I’m not the best at this whole online thing, but I want to participate as best as possible. I’ve done a 30 day water fast this past December and refed for 7 days, I followed this with a 9 day water fast though I was pushing for ten, I started to feel pretty queasy so I quit on day 9. I then did a 7 day refeed. I’m currently eating for 1 day and fasting for two until I reach my goal. I may do another fast after the 8th (my wedding day). On weekends however (Friday Saturday and Sunday) I’ll be fasting the entire three days. I just think it will be simpler for me. I enjoy fasting because it allows me to take a break from food. I’m trying to repair my thoughts of food, and body. Fasting has changed my life. I find it very liberating as I’ve struggled most of my life with food.
Jenn's journal
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Thank you! That helps!
Day two on here but technically day 6 for me. Today is an eat day for me as I am doing two days fasting one day eating. Though this weekend I’ll be doing a 3 day fast. I’m hoping I continue to lose weight I really want to reach my goal of 130 by February 8th. Since I’ve been doing this style of fasting (I believe I started last Saturday) I’ve lost about 4 pounds ish.
Yesterday was difficult though I felt weak and almost quit. I kept going however. I’ll eat today at 11:30 and then again at dinner. I eat a raw vegan diet so I’ll break with a head of lettuce and one maybe two tomatoes. No dressing. This has become my favorite meal actually.
Well I’m off for today. I’ll update tomorrow to see how it went.
I am impressed. I hadn’t thought of fasting on and off. I just got to my tenth day and feel some hunger relief. When you only fast for 10 days or less, do you feel hungry all of the time?
I don’t feel hungry no. I do feel what I like to call thirst pains. If my stomach growls I’ll drink water it typically goes away instantly. I’m not going to say I don’t ever feel hungry but typically it doesn’t effect me. I’ve done a 30 day fast in the past though so that could perhaps be why hunger pains and growls don’t bother me. My stomach growled every day for all 30 days. Which is why I’ve learned to see that as thirst.
Hey Jen, wow you are so strong! Congratulations on your wedding the 8th 
If you have some time, I would love to hear more about how fasting changed your life. And possibly changed your relationship with food.
That is my goal too, to stop obsessing over food, when I can eat, what I will eat, …I love to eat: when I’m down, happy, depressed, bored, alone in front of the tv, always…aaargh
Thank you so much, and best of luck!
Hey there! Thank you for that. I’m super excited for my wedding for sure.
So I first found out about fasting October 12th. I started alternate day fasting on the 14th. Which essentially means I only ate every other day. This in general helped me learn to control hunger pains. It taught me to distinguish a little bit between hunger and thirst. I too have always struggled with over eating. Of course at that point I wanted to learn everything I could about fasting. I read “Fasting can save your life, by Dr Herbert Shelton” he has a few controversial views definitely but over all it was a great read and I learned a lot. By the end of it I was convinced I needed to do a long fast. So I told my fiancé that I wanted to but he wasn’t so sure about that. He wanted me to research more which I did. And ultimately I had planned to do a short fast of three days but didn’t want to quit when I saw the rapid results. At this point I was about 167 pounds. Alternate day fasting had gotten me to overweight instead of obese, but that wasn’t enough for me. I had longed my whole life to be in the normal BMI category. After fully committing to do 15 days minimum I didn’t struggle much with the desire for food. Actually in most cases everything stunk. From my body to the air to any food that didn’t smell like fruit. Fruit was the only food that appealed to me, and anything that smelled like it should have salt. This in general helped me to realize that I only wanted food that seemed healthy. (I later realized that the salty smelling foods we’re usually vegetable dishes) meat disgusted me.
After the fast I broke on oranges I ate oranges every day for about a week while slowly adding in some leafy greens and tomatoes. I now eat an entire bowl of only tomatoes and love every bite.
I added in some nuts on day 5 of my 7 day break. Day 5 and 6 I gained 5 pounds back. The rest of the week I had gained nothing. My weight stayed perfect. Which was 143. Just under my bmi.
Of course at this point I was worried i’d gain it back, so I decided to fast again on what would have been the 8th day of refeed. I fasted this time for 9 as I was feeling queasy. (Which is why I ended after day 30 for the first extended fast). This time however afterwards I stuck to strictly fruits and vegetables no nuts, and for the most part no cooked food either. The one night I had cooked food (with salt) I gained back 4 pounds, yes literally overnight. I retain fluid like crazy if I eat added salt. I do of course have natural salt from things like celery and tomatoes, but I went a full 6 days on this diet and nothing came back until that day. I also had nuts that night too. (Which contain concentrated fats).
Now I’m currently doing the on off fasting. Which I’m sure you’ve read about above. But anyways my point of all of this. The first fast helped me to realize what foods I actually crave and prefer for myself. The second fast again reiterated this for me. And upon reading more and learning more during this fast I’ve learned that being healthy is a choice. I’ve been following Yasemin obviously but also Loren Lockman on YouTube. He helped me fine tune the diet I’m best suited for. Of course everyone does different things. I just have found his advice helpful to me.
I definitely still have my weak moments where I want to eat everything in sight, but I find now that I crave blueberries and apples, and tomatoes, and lettuce. Over all switching to the raw diet has helped just as much as the fast. The one day I ate cooked food I wanted it for the next week. Including sugar and bread and pasta. I literally had a few bites of a soup I made my fiancé to make sure it would be good.
Mainly I use my fasting days to take a break from food and reevaluate my need for over abundance. On a typical day I eat about 500 calories because I’m too full to eat any more. I listen to my body if I’m craving something healthy I’ll wait until meal time and have it then. I also keep a personal journal of which I keep all my emotional thoughts in. If I get bored and my mind wanders to food I will cook a meal for my fiancé often just the smell of food is enough to satisfy my desire for junk. (Mind you I make him a vegetable based dish, I cannot stand the smell of meat anymore.)
Overall I learned to really hear my body vs my brain. Fasting really did save my life. Since October I’ve lost 48 pounds, and have much a healthier lifestyle.
You are so welcome I hope this helps, and good luck really.
Congratulations on your achievements! It really shows there are many different fasting paths to achieve one’s goals. @Anna
Thank you so much…your will-power and self control is amazing. Your insights about food wonderful! Xx
Congratulations on both the wedding and your success in fasting! 
About the grumbling stomach, it’s usually your gut cleaning itself of bacteria, but this can only happen when your stomach is completely empty; hence the hungry feeling!
So it’s a good sign that the body is able to have periods of being empty from food, most people try to avoid that feeling which doesn’t benefit the gut health! 
You’re very welcome I truly hope that helps! I definitely still struggle, but if I fall I have to remember to get back up. I appreciate that 
it’s a very recent change but I truly see my body benefitting from it.
Thank you so much.
Yes I completely agree. I actually intend to do one more fast after the wedding, but during it I’ll be completely relaxing and keeping water in my system. I want to clear old junk out.
I think this is supposed to be day 6.
Yesterday was an eating day. I did good I didn’t binge eat or anything crazy. Gained two pounds back overnight though that’s strange, but definitely water weight. I must’ve eaten something my body didn’t want. Maybe too much protein. I’ll try something different come Monday my next eat day. Today marks a fasting day the first of 3 for me. So far thirst is all I’m feeling so not bad at all.
UPDATE: I broke for lunch. I’ll do a two day fast starting tomorrow and I’ll have a day of refeed followed by two of fasting. However I am not going to reach 130 by my wedding day. I’d be happy with 135, that’s my new goal.
Day 7
For personal reasons I have momentarily switched to omad. We will see how this goes. After Monday I’ll decide if I’m going to fast Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday. I’ll keep it updated.
Day 8
Not losing or gaining so far I’m happy about this. Sticking to my vegan life style for sure but I am enjoying myself too. I’m learning to get over my mental blocks when it comes to food. Yesterday I had 1000 calories for the first time in a month not counting my month of fasting. I didn’t gain anything at all. It all came from vegetables too. I’m very pleased with the results. Today however is back to my typical 500 I simply don’t have enough vegetables on hand for 1000 today lol. Still deciding on the fast for tomorrow. We will see.
Day 9
750 calories yesterday still lost weight. I’m doing good. I’ll make some lunch soon. I’ll probably do a water fast tomorrow. Gonna be a stressful and busy day. No need to add food to that mix. Plane ride home for my wedding!!! Super excited!!! Saturday can’t come fast enough!
Day 10
This is technically the last day I had a planned system for. I’ll probably try to stick to omad at my mom’s. I’ve got a lot of cooking to do for the rehearsal dinner and reception, so that will be more difficult for me. I’m hoping it works how I’d like it to. It’s easier for me if I’m doing a full fast vs omad so wish me luck. Don’t want to gain weight before the big day.
Then I’ll be starting a fast at home after the wedding, because I will be enjoying myself that day. I hope I have some one to do it with!!!
Let’s hope the plane ride goes nice!!!
I wish you all the best for your blessed event! Enjoy yourself!
Good job! It sounds like you are starting a new life in more ways than one. Best of luck with your new you.