Water Fasting

[Cruizer]

I'm trying a water fast for the first time. Currently on Day 3. [Vague Disclaimer: I'm not advocating fasting I'm just interested in opinions, I'm the gooseberry fool opposite of an expert but understand if you're under 18 it's a pretty bad idea in general and even if you're over you probably shouldn't do it without some supervision or at least some research].

I'm intending to consume nothing but water for one week. I'm generally quite healthy (I drink a lot of water anyway, I never consume animal products and exercise pretty frequently) but have never been on any kind of fast.

I'm doing this as a bit of an experiment to see how I feel and what's the other side of 'hunger' etc. There's a lot of contradictory information about fasting out there, but as I understand, there are some healthly detox benefits to water fasting and it will take much longer than a week for my organs to start failing or my body to go into starvation mode (there's accounts of people doing it for months) but if I will be responsible with it and if I feel excessively hungry or too weak I will stop.

I felt pretty hungry yesterday, but today I think I'm over the hump and it has been much easier.

Has anyone else here experimented with water fasting or have any opinions on fasting etc.

[D.J]

Sorry Cruizer but this is just plain daft, you can't just suddenly stop eating anything regardless of how healthy you think you may currently be.

It's highly likely that by doing this, you'll just end up fainting at some point, whether it be at home, or even worse, in a public place.

I strongly advise against it.

[OrangeRakoon]

It's highly likely that by doing this, you'll just end up fainting at some point, whether it be at home, or even worse, in a public place.

I strongly advise against it.

Goes double if you do any exercise. This is a bad idea

[Cruizer]

Trying to strike a balance between responsibly not wanting to endorse fasting and explaining my feelings towards it.

It's highly likely that by doing this, you'll just end up fainting at some point, whether it be at home, or even worse, in a public place.

I strongly advise against it.

Thank you for your concern, but in most likelihood I would have stopped by that point.

As I mentioned; I've ran a few half marathons and am generally quite sensible with my health. Water fasting is actually quite common and has some benefits if done properly. I have a vague aim to hit 7 days (prevous to this I have never done a days fast, now I'm nearly on day 4 and feel ok) but if it makes me tired, dizzy, faint, over emotional or negatively affects my concentration levels I'll stop.

[Cruizer]

Day 4

Went ok, woke up with a bit of a headache so drank a load of water which sorted it out. Managed sometime on the treadmill and don't feel hungry. Starting to realise the difference between feeling hungry and just craving food. I‘m hoping by whenever I end this I’ll have reset my taste buds a little so I crave bad foods a little less.

I‘m going out New Year eve but I’ll try and keep this up if I still feel ok

[D.J]

If i were you, i'd just unwrap a mars bar and be done with it.

[Robbo-92]

Going out New Years Eve after 5 days (well I presume 5 by the time you head out tomorrow evening) without any food or fluid other than water? Good luck! Unless you have a higher alcohol tolerance than most you'll be getting drunk a lot quicker than you normally would.

Something to bear in mind if you hadn't already however enjoy your evening, try not to do anything you may later regret!

[Cruizer]

Hi Robbo, to be clear if I keep this up by tomorrow evening I still intend to drink just water (alcohol would defeat the object of any kind of detox). I like a drink(but no I don't have a particularly high alcohol tolerance), and this will be the first alcohol free new year for a while and it maybe tricky not having any whilst my friends do they'll be cool . When its my round I’ll also get overpriced mineral water (though I’ll hate doing so) as I don't want to be impolite to whatever bar and just order tap water.

Sure I’ll have a good night anyway though thanks

[Robbo-92]

Ah fair enough, thought you'd succumb for one evening! I'll be having a far lower intake of alcohol as well, the joys of starting work at 8 am on New Years Day

[Cruizer]

8 on new years day sucks, guessing you maybe work in retail?

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Day 6 feel healthy, got lots of energy (even little bit restless) slept well last (last night was the first night I need to get up to go to the bathroom because of all the extra water I've been drinking and I've been feeling a little bit weak in the night), horrible taste in my mouth has gone - basically I feel good.

Survived my first tee total new years eve and still had fun.

I feel a bit proud of myself and I've come this far so I'll keep up for the full 7 days.

Think I'll look into more tamer detoxs for January (I wouldn't particularly want to be on a water detox whilst I am at work) but I'll try and have a healthy month. Definitely going to be alcohol and caffeine free this month.

[Robbo-92]

Obviously retail

Hope you're going to give this up as soon as the 7 days are up, surely water fasting cannot be good in the long run, would have thought it'd be bad enough after 7 days....

[barrybarryk]

Hope you're going to give this up as soon as the 7 days are up, surely water fasting cannot be good in the long run, would have thought it'd be bad enough after 7 days....

It's not good for you in the short term either. It just feels good because extra endorphins are released into the blood to help the body cope with, well, eating itself.

[Robbo-92]

Well that sounds lovely, really hope Cruizer is going to stop this sooner rather than later.

[D.J]

Cruizer's eating Cruizer? I thought he was supposed to be vegan.

[Cruizer]

Feel like I should put some sort of disclaimer just before I say anything positive about water fasting: Don't listen to me everything from jogging to drug use might be ok for one person but very dangerous for someone else, this post just represents my personal opinion. The other reason you should'nt listen to me is because I am Cruizer

Obviously retail

Hope you're going to give this up as soon as the 7 days are up, surely water fasting cannot be good in the long run, would have thought it'd be bad enough after 7 days....

Yes I will give this up after 7 days but mainly because I am back at work on Wednesday and wouldn't want to do this at work (during the first few days when I started thinking about food I could distract myself with some Mario Odyssey, music, reading, house work or running which I obviously Can't do at work). Otherwise I would happily carry on a bit longer. I completely honestly don't miss food at all at this point I feel energised and happy, more so for a long time.

There's a lot of stuff out there about the benefits of a zero calorie water fast, everything from reversing the aging process to reducing the risks of cancer to lowering blood pressure etc. but I would imagine if you went to a doctor they would advise against it. My personal experience (and I entered into as an experiment having done almost no research) is it feels like a healthy thing to do.

This wasn't about weight loss for me (I don't eat animal products, I run and do yoga which I do for ethical / mild depression / stress level reasons respectively as opposed to health reasons but I'm basically alright on that front) but if people do this they will lose weight and I would imagine our hunter gatherer bodies should be very ok without food for 7 days (obviously theres exceptions)

Benefits I've Noticed
I genuinely feel happier. I find myself laughing and smiling more. I listen more and my thoughts feel clearer. I'm noticing the world around me more.

I have lots of energy and I'm more aware of my body, my breathing etc. Before this I don't think I've ever gone a full day without food (#privileged) - whereas before I thought I was hungry because I've missed a couple of meals I think this process will hopefully shift those kind of thought patternsos.

[barrybarryk]

The body doesn't mind the lack of food for 7 days, its the concentrated dose of toxins stored in the fat cells your body is now breaking down that does the damage. Ranging from something as banal as kidney swelling or stones to permanent kidney and liver damage. You feel good because your pituitary is releasing more endorphins into your blood since it thinks your body is in pain. It's not a religious or spiritual experience, your body is drugging itself, it's just a prolonged runners high.

if you went to a doctor they would advise against it

They're worth listening to.

[Chocolate-Milk]

There's a lot of stuff out there about the benefits of a zero calorie water fast, everything from reversing the aging process

I want you to read this part out loud, and then take a minute to really think about the combination of words you just said.

[OrangeRakoon]

There's a lot of stuff out there about the benefits of a zero calorie water fast, everything from reversing the aging process to reducing the risks of cancer to lowering blood pressure etc.

[citation needed]

[Cruizer]

There's a lot of stuff out there about the benefits of a zero calorie water fast, everything from reversing the aging process to reducing the risks of cancer to lowering blood pressure etc.

[citation needed]

My bad.

I could cite any number of websites that make these claims as could anyone taking aquick glance at google - but that's not to say I necessarily believe them.

I did imply throughout there's a lot of sketchy non verifyed info out there. I meant more "theres a lot of stuff out there about the benefits of water fasting some of which you should be skeptical of" (before I went on to talk about the subjective benefits I noticed). I see it didn't read like that.

[OrangeRakoon]

My bad.

I could cite any number of websites that make these claims as could anyone taking aquick glance at google - but that's not to say I necessarily believe them.

I did imply throughout there's a lot of sketchy non verifyed info out there. I meant more "theres a lot of stuff out there about the benefits of water fasting some of which you should be skeptical of" (before I went on to talk about the subjective benefits I noticed). I see it didn't read like that.

Fair enough! I would definitely be skeptical, a quick read suggests it's almost entirely pseudoscience. The talk page for water fasting on wikipedia is an interesting one.

[Cruizer]

Well today was my first day back at work so I managed the 7 days and broke the fast at 1400 today (I had some watermelon chunks and I'm sitting down now with a plain baked potato which is lovely but I really don't want anymore than a few bites). Eating just relatively small portions feels bloody incredible.

If I wasn't working / had other commitments I would have happily kept this up certainly a few more days. The bit between Christmas and new year is a good time to do this as its stress free and if I felt light headed I could have a lay down.

I enjoyed the experience and will definitely do it again at some point.

The body doesn't mind the lack of food for 7 days, its the concentrated dose of toxins stored in the fat cells your body is now breaking down that does the damage. Ranging from something as banal as kidney swelling or stones to permanent kidney and liver damage. You feel good because your pituitary is releasing more endorphins into your blood since it thinks your body is in pain. It's not a religious or spiritual experience, your body is drugging itself, it's just a prolonged runners high.

That definitely makes sense, theres anecdotal accounts of people on month long fasts saying the body eats everything even scars clear up. But wouldn't it be true of any kind of rapid weight loss that fat cells are being broken down and could therefore have the side effects you are describing?

Not a counterpoint to what you are saying I'm just asking

[barrybarryk]

That definitely makes sense, theres anecdotal accounts of people on month long fasts saying the body eats everything even scars clear up. But wouldn't it be true of any kind of rapid weight loss that fat cells are being broken down and could therefore have the side effects you are describing?

It doesn't get much more extreme than eating nothing

I enjoyed the experience and will definitely do it again at some point

Just take up heroin or morphine, they'll do less damage and you get to keep eating.

[Jezo]

There's a lot of stuff out there about the benefits of a zero calorie water fast, everything from reversing the aging process to reducing the risks of cancer to lowering blood pressure etc.

Oh, see, I've been trying to eat food to live longer. Guess I've been doing it wrong this whole time, thanks for the heads up.

[jimbob555]

im completely puzzled

we know cruizer is a troll and have countless times established this but yet people seem to forget this everytime he makes a new post

are we all just playing along? am i just really out of the loop? i know this post is like almost a month old now but... this is what i come back to

[Cruizer]

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