Here we go, day 1 of 21 🙋

#1

Today I have set clear intentions to embark on a 21 day water fast (beginning today) for multiple reasons, namely: the spiritual benefits, to come closer to God & to engage more deeply in the word, truly soaking in His presence. I would also like to look at decreasing or coming off the medication I am on, with my doctors approval & I am setting this intention for a complete mindful & physical reset. After having my partner home for the past month, I have completely let myself relax with food & have gone way above what I would consider a ‘set point’ for my weight in recovery, (based on my height, personal preference & GP recommendation.)

I have Borderline Personality Disorder & have experienced my deepest lows in previous years, resulting in a weight drop of 20kg in 6 to 8 months. This time last year (May) I were a small 52kg with a height of 165cm. I wasnt eating well because I wasnt coping. In February I began my recovery for BPD in rehabilitation, where it was then discovered I had developed ED traits & had been recommended therapy for a possible diagnosis of an ED, I denied this therapy because I wanted to remain small.

Since November 2019 I have been trying to heal on my own, focusing on raw food vegan & plantbased eating, which fortunately has aided in physical healing of my body, but unfortunately fed into & fuelled the restrictive behaviours, which is when I began binging & fasting patterns.

For the past 2 months I have tried to relax with my restrictive behaviours, which has not been easy, moving more into vegetarian, until hubby came home & I gave in to all the food cravings & really began to balloon & bloat, heavily, eating whatever I wanted. Now I have regained 20kg, lost all confidence, have food cravings every second of the day & feel completely out of control, hense, attempting a complete reset. If I cannot achieve what I am hoping to achieve, which is 21 days water fasted, before moving into #keto #omad on a more permanent basis, while I work on my relationship with myself & my body - then this will be the time I decide to seek the help of professionals. But for now, I am using this time to completely go inward, work on my spiritual mindset, my mental health, my relationship with my body & a complete craving reset. Lets go! :sweat_drops:

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#2

Welcome to our fasting community!

Technical note: to keep future entries on this single thread, click on reply in the lower right hand corner.

Btw, how much fasting experience do you have? Also have you done Keto in the recent past?

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#3

Hi @Compdude to answer your questions, I have about 3 to 4 years fasting experience, particularily the last 8 or so months working my fasts up to extended fasts, with 6 days being my longest thus far with 135 hours. This will definitely be an achievement and a challenge. Some past fasts have been dirty fasts drinking coffee, but this is strictly a clean fast, I may include a few herbal tea’s here & there, not shop brought but home blends.

In the past I was heavily involved with the health & fitness industry so I was living a low carb life for about 6 years, before going omad and keto, which actually worked really well for me.

Going plantbased, high fruit, (aka high carb) really did a number on my weight, hense wanting to achieve a full reset and return to keto omad after this fast.

#4

Cool. Before you started your fast did you prep your body with low-carb meals? Also do you have an exercise plan for your fast?

I can provide some guidance. I completed a 40-day water fast with a daily walk of 1 to 2 miles on 11/30/19. It was a final boss challenge with a treatment protocol that began on 8/9/19. Result I was declared “medication free” on 12/12/19 by my doctor’s office. So far this year I’ve completed two 21-day fasts and will begin a 3rd on the 23rd of this month.

I’m working with a Clinical Assistant Professor who is an endocrinologist with the University of Southern California’s Medical School whose specialized clientele is composed of T2 diabetics and cancer patients.

My Health & Fitness background is a Certified Personal Trainer for 5 years, 2 years with a major fitness chain and 3 years as an independent. Currently going through re-certification. However, my main background is over 30+ years in the computer industry primarily in computer programming and software engineering.

I recommend you read @Anna daily journal. She completed a 30-day water fast to resolve her mental issues and it would provide valuable information.

Good luck!

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#5

i am the same height as you. and just like u said, even i was 52 kg this time last year. I am on day 1 of 7 day fast. I am doing this for slef discipline and wieght loss. I might extend my fast, depending on how I am feeling… I just want to get though the first 3 days. I find those the hardest, with sudden impulses to eat and sleepless nights.

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#6

@Dua_Malik Yesssss I totally understand! You CAN do this, just confide in us, lets use this forum to work our way through this! So grateful for it! I am only new here but excited to see so much support for fasting in one place! Stay strong :muscle:t2: How are you going so far?

#7

@Melissa Yes we CAN and WILL do this.
Even i just joined this forum yesterday.
I am 10 hrs in. I am doing great right now. Its the evenings that scare me. But ill push through.

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#8

Thank you @Compdude I truly appreciate the offer for guidance. I will reach out if need be. I plan on walking twice a day for an hour at a time for now, I may include some yoga and very light body weight exercises as an alternative to walking but will just take it day by day for now. I did prepare myself for the fast prior, spent a good week preparing myself mentally.

You seem like the Fasting Guru in here, thank you for providing some reassurance that support is very available. Well done on your previous fasts, that is some serious dedication. Very admirable. So good that you have such a great medically qualified support network around you to assist.

I also worked within the Health & Fitness industry for 7 years as a qualified Personal Trainer, Nutrition Coach and Massage Therapist, prior to a change of paths and the onset of a nervous breakdown/burn out 2 years ago. I loved the industry at the time. Not sure if it is one I would like to return to tho, given my previous experience leading to a complete burnout, (making the mistake at the time of hanging up my PT runners to manage a gym for the wrong people.) Wishing you all the very best with you re certification, there is a lot of competition out there these days.

I will certainly check out Anna’s Journal, thank you, again I am truly grateful for your support and your time.

Warmest Regards

Mel :slight_smile:

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#9

Day two is going well, 42 hours in. Experienced a very severe headache yesterday, which was to be expected, went for an hours walk then had a bath, didnt seem to help too much, headache has come back on this afternoon. Have only drank water thus far and a cleansing herbal tea blend made at home, not shop bought. Craving that morning coffee in bed tho. Not going to lie…

SW - 76.6kg
GW - 60kg
CW - 73.7kg

Water weight is dropping nicely.

Thank you for the support guys, so grateful to have found this forum. Makes a very big difference.

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#10

Day 2 that’s great !!! How much coffee do you usually drink? That causes major headaches when you quit Caffein. Day 2 , so close to day 3 !!! Hope the headache doesn’t last long!!

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#11

Nice to have another PT in the forum. Will be nice to compare notes on your journey. I was asked by NASM to put together a CEU course for them as they have nothing regarding I.F., OMAD or Prolonged Fasting.

What did you do to become a Nutrition Coach? Its the area that I’m weakest at. I usually refer all those questions to @Anna whose the most qualified in the forum. Here’s her Vegetarian/Vegan ReFeed guide that Yas has approved, in case you’re interested:

Look forward to reading your future journal entries.

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#12

@Jessical Aaahhhhh ofcourse, yes that makes so much sense… I did have a few cups a day over the past couple of months… Thank you :ok_hand:t2::panda_face:

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#13

Day 3 & 63 hours in… Struggling alot today! Energy, food cravings, lack of sleep, the works. Its really come on fast this time around! Have cut out coffee & have been feeling it. Made the mistake yesterday of burning over 1000 cals according to my training app, just by walking for one hour (9.5km) and cycling later on for 40 minutes, (an easy 6.5km) Id say thats why I am feeling it more today on day three… Sleep has been broken since I started & this morning I woke at 4.20am, sat up with the lamp on, watched the sunset and all I could think about for a while there was my usual morning mocha :grimacing: I made my first hot water & fresh lemon tea this morning instead, using a half lemon and surprisingly it was 10/10.

Attempted to walk my dogs earlier, made it to the front gate and decided ‘Nope, noway’ chickened out and played ball with them instead, only I was sat on the ground haha.

Think I will stay indoors today, maybe lay in the sun for abit and soak up some healthy rays, but otherwise dont think I will be moving much today.

Hope everyone else is doing great!

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#14

Make sure your electrolytes are good!

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#15

Headache is a symptom of a slowing metabolism. Its a temporary condition until the body completes the transition to ketosis and the body is reassured of a new source of energy. It will then rev up the metabolism back up.

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#16

I am ashamed to say I broke my fast at 65 hours. Not because of any real reason than a lack of will power. I guess this time attempting a fast after nearly 2 months of eating whatever I wanted meant I really need to work that will power muscle a little more before thinking I can go straight into a 21 day fast. Honesty with self and others is key here. So, ashamed, but honest.

I kept my first meal reasonably healthy, starting with some watermelon, then a vegetable stirfry and the following day I wanted to jump straight back into fasting but decided to have one meal after 24 hours of being in a fasted state.

Now I am 17 hours in and trying to decide whether I will attempt an extended fast with no locked in time frame or whether I might stick to OMAD for a few more days. Very indecisive I know, but again. Honest.

Thank you for the support tho.

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#17

Or you could join those of us ( I think there’s at least 5 of us) starting Monday. I don’t think we have a pre-determine x number of days planned. I’m taking it 5 at a time up to about 25 days as I want to be out of fast by my son’s birthday.

Hope you don’t mind me saying but watermelon is badddd stuff (tasty as it is) What we do to our blood sugar by having it going into a fast is brutal.

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#18

@Tenax Hey, I appreciate that! Perfect, count me in for Monday, Id love that! Thanks for the watermelon tip off too! I was mistakingly wrong about the low sugar content. :expressionless::expressionless::expressionless:

#19

My first fast in 2014 I loaded a bunch of watermelon going into. All that water right? I paid for it with serious headaches from the blood sugar drop once i got into the fast. Looking forward to fasting with you😄

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#20

Nothing to be ashamed about. Like a muscle that hasn’t been used in awhile you have to take a progressive approach in building it back up. I recommend a 5-to-7 day as your next one and then take it day by day. It gets you past the difficult 3 day transition period so you get a taste of the rewards on the other side.

When I did my 40-day, I broke it into 5 7-day phases with a final 5-day. This worked well with app Zero that I use since the max fast it will allow is a 7-day. I use it because it allows me to log in my weight and set notification alarms.

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