Wow, Japan…how did you get there from warm, lovely—Brazil? I got to Germany via …a man, of course. Anyway, you fasted for almost 2 weeks, and that is some, amazing accomplishment! Well done! I know this may sound seriously disgusting, and please research it very well, and well I am reading a book about Shivambu…urine therapy, drinking pee-pee. People do actual fasts, drinking water and urine. I have tried and tried to heal my thyroid of Hashimoto’s and so far it has not worked. I might, as of next week, take the “plunge”, and gulp, try to incorporate drinking urine, into my fast. My husband did it, before I met him, and told me about it, and honestly, I was not wanting to kiss him, so repulsed was I. And it is not logical, the repulsion. We all were drinking our pee, in Utero, for 9 months! The fetus does not expell the contents of the intestines, until they are born. So, they do not ingest fecal matter while in utero, only the urine. And I watched a video of a woman, who was very authentic, on YT, from Mexico, I believe, who healed cancer, on a water/urine fast. She showed the documents. It was translated in english. There are many books about urine therapy, like THE WATER OF LIFE…I am reading all this stuff now, to get my courage up. I am determined to free myself of taking meds, and heal my thyroid! Sorry, if I grossed you out. It might be something to look into. There are many books about it, and Shivambu comes from the Ayurvedic, Indian tradition. It is a very old, healing practice. But we were brain-washed into giving up our power to “scientific”, western (owned by Big Pharma) medicine. Trust your instincts! You felt led to stop this fast, and you acted responsibly toward your body/mind and then you went back to fasting. Hats off to you! I look forward to hearing about your journey. I am totally “rooting” for you!!!
CS_A's Daily Journal (Fast Into Fall 2020)
I got here in a much less romantic way…in pursuit of a masters degree program.
I never tried it but drinking urine is not so uncommon in Eastern countries. We hear several stories of people who got trapped under debris for days after a major natural disaster and survived because they drank their own urine (oh yes, Japan is cursed when it comes to natural disasters, we have earthquakes, typhoons, floods, landslides, volcano eruptions, and whatnot). I will not drink my urine while fasting though, because I’m afraid that it might trigger vomiting - and once I start vomiting, I can’t stop it but by stopping the fast altogether. Thanks for the tip though!
Day 13: 07/22/2020
I know, it should be Day 1 again since I broke my fast yesterday but I’m planning to continue this protocol until I obtain the desired results…so be it. I’ll probably keep on doing prolonged fasts throughout fall and then switch to 1-3 days fasts for maintenance. I don’t like fasting for more than 3 days in the winter as my fingers and feet become very cold.
Either my Precision Xtra meter is defective or I’m already into nutritional ketosis (2.2 mmol/L) though only 20h have past since my last meal. Prolonged fasts bring about prolonged ketosis state, it seems! My goal is to get into the therapeutic range and maintain it for at least 7 days…so I have a long way to go.
Day 14: 07/23/2020
Today is a public holiday, and I’m craving for a roast chicken salad baguette sandwich, a ham and camembert baguette sandwich and a fruit parfait…and an affogato…I need to keep myself busy and my mind off food.
When that happens to me, I tell myself, “I can have it. Just not now. Now, I am CHOOSING to water fast.” Those cravings do pass. Right?
Day 15: 07/24/2020
Yes indeed, cravings come and go…but time and again I need a real and powerful reason that dissuades me from grabbing food. The reasons why I started fasting, the affirmations and visualizations are powerful, but sometimes they become rather a burden than a motivation.
I found cleaning out my closet and trying on old clothes a wonderful distraction. It is a realistic way of measuring what I have achieved thus far and what I have to do going forward.
It’s a public holiday today but I have to work…feeling weak and edgy but coffee restored my humor.
Wow, 15 days are nothing to sneeze at! Girl, you are almost there!!! Autophagy IS happening, as long as no calories are coming in. I am on day 12, and I know what you are talking about. I make a “broth” that works to help me get a grip,and not give in to momentary pleasure. This is about taking back control. How did we get overweight to begin with? I ate a lot…healthy foods, but seriously a lot! I had no control. My “junk” food addiction was eating at night, a whole, huge bowl of home-made popcorn, with about 4 TB of oil, and 2 TB of butter. And in the lockdown, I also included a huge bowl of home-made hummus, to eat with about 3-4 cucumbers, and celery sticks. I shudder now to think of my addiction to food. You wrote that one of your goals was to get self control? You are practicing that right now, along with healing your body. So, the “broth” I make is 1/4 each of pink salt, and potassium salt, add some cayanne pepper, in a 300 ml cup, and add hot water. You will want to down a big glass of water afterwards. It works every.single.time. And this is my second round of 21 days of water fasting. Try it! I wish you every success you can imagine for yourself. You are almost at your goal.
@schmidtsmia, if you like olives, tapenade is a great dipping sauce option too! It matches perfectly with cucumbers, celery, carrots, broccolis, cauliflowers, radishes, turnips, and tomatoes!
Yummy, I LOVE HUMMUS…do you use tahini?
In addition to eating a lot, hormones, stress, and mobility play tricks on us, right? Revisiting how we approach food is definitely important, but taking stock of the situation and reassessing what is working and what is not in other areas of our lives are as important as our relationship with food. This fast has been helping me not only with my overall health but with my mental sanity. I’ll be out of job as of 8/1 but I’m calm, confident, getting over and moving on, detoxing from mental and emotional toxins as well!
Speaking of relationship with food…I’m still not convinced that fasting can fix food addiction or improve my relationship with food…despite of my countless fasts, burgers are still mouth-watering, pastries are savory, ice cream is tempting and rice, pasta and potatoes taste great. In other words, great food is always delicious AND fattening. Add to this the availability of macs, burger kings, kfcs, and other ready-to-eat food in every corner, through online shopping or delivery services…and there we have a nice recipe for weight gain.
I did however drastically change my judgement about food. I don’t eat fast anymore (I love big mac, potato chips, popcorns…but now I enjoy every bite of them, chew them slowly and carefully and I don’t swallow them mindlessly anymore), I don’t eat crap or junk anymore (I eat food willingly, mindfully, knowing that the so-called “crap”, “addictive” or “junk” food is delicious AND fattening, and thus not something that I can eat mindlessly whenever I want), I don’t stock food anymore (cleaned out my fridge - it is as empty as a new one!), and last but not least, stopped online shopping. Made my daily life slightly inconvenient but I’m starting to like it and it definitely pays off 
Thank you for the tip for future dip!!!
I live in Germany, and I am really glad that there are not that many fast food joints here. Yes, MickyD’s is here, and B.King, too. Thank the gods, I have never been tempted to there…ever. The last time I was at B. King was (I kid you not), in 1974, when my older sister got her license, and we drove to a town two over from where we lived, on L.I., which had just been built. After that, in 1974, I became a vegetarian. I like Italian “fast” food…pasta, pizza, gnochi etc…So, I will try your dip before my next fast. I am in the midst of getting 60 extra pounds off me, so I do not have to undergo the knife. My right knee had an acute injury, when I fell down some steps, and I partially tore my lateral, collateral ligament. I had a lot of pain, plus my kneecap would not stay in it’s place. After 5 days of fasting the pain went away. And has not come back. I no longer need the brace, and can do yoga again. So, I am convinced that healing occurs during extended fasts. That is my motivation, and not the stupid scale. I have not gotten on the scale the whole time I have been on this process (start date was June 15th). My son borrowed my really lightweight, very cool bike, and well that was over a year ago. I expect to get it back in the next two weeks, and that will be how I go to the shops, which are about 2-5 miles away. I hope you finish your fast…just a few more days…not too long. You can do it!!!
Day 16: 07/25/2020
Had a lot of difficulty concentrating during my guitar lesson. I was exhausted and went straight to bed thereafter. Still tired though, horizontal will be my friend tonight.
Day 17: 07/26/2020
Barely slept but woke up energetic and eager to have a workout. After a brisk walk and playing tennis…energy levels dropped sharply. I need to figure out a better way to manage energy levels throughout the day. No hunger, no fatigue or nausea though.
Day 18: 07/27/2020
Lethargic, nauseated, energy level nearing 0 on a scale of 1 to 10…and dealing with very angry customers. Bloody Monday…
Grabbed a slice of feta cheese and a handful of nuts. Feeling a lot better now.
Day 19: 07/28/2020
Surprise farewell party for me…French, full course meal. Hard to say no specially when we all know that they are going to be my former coworkers from August 1 on.
Breaking a 5-day fast with a copious meal didn’t mess up with my digestion…maybe because we took almost two hours to finish it? Anyway, it was marvelous 
Day 20: 07/29/2020
Really screwed up my fasting journey…bought lots of veggies, chicken drums, chicken gizzards, ground meat, sea food, and made green curry, tomato curry, vegetable lasagna, and Bolognese sauce - enough for more than 15 meals. Froze everything except for one veggie lasagna that was simply great.
@CS_A I have to really watch myself shopping at the store as well. I get too much - which is fine when it can be frozen and it’s a great sale price. But I get ideas in my head of things to cook and I go nuts. So it’s partly a love of cooking thing.
I would love to visit Japan some day.
So how many languages do you speak?
Oops. Failed to update this journal for two consecutive days!!!
Day 21: 07/30/2020
Worked until 2 am to close outstanding projects…everybody knew I was leaving but instead of asking my coworker for help they asked me…and I usually don’t say no. 36h into a short fast.
Day 22: 07/31/2020
Worked again until 2 am…
Broke fast at 48h. My little celebration for closing and completing everything before leaving.
@Miramar, apologies for the slow response. The past few days have been so crazy and exhausting, glad it is over.
I love cooking too - or rather, rediscovered the pleasure of cooking and eating less packed or processed food. I like trying spices and preparing various types of sauces, dips, and curries. Love fish, chicken and meat grilled or stewed, or even raw like kibbeh and sashimi. Love tabbouleh and Greek salad but fresh herbs such as mint, parsley, coriander, thyme, dill, and basil are SO expensive here!
Japan is definitely a nice to place to visit - clean, civilized, polite, organized, public transportation that works perfectly - BUT there are lots of natural disasters, houses and hotel rooms are tiny, as well as meal portions. So if you are from the US you’d be surprised to see how things are small here. If fits me because I’m only 5ft tall, but taller people definitely struggle to live here.
I speak five languages - only one perfectly though (Portuguese)
08/02/2020
There is a first time for everything in life. In July 2020:
- I succeeded to fast for 12 consecutive days for the first time.
- I was laid off for the first time in my career, and now I’m constraint to claim unemployment insurance as the job market is really bad.
So…August and September 2020 will be full of surprises and disappointments, and a perfect time to carry on with my fasting regime. Now I’m enjoying a short break, the calm before the tempest. Will resume fasting on 08/03/2020.
08/12/2020: NO journaling for more than ten days!!!
I’ve overlooked two very important factors during a job search: networking and stress. Networking not only means connecting through email or SNS but meeting personally and discussing with prospective employers, former coworkers and reliable agents over a lunch, a dinner or a coffee - and fasting couldn’t be more inconvenient under these circumstances.
Regardless of how experienced you are at job search, looking for a new job is always stressful. And some potential employers are very good at making you more stressed than usual.
So my fasting schedule ended up being quite broken in the past twelve days.
08/03 to 05: broke fast at 65h and ate OMAD in the following three days. I struggled with emotional eating during these days BUT wasting six hours filling out forms and queueing up for insurance claim (and later finding out that the premium is not even enough to cover my monthly expenses), attending two job interviews (one of them with very rude interviewers) and last but not least taking sketch tours out of town under this hot weather were not easy at all (I expected these tours to be relaxing but they were actually quite tiring). I literally screamed for ice scream and iced drinks.
08/08 to 10: fasted for 44h and had dinner; had dinner on 08/11 too.
08/12: 24h into fast now at 8pm. Will probably break tomorrow 08/13 at around 4 pm (approximately 44h fast) as I have a very challenging panel interview on 08/14 and I can’t screw it.
GOOD THING IS, I reached average BMI levels, my body fat % is below 35% (34.9%…weird though because my clothes fit much better than what the scale tells me) and I’ve been fairly able to manage the acute pelvic pains without swallowing up packs of painkillers. Now I need to reduce my body fat to 26-7% to further improve my health.
Temperatures above 35 degrees really encourage me to fast…I drink more water and eat less carbs as a way of reducing the sweating and the discomfort it causes. It is also easier to stick to an early morning routine (i.e., waking up early and exercising) because it is impossible to sleep past 7am when temperatures have already reached 30+ degrees.
Thank you so much for the update. I was wondering where you were. Congratulations on getting to a reasonable body fat. MINE, yikes, at the start of my extended fasts, was like 48%!! Half of me was fat! I hope I will also get down as low as you. And thank you for sharing your job search. I wish you so much success!!