LionS Water Fast Journal

Day 5:
Tummy and back pain again this afternoon, also lethargic, but did have quite a busy day on my feet running errands…ACV, salt and magnesium fixed it :grin:Also resisted chocolate licorice at the counter…Stronger than Any Struggle!!!:joy::joy::joy:

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Day 6:
My first really good day! Someone posted about having salt at night and first up in the morning, and I did that instead of waiting till I felt tired. Also had ACV more regularly throughout the day, and some green tea instead of my usual black. Saw my Dr and she is very happy with how I’m doing, checked my blood pressure before and after suddenly standing up and said it did drop slightly, so have more water and move more slowly. I’m hoping that I’m over the worst, and that as long as I keep up my salt, magnesium and water that I’ll coast from here!! (Probably famous last words…) I do have a challenging social weekend coming up but hope it will be all mental struggles, not physical, and will power through it!
Stronger Than Any Struggle!!

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Day 7:

I felt great today. I had a very busy day, on my feet from 10am till 9pm. I moved like a turtle, had regular salt
water and ACV, and 6x 15 minute sit down rests. I was physically active all day but no faster than slow walking pace. Today also able to smell foods and enjoy them, without the need to eat…mmmm soooooo many nice foodie smells in my house today!! And will be more tomorrow…hope I don’t cave in…

Tomorrow I will be fearless, I will stay strong, and I will say No.

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You’ll be in the truly advanced stage when you can sit across from someone and enjoy watching them eat.

Thank you for the tip! That sounds like a really funny thing to do!!:smile:

Day 8:
Super busy again, preparing and serving food. Enjoyed it without needing to eat. However, had to deal with a very horrible person. Having a history of binge eating (3 entire bags of lollies when stressed, multiple times a week) which my Dr has been helping me with for 4 years (keto and fasting has been the best answer) I had many times of pure frustration and hurt and sadness during the day when I just wanted to binge on all the sweet stuff. I stayed strong and didnt eat, but by 9pm I was exhausted. Hats off to all of you who deal with hard pressure like a difficult or unsupportive workplace (I have had this in the past) Dr or family, and to all of you who are parents and care for children. Even fasting for half a day under those types of pressure is a huge accomplishment! Well done to everyone for every step you take towards a fasting focused lifestyle. Champions! :trophy:

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Day 9:
So tired, lucky it’s a public holiday, I slept half the day! Then I made bone broth for my refeed. I’ll freeze it in portions so I can heat it quickly when I decide to break my fast.

Some reflections:
I have been training my body to fast for over 15 years without even realising. As a teen I never ate breakfast and often skipped other meals, and felt better for it. In my early twenties, I was focused on my work, and although I ate a lot of junk food, becos I was instinctively living a fasting life with both IF and ADF, I maintained an average weight. Around 25 my Dr told me to clean up my eating else I was on a slippery slope to obesity (I was around 10kg over my preferred weight) so I started eating breakfast and prepared lunches…cereal and sandwiches…big mistake. I put on another 10 kg and battled for the past several years until I discovered keto and fasting. Meantime, I had gone back to eating when I felt like it, not at set times, but my food choices were still bad. I am so glad I did my own research and found what works. I did my first longer fast 6 months ago (7 days) and had good results but due to bingeing I didn’t maintain my results. I tried over the next 4 months to do another 7 day fast but couldnt make it. I made it to day 2,3,4, many times but couldnt go further. Then I decided to go back to IF and struggled for awhile, then finally got to mostly keto, mostly OMAD by around Feb this year. When I saw the March challenge come up I felt ready to try it. And thankfully, with my body being ready, and Yasemins one on one coaching, I’ve made it this far.

Biggest lesson I’ve learnt: listen to your body.

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This is amazing!!! Sometimes it’s easy and sometimes it’s hard, you’re right it’s all about listening to your body! :sparkling_heart::pray:

Day 10 & 11

Feeling good apart from being a bit breathless when I hurry up the stairs too quickly! Some tiredness, but I am working long hours to keep myself busy… when I take enough salt and drink enough water I feel fine. Have taken some magnesium also, and think I should take it a little more often and also potassium…and get earlier nights…I have been late most nights and up early the following morning and I dont think that’s best for me right now!! Went for a lazy/easy swim evening of Day 10 and felt good afterwards. Early night for me now, goal to be asleep by 9pm!! Fast Forward 2 Health!!

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Great achievement getting this far! :tada::bouquet:You’ll be very proud looking back at your journey! Keep fighting!

Thank you so much Anna!! I just read your journal, so inspiring! I notice you fasted for 30 days, did you notice any different symptoms between 14 days and 30 days? Currently I feel fine, just a little weak and breathless at times, and tired by end of the day. But I am working long hours and running up and down stairs all day so that could explain it anyway haha!! Also do you mind sharing what supplements or electrolytes you took, if any? Thank you! :slightly_smiling_face:

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Day 12

All same as yesterday. Wondering if nothing much will change from here on?

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I felt overall pretty good during the first 21 days. I was of course weaker than normal and got out of breath when being too active. I also had problems with getting sleep during the whole fast, which most people do.

I felt worse the last few days of my fast, because I got a bit dehydrated and felt nauseous. I also had less storage of energy left on my body, so I was way weaker than earlier.
Other than that I didn’t experience a major shift in symptoms.

I was lucky to be able to mostly study and work from home, because I doubt that I would have been able to go 30 days otherwise!
The minerals I used where mineral drops from a brand called Holistic. I posted a photo of the bottle under a thread about supplements. I also had salt to sprinkle in my water! :slight_smile:

Here’s the thread about supplements!

Thanks so much for that Anna. I have also felt quite a bit worse the last 2 days. I’ve finally got some time off work, but also think I’ve got a bit dehydrated. At least now I can rest for the last few days🙂

Day 13-17 mostly same as above, though gradually more tired.
Day 18 & 19 not good, very constipated and feel quite ill. Saw Dr and she tested heart rate (slightly high) blood pressure (slightly low) and checked bowels and says all as to be expected, but advised not to use laxatives or anything that would upset electrolyte balance. I have had a lot of stress this week, so I’m feeling it a lot in my body. Tonight I have started sipping chicken bone broth very slowly but the nausea is quite bad. My last 2 days of this fast I will continue the bone broth and maybe start refeed early with a little soft foods…see how I feel. If it wasn’t for the constipation, I think I would be feeling fine, but…listen to your body is the key thing :slightly_smiling_face:

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Wow. reading your posts gave me so much motivation! And yes, very important to listen to your body. BUT CONGRATS ON YOUR AMAZING FAST!! :tada: :tada:

WARNING: update on extended fasting

A warning to all: dehydration is very real and can be dangerous. I suffered really badly the last 2 days of my fast. I checked in with my doctor of course, and she helped me, but I was still in a bad way for the last two days of the fast. Then, I was so happy to be over the dehydration, that I had bone broth for only one day, then ate small meals for the next day, but days 3, 4, 5 with the huge stress of the current world situation I did too much, too soon, didn’t rest enough and began to eat carbs recklessly. I ended up very sick the past 3 days with my body unable to absorb electrolytes properly due to carb intake, stress and overeating. I now have muscle twitches in my eyelids, focus and concentration issues due to low magnesium and edema (swelling all over my body) currently trying to get my magnesium levels up and prevent another round of dehydration. I want to warn everyone: long fasts can be dangerous, especially when you are under stress. Its so easy to make a mistake, of course we know to have salt and water and rest, but getting the balance can be hard. Looking back on my experience, I do not recommend extended fasts, definitely not without your doctor’s guidance and support, and you must consider electrolytes, water intake and refeed very seriously, at all times, no matter how good you might feel, the effects sometimes don’t show for another few days. I felt great till the last 2 days of the fast, then awful, then felt okay with refeed for 2 days, then awful for the next 4 days, and have spent the past week considering very carefully how to comment on this forum. Please do not attempt long fasts without your doctor. Obviously I made some serious mistakes towards the end of my fast, but sometimes stress and circumstances get out of our control and bad things happen.

For myself, I will never do another extended fast, I will be doing intermittent and alternate day fasts only.

Keep Safe All

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Thanks for sharing your experience. I agree that prolonged fasting is not for everyone depending on their specific situation.
With your permission I’d like to use your post to emphasize the importance of working with a health professional and closely monitoring your body for my book.

I posted this in the FB group with a light edit for clarity.

Let me know!

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I’m sorry you had this awful experience, for sure water is VERY important and electrolytes like magnesium, sodium (salt) and potassium have their purpose in our fasts for a reason, that why we are pro supplement and not “pure water” :frowning:

Definitely not a good idea to do extended fasting during very stressful periods, so I agree that the stress we are facing in the real world is not great right now. That’s why I am just doing intermittent fasting now and Dr. Mindy Pelz and many doctors warned us on YouTube to do shorter fasts or intermittent fasting these days due to COVID-19. :sparkling_heart:

I am really hoping you are feeling better one day at a time, I wish we communicated more as we discussed before you were breaking your fast. :sparkling_heart:

I’m sorry if I wasn’t there to guide you through refeed. It’s the most important part which I always talk about the specific refeed protocol that I pasted below and on YouTube and Facebook and in the forum. Definitely not a good idea to consume carbs after the fast, and they always say to stay in keto at least 1-2 months after the fast for best results.

How are you feeling right now?


MY REFEED protocol that works for me and I got this info from Dr. Daniel Pompano.

Day 1:

500-800 calories

NO meat yet

NO RAW veggies yet

NO Grains

What to eat:

  • Cooked Veggies
  • Shakes
  • Berries
  • Olives
  • Olive oil/Butter
  • Grassfed Yogurt or Kefir
  • Avocado
  • Raw Nut Butter
  • Small amounts of fermented veggies

Day 2: 800-1000 calories

500-800 calories - Stay under 20g protein

NO meat yet

NO RAW veggies yet - can do small salad with oils

NO Grains

  • Same as day 1 + below
  • Raw nuts and seeds
  • Raw cheese grassfed
  • Eggs (but it’s 7g protein per egg)

Day 3

  • Meat + Eggs
  • Normal calories

Day 4-5

  • Maintain a ketogenic diet for 1-2 more months (you’re already in ketosis, might as well!)
  • Intermittent fasting - OMAD recommended for maintenance
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