Day 1. The past few days leading up to this I was eating so much that I wasn't overly hungry and felt good to come off the feeling of continually being bloated. Still, by dinnertime, I was rather hungry and couldn't even be in the same room as the family eating dinner. (This would continue to be the main downside to doing this.)
Days 2-3. As I had experienced the one or two times I've fasted more than a day, I was constantly feeling hungry. I could barely stop thinking about food. One suggestion I heard was to spend time in prayer any time you felt hungry. Well wow did I have a prayerful time! :) Not having to spend any time preparing or eating meals allowed a lot of extra time in prayer and Bible study. I can't say this was particularly impactful yet. My mind was still very distracted and was racing at the pace normal for type A people who hate to slow down. I was starting to wonder if tomorrow would be worse and/or if I would need to bail!
Day 4. To my surprise, I was slightly less hungry than the first two days, with just a few minor hunger pains. My weight was down 11 lbs, another surprise. But I had read enough to know this was mostly water loss.
Day 5. Wow, incredible turnaround day. Mental clarity is way up (I would later find out this is a common side effect of your body being in a state of ketosis). This is the first day I'm actually feeling good :) My energy level was very even through the whole day and night, which is unusual because I was totally used to narcoleptic needs to nap or zone out periods. That said, the physical energy is definitely low and I'm easily winded moving around or upstairs. Honestly, that has been true since I hit my peak weight leading up to this fast.
Day 6. Feeling very good and to my joy, really feeling no hunger although the stomach does growl once in a while. I saw my daughter eating something delicious and did not attack her for a bite. More like "Oh that looks good" but no craving. Weight is down -15 pounds.
Day 8. Great to fit into a shirt too tight two weeks ago (still snug) and walk into church. They had donuts for Mothers Day at church but I had no interest! My wife kinda made me pay though, she wanted to go out to a special ribs place Mother's day lunch and I had to join them but eat nothing. To my surprise, it was really no problem.
Day 9. After some reading and after feeling a little too light-headed, I realized I was getting zero sodium and probably should. So I started taking beef broth once a day. 0 calories but a lot of vitamins and 750mg Na. I also read that lots of water and enough sodium are key for fighting off or avoiding the keto flu. Speaking of keto, I've been doing a ton of reading and research and am becoming very excited about starting a ketogenic diet following the fast. It has benefits for epilepsy, mental focus, acne, and PCOS which would help our family, so we decided to try keto together after the fast. (I'll have a future blog or two about Keto.)
Day 10. Made it to day ten! After some reading and cautions from others, I decided to shift my goal from 40 days down to 21. This would end things and have us start a new diet at a very convenient point in our summer schedule. I'm really starting to enjoy the extra time in prayer and solitude each day!
Day 11. I experienced some major breakthroughs in thinking and attitude today! Especially good was a strongly renewed sense of calling and direction in ministry. Woot! An extended prayer session today also gave me great clarity on next steps needed in each area I had started the fast where I wanted to get unstuck. More prayer and details needed, but today was significant. I'm really glad at this point that I didn't stop after "just" 10 days ;)
Day 12. I can't believe I'm looking through page after page of recipes and nutrition articles without feeling even slightly hungry. When I say I'm not feeling hungry at all, I mean it. This was by far the biggest surprise so far. (Weight is down almost 20 pounds.)
Days 13-14. Continued enjoying all the time in prayer and extra time in my day. I can now join my family at meals because of the lack of hunger. Yay! My energy levels are a little low to be honest, and sometimes feeling a bit dizzy when standing up too fast.
Day 15. Big downer of a day... my father in law has passed away unexpectedly. The main focus for this and the next several days is supporting my wife and spending more time with the kids. Otherwise the fast is going smooth. Took some decaf today, as a placebo :) No caffeine, cream or any additives, just felt good to drink that warmth while reading the Bible.
Day 17. I finally thought I better start researching how to best end a fast and found a ton of very conflicting info. After wading through a lot of misinformation, I thought the following tips would be most helpful.
- Many recommend a super slow, multi-day reentry to eating, but that's really not necessary unless you've fasted so long you're emaciated. I still am packing 50 pounds more than I should.
- For the first couple of eating sessions, think small and healthy. Salad and veggies, a little bit of protein, easy on the carbs.
- Bone broth is perfect. You want to bring your electrolyte levels back up closer to normal.
- I found the videos and articles by Dr. Jason Fung to be especially helpful. His advice on ending the fast was simple: don't get all worried, just use common sense; ease back into it letting your renewed sense of hunger guide you, and you should be taking a good daily multivitamin to avoid refeeding syndrome problems,
Day 18. I'm now down just a few pounds shy of 30 and would love to reach that target and/or day 21. I'm feeling the best I have in months, hands down, with good energy and mental clarity and no cravings. To be real, I'm looking forward to eating again, but not feeling at all like I'm missing anything. My main hope at this point is that the incredible sense of the presence of God and desire for holiness remains as strong after the fast. The sense of communion is so strong, I can't even describe it. I finally understand why people who have done 21-40 day fasts just love it and end up doing this regularly. I look forward to doing this again in the future :)
Day 21!!! Made it! Super excited to break my fast joining family for dinner! I had just a tiny dinner... 8 almonds, some broccoli smothered in butter, some kale chips, and a hard-boiled egg. Doesn't sound great but wow it was amazing :) I was also thrilled to see a 30-pound weight loss. (I know, a good bit of that is water, but still... I have had to pull in the belt a few notches) I'll leave the next part of the story, returning to eating and a new diet plan, for another time. But I will say that my appreciation for food and flavors was really great.
What did I learn from my experience with fasting?
- I was shocked I could do it. As a very large person who overeats a lot, this long of a fast seemed completely impossible before I started. If not for the spiritual retreat which gave me a profound sense I needed to do this, I would never have even considered it.
- Extended fasts are very, very different from skipping a meal or a 24 hour fast. Those are good things and they too have their place, but the benefits of doing this for an extended timeframe were incredible.
- My bondage to food and overeating was gone. Busted. History.
- My passion for ministry was restored.
- The right direction and next steps were strongly confirmed in prayer. I was no longer stuck at a fork in the road.
- The sense of the presence of God was profound. Distractions and temptations simply had no draw on me; I had something much better.
- My prayer life was strongly reinvigorated. I hadn't realized just how shallow it had actually become. I would never have guessed spending a few hours in prayer, spread over the day, could actually feel normal.
- Emotionally, I felt way less stressed, and better able to cope with events. The "peace that passes understanding" showed up :)
- It gets easier. It gets much easier after day 5. Trust me. I have seen this reported by virtually every story I've read about extended fasts, and I can confirm this. Also, people who do this routinely all say the first time is by far the hardest, and they enjoy making an extended fast on a regular basis (not always 21 or 40 days, sometimes 7 or 10).
- You can do it too! I'm utterly convinced anyone can do this; I'm really not anyone special. In fact, I would highly recommend it for anyone feeling disconnected from God, in a "blah" spiritual state, or feeling stuck especially physically or mentally.
If you have comments or questions, please let me know! I would love to help other people enjoy the benefits of extended fasting as well.
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