My first post is available here, but this is my first truly long term (by which I mean >5 day) fast. The goal is 30 days. Again, I am female, and do not weigh myself because weight is not a useful measurement for me.
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I am house sitting, the food situation is rough. There is food everywhere (wrapped candies and sweets in dishes scattered all over the living room, a full pantry and fridge with gourmet favorites like Spanish anchovies which I love, right next to where water and seltzer are kept) and the hosts left me with a gift basket on my bed which includes goodies like Scottish Shortbread and fudge. I am grateful for their generosity but it sucks to see everything all the time as a constant reminder. At home, all my food is in the fridge or hidden in cabinets, so this is not really an issue.
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The journey to get here was brutal. I left my apartment at 4.45 am and spent 1 hour on public transit to get to the bus, about an hours wait for the bus, then 2 hours on the bus, then 20 minutes in a cab to the house. I was lucky enough to have been seated alone the entire time, but I had to cradle myself for a lot of the long bus journey. I started to get nauseous on the bus, but I’m not sure if that was the driver (he had some pretty abrupt braking, and it wasn’t the smoothest ride). I was afraid to drink the water I had (there were no vomit bags and the bathroom was filthy). The nausea continued in the cab, but did not return after I got to the home (and drank plenty of water).
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After I got to the home, I was physically and emotionally done. I slept for a good 12 hours, which felt incredible and very restorative. Obviously i hadn’t slept much the night prior, but my mood seem to get better after that.
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The fatigue has gotten a lot worse. I’m getting winded walking only a few blocks. I need to sit down way more often.
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I struggled with my suitcase which was mostly empty because I planned to bring back some stuff that’s much harder to get at home, but I’m not sure that’s a great idea now given that on my way here I had to stop several times just rolling it along, let alone carrying the thing up and down several flights of stairs which I will need to do on the journey back. I got yelled at for walking “too slow” up a ramp at the bus station (wtf?).
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I had my first and only BM since I started more or less an hour before I left for the trip. I may have had to do with rushing and being nervous for the it, but it was not much, not pleasant, and had a diarrhea consistency (sorry if that’s TMI).
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There’s a BP monitor here and I measure myself, and I fall into the normal range, which is good to know.
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My skin cleared up significantly, which I forgot to mention in the other post, but now a few small pimples have started to emerge, however they are really minor, not cystic or nearly as problematic like the ones I had before… it just might be a questions of me needing to change my pillowcase more than once a week
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I am COLD. I’ve always been someone who could not handle cold very well (but if you put me in 90+ F and full humidity I am in heaven). I always keeping a merino wool sweater with me in the summertime because I can’t handle standard air conditioning, but some people are outside in shorts and a t-shirt or tank top (though most are just in pants and long sleeve shirts) while I have a cashmere sweater and (albeit a very) light down coat.
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I have had dreams about food on several nights and woke up feeling guilty only to realize that it was just a dream, I am relieved and have a laugh.
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While I’m still not hungry, I am also thinking about food too often. I am trying my best to avoid pictures, articles, or posts involving food, but it’s harder than I expected. I’m ok with looking at ingredients (like seeing a supermarket flyer with cuts of meat and veggies) but if someone posts a wonderful looking meal that they are having, then I get a purely psychological craving (I’ve always been a foodie).
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On my second day here I was able to hit a bunch of stores here that are hard for me to get to at my home. I went mainly to browse, but I did pick up some small lightweight things (like 99 cent spatulas, and the Frakta bag for laundry at Ikea, a small jar of shelf stable caviar at Marshalls and card, both for a Father’s day gift). While the shopping trip was successful, I was only able to hit up three of the six stores I intended, and I ended up throwing up bile in the parking lot of Marshalls and in the bathroom of Ikea which was extremely unpleasant.
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I tried coffee twice again. once was an espresso at the home, and I took one sip and it tasted so burnt I couldn’t finish it. The other was also an espresso, from the machine at Ikea (it was free), and again, the coffee tasted so bad, I couldn’t get past that first sip.
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My sense of smell is off the charts. I had to leave areas of stores with candles/bath stuff and had to move the car because I parked next to a smoker’s car (the doors and windows were closed but it was very obvious it was a smoker and it was too potent).
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I am thinking about how to break my fast safely, and I’ve come to the conclusion of home made chicken bone broth that I have on hand for day one, then some sauerkraut and pickles for day two. I’ve been told I shouldn’t be thinking about this because it makes the temptation worse.
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Social life still sucks (mainly an issue pre house sitting obviously), but I’ve read five books in the last three days, so that’s great.
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I don’t seem to have lost much more weight on my body, but holy shit, I have cheekbones emerging now. I’ve never really had them before, I’ve always had a chubby face but now I can see them.
So, in conclusion, (aka TLDR) how I felt during the trip to where I’m house sitting concerned me, especially getting winded and tired so easily, and while I got through it, I’m more worried about the return journey which will be around day 23. I am contemplating ending the fast early, but IDK if I’m just being a wuss about this, or if I should seriously consider breaking my fast early. I don’t want to break it in temporary moments of weakness.
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Where are you at in your cycle? My sense of smell kicks into overdrive and I can’t eat certain things (esp bitter things, like dark roast or espresso) during those days around ovulation. If that falls during a fast, it ramps up the intensity a lot. Others have those symptoms along with PMS, but there are other times during the minth you might be more at the mercy of hormones.
If that is possible, then maybe tough it out another day or two. If you feel you aren’t in danger.
However I am not a doctor, and I only do baby fasts (3 days max). If you are suffering, you should be gentle with yourself.
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I am not a doctor, and this is strictly my own opinion and perhaps the minority in this sub, but I think for most people, super extended (~10+ day) fasts are potentially more risky than rewarding. You’re putting yourself at greater risk for refeeding syndrome and nutritional deficiencies that can have life-altering consequences (thiamine deficiency is one particularly problematic outcome that has been observed following prolonged fasts).
In addition, I don’t think there is any reason to physically suffer during a fast. During my 4-5 day fasts, I feel great. And I’ve been having fabulous results doing a series of those, broken up by a few days of healthy eating in between. If I were you, I would gently break the fast now. (And I do mean gently—make sure you read up on proper refeeding protocols. There have been multiple posters in this sub who have ended up in the hospital after breaking 14+ day fasts, even being very careful about how they break it.)
After getting used to food again, eat low-carb or keto for a while, focusing on nutrient-dense foods, and you should have no problem starting another fast shortly thereafter if you wish.