Hey y’all- I posted during my attempt at a 21 day fast. I only made it to Day 19, and I wanted to share my experience since it looks like there’s a wave of people trying EF for the first time right now.
The good- I lost 18 lbs during the fast, 2 more after I stopped, and have not gained anything back yet like I usually do (typically it’s instant water weight when I eat carbs again). Also I proved I could do it. Sugar is WAY too sweet now and I’m not craving desserts like normal. Appetite is smaller, I get full faster.
The bad- the reason I stopped was because I felt so terrible I thought I had covid and even got tested (negative). Extreme fatigue, weakness, out of breath, lack of desire or ability to do normal activities- despite taking electrolytes and drinking water. Every day after Day 16 was an incredible struggle and I could barely do anything. Excessive nausea and heartburn, constantly.
The ugly- the minute I had solid food again (broth day 1, eggs day 2) it ran immediately through me. Despite no constipation, it’s extremely uncomfortable to sit down (trying to be delicate here). I am feeling about 60-70% back to normal on the 4th day after breaking it, but felt awful even after eating again. My stomach hurts all the time and I don’t feel hungry the way I used to. Microbiome is likely going to need lots of time to rebuild.
While I had done fasting for 2 years prior, with several 7-day stints and many 2-4 day bouts, I will never fast this long again. Obviously this is just my experience and I know lots of you have had better results. Best of luck to everyone!
Thank you for sharing your experience! I think it can definitely be dangerous to normalize/promote fasts over a week long. Some people have great experiences with them and those are fascinating to hear and learn about! But they’re definitely not for everyone.
Were you taking any supplements? I wonder if that contributed to you feeling so crappy after a couple weeks.
Get yourself some psyllium husk fibre pills to help with the….aftermath.
Plus some kind of probiotic to kick-start your stomach’s microbiome (natural, unsweetened yogurt, or kombucha. Or something branded like Actimel or Yakult).
I experienced the same aftermath as you but after only 11 days of fasting. The above sorted me out.
As for how you felt after 19 days - from browsing this sub for quite a while, more often than not it’s too little sodium. This is a very high in sodium electrolyte powder - link.
Thank you for sharing! Today would have ended my planned first 21 day fast as well, but alas after a lot of thought, I broke it after 11 days instead. The reason being because I had a big bowling tournament on day 13 I totally forgot about and wanted to be at my competitive best.
Just those 11 days was a rollercoaster ride for me as well. First 2 days were a walk in the park because I do 48 hours almost every week. Days 3 and 4 were the hardest for food cravings. Day 5 felt totally normal, as if I had eaten the night before, days 6-7 were tiring, day 8 I experienced some headaches and ended up vomiting. At first I was alarmed, but after some reading apparently this can happen when the body is doing a major detox and the intestines rejects it so it goes back into the stomach to go out that way instead. Day 9 I realized the light headache was staying more permanently, and Days 10 and 11 were okay but I did feel a general weakness. That said, I still would have been willing to push on and keep going if it wasn’t for the tournament I forgot about. It was honestly pretty cool not having an appetite.
And for me, the most surprising thing is how WELL my refeeding went. I started eating solid foods on the first day, beginning with bone broth then two hours later some pickles and 2 eggs. The next day I started eating almost normal again, with some chicken and veggies, and even milk. Absolutely no discomfort. It actually seemed like my gut improved. The very first poop was a bit hard, a bit dried out. Then it was back to normal. My guess, again just speaking for me, it could be because I’ve focused a lot on trying to help improve my gut health with lots of veggies, vitamins and minerals, supplementing vitamin D, etc, and with weekly 2-3 day fasts for 6 months straight that got me used to it.
I’m definitely planning to do an actual 21 day fast early next year. The 11 day fast was motivating, especially getting to lose 23 lbs that quickly (but I did gain back 12). My previous fast was just 3 days and 17 hours.
Great job!! Not many people have done 19 days! Next time, Potassium citrate, magnesium and Sodium were the electrolytes you needed you can buy electrolyte powder on Amazon. That would have help reduce the headaches, nausea and other things you experience. I believe you might have experience re-feeding syndrome because of lack of those electrolytes. I’m at my 7 day fasting and found that Coca Cola Zero is great as it contains caffeine that helps reduce my sluggishness. I’m also doing light exercise (2 sets of 8-12 rep for chest and arm muscle strengthening using dumbbells. What was your starting weight , goal weight and current weight ?
Thanks for sharing.
Let me ask you: you fast regularly?
how do you prepared for this fast? you made smaller fasts before this long one?
what kind of diet you usually do? standard? you mentioned carbs, what kind? you eat junk food regularly?
Can you point anything before day 16 that you think was a signal that the fast should have ended?
I never made more than 72hs fast, and I’m very curious about this experiences.
My concern for a longer fast is always safety above time.
Congrats on those 19 days, is a phenomenal achievement.
I’ve come to this conclusion as well. I’ve done 21 day, several 7 day, and have been regularly fasting 3-5 days for the past year. I will never go past 7 days, and even that is really too much and the negatives outweigh the positives for me.
You said you took electrolytes every day, but didn’t say what and how much you were taking per day.
I just completed a 6 day fast recently and felt great every day. This was the first time I’ve felt so good fasting this long. The trick was electrolytes, of course.
Maybe your electrolytes weren’t quite right.
Still, you made it to 19 days. That’s impressive!
Did you have any electrolytes with your water? This sounds like textbook sodium/potassium depletion. You absolutely need electrolytes if your going to fast that long or you absolutely will feel sick, tired, even heart palpitations. Please be careful!
Thanks for sharing your experience! I am working up towards more extended fasting, but I was thinking more like 7 days.. idk if I’d even have a shot at a 21 day fast. Right now I just IF daily & whenever I break fast I do it with raw fruits, veggies, smoothies or homemade juices. That way it’s easier for digestion to get going again & not so harsh on my gut since I already have some gut imbalances.. this seems to help me get back into cooked solids easier while experiencing minimum discomfort. I don’t know if that would make a difference when breaking a fast as long as yours though, but maybe it could help.
You know why ugly? Cause after you got away from body toxins, you put them again inside by eating the worst food ever ( broth ) and eggs.. Really? You drink bone soup? So disgusting.. Next time start with juice and fruits pls. Do it for yourself.
Only eat low carb and simple vegetables for a week after breaking your fast. For the first three days eat very small quantities of watermelon orange, cucumber, tomatoes. No fat and protein on the first 4 days after breaking a fast. That’s too bad for digestive system.
If you see experiencing stomach pain, the you should stop your food intake for a day or two just take broth in small quantities.
Steamed Vegetables for the next 10 days.