TLDR: Easier than I expected. pretty similar to a 3 day water fast except for the terrible day 1 headache. Extending to 86-ish hours because it’s going well. Refeeding? idk, so much conflicting info out there…
Don’t feel too bad, but can’t sleep, so I figured I’d create my first ever actual post on reddit.
I’m not overweight (anymore), actually slim now- I fast for the health benefits. I follow a pretty strict 20/4 IF daily, which is also a dry fast 50% of the time. Do the occasional 72 hour water fast, but wanted to try a dry fast after researching the benefits- mainly starting autophagy sooner. I don’t do keto, but my last feeding window was keto (under 10g of carbs) to speed ketosis.
My experience so far:
Started at 10pm, as my normal feeding window is \~6-10pm. I’m pretty conditioned to not eating for 20 hours every day without too much effort. I thought the lack of carbs would be at least neutral, and more likely a positive. WRONG. I was hungry as soon as I woke up day 1, which never happens. The hunger persisted much of day 1. At just 15 hours in I got a really bad headache that lasted for like 10 hours. Not sure why, but the only variant was the lack of carbs in my last feeding.
Finally fell asleep late after the headache calmed and slept surprisingly well. Woke up feeling fine. Day 2 was ok. Surprised I’m not more thirsty. Also surprised my pee is relatively clear- expected it to be bright yellow from dehydration. Bottom line, sans the kinda brutal headache, this has been pretty similar to a regular water fast in terms of difficulty = sucks, but tolerable. Was difficult to fall asleep. Sleep was about 6 hours. Not really good sleep, but not really bad either.
Day 3: pretty much a repeat of day 2. Again, thirst not an issue. Hungry, obviously, but no bad hunger pangs. Time has started to drag- the last 5 hours have felt like a day. Disappointed that my urine isn’t all dark coloured with waste products as the Russian doctors all describe. In fact, it’s only now starting to yellow.
I was supposed to end this at 72 hours. But, as I am doing fine, seems stupid to stop with the greater benefits ramping up at that stage. Still, I’ve never gone beyond 22 hours dry fasting before. Thus, it’s probably imprudent to push too hard on my first go; both from a physical and psych perspective. My thinking is that if I end it at 86-ish hours with no issues, I’ll be primed for my next dry fast of 5 days.
The pounds are flying off- rn I’m at my lowest weight in over 35 years! Of course, it’s a fake #. I’ll be 6-8 pounds heavier within 24 hours from rehydrating and refeeding.
As for refeeding… so much conflicting info out there. Break with fruit and vegetable…. NO!… too much of a spike,,,, break with protein and no carbs or fat. Wait!!! Break with fat! ugh.
idk how I’m going to break it. I’m pretty slim at this point and not going to spend days on a minimal liquid diet before solid food. This will only be 3 1/2 days, not 7 or 11. Still, don’t want to negate benefits by ruining things on the refeed. I have always broken my water fasts with spinach, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, peas, avocado and a bit of chicken breast. Then another meal 2-3 hours later and done for the day. From day 2 on, I’ve just eaten normal. All with no outward deleterious effects (but now wondering if I was negatively impacting the efficacy of my fasts). Now reading that cruciferous vegetables are too harsh after a dry fast. True? idk. I guess I’ll keep reading…
Speaking of reading… has anyone made it this far in this quintessential example of a TLDR post?!
Update:
Struggled to sleep last night- more than 36 hours of fasting is never conducive to good sleep IME. Got about 5 hours of ehhh sleep.
Woke up really hungry for the first time. I have felt less hunger during this dry fast than during water fasts, where day 2 is always brutal. So this was the first real hunger/stomach growling incident. It passed within an hour and now it’s just normal fasting hunger.
Starting late last night, when I couldn’t sleep, was the first real thirst. I REALLY wanted to drink something last night at 2am and I woke up thirsty. Mouth is dry but not terrible. Thirst has moderated by about 50% since I woke up- tolerable.
Was going to break the fast at noon, but I think I’ll go to near my regular 20/4 fasting schedule and break it around 1700 with water/electrolytes, then eat vegetables, organic pasture eggs, avocado an hour later. Then maybe some spinach and a blueberry/banana/collagen peptide smoothie before 10. My plan, ATM, is to just eat normally again when my IF ends at 1800 tomorrow.
I’m including this level of mundane details because that’s what I was looking for before and after starting this fast. So hopefully someone finds value in this.
That’s exciting! Last summer it was me who aimed for 72 and extended to 96 and it was such an amazing feeling! So yeah! Awesome!!!!
I am with you about refeeding–if you say you break with fish broth, you are told you have ruined the benefits; if you say you break with watermelon, you’re told the same!
I’m not on keto and I normally continue with water fast for at least the same number of days as the dry fast, and then I start craving fruits. So…I do break with grapefruit juices (diluted at first). It feels amazing. I can’t stand the thought of broth after a fast, even if I normally love broth. So since there is no consesus, I just go with what I crave.
Happy fasting!
Keep it up! The benefits DO STACK the longer you go on so if you’re feeling fine now mind as well keep going!
As far as how to break it i’d recommend 1/2 teaspoon baking soda + cup of water and drink it very slowly over the course of 10 minutes. Drink lightly over the course of the next 2-4 hours. Then have bone broth with little salt to obtain protein. From there have carrots, or other veggies. No milk, cheese or meats for at least 3 days!!
Remember that how you break your fast and refeed is more important than the fast itself. If you’re able to stick to those guidelines, 5 days after you break your fast you should feel like a million bucks!
I’ve been longing to do another 72 hour fast. Thanks for the updates
Update:
Just broke my fast- 96 hours, 45 minutes. I broke it with a cup of water/baking soda/Himalayan pink salt. Everyone talks about the nirvana of that first sip. Nope, not me! lol. I was just relieved the baking powder and salt didn’t gag me. I’m filling some time now typing this; as I’m trying to stagger my water intake as per advice here and elsewhere. Going to drink some more and end up trying some steamed mixed vegetables, avocado and a collagen peptide/water shake and then calling it a night.
I’m pretty happy I pushed it this far since this is my first dry fast, not counting my ordinary 19-23 hour IF dry fasts I do 50% of the time (rest have water). I contemplated going for 5 days, but it seemed tonight might be a bad experience and ending with all good seemed the best setup for my next dry fast. Before, when the plan was 3 days, I was hoping for 5 days in my next go. Given I made it 4 days, the next fast will be 6. This was actually my longest fast ever- only did 3 day water fasts before. Uncharted territory.
Today:
Today was tougher; but day 1 was by far the worst because of the headache and unexpected hunger. Today was more thirst and hunger than since day 1. It was uncomfortable at times, but I kept pushing back my break time; so, obviously not too terrible. At 89 hours I decided 4 days was a real achievement and, thus, I wasn’t stopping until I got there. And once I decide I’m doing something that only relies on willpower- I do it. That, and I started getting close to a ridiculous weight that I never imagined seeing again- so I decided it was at least 96 hours and I had to reach that weight on 2 scale readings to verify it was real. Reached that basically right at 96 hours. Everything was aligned.
Everyone loves stats. So…
Well, first…. My weight fluctuates a LOT daily. My typical day is eating between 6-10pm then fasting 20 hours til 6 the next evening. Even when the IF isn’t dry, I don’t drink much unless I work out. I weight myself in the morning each day, again before eating, and then after I finish eating. I consume 1 1/2-2 litres of fluid, mostly water, each day during the 4 hours. The difference between my 6pm low weight and my 10pm weight is usually about 8 pounds- sometimes 6, sometimes 10! I don’t know if that’s normal or not- it is for me. I may start a thread on this topic. I digress.
The day before my last “normal” meal, I was 170 pounds at 10pm.
Before my final feeding, I was back down to 161.4. As my fast began, after my keto feeding, I was only 166 at 10pm. I was quickly down to 163.2 by the time I went to sleep.
My previous water fast dropped me to 158.4- my lowest weight in over 35 years. I went through that # in the first 24 hours.
my final weight an hour ago…………………. 149.8!!!!
Ridiculous. Way too thin, actually. I need to bulk up a little before my 6 day fast. Thing is, even eating 20/4, I expect I’ll be back to at least 165 pretty quick. This was a lot of water weight; so I view the stunning 149.8 as a “fake” number- as it’s in no way sustainable (and I wouldn’t want it to be, it’s too low). It’ll be interesting to see how much was fat loss.
All in all, I’ll call this first real dry fast a legitimate, unqualified win.