I am officially over my one week refeed after my third, consecutive, 21 day water fast. I did 5-7 day refeeds. I weighed myself at the end of my 3rd fast, and went from 93 kg. on June 15th, to 76.4 kg. on August 28th. I then did ADF since a week, and as of today, I am fasting until next Saturday, Sept. 12th. I think for the month of September and also October, I am doing a 7 day fast, and eating one meal a week until I meet my goal of 62 kg, Actually my goal was 63 kg., but I want some wiggle room. Fasting really is not hard after doing 21 day fasts, but those first few days are still an adjustment.
I got sick yesterday, flu-like symptoms…elevated temp., sore throat, and achy muscles, no energy. I am drinking mostly ginger tea, and water, and being a couch potato today.
I will write as often as I can, while doing this fasting…I was going to do 5:2, meaning eat on Saturday and Sunday…But instead I will eat one time a week, and fast for 7 days. So, I am off and running. Happy Fasting!
After three, consecutive 21 day Water fasts...Now what?
Look at you!! What an accomplishment! You should be so proud.
Sounds like you have solidified your discipline to get yourself where you want to be. Look forward to reading your continued journey.
Thanks for the inspiration. My goal is near what your is I would like to be about 125-130lbs (maybe 58kg).
@Kyle: THANK YOU!!! I did not drop as many kg. as I expected I would…Altogether, after three 21 day fasts, with 5-7 days of OMAD mostly refeeds, I dropped 17 kg. I thought I woud drop 10 kg. about, during the first fast, about 8 kg. in the second fast, and about 7 kg., in the third fast. It was a big more than 5 kg. per 21 days. At the end of the last 21 day fast I weighed 76.4 kg. My starting weight was 93.5 kg. Sigh…
I wish you every success!
I am fasting until next Saturday evening, when I am invited out to dinner. The restaurant is at a beautiful, big lake nearby to where I live. I am no longer ill, with a sore throat, elevated temp., achiness, and headache. I feel a little weak, and have included electrolytes in my hot water. Summer is over in Europe, and the days are getting shorter.
I forgot, when I wrote my September plan above, that on Sunday, September 12, I have to meet my Yoga group at a local restaurant. It was planned for a while. My plan is to drink bubbly water, which I have done in the past. I would like to do OMAD and my goal is to do the one meal at lunch time, and not in the evening. But, next weekend, I will only do a Saturday meal, and in the evening. And blow off eating with the yoga folks, and just drink water. The yoga folks all accept what they call my “extreme” fasting, and would not hassle me. That is my plan, and I plan on sticking with it for September. I forgot to weigh myself at the start of Septemember, LOL. I guess I am out of the groove, when it comes to weighing myself daily. I will start that tomorrow. And see if I can put on here, weekly, if I figure it out, a weight graph. I am not too computer savvy. So, bye for now, and happy fasting!
So, I had a mini meltdown about not dropping enough weight to satisfy my expectations. Another reason to beat-up on myself? Thank you to Jill, for helping me change my mind and give myself an “atta-girl”! I then was challenged by Yasemin to go two weeks without going on the scale. Gulp. So here I am, on my extended fast…until the weekend. I am busy making lacto-fermented veggies and I am making homemade sauerkraut. It will be ready at the end of October. God, I just LOVE sauerkraut, and I make enough to feed my whole family for a year. Really. So no time to hang on the computer. YES, I am hungry, but it won’t hurt me…Happy Fasting!
Sorry, I was M.I.A.
I got the friggin Shingles on Sept. 19th, and it effed me up real good. I even had to take anti-viral meds, every 4 hours around the clock, and finished up last Tuesday, the 27th of September. I was sick, depressed, and unhappy. And I got some bloodwork back that I had had taken after the 3 water fasts. During those fasts, I only took my synthetic T4 hormone (for Hashimoto’s) every other day. And I took kelp and nascent iodine on the other days. My TSH value (normal is up to 5) was 22, sigh. So my experiments, with fasting, over the years, plus these 3 recent, extended fasts have not shown to heal my thyroid of this auto-immune condition. Sigh. I am back to taking the needed dosage of this T4 to quiet my doc’s worry. I am not convinced that synthetic T4 corrects this condition for me, because over the years, I still have the symptoms of Hashimoto’s despite various dosages, and brands. I tried, when I was first diagnosed with Hashimotos (2006), Armour Thyroid, made from desiccated swine thyroid (which contains T1, T2,T3, T4 and Calcitonin). That was the only time I felt “normal”. I was able to effortlessly drop 15kg., my resting heart rate went up to 60/min. (it had been between 34-40/min), no more constipation, depression gone, and I had energy!!! I had no more digestive symptoms, hair loss, coldness (beforehand my Basal Body Temp. was 35-36 degrees, even in the middle of the day). I live in Germany and had to import the stuff, which was freakin expensive , and my insurance did not pay for it. Then, as of 2011, the med stopped working. Like really stopped working. I gained all this weight back, had serious water retention, and all symptoms came back. I found out, that Armour changed their recipe and amount each tablet contained, and well, I didn’t see why I had to pay out money for meds that did not work. So, to keep my doc happy, I started on synthetic T4 and T3. But I never noticed a big diffence with or without T3, and so I have not taken T3 in some years now. Less drugs is always better. For those who are completely lost from what I am talking about, I am sorry. I guess this post is really for myself. But to clarify and simplify: The body can only use an active form, T3 for metabolism. No one really knows why the thyroid produces T1,T2,T4 and if one takes only T3, then one has to take the pill like every 4 hours, round the clock, and that is a pain…BUT the body can convert T4 into T3, but with Hashimoto’s, some patients do not convert T4, completely into a usable T3 form. In the blood, everything is hunky-dory…looks cool. But the cells receive, in some patients, an inactive form of T3 and well I think I am one of those. I have all of the symptoms of Hashi when I take the correct dose, but the blood looks fine. No, I don’t have adrenal exhaustion. I was tested. Long story short, my bloodwork from Septmember showed I still have an unhappy thyroid, and fasting didn’t do shit. I am still on the search. Next up, I will try, after this present fasting experience, to go on the Medical Medium’s (Anthony William) Thyroid Protocol. In the meantime, I still have at least 20 kg. to drop. The orthopedic doc was kind enough to tell me, my right injured knee would heal better, and my health woud improve if I got rid of all the excess weight, asap. I dropped 17 kg. on the three 21 day fasts, and gained back some weight (3-4 kg.) in September. I have not been on the scale since @Yasemin told me in September to not weigh myself for two weeks. Well, then I got Shingles, and since then, was too scared to get on the scale. I am still scared. I do not want my inner brat, and sabotager to derail my fast, so I am waiting until Ketosis kicks in and I can cruise, and not be influenced by this crafty, inner brat. THEN, I will bite the bullet, and get on the scale. I still fit in the clothes I have been able to wear, since ending the 3 fasts, and can do all the yoga asanas (I am a yoga teacher) that I use to do, before I got a big gut. And my bras that I use to wear, when I was weighing less than 80 kg. still fit fine, and the breast size has not blown up, which is the first part of my anatomy (along with the gut) that increases in size. I have not taken my measurements…not yet.
BTW, I hate 5:2 fasting (fast 5 days, OMAD 2 days)…It’s like getting finally past those horrible first few days of fasting, to do it all over again. I have no problem at all with 24-48 hour fasts, but 72-96 are truly no fun…at all. For me. And I will tell you, eating every 4 hours sucks, too. When I had to take the shingles med, I used soup, yogurt, salad, but man, it is hard to graze the whole friggin day. Even in my heaviest days, I never ate before noon. Yuck.
Here is my new plan: I began, over a week ago, taking spiralina, chlorella, muti-vitamin and minerals and ate mostly salads, greens and soup to increase my immunity. And even though, the algae has some calories, like 30 kcal., I plan to include them in my now 31-40 day fast. I am monitoring myself very, very closely, with the understanding of my doctor, who is very supportive, and will stop fasting, if I have any symptoms that could suggest a decrease in health. I will have my bloodwork checked while fasting. I would never undertake, nor would I ever allow a patient of mine (I am a Naturopath) to undertake an extended fast, without the help and support of a medical doctor, especially anyone with some sort of medical or pychological condition. I have noticed, that after those pesky, uncomfy, first 5 days, my body likes fasting. I am taking a multi-vitamin, of course, but in powder form, to help my tummy, which does not like those multi-vitamin pills. At the end of this fast, I hope to be nearer to my goal weight of 60-63 kg. For exercise, I walk my dogs 3 times a day for 20 minutes each walk, and will jump rope daily for 5 minutes a day, and I have a Bellicon trampoline, and will do 20 minutes a day, to increase lymph flow. And of course I do 40-60 minutes of yoga a day. So, that is my plan, to water fast with minerals, supplements and vitamins (and bone broth if need be…I have it frozen) for the whole month of October. And if I feel good and my blood parameters are all in the normal range, then I will extend to 40 days. I did my last 40 day water fast in 2011, and it was such a great experience. And I was able to keep the weight off (I went from 87 kg. to 60 kg) for 5 years. I felt my strongest, and fittest at 62 kg. After this fast, if I am still far from my goal weight, I will then do, easily 48 hour fasts, with a OMAD in between, until I reach my goal. I have not done fasting with all these supplements, and well, it could slow down the weight loss. I will know more at the end of October.
I am sooo glad to be back to fasting. That was really uncomfortable eating every 4 hours. It took up a lot of my thoughts, grrrr. BTW, I am 167 cm. tall, which is about 5’5" tall. If you actually read this oh-so-long post, I hope you send me lots of good ju-ju. I could use allllll the help I can get.
I am getting now, all my fasting stickies done, along with my habit tracker, and affirmations. And then it wil be time to walk the dogs, and go to work. Lastly, my power words for this fast to focus my mind are : PERSEVERANCE, DETERMINATION and PRAYER!!! Big thanks to @Yasemin for her kindness, care, energy, dedication and no b.s. coaching method. I love those fasting zoom calls…so helpful. We are all in this together.
I just wanted you to know I enjoyed your post (although sorry for the issues, ugh … I get it) a lot especially about the thyroid and the blood work being normal but having all the symptoms. I have numerous friends with the same story on Armour changing the ingredients and all their symptoms coming back ! So frustrating ! I’m sure my thyroid is off too, actually no doubt. Feel free to share more about your knowledge on thyroid, and healthy naturopathic information! 
Thank you! I’m rooting for you and with all your knowledge and experience you will reach your goals !! Keep moving forward. I’m doing the same but I have a ton more weight to lose, after keeping my weight down until 40 and starting on anxiety/depression meds I ballooned within weeks/months and just can’t seem to get back to “me”. 
That shit is evil for some of us as it did nothing for the anxiety and now I’m obese … ugh. No one can tell me those pills don’t change something major inside (metabolism, thyroid?). I always had a flat stomach and Boom, after these meds I had a big tire around me, why?? Grrr … Thanks again for your post.
Day 4 of my extended fast…I am going for at least 31 days, and if my body is ok, I will go to 40 days. I have not done that since 2011. Today I am freezing, I was unable to sleep until after 4 am, and was awake at 9 am. Sigh…I hope the insomnia goes away, like it did in my previous extended fasts. I made the mistake of looking at yt videos about anorexia n. and it threw me a bit, and I wondered if I was going to fall into that…I do not want to fool myself. I watched a lot of these recovery videos, and man, the people in recovery all say it takes forever to get rid of the feeling of deeeeep hunger, which I think is either psychological (as it is a such a condition) and that is not own experience when I refeed. I am truly happy, grateful and FULL for a long time, after eating. I have never, in my whole life, purged after eating. Even after Thanksgiving excess. And I full have my body’s health as my front-and-center goal, and not self-destruction. I love to eat, and am grateful for health-bringing foods. I very rarely eat out, especially in these times. And I do not eat junk food, or processed foods. After watching the videos, especially recovery videos, most of these people crave, what I would call crap food, like candy, chips, fast-foods, take-outs. And I am so not in that world. I buy organic, and no process crap. I eat out of boredom, or have done comfort eating, but not crap food, CARBS. So how did I get fat? I have a bum thyroid, and I ate my main meal at night, before bed. I slacked up, with exercising, and ate a high carb diet, like whole grain breads, (I live in Germany, land of the BEST bread) and ate a lot, when I did eat. But real food, not processed. It all can make us fat, if we over-do. I had, in the past believed binge eating was like going to Micky-Ds, and buying 20 “Happy Meals” and stuffing them all in my mouth. I now know, if I stuff any kind of carbs to the point of being stuffed, is a form of binge-eating. It is disturbed relationship with food. And since I was over-doing and then sleeping right afterwards, well, it effed me up. And I am 62 years old, not 20…Metabolism does slow down. I have really realized that I will be doing fasting as a life-style for the rest of my life, because it will keep me living longer, and healthfully. I do not want to go down the drain, and be a burden to my family with increasing age. I gotta do something now. And fasting will work for me. I just have to first drop this excess amount, which is like 20 kg. Then find out if OMAD will work, or if I have to do ADF, or just fasting 48 hours. I do not know yet. I am building fasting muscles now, and have to find out. So, after watching the anorexia videos, and questioning myself, I do not believe I turning into an anorexic person. I remember in Dr. Fung’s book about fasting, he said fasters do not turn into anorexics. I think those who dial back the calories to like 500 kcal/day, in an extreme attempt to drop weight to gain control over their pain, whatever the cause, is actually traumatizing their minds with HUNGER. When I fast, I know it is just for a time, and I will eat again, and and feel not freaked about hunger. And scientists have found FASTING with NO calories, does not mess us up, as does chronic, extreme calorie restriction. So! I have quieted my thoughts now, and am relaxing, as it is Sunday. I am listening to audio books about binge-eating and going to watch videos about fasting focused lifestyle. I LOVE the YT channel, A HEALTHY ALTERNATIVE. I am looking forward to cruising in the fast, and achieving my health goals. Oh, I made my broth, from electrolytes, cayanne and hot water plus kelp powder yesterday, as I felt day 3 weakness. Today, so far so good. Happy Fasting, everyone.
Have you ever looked into taking Beef Thyroid to see if that helps, Stacia? I take a desiccated thyroid supplement through my doctor. It has helped me a ton… especially my nails and hair growth (hair loss and nails peeling were big issues for me). Also, my energy seems stable throughout the day instead of the 1pm crash I used to have. Anyway… just a suggestion. Here’s a link to one brand:
Kyle, this is awesome! I’ve never heard of it?! Is the link you sent me the one you take? Can I order direct or do I have to go through a doctor and how many do you take ? With food, without? It says 1 to 8 a day? Sorry for all the questions !! Thank you so much, I will definitely look into and also I hope you feel better!!! 
The one I take is a prescription. This is one you can buy directly. I don’t know how much you would need to take. You’d need to do a bit of research and perhaps trial and error. 
@schmidtsmia I’ve been hap hazard and decided to just go 21 days.
Finally had a good look at the calendar and realized I had nothing better to do. Excited to get over the first hump and just into loosing mode.
Got on the scale today and was not happy. Still fitting in the 14’s but they are beginning to get tight.
So nip it in the butt time.
My cycle stopped too again - last period day was August 12. My hormones have definitely been reaking havoc.
I have a dinner plan for October 31st so I figured I can squeeze this 21 day out with refeed days to spare.
I’m right here with you for a stint. 
Hi Everyone, I’m on day 5 of my water fast. I won’t weigh in until Friday which will be one week. I plan on doing 30 days.
I lost a lot of weight about 7 years ago and managed to keep most of it off through healthy eating, gardening, regular hiking and yoga. I’m 58 as of Sept. 13th
But, with the Corona virus I stopped everything and ballooned back up to 220. So discouraged I thought nothing could help but a fast. I’ve done juice fasts in the past to reset but this time I’m trying the 30 day water fast.
So happy to find this group as I’m a little discouraged and need to be plugged in with like minded folks.
Thanks for being here. 
I hear you…I just got on the scale…After 7 days of fasting I am 1 kg. more than when I stopped fasting at the end of August. September was truly a big zero… Remember, those first 5 days really suck! Just tell the inner brat to shut the eff up, and drink a lot of water. I also tell the BRAT when it whines, that it is hungry, that I will eat again, just not now… I have a lot of dinner dates in December, as you probably do, too. So, I would like to have dropped the rest of this old, extra weight by then. I have 17 kg. (37.4 lbs.) to drop by then. We can do this!!!
Oh, thank you for sharing your journal. I know, the shut-down, effed me up good, and I went over 200 lbs for the first time in my life. Yikes! I weighed 204 lbs at the start of my journey, in June. Now, as of today, I weigh, 171 lbs.
Let’s do this!
Today is day 7 of my 40 day fast. I decided to stop with just calling it a fast for October. I know I will successfully complete a 40 day fast, and be closer to my goal of weighing 130 lbs., which is 59 kg. I got on the scale today, and took photos, too. I weigh 800 grams more than when I finished my third 21 day fast on August 28th. September was a lost month, boo-hoo. I was able to do, after 2 weeks of daily OMAD, two cyles of fasting 5 days and refeed on OMAD on two days, before I got shingles, and had to eat every 4 hours. I ate very healthy during those days I had to take anti-viral meds. And still, I gained weight. Huh…I bet I will be doing 48 hour fasts, when I am done with this extended fast and have refed over a two week period. I am not intimidated by 48 hour fasts. Actually, I can do them effortlessly. It is the dreaded 72 hour fasts up to 120 hours that I despise. I am not doing that kind of fasting again. 5 day fasts are not for me. And between 48-72 hours are not so pleasant for me, either. 48 hours are a not a big deal. And I now have subscribed to the App: EAT THIS MUCH, because one gets a meal plan, with the kind of preferences one desires, and meal plans, and weekly grocery list, and IN METRIC!!! And it’s in English, hurray. I am sorry if some of these posts sound grammatically strange, because I have lived in Germany for over 30 years, and well, sometimes I revert to German grammar. I have only my family in America to talk to, in English, along with my two kids, who can speak English, but have the same problem that I do. German grammar is difficult, and so unlike English grammar, and I was a reluctant student, because the Germans ( who have a FAB sense of humor, very intelligent, and rather satirical) all speak English (British English) and their extreme kindness in helping me adapt here, in Germany, made me lazy to actually learn the language. I did eventually learn, and have loved the German people since I began to understand them. I highly admire the German culture. Anyway, sorry if my posts sound grammatically odd. Now you know why, LOL. So day 7…is okay so far, with a slight, humming euphoria, even though, I did not weigh what I expected. Yasemin’s weekly zoom chats are THE BEST. I WILL reach my health goals and mental, emotional and physical weight goals because of her help and the care and help of all of you here. God bless every. single.one. of. YOU! I decided after the last Zoom call, to dedicate each “hard” fasting experience to God, to transform the energy into healing of those individuals I am aware of, who need healing, and more love. Therefore, I dedicate this whole fast, in general to the healing of our beautiful, loving planet, and all her inhabitants. May we all experience a great love, and healing in this life. Where we go one, we go all. We are in this together. AND…on a practical level, I am now pushing a lot of water, (and minerals, vitamins, too), even if it means I am having to use the bathroom, like every hour, sigh…I go walking with the dogs equipped with toilet paper, LOL. I usually am in the hills and woods, where not so many folks walk, at any time. ( I live in the Teutoburger Forest-think Publius Quincilius Varus, who was the Roman General, under Augustus, who died here, along with 3 Roman legions, right nearby, to where I live.) I am now full in ketosis, and love not being hungry. Yes, I feel a tad weakness, but when I feel this, I either make my broth (NaCl, Mg, K salts, and cayanne pepper in hot water) or I hit back some water. Lastly, I had a rather gross, and unexpected experience this week. on Monday evening. I had started the fast on Thursday, Oct. 1st. And it is not unusual, for me to have to have a BM, in the first 24 hours of the fast. Yet, on Monday, I still felt I needed to expell old crap, and gave myself an enema. Luckily, I had a kind of collander in the toilet, because I intuitively knew something was weird. Well, OMG, I had two different kinds of worms ( 
) come out: flat worms, and one round worm. I got the results from my doc today, and yes I had worms!!! But, I am taking a tincture now, from the company called, NOW. It is a tincture made from cloves, Wormword (Artemisia absinthium) and “green” black walnut. In all the years I have done fasting, have I NEVER had this happen. And I KNOW where I got them. In early September, I went to a brand new Japanese restaurant, that opened up in my city, and I ate sushi and sashimi. Well, I won’t be eating there again, LOL. So, my lesson was learned. Yuck. I did 3 more enemas since then, and since yesterday, I have had no more nasty parasites being expelled. Sorry for the info, but this is my journal, and really to me. And maybe it will be helpful to someone else. Over 70% of the population, do have parasites. Just don’t panic, and take the tincture, and you will be free of them, too. I will take the tincture, while fasting, for the entire time of the fast. The minimum amount of time one should take the de-worming tincture complex is 3 weeks. It is better than taking the meds, which would tax my liver somewhat. But it does take longer. Now I have to do some canning of veggies and fruits from my garden. I wish you all so much success. Believe me when I say, if I can succeed at fasting, ANYONE can. Always have your goal in sight.
Thank you for your journal Schmidts, I can relate to much of what you said!
I know everyone says “maintenance mode” is harder than losing the weight but I refuse to believe that. Losing the weight HAS to be the most difficult part, honestly. It is such a struggle to get the pounds to come off (especially as we get older).
Good luck on your journey. We are here cheering you on!
Thank you Schmidtsmia for the post. Especially about the very gross worms. I’m going to take the tincture too because I love sushi and probably have worms too. Yes, let’s do this!
Day 6. Feeling okay but not great. I hope it’s okay to share here. I think we have a lot in common so following this journal is good.
Have a wonderful day everyone.
Yes, good to be reminded of these things on occasion.
Day 10 of my 40 day fast…not much to report. I am plugging away. I have to push water, as I just do not like most water…not from my Berkey Filter, nor my sparkling water, either. Hmmm. My kids, and some G’kids came to visit, and I cooked pizza and salad for them with absolutely no desire to eat it at all, and everyone raved about my salad. We laughed a lot, and my son repaired the roof on my shed, where I keep my firewood, and he fixed stuff around the house. It was just plain fun. Also today, ten years ago, on 10/10/10 at 05:00 my dear friend and husband died, here at home, in his sleep. He had advanced, male breast cancer. Yes, men do get breast cancer, but it is rare, like 3% of all cancers that men get, is breast cancer. And you know what? It did not hurt to think of him today, and his death. I just felt fine. Wow, I think I am healing…after 10 years. Fasting is just transformative. It really is. Once one commits, and gets past those awful, first 5 days of the constant, whining inner bratty voice, screaming, “EAT!!!”, well, for me anyway, it becomes easier and easier. Tomorrow is Sunday, and I will tackle my unorganized closet. It will rain all day, too. Imagine, I have one dog-a Golden Retriever Mix-who LOVES walking in the rain…and an English Bulldog, who hates the rain. It should be interesting tomorrow. I usually then make the walk shorter, because Bobby, the Bulldog just is miserable, that I can not stand it, and he gets even more depressed if I take him back in the house and walk Julie, my big happy dog, further. Recently, Julie had to spend the night at the vet, after a operation to remove a lipoma. Bobby refused to eat. He just moped around until Julie came back. So, now I have to go on the final walk of the day with my fur babies, before going to bed. Happy Fasting.