2019 Fast 6.0 - Dry Fast Day #1

12 hours into the Dry Fast
What can I say? I'm a total failure when it comes to lose weight and fast. I broke my fast with water at the end of the fifth day and with food at the end of day 6. I was at the banquet hall working and the food was amazing and so tempting, I was weak and I gave up. Now I'm back here, trying to lose the same KGs I had before starting the previous Dry Fast, everything went back on of course, but I didn't lose much in those 5 days so I'm not surprised that I didn't see any change. Every time I hope it's going to be different and every time I'm back here complaining with myself over these failures. Will I be ever able to lose my weight? Why I cannot water fast anymore? I can't Dry Fast for too many days and I need time to lose all the fat that I have accumulated in these years. I wish I had again all my strength and discipline to perform a 30 days water fast, or combined, dry and water for few weeks, that will suffice I guess.
In these days I'm really stressed because of my parents and the responsibility of my brother in law, often I feel emotionally weak and I want to eat, too much when I wouldn't needed anyway. Today is going to be a long day for me and I hope I'll be strong enough to resist to any food temptation because I'm tired to see myself so fat, no clothes that fit and so ashamed of just thinking on being intimate with someone so overweight. I hope I'll collect and find all the strengths I need to achieve my goals, it's hard but I have to.
So far I'm ok, my stomach is grumbling here and there but I didn't have any hunger cramps yet, and hopefully I won't have any. First couple of days are the worst!

2019 Fast 3.0 - Dry Fast Day #6

136 hours into the Dry Fast - 66.55Kg (146.41lb)
I'm finally into my Day #6, still doing well, I don't feel thirsty and my dry mouth is still bearable. I started to have a bit of sense of dryness while talking this morning, but not a major issue yet, I can still talk properly without affecting my speech.
This afternoon after work, I have to go to the banquet hall for my second job, it will be interesting to see my body reaction to a 6-hours no stop walking activity and heavy lifting. I'm usually extremely thirsty when I work at the banquet hall, and right now I'm already dehydrated, so let's see if I will compromise the length of my fast or I'll endure this fasting state. I hope the latter.
Usually at the banquet hall there's ton of free food that is always tempting, but this time I'm bringing with me two containers, to save my meals and bring it home to my family (hoping the picky eaters will like everything).
This morning, when I was walking to work, I was trying to do deep breathing and inhale a bit of the cold air (we are at -12°C today) to hydrate myself - since it's enough humid outside. Unfortunately there's lot of pollution in the downtown core and the deep breathe is not always a pleasant experience. When I'm fasting, my sense of smell is really enhanced, I also enjoy smelling food from everywhere, I can easily distinguish the type of ingredients used in the dishes. My mother had a coconut cookie the other day, and I could smell the coconut even after half hour that she had it.
I enjoy preparing food for my family, it keeps me busy and it helps me not to think much about cooking and eating; somehow I participate to the meal with them without missing the whole experience.
Last night was a sleepless night, I think I slept only 3/4 hours - I hate when I'm turning and tossing in my bed without chances to rest properly. This was the first time, during this Dry Fast, that my sleep was affected. I do feel better this time around, and I'm confident I can keep this fast longer than previously planned.
My mental clarity is not there yet, sometimes I'm wondering if it will ever come during the Dry Fast - since I cannot fast for too many days - or I'm already getting the mental benefits without me fully recognize it. I can see that my speeches are just a bit better today, but I don't feel that state of mind that I get on Day 7/8 during a Water Fast.
This morning I felt, for just few seconds, a feeling in my stomach that I could have a spontaneous BM, but it didn't happen, now I'm wondering if I should do another enema - maybe tomorrow, since today I'm fully booked with my two jobs.
I believe I still have a terrible breath, I used the breath mist a couple of times yesterday, not sure how effective it is. I read on various websites and videos, that this issue should go away after few days of fasting; I'm hoping for that - it is really bad when your breath stinks.

Intermittent Fasting vs Dry Fast

It's been 5/6 days now that I am struggling on starting a new Dry Fast. I cannot tell you how tough it is to set your mind and begin a Dry Fast, I go for few hours very well, up to 24hrs and then I give up and start to drink or eat something. I tried OMAD (one meal a day) - even with Dry Fast - but for me this regiment does not work. I'm grumpy all day without food, waiting only my meal time and, regardless the fact that I eat only one meal, I still gain weight and I see same results as when I eat small meals during the whole day! WTH! Why then doing it if I don't get any benefit from? I've seen lots of videos and blogs on the Internet about OMAD and Intermittent Fasting, with people getting amazing results - very inspiring. But I guess everyone is different, my body doesn't react positively to intermittent fasting. I see better results just fasting from any sort of food or drink for prolonged time.
When done properly a Dry Fast can give you the best results you could ever dream of, the fat just comes off day by day with a constant rate. Sure, it is a short term fast, longer than a week is extremely hard to maintain, and even after 7 days the end is very close anyway. Even thinking on doing a back-to-back Dry Fasting routine is not that easy. It took me almost 5 days to rehydrate properly after my 6.5 days without food and water. Once you broke a prolonged Dry Fast, you need days before the body gets back to where it was (in terms of liquids); not to mention the physical and mental challenges on starting again a new Fast! During the week, while I'm at work I think: "maybe I need the weekend to get distracted and begin a new Fast", while when the weekend comes I think: "maybe during the week is easier since I don't have food always around me". It doesn't work like this...ever. You need to be mentally prepared to start a fast, no matter what day of the week it is.

I broke my Dry Fast again after 75 hours

After 75hrs I broke my Dry Fast...again. I was determined to go at least another 5/6 days dry fasting. However, my throat was extremely dry and my TOM just started and made me feel awful without water. So I decided to take a break from the Dry Fast and rehydrate again. Hopefully this time around I will drink plenty of water to make me feel ready to begin a new Dry Fast. My weight this morning was 66.65Kg, I lost some weight since I re-loaded the Fast, but I don't even want to think on how much it will raise till tomorrow!
My issue with water fast is that, after doing it for so many times, I cannot stay away from liquids of any sort. For example decaf coffee with cream, or my water with the VEGA electrolytes. Those are all piling up on my calories intake and jeopardizing my weight loss and my willpower on beginning a new Dry Fast.
Every Fast will bring you a desire of a missing texture, when Dry Fasting the only thing I desire is fresh water. While if I'm Water Fasting I want to have fresh juices, sometimes solid food as well. It's an escalation of desire of different textures. So dangerous when trying to create a discipline around fasting.
I had feelings my period was coming yesterday, I felt pain on my ovaries and not feeling well in general. I didn't notice the weight loss that I was expecting, and I wasn't sure why. Well, now I know - most likely my period increased the body natural reaction of retain water. I still have discomforts for the period but I have to endure this pain I guess, I'm not going to take any pill for that.
Right after I had some water and my electrolytes I had a BM, and I have to say I was surprised to see how much food waste was still in my bowel - since I did an enema yesterday morning. It might seem a gross conversation this - and I apologize for that - but when Fasting, what is in your GI tract assumes an important role in your wellbeing.
My weekend Dry Fasting was ok, I felt really weak at times and now I can tell that my lower back was bothering me a bit because of my period coming soon. I never felt hungry though, just a bit thirsty. But what bothered me the most during these 75 hours Dry Fasting, it was the feeling in my mouth. Lots of people report metal taste in the mouth because of the excess Ketones. Not that I usually eat metals - but I'm guessing that what it was. I tried to brush my teeth with Pink salt and Baking Soda, but the relief lasts only few minutes and I was back on my metal mouth. Need to add that my tongue is never been white coated, or at least not yet.

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   

Reloading my Fast-2019

To be honest, I do not recall why I broke my fast. Sure, Dry Fasting cannot be done for too long but I was thinking of keep on going with regular salt-water Fast. What did I do to change my mind and reefed I can't tell exactly. Nevertheless I wasted, as my usual, all those nicely done Dry Fasted days. I'm back again now, with same weight as I started - hopefully not more than that. During these past few days after breaking my Dry Fast I had my TOM and I even got a bad flu with annoying cough. I'm still recovering from my flu but I am beginning a new Dry Fast and I know it will help me feeling better in just two days, given the time to my body to heal itself.  
I don't know the precise time when I stopped drinking, I think I woke up in the middle of the night coughing and I sip a bit of water last night, maybe around 11:00PM. So, for measurement purposes I would assume my Dry Fast started at midnight, and here's my journal.
Dry Fast Day #1 - 11.5hrs - 73.8 Kg
So far I have a mild headache, I felt extremely hungry this early morning, just for a couple of minutes, but it was a strong hunger wave. Now I don't feel thirsty nor hungry. I'm thinking that the cause of my morning hunger was my yesterday's high carbs meal. High fat food would have been a smarter option. I have to admit I feel very vulnerable at the moment, anything could jeopardize my Fast; same reason why I had to wait two weeks before trying again and Fast. I need to stay away from food and food-related thoughts or I will be wondering why I broke my fast....again! I want to add that I got delayed this time around, so the fault is not 100% mine, maybe just 95%! I had this crazy idea to find a weight loss buddy, to feel motivated during my fasting journey and for accountability purposes I thought that could help all of us. So I found a girl, very nice with similar goals as mine - maybe not fully into fasting but ok on trying and doing some IF here and there. Well she kept on postponing the day for our first check-in and I kept on setting my mind as that would be Day #1 for me and my fast. But she never wanted to meet me seriously so I gave up on her eventually and I started fasting alone - believe it or not I'm more reliable alone!
Dry Fast Day #1 - 14hrs - 73.8 Kg
My headache is a bit stronger now, temptations of eating are a lot, I'm trying to be strong but it's not easy. It's not the actual food the temptation for breaking a fast, it's all psychological. After all I'm not hungry, I have just headache. Sometimes I think if I could lose weight differently, without fasting but I personally can't. I tried many times, I can be disciplined for few days, a solid week and then a weekend or 2/3 days can screw up all my sacrifices in no time and I'm back to square one. Plus the weight loss is so slow and I'm always starving and feeling deprived. It is not sustainable for me long term. I really admire people that can do it for months and months. Kudos to them. I have to endure this pain through the first few days. I need to reach day 7/8 for me to be super strong about refeeding.
Dry Fast Day #1 - 15.5hrs - 73.8 Kg
This morning I checked my weight and it was on a scary 73.85Kg, now I have this new scale that tracks also BMI and BF% - but I don't think is very precise. I don't check my weight when I'm not fasting and this is a bad thing, because I let myself go, I don't want to know how much I weigh, but instead I should face my fears and be honest on how fat I'd become. My stomach is growling a bit now, I don't feel much hungry and definitely not thirsty, but it's just few hours into this Dry Fast. Yesterday I wan mentioning to my mother that I will not go with them to Italy if my weight doesn't change. I don't feel comfortable to see anyone like this. It's something that nobody can understand but me. If I don't go my parents will be very disappointed because they're counting on my help to reach the destination city there. Every day my goal seems so far away and I don't have enough time to reach the weight that I want to be in. I hope I'll have enough strengths in the next weeks to persist in my diet journey. After all nothing happens overnight, I need to be strong.
Dry Fast Day #1 - 17.5hrs - 73.8 Kg
Today is not the day of when I quit! Today I will keep on going. Today I want to be determined on starting for good this new 2019 Prolonged Fast. I want to be strong and keep on going. I know it's tough in the first few days, but it's even harder for me waking up so fat every morning and coming to work with nothing in my wardrobe that fits. I don't want to give up on myself, I do not want to quit. I'm not hungry, there's no reason for me to break this Fast. Days will pass and so my KG on the scale. I want to see myself skinnier again, I hate myself in this way and every time I wonder how I let my body becoming like this without stopping and fasting earlier!?!
Dry Fast Day #2 - 37hrs - 72.7 Kg
The first day has passed, not without issues but it's gone and now I have to focus only on keep on going. I don't feel thirsty nor hungry at the moment, I do not have headache fortunately. I slept very well last night and I don't feel any sign of the Fast - like weakness or dizziness. I'm aiming for a week or so but, maybe keep on the open-ended side for now. It depends on how I feel. In any case, if a rehydration on water is required I'll do it for a max of 24 hours and then back into Dry Fast. If you think about, there's nothing better than Dry Fasting when fighting fat! The fat cells are mostly water, and when we Dry Fast that water is used as metabolic water to hydrate the body. I'm working towards my goal of eliminating this fat and also hydrating myself! I think... 
Dry Fast Day #2 - 43hrs - 72.7 Kg
I'm almost at the end of my working day and I cannot wait to go home and rest. I don't feel tired but my lower back hurts a bit, I'm wondering if it could be related to the need of releasing something from my GI tract. I had some vaginal discharge today, I think is because I'm a bit dehydrated, not sure though. I really don't feel hungry, not even thirsty. My mouth fortunately is still in good shape (regarding the white-coated issue) nothing so far, and I hope it will stay like this for long.

Ready to begin my new 2019 Fast

I decided to begin my Salt Water Fast tomorrow. This morning I went to take blood and urine samples to see how are my values on the before-fasting; I’ll check it out again once completed my fast.

I also took some (not so great) pictures last night; I had to do it in the washroom due to my parents being in my place at the moment. I planned on monitoring my blood pressure and glucose levels as well. I downloaded an app where I can add all my entries going forward; it has nice statistic features like the one below.

 

During this Fast I will try to consume Salt Water, so to prevent flushing out all my electrolytes. To be honest, I don’t recall having such big issues during my first 24 days Water Only Fast; sure I was feeling weak and dizzy from time to time, but never had any serious issue that prevented me to continue my fast – and I know I could’ve kept on fasting for another few weeks! The only thing I don’t like of a Fast is the lack of sleep, but apparently it should get better with the weeks if I keep on replenish my salt intakes. Let’s hope for the best.

Tomorrow is Saturday and I planned on starting this new 2019 Fasting journey with a Dry Fast. I didn’t fast dry since long time and I look forward on completing at least a week. Dry Fasting is so much easier than Water Fasting – I don’t have to wake up multiple times in the middle of the night.

Doctors here are really ignorant and – in my experience – most of the times useless! When I went to ask for my blood work, in the walk-in clinic, I found a young doctor (20ish year old girl with a huge ego apparently); when she asked me of why fasting – I don’t think she was actually listening to me saying: for

• the mental clarity
• the autophagy
• to promote blood sugar control by reducing Insulin resistance
• to promote better health by fighting inflammation
• to enhance heart health by improving blood pressure, Triglycerides and Cholesterol levels
• to boost brain function and prevent neurodegenerative disorders
• to aids weight loss by limiting calorie intake
• to increase Growth Hormone secretion
• to delay aging and extend longevity
   

she was just waiting to say: as doctor I don’t agree with this Fast, you can get dehydrated; and then she left saying: have fun! How professional right?

My new challenge - Prolonged Dry/Water Fast

Dry Fasting Day #1
@ 9:00 AM - 12hrs into the Dry Fast
I finally decided to begin a new Fast, this time I'm fully committed on reaching my goals!
It's been 16 days now since my surgery, I had a terrible flu after the surgery and my willpower of beginning a new fast was basically out of the window. But now I am ready, I keep on repeating myself that - no matter what I choose - time will pass and it's my choice to either wake up like this another day or wake up a new me everyday.
So far is ok, only 12hrs into a Dry fast; my stomach is growling but hunger goes in waves for me, so I just need to wait for the wave to pass. The first 3/4 days are always tough but, after that, I feel better, my mood improves and I start to fell more positive.
@ 12:45 PM - 15.5hrs into the Dry Fast
I'm feeling really hungry now, I guess because it's lunch time. I had lots of temptations of giving up for today and eat something, that I could start again tomorrow or the next day. But I don't want to give up and I'm still here with no food and no water, trying to be strong. A light headache is coming up and I'm often yawning, I guess my body's way to ask for food. I'm also feeling all my muscles like asleep with a strong desire of stretching all the times, but I'm not sure this is related to the fast...too little time to see any kind of side effect yet.
Dry Fasting Day #2
@ 11:00 AM - 38hrs into the Dry Fast
A day passed, not without difficulties or temptations I have to say, but I'm hanging in there and keeping on fasting. I had no water yet but I'm showering and using water to clean or brush my teeth. I'm not thirsty nor hungry right now. I didn't check my Ketosis yet because I believe it's too early to see any sign of ketones. Maybe I'll check it in a couple of days, it usually starts around day #4 for me. I didn't have any BM today and not feeling the need quite yet, but maybe soon I'll do an enema, when I'll resume to drink water. I took all my measurements yesterday, I want to check my progresses every week or so. Weight wise I was on a terrible 75.4KG (166lb); but I trust the Dry Fast that helps me burn a lot of fat - if I can stick to it long enough. Today there's a Pride celebration in my office with a lot of free food, I'm thinking on ditching the celebration, I'm not in ketosis yet and I'm extremely weak when comes to food.
I went to the gym this morning at 6:00AM, just for half hour workout. I'm not in shape so working out can be really tough on me and my heavy weight. I hope it will improve with the time and the pounds melting away!
Dry Fasting Day #5
@ 9:00 AM - 108hrs into the Dry Fast
I'm well into my fifth Dry Fast day, still not feeling thirsty but at times a bit hungry. My tongue is getting white-coated and the feeling in my mouth is terrible. That is the reason why I'm always tempted on breaking my Dry Fast.
This morning, despite the 4+ days of dry fasting, I'm still only in medium Ketosis. I don't know why but the more I fast the longest takes for me to enter into Ketosis. They say that you get keto-adapted and reach ketosis faster, but it's not true, at least for me. My little machine didn't show any change in my Body Fat %, but I'm not sure it's actually precise. I'm in ketosis after all and I can see fat slimming down on my belly - even my ring is fitting larger now! And I cannot say I had that much muscle on the little right finger ("pinky").
I was able to workout this morning, but my strengths are not the same, I get hot sometimes for no reason. My blood pressure must be low in these days. I cannot do much cardio but I was able to do more weight lifting and stuff like that. I know that exercising while fasting is not advisable, but I don't want to stop on being active; it does not help during a fast, I get weaker if I don't move - believe it or not. In any case my workout is not that strenuous, I take it easy and rest between exercises as long as I need. 
@ 1:00 PM - 112hrs into the Dry Fast
I don't feel thirsty but just desire to break my Dry Fast and drink some water. Usually when I start to drink again, after a prolonged Dry Fast, my heart rate goes up quickly, even with a small sip. I get hot like when you drink a cold cold beverage in a hot summer day (even though I drink water only room temperature). I feel more energetic though than yesterday; I didn't have much to do this morning at work so I sat on my chair browsing Internet and basically doing nothing. I would say it's a kind of rest! I also believe my Ketosis is improving so my energy is going up. Well I hope so, I'd like to see a dark ketostix tomorrow morning. I'm sure after drinking water my weight loss will stop if not reverse for a bit. But I'm not worried, I know it's not fat that I gained but only water.
Fasting  Day #6
I broke my Dry Fast yesterday afternoon with just water. After I drunk a glass of water I had a BM right away. That was good for me, I don't want anything sitting in my GI tract for such long time. Last night around 2:15AM I started to feel uncomfortable with my stomach, I knew a new BM was coming. So it did. Not much, mostly water but I felt better after. My arms are starting to feel weaker and I don't like this thing because it's been only 6 days and my journey is still long. I want to keep on exercising during this fast and if I'm too weak I won't be able to. My Ketosis this morning was high at 80mg/dL, I'm happy for that. That means I'm burning fat at higher pace. I'm thinking on including Dry Fast days during this fasting journey, like 2/3 days here and there, depends on how I feel. I like the fact that I don't have to go to the bathroom every 5 minutes when I'm dry fasting! I'm so lazy I know...
Last night I felt my feet freezing; not that was cold and I didn't feel cold the rest of my body either. I just had cold feet, I wanted to wake up and put on a big pair of socks, but I was too sleepy to do it. I'm sure it was the Ketosis rising up. I didn't have a great sleep too, very common for me - while fasting, having these sleepless nights; not ideal when trying to rest as much as I can.
Today I had coffee and a bit of lime in my morning hot water. The coffee left me a bad taste in my mouth, but I'm sure it's also due to the white-coating on my tongue. Apparently after few days this issue should go away, but I either never did a fast long enough to seeing disappearing this issue or it doesn't happen to me at all. I must to say, after all my tongue is not that white - I'm hoping it's because my detoxing process, through the fasts is improving with the time.
Fasting  Day #8
So far I'm doing ok; my sleep is getting interrupted as usual but my mental clarity is improving day by day. My weight loss is already slowed down unfortunately; maybe because I'm drinking lime/lemon water and 2 coffee per day, I don't know but my Ketosis is still very good. I went to the gym yesterday and I have to say that was a bad workout. I need to rest more between repetitions and not that I'm exercising like crazy anyway, I don't have the body shape to do it! This coming long weekend I'd like to try to take a break from my liquids and do 3 days of Dry Fast, just to reset my stomach. It doesn't like much when I drink coffee or anything else for that matter. Not that I drink anything but yesterday I had water with electrolytes powder and I was noxious after few minutes. Never do it again. Days are longer when fasting, well even nights since I have hard time sleeping. These trips to the bathroom really annoy me, that is also why I want to do a Dry Fast. Energy levels are ok, just not too much strength in my arms but it was expected, I hope it won't get worst with the time, since I just renewed 24 sessions with my personal trainer. I still want to try to workout as much as I can, if anything just to build a healthy routine of exercising.
Fasting Day #9
I am almost at 2-digit number with my days. At the end it's true, time goes no matter what; sure fasting for a prolonged period of time is tough, days feel longer, time is managed differently - since the cooking-eating-cleaning dishes part is missing. But days will pass and time will be gone, so my extra fat I hope. From yesterday I got a better weight loss, a bit more than half pound - it doesn't seem much - but I'm happy to see a loss anyway. It is common, during a fast, that I don't see any change even for 3 days, crazy when not eating absolutely anything.
Surprisingly I slept very well last night, I woke up a couple of times only to use the washroom, but - apart from that - I was sleeping fine. It's amazing what a good night sleep can do. This early morning I workout in the gym with my personal trainer, it was a good workout. I didn't have much strengths when we first began to exercise, but after half hour or so, I felt very energetic and pushed a bit more. Most probably I will be a bit sore tomorrow, but it's a fair price to pay I guess. Today is Friday and this is a long weekend, well for most of the people around me. Not for me unfortunately, that I'll be working the whole 3 days. But I want to take as chance to Dry Fast if I can. This morning I took a 50million probiotics pill, thinking on helping my good bacteria; I'm also drinking - on every other day - the Bell Kidney Tea, with squeezed lemon or lime; I hope to help my kidney filtering better during this prolonged Fast. I'm not hungry at all, sure I feel my stomach growling once in a while, but it doesn't bother me and certainly is not tempting to eat anything. I can already see my body changing, I didn't lose much in terms of number, but I think it's mostly fat (which is lighter than muscle) so more visible - for me at least. I feel my skin is clearing up nicely; my chicken feet wrinkles are not that bad so far, which is so nice for me. I never cared much about wrinkles but ...less wrinkles? Why not!
Last night I had sort of signs that my TOM was coming, but today I don't see anything, maybe I will begin my period officially in the next few hours, or for sure if I Dry Fast. Today I had a BM, mostly liquid but I prefer knowing that my GI is still working and not fully asleep, because otherwise when I break my fast I'll be constipated for days and days! I don't want to do that. I was also thinking of doing another colonics in the next few days, so I can clean up what else is left in my colon, didn't decide yet.
Fasting Day #13
My good intention of doing a long weekend Dry Fasting didn't go through as I was hoping. Also true that, in the back of my mind, I had this certainty of not be able to pursue my goal. Into a Fast I have always difficulties of beginning a new Dry Fast. Let's see going forward, if I will be so tired of drinking, that I'll give up the liquids altogether for few days. My weight is going down very slowly, I must say it's also my fault. I'm drinking so much coffee and milk/cream that I'm actually surprised why I'm not gaining! It's obviously clear to me that my metabolism is already very slow. But this doesn't take much, the most important part is being aware of this issue and breaking a fast so slowly to gently let the body restore a good metabolic rate. Easy to say right?
One thing that I'm noticing every moment of the day is my mental clarity; I called limitless effect. It's on in full speed right now, I'm so focused, I can think and talk so clearly. Speaking using my mother language makes me feel like a professor! I can also give easy explanations about feelings, situations, behaviours. It is unbelievable how the brain can function so efficiently when in this state. Yesterday I was wondering if the human beings, exposed to this type of mental sharpness for centuries, would have evolved differently. No answer of course is ever possible, just thinking. When fasting is all in your head, every thing you do, will first pass in your head many times. I call this state limitless effect also because, as the original movie, the desire of cleaning and organizing stuff is amplified. I was working this past long weekend and I cleaned up and sorted all the drawers of the house. I'm usually very precise but - when in this state - is much more. I'm also happy to report that, despite my low ketones at 15mg/dL this morning, I'm full of energy; no sign of weakness whatsoever. I can't wait to workout tomorrow morning and see how my body reacts.
One thing - on the negative side - happened yesterday though. I was getting and cleaning something fell on the floor, on standing up I felt extremely dizzy, as rarely happened in my life. I guess my blood sugar level was very low, it didn't last more than few seconds, and I felt better right away. I'm definitely not worried, I'm sure my blood pressure and glycemic index are all messed up. But I didn't die and I can tell when my body is not feeling well. In that case I would break the fast, without trying to be a hero. TOM came and left already, without no sign of it, no pain, no issue. I wish every month could be like that!
I often have hard time to begin a fast and to stick to it though the first few days. If I could only feel for few minutes how I feel now, I would never hesitate on keep on going. I don't care about food, I don't even care how much I weight really, but I like how I look today, my face looks skinnier and I was almost losing my iron ring this morning on my Vespa! Even my hands are shrinking down apparently. That means I had chubby hands wth!
I'm sleeping well so far, apart from last night; but I'm thinking that it could be due to what happened to me during the day. I had a big fight at work, and all the words, calls and so on were coming back in my mind while I was in bed. I believe my adrenals are stressed, so today I bought a supplements for adrenals fatigue. I'll take a pill before bed, hoping that could help me sleep. If I don't sleep enough my weight doesn't move and in general my body doesn't get the chance to heal itself while resting.
Fasting Day #19
The weeks are passing, my fast is going very well so far. I don't feel any weakness in any time of the day, my mood is great, I'm not hungry and I can see my body shredding fat every day a bit more. The scale number doesn't go down quickly, but I never been a Big Loser, that's ok though - I'm in Ketosis and any loss is a loss, that's what matters. My ketosis is not extremely high, always between 15mg/dL and 40mg/dL; this is due to the coffee and cream that I drink every day. I know I should just drink plain water, but not an easy task for me. I can keep longer if I do it this way. After 40 days I'm thinking on introducing Bone Broth, but not 100% sold to this idea yet. My sleep is often interrupted by my urge to use the bathroom, otherwise I would say I sleep very well. Since just few days I started to take supplements for adrenal fatigue, one in the morning and 2 at night, hoping it will help me sleep better and relax my adrenals - I think the fast can put so much stress on it. I'm not thinking about food really, I don't even want to break the fast at the moment, maybe in me there is the consciousness that this fast will last long, so I just avoid wondering and asking myself on when is going to end. After all my weight goal is still pretty far. I'm trying to exercise 3 times a week when I can; I have a personal trainer that comes to my building at 6:00 AM, for about 45 minutes. She talks a lot and we don't achieve much for the whole hour, but I'm taking it as a way to build a healthy habit for my exercise routine. I shall do it by myself going forward. I don't see any big change in terms of strengths, maybe sometimes when I lift heavier weights with my arms, but I wasn't in shape before starting the fast anyway, so I don't know if it's actually me or the 19 days without solid food. I'm still having daily BMs, mostly liquid but my GI tract is still pretty active. Sometimes my belly is growling but in waves and is not for hunger, I think liquids or just the coffee effect. Very often, in my previous fasts, I was thinking about food, buying stuff that I would eventually eat, looking at new recipes. Now I really don't care about food or buying anything food related. It's so much easier without food, if we could only survive like this, lots of problems would be resolved for me. Don't get me wrong, I love food, I love cooking but it gives me so many temptations while when I'm in ketosis I can easily ignore any temptation and be happy. With this fast, I'm saving money and - since I'm in the process of buying a new car - is always good having extra cash for all my expenses, especially now that I'm quitting my second part time job. I see as a positive thing the fact that I'm not really concerned about food, about my scale, about the days left or the ones passing by. I don't want to be obsessed with food anymore, I want to enjoy my life, live and do whatever I want to do - without stressing about food and my heavy weight. I hope so much to reach my weight goal, whenever it will be, I don't mind fasting a bit longer, as long as I am on my ideal weight. Sometimes my left eye lid twitches, I think I'm having some Vitamins deficiency, but this is just my assumption. I'm not having dizziness either lately, which is good. I think if I keep myself active, doing anything rather than being a couch potato, I lose more and even my ketosis is better. Let's hope to see better losses in the next days!
Fasting Day #28
I'm on day 28 of this odd Fast. To be honest it's becoming a habit now, just having my coffees during the day, with some milk or cream. I don't miss food but I would like to see better results for my weight loss, instead it's going very slow. Good thing is that I don't feel hungry and never weak, my strengths are perfectly normal. I try to go to the gym 3 times a week, but my personal trainer sucks and we don't achieve much. I should start to workout by myself in addition with what I do with her. These past 2 days I was off from work, it was great actually having a day off. I hope I can soon stop working at my part time / weekend job. I really need time for myself, especially now that I have a car and I can go and see new things around me, or just enjoying myself doing absolutely nothing in front of the TV. Overall I feel good, I have the certainty that I will need to continue with this odd prolonged Fast for over 50 days, thinking about a 2 months target - in order for me to reach my weight goal. But I'm not worried about that really, as I was mentioning: it's becoming a habit and I know I'm saving a lot of money not eating solid food, although Starbucks coffees are quite expensive! I'm having BMs here and there, but still thinking on doing another colonics or at least weekly enemas, I think they will help me clean up my GI tract a bit, all this coffee most probably didn't do good to it, even though I drink decaf. I am no in ketosis in these days, I guess I had too much cream over the weekend and being inactive didn't help either, now I'm not measuring it, since I know it will take me another 2/3 days to get back into it.

Another Prolonged Fast - finally begins

I was finally able to start a new prolonged Fast this past Monday, not without difficulties I must to say; I tried and tried but I couldn’t stick to the fast not even for a day! Never happened before, I always had false attempts yes, but eventually I was always able to start fasting – actually quite often beginning with a Dry Fast.

I believe it was due to my high levels of stress; I’m sure I have adrenals fatigue in this period. I recently moved in my condo and the decision was forced by combination of events, so I had to plan everything very quickly. My mother’s surgery put on a lot of stress on me too, she was always nervous because of the surgery and being so far away did not help the overall situation.

Water Fast Day #1

The first day passed quickly and without any issue, not headache this time – and I’m really glad for that. I had some stomach growling but nothing major; I was also able to go to the gym at 6:00AM and feeling ok after (but I still had lots of glucose flowing all over my blood I’m sure). No BM today and I felt somehow bloated with lots of water retention…maybe my TOM?

Water Fast Day #2

The second day was not as easy as the first one. I had lots of stomach growling - I really felt hungry and thinking about food or to give up. But I was strong enough this time and I kept on fasting. I drunk only water these 2 first days, nothing else – actually I didn’t feel thirsty so didn’t drink much.

Fasting Day #3

On day three I started to drink decaf coffee with stevia and a bit of almond milk, lemon water and a couple of chamomile teas - no sugar, I use Stevia because I know does not affect my Ketosis. I was irritable all day, not able to focus much – here and there depression feelings, maybe a detox symptom or simply my TOM coming up. In the morning I was able to go to the gym though, not a great workout maybe but better than zero workouts!

Fasting Day #4

Day four I felt lazy and didn’t want to go to work, so I took a sick day. Working 7 days a week is tough on me, I need the money though so I have to be strong and keep going for now. I wanted to stay home, relax in bed for once – without the rush to be at work by 8:00AM or earlier. It was a beautiful sunny day so – around lunch time - I decided to take my scooter and visit a store I never been before, to check some furniture for my condo. It was a long drive, but I enjoyed. I didn’t feel hungry, just the coffee sometimes doesn’t agree with my empty stomach but I’m getting used to it. Sleep is still good.

Fasting Day #5

Today is the second visit with my dietitian – he gave me a meal plan to follow but I started fasting so didn’t actually follow his plan. I’m thinking on not telling him that I’m fasting, not everyone agrees with all the benefits from food abstinence. But maybe going forward I will tell him. As per today I will see him once a week to check my weight and how I’m doing. It keeps me accountable and my insurance covers for it so it’s practically free. I went to the gym this morning at 6:00AM, and this was the first day where I felt weak in my arms, lighter maybe with my weight but starting to feel some side effects of the Fast.

I still didn’t check my weight neither my ketosis. My dietitian will check the weight for me today (a week after first weigh in) and I might check my ketones in a couple of days, it usually takes me not less than 3 days to start burning fat. Wish me luck!

Water Fast Day #22

Thursday – Water Fast Day #22
11:30 AM
In these days I’m thinking and thinking on how to break the Fast. One very important thing to be aware of, when breaking a prolonged fast, is that right after the Fast is broken a famine hunger comes very suddenly; so strong that I could eat the entire McDonald’s menu 5 times! So I will need to have a very detailed plan on how to break my Fast and be very strict to stick with it 100%. That’s why I am trying to figure out what is the best way of refeeding. In my previous fasts I always ate watermelon, to begin with, but this time around I would like to start with some vegetable juice too; actually I was thinking on having a drink of 50% juice of veggies and fruits and 50% of water – this to avoid a big spike of insulin. The first day I would have 8 ounces of this mix, 4 times during the day and with the days I would increase the ounces and decrease the frequency of my meals. I will post a detailed plan when I finalize it.
Today I don’t feel great in terms of motivation, I often think about eating or drinking something, but I’m being strong and not surrender to these temptations. I think it might be also due to the fact that is Christmas time, all around is a feast of colours, food, gifts, and of course I would like to enjoy the season and eat everything I could possibly eat, all those cookies, pastry and tasty sweets! But I guess is a good thing for me that I’m fasting during the holidays, so I won’t gain back in a snap everything I lost with so many sacrifices.
When doing a prolonged fast is normal having some weak moments; it’s part of the process for sure; but being in Ketosis helps, no food can certainly tempt me enough to break my fast. The only thing that could force anyone to give up a Water Fast, after so many days, is a physical issue that is compromising the wellbeing of the individual itself, this danger can be scary enough to break earlier…or not, any fast. So learn to listen carefully to your body and not push too much to reach too fast a breaking point.
It is Day #22 today but it’s still so early for me, I have lost basically nothing compared on how much I still need to lose, so I must keep going no matter what, otherwise I would be just wasted 22 days for nothing. But I’ll keep on going, I know it’s boring but the days will pass and I’ll be thankful that I did it; after all this is just between me myself and I.

Water Fast Day #21

Wednesday – Water Fast Day #21
10:30 AM
I’m back in the office today; I took yesterday off to do some errands and to go for a spa day, I really needed. Today I don’t feel doing much; I’m not sure if I am weak or just bored and unmotivated. In any case, I don’t feel hungry and fasting does not bother me much, I just like cooking and eating so I kind of miss that. Sometimes I feel a bit worn down, sort of weak but not exactly, I don’t know how to define it, I might be depleting my electrolytes and some vitamins I guess, I should do a blood test to check, but I’m lazy.
My weight is going down very slowly, as I already said hundreds times I guess, but this is my biggest concern at the moment, I’m not sure I can handle, physically, more than 50 days without food, I should take something, like Sodium, Potassium but I don’t know exactly what’s the best way to do it. Is drinking salt and water enough for my Sodium intake? How much Potassium should I take daily? My stomach gets upset if I take supplements. This morning I took a B complex pill and right after I was burping on B vitamin! I really don’t know what to do for this issue; it might compromise my ability to continue the fast.
My Ketosis is staying stable at 80mg/dL, which is good, it means I’m burning fats on a good rate; I still cannot fit in all my dresses though, but I guess is normal since I’m still way overweight and far from my target goal weight.
I did not have any BM lately, apart from the coffee effect on Monday, so this morning I was thinking that I should do an enema, not that I really feel I need it, but as prevention and cleaning measurement.
One thing I was thinking about today, that I believe I do not have Candida anymore; after these 2 past prolonged Fasts I think the level of Candida in my system went definitely down to normal values, which is a good news.
For the rest I’m doing ok I guess; days are passing, I’m already on over 20+ days, I’m trying to go to the gym as much as I can, without doing strenuous exercises; but I register good losses when I’m more active during the day. A lot of people say that after 30 days something changes in the body and we become weaker and weaker; I’m wondering if this is the case for me too; I mean last time it was definitely true for me; I felt very weak after day #30 and I wanted to break the Fast, but this time around this is not in my plans, so I hope I don’t have to deal with this – since I still have a long journey ahead of me.

Water Fast Day #19

Monday – Water Fast Day #19
9:30 AM
My Fast is proceeding well, it seems very slow but days are passing by and my weight is going down, helping me feeling better and fitting in some of my clothes without breaking any zip!
This past weekend I was working, but my part-time job does not require any strenuous activity, so I was mostly sitting on the couch watching TV. This morning my Ketosis was less than usual, at 40mg/dL; it’s been stable at 80mg/dL since I started the Fast, I’m not sure why, I still have plenty of fat on me to burn. I want to check it tomorrow – since this afternoon I’ll be going to the gym for my usual swimming workout; but overall I think I’ll be more active today.
So far I feel ok, for the first time, since I started this Fast, this past weekend I felt a bit weak and tired, not sure if it could be that I wasn’t being very active. For me, if I don’t get moving during a fast, I tend to become weak and without desire of doing anything. But at the end, I completed everything I was supposed to do, without major issues. I must to say though, that the night before I didn’t have much sleep so it could be that too; last night in fact I slept without waking up once, which is uncommon for me when I fast.
This morning I had a big decaf coffee and now my tummy hurts; I went already once to the bathroom, and whatever BM I had was mostly coffee I think. I should not drink coffee so quickly, especially in the morning, my stomach is very sensitive. I still have my period, this thing is very odd for me that I usually miss my period for months, who knows what’s happening with my hormones?!
My tongue is still coated, it gives me the usual terrible taste, it makes me feel thirsty when I’m not, but I’m learning to live with it, there’s nothing I can do about it anyway.
I’m losing an average of 200gr per day, which is very little I know; it seems my body is getting used to fasting an d it holds on my fat longer than previous fasts, well at least that’s how I feel but I might be wrong; every fast is different after all.
I hope I can be done by mid of December, although is not looking good as a date – since I still have at least 20 pounds to lose and they will not be gone overnight; I also believe I will be losing less and less going forward so there’s that too. Well let’s see I’ll figure out with the weeks, hopefully not too many weeks!

Water Fast Day #16

Friday – Water Fast Day #16
10:30 AM
It’s been a bit more than 2 weeks now into this Fast and so far I’m ok I guess. This morning for the first time I felt very weak with my arms, contrary on how I’ve been feeling in the past days; I had lots of energy and I feel very positive. I’m managing to go to the gym/swimming pool 3 times a week; it’s been nice so far and not heavy on my muscles for sure. Strangely my period came back, just after 2 weeks or so, it never happened before, but I’m not worried – I’m sure this fast is messing up a bit my hormones so I guess is normal. Because of TOM I’m not going to the pool this afternoon but instead I’ll go to the gym to do some exercise on the machines, I don’t want to miss it anyway, it’s good to have a routine.
My tongue is still heavily coated, it makes my mouth feeling awful; this is one thing that I really hate of a fast; it makes everything harder, it gives me this constant feeling that I’m thirsty or something, which is not true; but there’s no relief for that, I tried many thing…the coating will always be there as long as I fast.
My weight loss is still slow but I noticed bigger losses when I go to the gym and I’m more active during the day; that’s another reason why I want to keep on going – until I have energy to do it, since I assume I’ll be weaker in the following weeks. But again, every fast is different from another, so I might not experience the same weakness as before. I’m also taking some vitamins here and there, trying not to take too many since they upset my stomach. I’m also drinking black decaf coffee, and I assume there is a small percentage of caffeine in it, so maybe it is helping me somehow with my energy – total assumptions though. I did notice though that the decaf coffee does not upset my stomach as the lemon water does, maybe the lemon acidity is bad while fasting?

Water Fast - Day #13

Tuesday – Water Fast Day #13
10:00 AM
Today begins my 13^th day of this Fast; I would say every fast is different from another, in the way I feel, the way I lose weight and also the way I drink. So far I feel very good, the high feeling of the Ketosis is fully in and I feel very energetic. I’m going to the swimming pool every other day and I hope I keep on doing it, it’s a very light exercise but helps me a lot with the mood and how I feel in general. This morning I did the terrible mistake of taking some vitamins all together, I was almost throwing up after 10 minutes. I will never do it again, that’s it, when fasting I cannot take any supplement; I just hope my lack of electrolytes will not force me to stop the fast further during the next weeks.
One new thing for this fast is that I’m drinking instant decaf coffee with a couple of drops of stevia; it is not affecting my Ketosis – which is still constant at 80mg/dL – and I would say even the weight loss is not hugely impacted; unless I Dry Fast I never see large losses on a daily basis anyway.
Yesterday I was trying to do some estimation, in terms of time, on how long I should fast to reach my weight goal; well the “estimation” was definitely depressing, it might take 60 days or more! I’m just concerned that I would be in the middle of my refeeding process for my January vacation South; I would like to avoid it though, since I will want to enjoy my trip without thinking on how my asleep stomach feels – ok, mostly because refeeding means that I need a bathroom trip every time I eat or drink something. Well I guess the weeks will tell how long this Fast will need to last.
The weight loss is very slow, some days I lose just 200gr, some others a bit more; but as long as I am in Ketosis I guess I’m ok. I don’t really care what the scale says, because I can see it in the mirror how I look, how my clothes fits; it doesn’t fit anything yet so I’m not losing much; but it’s been only 12/13 days so I’m not complaining.
My tongue is heavily coated, and my mouth has the usual bad taste; if I drink coffee it tends to go darker of course, but I can still feel the tick coating; I hope it will get better with the days.
Another thing I noticed this time around is that my period started and took so long before it ended; somehow when I fast the hormones get messed up and I guess my period too; but I think it’s also a chance of cleaning so it’s not a negative thing after all.
Yesterday was a busy day for me, I had to do lots of errands so I walked a lot around during lunch time, plus I went to the gym for half hour in the pool and 10 minutes in the sauna. Moving and exercising helps me a lot with my weight loss, and till I have such a great energy I should take advantage of it and try to be as much active as I can, because as soon as I stop and lye on the bed to “rest”, I will not find again the same energy.

Water Fast Day #8

Thursday – Water Fast Day #8
2:00 PM
Yesterday I had the chance to go 40 minutes to the gym for few laps in the pool. It doesn’t seem much but, when Fasting, is a lot, well at least for me; I know of people exercising and doing strenuous activities even further into a Fast, but I tend to become weaker and weaker with the days, it could be a lack of electrolytes, I’m not 100% sure.

I’m still on day #8 though and my energy level is very good, I really don’t feel that I had no food for a week, except for my arms; they are – as usual – the weaker point in my body. The swimming was nice, I had no breath, maybe for my anxiety but most likely because I’m out of shape, but I want to keep on going, I enjoyed after all.

This morning my weight was exactly as yesterday, not even 1gr less! It might be due to the gym and water retention, I don’t know. I checked my Ketosis and it was good, with a purple Ketostix reporting 80md/dL of ketones in my urine, that’s comforting. I have also a little machine to check my body fat and my BMI, but I don’t think it works very well, it seems just doing a calculation based on my weight and age, not really evaluating my body fat; but I guess it doesn’t hurt keep on monitoring through the Fast.

Yesterday I started to add a bit of lemon juice to my hot water, I’m not drinking too much really so I think it will not impact my fast. But this morning I had a sense of acid feeling in my throat after drinking some hot lemon water, and after having a good 2 cups of it I had to rush to the washroom, I’m guessing this lemon is not really appreciated by my GI tract and it’s rejecting it right away! I’ll try to be more disciplined from now on and stick only with water. This weekend though I’m still with the idea on doing a Dry Fast, the weight loss is way faster and I cannot stress this thing more.

Today I feel that my brain activity is improved, I talk differently, I make more elaborated sentences, even at work; for me this is a sign of being deeply into the Fast, getting all – or almost all – the benefits of abstaining from food. I do miss food though, I guess it is such a big part of our lives, a pleasure that it’s impossible to miss. If someone would tell me that in the future we will feed ourselves with pills, I would be highly disappointed; I love to cook, I love to mix new ingredients and trying new recipes, who doesn’t?!

Talking about food, one thing I’m strictly avoiding at the moment is shopping for food, to save in my pantry. I have enough already and, I know I love to shop, but I should not even think about food for now; my journey is still so long that I would own the entire isle 5 of the grocery store if I keep on buying stuff. Plus, looking at food, watching videos, buying ingredients, it’s unhealthy for me when fasting; it creates a stomach-food-cravings expectation, if that makes any sense; so when I’m done fasting the wolf’s appetite will come and hit me so hard to delete completely all my sacrifices fasting – which I definitely want to avoid this time around. God help me!

Water Fast - Day #7

Wednesday – Water Fast Day #7
9:30 AM
I broke my Dry Fast at about 4.5 days, not sure why – I was just bored I guess. As expected, my weight loss slowed down unfortunately. I went from an average of 1Kg per day to 300gr per day! 3 times slower than Dry Fasting. I hope I can resume Dry Fasting along the way, because after a while, even drinking water becomes annoying – while when Dry Fasting the only thing I want to do is drinking fresh water, I don’t even care about food! Human mind is fascinating, an escalation of needs and desires when we can’t have what we want.
Today I feel good energy wise, I planned to go swimming this afternoon; I prepared my gym bag and everything, I am actually excited to do it, I hope I will feel good after. I’m not hungry at all; my Ketosis is good at 80mg/dL, with a nice purple Ketostix. My tongue is becoming a bit more white-coated with the days, I guess is normal. Usually around Day 7/8 of a Fast I feel very well, and I do but I’m still so fat that I don’t feel comfortable with myself; I believe this is an issue for my motivation and my mood.
This morning I was getting ready to go to work and I tried a white shirt that used to fit me a bit large, well I wasn’t able to close the buttons so I gave up and wore something else. It is really depressing.
This weekend I want to try to Dry Fast again, since I’ll be working from Saturday 8AM to Sunday 6PM, I might be able to get distracted and not drink much water, or at all. To be honest I’m not drinking much anyway, yesterday I had my last sip at 4:30PM and resumed drinking this morning around 7AM when I woke up, but only because I felt thirsty a bit. If I drink too much I don’t feel very well, not sure why.

My prolonged Dry Fast - Day #2

Friday – Dry Fast Day #2
3:30 PM – 40hrs

Second Day of my Dry Fast, just 40hrs but it’s going well; I did not have any headache as for now. My cravings are still strong but not enough to make me break the Dry Fast. I don’t feel thirsty, neither hungry, but my mouth is beginning to feel awful because of my tongue; sometime I’m wondering if my breath is bad; hopefully not.

I’m urinating normally, maybe today a bit less than yesterday but I didn’t see major differences; I hope this means that my kidneys are filtering as expected.

I went for a walk during lunch time; I bought some new clothes in larger size; now nothing fits me anymore and, so much I hate it, every morning I struggle to find something to wear.
I was looking at food, during my lunch walk, I was jealous looking at skinny people, able to have normal meals, not addicted to food. But I didn’t buy anything editable, I’m actually trying to avoid to read or look at anything that is food related; I’m not forcing myself though, I guess with the vision that this fast will be very long I do not have any interest in food at the moment.

Sometime I wonder why I don’t drink, that I would like to drink something, and then I repeat to myself all the reasons why. It’s a war against my inner self this one, a bloody battle with psychological weapons, so hard to fight.

My prolonged Dry Fast - Day #1

Thursday – Dry Fast Day #1

2:30 PM – 15hrs

I think I stopped to drink water at around 11:00 PM last night, but as far as food I had my big dinner earlier at 7:00 PM or so; I would say it’s about 15 hours of no drinking and no eating.

I feel normal so far, after all it’s just few hours; I had no hunger at all today, just one episode of growling stomach during a meeting and that’s all; but in my defense I can say that the meeting was  extremely boring, maybe that’s why!

I went for a walk during lunch time, to get distracted, to move a bit my fat legs; it was ok, every time I stand up from my chair I feel so heavy. I’m wondering when the headache will start, maybe tomorrow. My mouth is not dry but I begin on feeling that awful taste I have when I’m not drinking, not that goes completely away during the Water Fast, but it gets better, especially if I drink hot lemon water.

This time around I was thinking avoiding the lemon in the water or any tea, better if I drink only pure water – SMART water most likely, my favourite. I want to reset completely my taste buds this time around, since I’m planning on taking a long Fast to resolve all my issues. I might introduce salt and other supplements going forward during my long journey.

Disadvantages of being FAT

Recently I gained a lot of weight; and I can certainly say that I never been so overweight in my entire life. I keep on saying this thing since I reach new highs after every attempt to meet my goal weight; maybe I should learn something from that.
For me being overweight is not only about the fat on my body or my wardrobe not fitting anymore; it’s about so many daily struggles.
I’ve been experiencing some body issues; and my apologies if this post is a bit too detailed – but I share my experiences, good and bad. Recently I developed – where the fat is concentrated on my body, like belly area and under my breasts, some sort of skin reaction; I never had something like that before. It’s not itchy or anything, just uncomfortable. I try to wash the areas often and using talc or Aloe Vera gel to help with the skin reaction, but I’m not having success – I know a Dry Fast would resolve this problem in no time!
Another issue that my fat is causing to my body is my heavy breathing problem; I literally have hard time to talk normally sometimes, I hate it! But realistically, I don’t know what to do.
Some time I also wonder: how can I live as a fat woman? I really don’t fit in this body! I feel awful doing simple things, walking, sitting, talking. My legs are all swollen at the end of each day; I have hard time doing daily things in the bathroom, due to my new size. I have skin breakouts every other day; itchy feelings here and there; always feeling hot and easy sweating – like I’m reaching menopause! My hair get oily and dirty in 2 days (while fasting I can go as long as 5 days without washing it).
Nothing fits me anymore, I bought larger size clothes but I still feel uncomfortable in it; I can’t move around in the same way; I can’t even cross my legs while I’m sitting! I feel I’m losing more hair now than when I fast. My hair are ok when I’m fasting, never had any issue.
I look much older than my age with this extra fat on me; and no matter how difficult can be to accept or not, I get treated very differently from everyone when I’m so fat. I repeated this thing many times in my blog: people treat me nicer when I’m skinnier; people notice me when I’m not fat; they talk to me, they smile at me…now is like I don’t exist and I tend to hide as consequence.

I failed again!

I might sound like a broken clock by now but, here I am again, telling about another failure of post-fast maintenance.
In defense of what happened though I can say that, every fast experience, teaches me something about my body and how things work for me and my weight management.
What I realized is that after a prolonged fast my body goes into a famine-mode for about 3 weeks, after that food does not have the same appeal as the first three weeks. I guess it’s just a normal reaction after so many days abstaining from food. Makes sense though.
In 30 days of combined Dry and Water Fast I did not lose much, in terms of weight, but I was definitely feeling better than when I started. Chances were that when October started my mind just got hit with the fact that my parents were leaving the country to go back to Italy, leaving me here alone again. I didn’t handle the reality very well, I must admit; so I recall spending 3 days in bed crying and eating junk food. They say food is comfort but I wasn’t feeling better though….quite the opposite; my shrunk stomach was hurting me so much when I was eating those huge meals, and the excessive amount of sugar. In any case I kept on eating, and crying, and eating, till my stomach was not shrunk anymore and started to dilating… disproportionately!
To add more reasons to me giving up on controlling the amount of food eating, was an awful experience I went through during a long-weekend trip with a….ex-friend. Well we went out of town and let’s just say I came back home taking a coach-bus, what a jerk – you never know people till you travel together; that’s why I love solo-vacation! Anyhow, the whole situation really impacted my feelings, I felt hurt by his rude manners and words, and although he was clearly a moron, I could not deny myself of more food-comfort to relief some of the stress caused by this negative experience. And my weight and inches skyrocketed!
These past couple of months were not great for me, lots of stress combined with my ex breaking up with me, my parents moving out, their trip, long weekend nightmares, boring working days, lack of money, loneliness; well this combined to my famine-state after Fast made me gain back and more whatever I lost during the 30 days of my combined Dry/Water Fast.
What can I do? I tried to do a self-analysis of what happened, but does it really matter? Will I learn from my mistakes and don’t do it again? Most probably not….so I gave up on this too.
I do have the intention on starting soon a new Combined Dry / Water Fast, I’m aiming for tomorrow, which is November 1^st, 2017 – I got some chocolates today since is Halloween.
I have to say that lately I’m not craving food much as my usual, I think the past 30-Day Water Fast was great in terms of healing. The first 3 weeks after breaking a Fast are very critical, the body really craves for food like crazy, so imposing an extremely rigid maintenance protocol is crucial in those days, after 3 weeks or so, things get better….well at least this is what I experienced.
One thing I’m looking forward from the Fast is, not only my general well-being and the weight loss, but the reduced amount of sleep hours needed. I know that it was a concern for me initially, but now I’m enjoying watching TV in bed and working on my loom, so I usually fall asleep at midnight and in the morning I have hard time to wake up; I know it does sound as a contradiction but it is not!
Keeping a journal while fasting is very important, either on an online blog, YouTube videos, on paper, whatever works for you is ok, but those words will help you in the future; share your motivations, your feelings, how you reached your goal, how you felt when the Ketosis was fading away all the food cravings, leaving only the so desired mental clarity; all those words would help you in the future if you ever need it again. They did for me.