for another couple of days. I might do an enema this afternoon once home, I don't really feel constipated or any uncomfortable feeling in my GI tract, but something is telling me that is time to release more from my colon and cleanse it further.


11:00 AM (160hrs) - I noticed that if I stay sitting too long I tend to feel weaker somehow, but as soon as I start to walk around my energy gets better, I think it's not beneficial for me to stay too much still, I should keep on moving through the day so my body feels more active the lymphatic system is on....or whatever that means. I neither feel hungry nor thirsty, but I can feel missing the water, I like washing my hands slowly - almost as my skin was asking me to enjoy longer that moment for a sort of drinking time. My mouth still feel awful and the tongue is white-coated, but if I don't talk at all is not that bad, salivation is good so far. Last night for some reasons I had a couple of stomach-growling episodes, just wondering what could cause those growling in my empty stomach, maybe my intestine is trying to push out some residual food that I still did not release.


4:30 PM (165.5hrs) - My work day is almost over, it went fast today since I was a bit busier than usual and also I had more meetings. I don't believe to the theory that while fasting you won't be able to function properly, I feel perfectly normal, apart from my tongue and maybe a bit of a bad breath, I feel fine actually way more focused on what I'm doing at work. Maybe if your job requires heavy lifting or strenuous activities, I can see that it might be a bit of challenge, but not much in my opinion. But again everyone is different and fasting is not for everyone. I still have my period, the flow is very small but it's not completed yet. I decided to use the bubble drink to break my fast, still a bit concerned though to drink fruit juice but I wonder if it would benefit my kidneys so I'm prone to break the Dry Fast in that way for now. I want to do an enema this afternoon when I'm back home and maybe tomorrow I'll check my weight; I want to see how much water retention I'll have in the next days compared the Dry Fast. Now I'm thinking that maybe the grape juice will kick me out of Ketosis if I drink it - so I'm not 100% sold on doing it. Let's see tomorrow. 


5:30 PM (166.5hrs) - Once home I did an enema, I must to say that it took lots of water, I guess my colon it is almost empty due to the fast. It was an unpleasant experience, I didn't feel very well after maybe I overdid with the water, also I did not release much, mostly the water from the enema.


7:00 PM (168hrs) - I decided to iron all my laundry that was sitting in the basket for quite a while now. I enjoyed the ironing watching a movie. My OCD tends to increase when I'm fasting usually. I went to bed very early to watch some videos on YouTube and read something. My Day #7 is completed!


Dry Fast Day #8
(Thursday - First Half)
1:30 AM (174.5hrs) - I woke up in the middle of the night with the urge to go to the bathroom, I didn't feel very well, fortunately I released a bit more of the water from the enema and urinated more than usual. I really had hard time to fall asleep again; I think I was fully awake for another 3 hours after my bathroom episode. One thing I don't like of the detoxing part of Fasting is the emotional detox, if I can call it that. All bad thoughts from the past start to creep in my head, uncomfortable feelings of what went wrong, bad people, terrible situations. I know it can be beneficial to deal with the demons from the past, but I would rather not.

6:00 AM (179hrs) - My night was sleepless again, I believe I slept only 4 hours, but I don't feel tired or anything. I decided to wake up and do few things in the house before breaking my fast at the end of the 12 hours into the Day #8. I could not check my Ketones this morning since I had no urine at all, I guess the releases during the night emptied my bladder. I checked my weight though, it was 60.5Kg, I would have liked a lower number but I could tell from the mirror that I'm still in the sixties. Oh well my Fast is not done yet, so better days will come.

Completed a 10-Day Water Fast!

Ok, so I have successfully completed 10 days of Water Fasting and I'm now in the 11^th day planned on breaking my fast this evening with bone broth. I do not feel hungry though, and a part of me would like to keep going and enjoy this amazing feeling that the fast is gifting me with. But everything has to end eventually and since I'm going to Italy in just few days I might as well start refeeding and be ready when I'll be with my family.

The mental clarity while I'm fasting is great, I am absolutely astounded every time I do a sort of longer fast. This is my second longest Water Fast after my 24 days, I think I could do another 10 days without any problem…but, as I said circumstances are against me at the moment.

Today I had for the third day in a row the same weight at 55.6Kg, but my Ketosis has been very high, over 100mg/dL; which is a value I rarely see in shorter fasts. So I don't mind much the plateau for now, I'm sure I'm losing inches somewhere and considering the colour of my Ketostix, I still have lots of fat to lose here and there.

I'm happy to report that I'm still having a sort of BMs, I did few enemas every other day just to help my detoxing process. I used to buy the Fleet enemas at the Drug Store but they're too expensive so I'm recycling it and reusing it after a deep deep cleaning! I know it sounds gross but $10 every other day is not affordable for me at the moment.

I believe that my weight plateau might be also due to the fact that I've been home in the past 3 days and not moving much around, since my condo apartment is very tiny; is not that I'm thinking of doing strenuous exercise or anything but walking at least one hour per day is definitely beneficial for my weight loss.

After I end this Water Fast I want to try to reduce as much as I can the carbs, in particular the fruits. I noticed that I tend to binge on bananas especially if I eat them with the peanut butter powder. Delicious combination by all means, but it makes me gain weight back in 2 days, which is not ideal for me. I also want to try stick on a 2 meal daily plan, basically IF, trying to eat first at 11:30 in the morning and then dinner around 5:30pm. Hopefully I can do it in Italy too, we usually eat late in the evening there, so it might be tough for me smelling all the amazing food my mother cooks without feeling hungry. But I'm planning on having big meals, mostly green leafs and fats like nuts and seeds. Wish me luck!

Raw Vegan Diet and my alarming food cravings

It's Monday today and doing nothing here in the office makes my day feeling longer than actually is, just looking at the watch every 5 minutes or so to see when it's time for me to leave. If my co-worker is working from home tomorrow I will do too for sure. I have a slight back pain today, not sure if it's due to my shoes, the posture or anything else, it's a lower back pain and I can barely bend or staying sit, I'm usually pretty resistant to pain, never complained much, unless is really killing me, but it's uncomfortable definitely – just wondering if it could be part of my detox process in my Water Fast.

Without eating I have of course more time, since I'm cutting the cooking part, the eating and organizing dishes in the kitchen. The good parts are: saving money, keeping kitchen clean, losing weight, detoxing and less trips to the grocery stores. I like shopping in general but not grocery stores, I would rather go to a mall or healthy food stores but supermarkets don't excite me so much; sometime I think I would go back on receiving the organic basket that I use to receive from MamaEarth once a week, the choices though are limited for me so not sure it will be convenient, especially eating so many tropical fruits as I like to do.

So far I can say that being Raw Vegan it is expensive, I cannot eat everything organic or I'll be broke, but fruits in general are expensive, if I combine different types of fruits is a lot of money. I tried to shop in Chinatown to save on my grocery, and I did save some for sure, but my tomatoes tasted like water and the cantaloupe was terrible, I did not enjoy one bite of it. So saving on the pocket to lose on the taste? I need to find a better compromise for it, plus I definitely don't trust fruits and vegetables bought in Chinatown.

I'm doing better today with my water intake, I bought another bottle of my vapour distilled smartwater  but still thinking on buying the pure distilled water at Shopper - I think it might be more convenient for me, even going forward. So far I drank 1.3L only though but I'm usually less than that so I will say is an improvement for the day, plus it's 3:00pm now so I have time to reach at least 2L for the day. One thing I noticed this morning though was the colour of my urine, not dark yellow as it should be, that's why I also think the Ketostix on moderate Ketosis could be inaccurate; the ketosis might be diluted and not precise in terms of measurements.

This time around I have lots of cravings for food, I didn't have it during my first Water Fast, I guess is true when they say that each fast is different from the other one. I'm resisting on the cravings but just looking forward to the day that I'm done with this fast and going back on eating whatever I like, still Raw Vegan of course, I'm really happy with this choice. I hope this is not a sign that my binges are coming back as soon as I complete the Water Fast….or I might need to start a new one again! I thought many times on going back on counting calories, it's the only way on keeping me accountable on the food, instead of loading my salad bowl of 2Kg of vegetables and dressing sauces, not to mention my desserts indulgences. Another thing that I want to do is staying away from doing too many gourmet recipes, it increases my cravings, watching all those videos or posts on Pinterest, and they just make me crave more and more food. I hope this Water Fast will help me to get rid of my cravings so I can go back to a normal and healthy Diet routine without being obsessed by food.

7-Day Water Fast - My updates on Day #4

Today is Day #4 of my 7-Day Water Fast and I'm happy to report that I've been in Ketosis since yesterday with large and moderate traces, good to know that I'm already burning fat and not muscle.

So far I'm doing ok, my weight this morning was 55.7Kg so it's going down with a good pace, but I would also say that the first few days are always good in terms of losses. Let's see by mid-week since I don't have too much to lose in my opinion, I'm hoping to reach the 53Kg by the end of the fast.

Sometimes I look my body in the mirror and I can see that I'm really out of shape, when I was running or going to the gym I had a completely different figure, it really hurts and I'm always thinking that I should go back to my gym routine once my fast is done. I have in my mind good intentions but I never feel the strengths to do it, I'm wondering if I'm exhausting my adrenals and feeling often tired and demotivated. I'm planning on taking some supplements for the adreno-fatigue once completed the Water Fast and refeeding process – maybe it will help.

Saturday I spent all day mostly in bed, except for a movie date that I had in the afternoon, so I did at least 1 hour walking that day. I really felt tired of doing anything, I didn't even want to go to the cinema, hoping my date will cancel for unforeseen reasons….but he didn't so I went. Before going though I decided to do an injection of Vitamin B12, since the Raw Vegan Diet is usually low in B12 and it could help in giving me energy. The injection itself was not pleasant, I had for the first time lots of blood coming out from the injection site, the needle was very small though, not sure what happened really, not a big issue anyway, it stopped in few seconds after that.

This time around I don't want to drink hot water, I'm satisfied with regular room temperature water, I do feel I'm not drinking enough though, I try on sipping here and there but at the end of the day it never gets up to 2.5L, I just can't make it!

Another thing I noticed that is different for this second Water Fast is my desire of eating; I'm looking to so many new Raw Vegan recipes on Pinterest and buying new Raw Vegan food. During my first 24-Day Water Fast I wasn't thinking much about food, at least not like this. Does concern me a bit really since I don't want to be addicted on food or gourmet recipes, I just want to live an healthy life with a good relationship with food, without being obsessed about eating or losing weight. I really hope I can achieve this goal once forever!

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 #14 - Amazing Water Fast!

I've been fasting for fourteen days so far, and time really flies. I'm doing well, today my Ketostix registered only moderate traces of ketosis but I'm feeling good. I had a black bowel movement this morning, as predicted by other water-fasting-fellows. I had this feeling of heaviness in my abdomen since a couple of days, I wasn't sure what it was, this morning I had this confirmation, my body was just trying to get rid of those toxins I guess, I feel different now….I had a sort of low-pressure feeling this morning.

For my Water Fast Day #11 was my "revelation day"! I felt as never before, my energy and my motivation was over the moon, I accomplished so much in few hours and on Saturday (my birthday) I woke up smiling and happy to complete everything I had on my TO-DO list. So I did, I ran around all day, I was happy, tired, thirsty, in love with my life and my body. I have been experiencing what is the life all about: not food, enjoying everything else. Food changes our minds, the way we live; we are focused on things that are not important instead of enjoying what so precious we have in our hands: the life.

My mind is opening up, I feel that all my thoughts can wire between each other way better, I'm more creative, my English is getting better, I'm more focused, my OCD is drastically increased, I'm always smiling. I don't want to complete this Water Fast until my body healed itself properly, it's unbelievable to me the way I feel, I can't even explain exactly, it's like everything has a meaningful sense now. I still recall the advice of the Church on fasting, I always thought was absurd, but now I can see why it was the real way to go; an advice on how to actually live our life in the fullest.  

Today I don't care much anymore about my weight, not denying that I love the way I look today, but I'm looking forward to enjoy this experience, to see where my mind can bring me. I feel I'm more productive at work, in general in all my things. I have so many projects in my head that I want to accomplish and I cannot wait to start.

If you are looking to get your life back try Water Fasting for at least two weeks, it's a life change I promise.

Water Fast Day #4 - How am I feeling?

Today is my Water Fast Day #4 and I also checked my ketosis for the first time since days; I can confirm that I had 1.5 Small Traces of Ketosis this morning. I didn't see the Ketostix so dark since forever really, I was glad to see that I'm currently burning fat.

So far my Water Fast experience is good, I know I'm not following the process in perfection, apparently I'm not supposed to use any soap or cream as well as not brushing my teeth or doing any makeup. None of those things is feasible for me that I work every day in an office.  Some people go to those Wellness Centers in Costa Rica, but seriously who has 4/5 weeks' vacation to get there for a Water Fast? I personally don't have this luxury, I've a mortgage to pay and if I miss 4 weeks at work they will replace me with someone else!

Anyhow, my weight is exactly the same as last time I checked, which was way before my binge eating episodes, I cannot say much about it really, maybe going forward I'll have a better picture of how I am doing with this.

My sensation into just 4 days of fasting are not bad overall, I don't feel hungry, well at least most of the time, but I don't have cravings which is a big thing for me. In the first 2 days I had bad headaches, most probably for the coffee withdrawal and sugar too I guess; I used a couple of aspirins on day #1 and #2 and that fixed all. I definitely feel slower in my movements and I don't have the same energy as before, but I kind of like this status of my body, it relaxes me, I don't feel anxious anymore, I didn't have any raised heartbeat yesterday and even my anxiety was a bit less painful, not disappeared yet but looking forward to it!