Just finished my first 4 day water fast

[david2]

My intention for the fast was for mental discipline as I always try to challenge myself with no smoking no alcohol for a few months, no video games for a few months, or plain old 4 hour window intermittent fasting. I’ve become quite accustomed to those challenges and now I find it quite a breeze to do them every year. It was just a few weeks ago, my friend who has been water fasting on and off for years that told me about this. Naturally looking for a new challenge, I committed myself to a 4 day water fast…and boy this is possibly the most difficult mental challenge I ever had to deal with -and I had nightmares during my cigarette/alcohol binges!

Firstly, the starvation state of mind that you are placed in during day 2 was absolutely fascinating. I had crazy vivid train of thought occurring in my head, and every negative thought I associated with immediately made me want to look for carbs to consume. I also felt as if my speech pattern and my sense of touch had been affected as well. They felt foreign and alien; not natural. Often I found myself stuttering a lot. Maybe this is an effect occurring just to me.

Funny enough, I thought in the evenings, I had surges of energy, while mornings were terrible with headaches and light headedness. I figure it was due to dehydration so next time I do this I will make sure to have a glass of water ready by the bed. Exercising and work seemed like an intense chore and it took me a lot of fortitude to even start them. But once I was going, I realized my body was capable!

It’s been a week since I broke the water fast and I have gone for a run this afternoon. Knowing that I have survived 4 days with just water gave me a morale boost. It will probably be a placebo for a few weeks or so I’m assuming, but it definitely helped my pace today!

Questions:
-I’m reading that people take supplements while water fasting. If my goal is to trigger autophagy, how would supplements affect it? Do I have to fast for longer?
-Has anyone experienced their speech and sense of touch to be a little bit off, or was that just me?
-When drinking water, how does its temperature affect hydration? I been drinking ice cold water but I was going to the bathroom quite often and thought maybe my body wasn’t absorbing it as efficiently.

Thanks!

[Sky]

Congratulations on completing your fast!

I’m no expert so I can’t really answer questions about supplements and autophagy. I do make sure I’m having some electrolytes during my fasts. I get dizzy and faint without them. Some people don’t seem to need them. My last fast, I drank Gerolsteiner mineral water which has quite a few electrolytes in it. That seemed to work well, I think, or else I’m just getting better at fasting and it wasn’t the water.

I do feel off when fasting. I haven’t noticed speech and touch to be specifically off, but my something’s off. I feel a little disconnected from reality, usually.

I don’t know how temperature affects hydration. I always drink room temperature water because I like it best. You can add a tiny bit of sea salt to your water to help you absorb it better.

[Miramar]

@david2

Questions:
-I’m reading that people take supplements while water fasting. If my goal is to trigger autophagy, how would supplements affect it? Do I have to fast for longer?
-Has anyone experienced their speech and sense of touch to be a little bit off, or was that just me?
-When drinking water, how does its temperature affect hydration? I been drinking ice cold water but I was going to the bathroom quite often and thought maybe my body wasn’t absorbing it as efficiently.

Awesome job!

Supplements: not necessarily necessary, salts are good to have handy. A short fast of only 3-4 days are typically not a concern.

Autophagy is always ongoing, but theory is it scales up during fasting. How long that takes to max up could be reliant on many factors.

Most studies are based on mice, so debates are abundant.

Having said that, I’ve seen amazing before and after photos where people lose 20 years off their faces.

I go by a 72 hours train of thought - get through the first 3 days and something has to be happening. JMO.

Senses - I noticed a bit of sensitivity with my hearing in particular on my first extended fast 17.5 days. I think it affects everyone different.

Water - it’s technically possible to dehydrate yourself by drinking too much water. But I keep a bottle at my side at all times and pinch of salt on the tongue can help if you’re concerned.

I also drink a knockoff Pellegrino (fizz and different flavor from the minerals fixes monotony) and have had some designer electrolyte water when it goes on sale. No flavors or anything - just expensive plain water .

You’re going to lose roughly half a lb of fat for each fast day, so that water weight comes back quickly.

Each fast can be different than the last. Keep that in mind. Some are easy and some really can challenge the ego and be a head trip.

[CS_A]

@david2

Questions:
-I’m reading that people take supplements while water fasting. If my goal is to trigger autophagy, how would supplements affect it? Do I have to fast for longer?
-Has anyone experienced their speech and sense of touch to be a little bit off, or was that just me?
-When drinking water, how does its temperature affect hydration? I been drinking ice cold water but I was going to the bathroom quite often and thought maybe my body wasn’t absorbing it as efficiently.

I’m no expert but after completing several 3 to 7-day fasts and one 12-day fast, I can say that the longer the fast the more benefits you reap with regard to autophagy. Every individual reacts differently to fasting, and supplements and electrolytes such as magnesium and calcium do not cause any adverse effect to some. To me however they trigger nausea and vomiting so I simply avoid them and stick to mineral water, herbal teas and coffee during my fasts.
My speech was off when I fasted for 12 days - I was stammering quite often from day 7 on, and not because I was anxious or nervous. As for the sense of touch, I definitely become more sensitive to pain. Water fasting does make you go to the bathroom more often than usual and you lose a lot of water weight, specially in the first five days. So my guess is temperature does not affect hydration…and ice water is far more drinkable than hot water in hot summer days😄

[david2]

Interesting…thank you so much for the response! I think I will definitely do another run sooner with the newly gained knowledge. I think I will attempt a 7 day fast.

Another question though -how often do you guys fast? How many days apart are the fasts?

[Sky]

I’m really trying to lose weight right now. My goal is to lose 10 lbs per month so I am fasting as much as required to meet that goal. For me, that seems to be two 5 day fasts per month plus a couple other days. I can lose 10 lbs initially on a 5 day fast and then gain back 5 lbs of fluid over the next week. I fast on Fridays for religious purposes, too. So far, 5 days at a time seems to be my limit, but maybe when I get more experienced, I’ll be able to go longer and get the 10 lbs done all at once.

My plan is that once I reach my goal weight (in Oct or Nov) I will probably fast about 1-2 days per week to maintain. Just from a mathematical standpoint, I should be able to eat about 10,000-11,000 calories per week to maintain my weight. I like to eat about 1800-2000 calories a day. That means fasting 1-2 days a week to maintain. If I could ever get comfortable with OMAD, I probably wouldn’t need to fast.

[Miramar]

I started with an extended fast - initially was going for 21 days but cut it off at 17.5 so I could refeed long enough for a planned feast weekend.

Then I jumped into four weeks of 5 day fasting and refeed weekends.

Had a week off after that (wound up maintaining) and I have a number of Fasting days I’m looking to complete by Fall but going improv.

So this week I did 48 hours, had a meal, then jumped back in last night and been Fasting all day today and will let it ride at least another day but taking it as I go. Might go 3 days.

I like the longer fasting but longer refeed is tricky and I’m not ready to do one of those again yet.

So it’s more along the lines of intermittent right now. Lots of experimenting going on.

I think it’s good to keep my body guessing.

[Rudl_Za_Vedno]

@david2

Questions:
-I’m reading that people take supplements while water fasting. If my goal is to trigger autophagy, how would supplements affect it? Do I have to fast for longer?
-Has anyone experienced their speech and sense of touch to be a little bit off, or was that just me?
-When drinking water, how does its temperature affect hydration? I been drinking ice cold water but I was going to the bathroom quite often and thought maybe my body wasn’t absorbing it as efficiently.

First disclosure, I’m NOT MD so take my advise with a grain of salt, but from what I’ve gathered from medical and scientific experts on the field of fasting:

1. Autophagy There is no strict answer then it starts. Some say 16-18H is enough, but some studies point to 24H time window:
   In mice deprived of food, autophagy increases after 24 hours and this effect is magnified in cells of the liver and brain after 48 hours. In humans, autophagy has been detected in neutrophils starting at 24 hours of fasting. Exercise together with caloric restriction through fasting can also increase autophagy in many body tissues.

2.Supplements: Taking electrolyte supplement (Na, Cl, K, Mg) during fasting is desirable to avoid side effects BUT you should avoid taking anything with added sweeteners = calories (like Isostar etc) as Even a small amount of amino acid (leucine) could stop autophagy cold I personally drink 1L of lukewarm (to get rid of CO2) carbonated sparkling water per day to get minerals and avoid taking any calories.

3. water temperature: ice cold water is not desirable to drink as your body needs of warm it (additional calories burn), I’d opt for room temperature or lukewarm water (near body temperature) because that’s easiest on your body.