I will do that ! I am focused also on metabolic health, along with dealing with emotional eating. Again, thank you. You helped me a lot today. Onward and upward.
Mary Joy's (3 consecutive ) 21 day Water Fasts
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Thank you, Bella. I will watch it right now.
Day 5:
I am soon going to bed. This day went by real quick. I bought post-its, and made the âFasting Stickiesâ, and am about to take down day 5 stickyâŠIt actually does make it more like a game, and fun. I actually slept the whole night through, and the last night I did that was months and months ago. Usually fasting makes me unable to sleep at night. This morning walking downstairs, I noticed the pain I have in my right knee that was there, since I injured my knee is GONE. I am not hungry, nor am I having cravings. My stomach is still growling, but that does not bother me. I have not fasted this long,since 2017, when I fasted for 2 weeks. Now I am really doing it, and feel proud of myself. I do not have to be afraid of the emotions, they can come, even if they are uncomfortable. I did not die, yesterday, when I got wigged out, and did not have to eat, in order to be OK again. It was a very helpful and needed experience.
So, I think I will go in the bathtub and soak in epsom salts.
GâNight, my fellow fasters.
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Day 6 11 a.m.: I feel sooo weak this morning, but slept through the night after finally going to sleep after 2 a.m. Fasting and insomnia seem to go togetherâŠI am tired, really tired at the time I go to bed, which is 11 p.m., but lay there and end up reading something until I settle down. I tried, just now, to walk the dogs, after drinking about 1 liter. I was light-headed, and my legs were shaky and after only 1 km. I had had enough. Then the nausea set in, which is my indicator that I am hypoglycemic. Well, I did not want to faint, so I walked back home and am now going to drink 500 ml. hot water, with 1/4 teaspoon of salt, plus cayanne pepper. It tastes like broth, lol. I hope it helps. I will check in later tongiht. Have a relaxing, laughter-filled weekend.
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Day 7:
I did not write again, last night. It was a hard day to get through, but time does move forward, and NOW I am on day 7 of this water fast, andâŠI FEEL GREAT, like 180 degrees opposite to yesterday. Yesterday was my lowest. It was not day 3 for me. I thought that after day 5, I would cruise. Nope, sort of . Yesterday is done. And weird, I am now sleeping like the dead, just so lovely to get deep sleep. In the past, with extended fasts, I could not sleep. When I thought of fasting this time, the lack of sleep really put me off. It could be, that this time I am religious at taking Magnesium before bed, like an hour beforehand. This morning, I took my elderly dogs for a long walk, and then to a local pond to go swimming and they are now dozing away in the sun, my English Bulldog is snoring, lolâŠSo, I decided not to get on the scale at all, until the fast is done. It has been easier than I thought. And freed my mind to heal from my descructive body image. I woke up and consciously smiled at my mirror-self and wished her a lovely Sunday. And she smiled back at me. I tried on newly bought, but too tight clothes this morning and low and behold, the clothes fit, and one pair of so cool, linen pants I bought about only about 2 weeks ago, but could not yet wear, fit me now! I feel empowered, and glad I am fasting. And btw, my knee is improving. I had ZERO problems with walking this long walk, which was an experiment of sorts. I had only taken short walks and with a knee brace, due to the pain. And today the walk was really long, and no knee brace. I am so grateful to have the amazing, healing tool of water fasting to help me align my physical, emotional, mental to my spiritual self that is ever-connected and one with divine healing. And I am grateful to this wonderful community. I am proud of us all, for taking back our power, and not being victims of dis-ease. So, enjoy your day. I plan to. Bye for now.
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Iâm so overjoyed and proud of you! It is terrific to see your grit get you through the initial trials of fastingâŠyou are an overcomer and canât wait to see where this journey takes you. Itâs a trifecta of mind, body and spirit!
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So, here it is, the 9th day of this 21 day fastâŠYesterday, I had a bad headache, (btw, I remembered, after suffering from this pain for like 3 hoursâŠthat 1/4 teaspoon of dried ginger powder in water helps. And it worked!) I felt totally weak, had âthe runsâ, and I woke up with a very weird, never-felt-before, ache/pain in my right calf, that went up to underneath my kneecap. I kinda freaked, and thought I was experiencing thrombophlebitisâŠbut no, my calf/knee was not swollen, hot, or painful to touch. It was so weird. I felt like road-kill the whole day, and did not even take a walk, just threw my dogs into the backyard (sorry 
)âŠI just could not even write here. But all things do pass, and today, day 9, I feel reborn. The weird pain in my calf/knee was gone by the evening, yesterday. I slept the whole night and today, I could clean my house, hurray. I am not craving food, nor am I hungry, and I am just cruising along. I wish, 3 months were done, and I already weighed 60 kg. Hurry up!!! I bet all the knee crap will be gone by then. So, that is that! I wonât get on a scale until the morning after the fast is done. NOPE. I am wearing the linen pants I bought online, during the lock-down, that was my size in Feb. When I first got the pants 3 weeks ago, they were sooo tight. I almost cried. I did get on the scale, and found out that this body of mine had upped itâs weight by 5 kg.!!! What a horrible shock. And now, after only 9 days of water fasting, I fit into the pants. I am grateful to have found this group. Thank you all for your support. I so appreciate it. Bye for now.
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Felt great when I was able to fit into my medium dress AND was able to breathe in it.
Great progress!
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What a great non-scale victory to fit into old (smaller) clothes! You are on your way! 
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It is soon 17:00, so my 10th day of water fasting is more than half-way done. My body/mind accepts now, that we are fasting and the inner brat has shut up, too.
I woke up at 04:44, and that was the end of sleeping for me. I still have âthe runsâ every time I go use the bathroom. It is a bit annoying. And I feel so weak. I have drank so much water, and also âbrothâ made of Potassium, and Natrium/Sodium salts, plus cayanne pepper in hot water, but I still feel weak, 2 hours later. I went to the city today, and man, it is a effing pain in the ass. In every shop, one is required to wear masks, and fill out effing forms. WTF, I am not going into the city anymore until this spook is done. I have a question? Has anyone done multiple 21 days, and if so, do they get easier? My plan until September is, three 21 day cycles, with a one week refeed inbetween. After the 3rd 21 day water fast, I plan on OMAD. I wonder if I will have more totally weak days while fasting. I do not remember being so weak, so often during a fast. Well, the last extended water fast I did was 3 years ago, and that was âjustâ 2 weeks. When I did the 40 day fast, back in 2011, I just cruised after the first week, until the end. I was working all the time, in 2011 and now I am not working barely at all. After September, I will have a lot more work, and that is why I thought to do this now. I knew fasting was hard, and had itâs moments, like getting âthe runsâ, but this serious weakness in my limbs just sucks. I do not want to spend the next few months on the couch. I think I will order Ginseng tea. Maybe that will put zip in my do-da. I will keep going, I am so determined, nothing short of death will stop me, LOL. Oh, I forgot to say, that yesterday, my son came to visit and I made him a pizza and a gorgeous salad, and was not even tempted to taste it. I loved sniffing it, though. That showed me, that the inner brat has taken a back seat, and realises that I mean business. Because of that experience, yesterday, I decided to have my Gâkids over for the weekend, and they just dig my cooking, lol. They had been asking when they could spend the weekend with me, since the lessening of the lock-down, and I kept putting it off. Now, I know it will be just fine. So, I am off to work. Bye for now. Happy Fasting.
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In my recently completed 6-month â6-pack at 60â campaign I completed 3 21-day fasts. In-between I did a 10-day refeed and a 30-day workout phase to strengthen the body by focusing on adding lean muscle mass to increase my daily metabolic rate.
Yes, the first 14 days get easier:
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The 1st 3 days of transition symptoms as you go from glycolysis (glucose) to gluconeogenesis (fat) get less severe each time as your body gets more adept at metabolic switching. In other words, switching from one energy system to another.
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You will require less and less of electrolyte supplements and/or delay longer and longer taking them. This started immediately with the 1st 21-day as the preceding prolonged fast was a 40-day. Think it wasnât until Day 9 that I started exhibiting the symptoms to take salt, potassium and magnesium. 2nd 21-day I didnât take supplements until Day 11 or 13. 3rd 21-day I went back to taking them daily starting with Day 4 as I was close to finishing the 6-month campaign and I didnât want to screw up my blood panels before seeing my primary physician.
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Each succeeding 21-day fast I was able to increase the load and intensity of my workouts. HOWEVER, after Day 14 I had to start cutting back as my energy level started getting sapped by detoxification. The final 3 to 4 days I didnât have the energy to even take my minimum 1 mile walk.
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For me, the weight loss was amazingly consistent. 31 to 33 pounds. I had a good 30-day workout phase before my last 21-day and I thought I could significantly increase the weight loss. Nope. The payoff was a quicker recovery time from the fast at the beginning of refeed.
Hope this answers your questions.
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@Compdude Iâve been slacking on the supplements. Havenât felt the need?
Came across some other rogue fasters who said they donât use any.
I think itâs a play it by ear kinda thing.
More like âplay it by bodyâ. LOL
I read somewhere our bodies have enough magnesium or potassium (canât remember which one) stores to last us 30 days.
However, beginning fasters need to take the electrolyte supplements as their bodies donât have sufficient experience or are metabolically impaired to efficiently get at those stores.
On top of that you have to consider some bodies have issues efficiently extracting enough of the required electrolyte supplements from their food or due to an unbalanced diet.
So yeah, everybody has to play it by ear.
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Wow, what a specific, totally helpful and thorough reply. I can not thank enough. You actually lost 30-33 pounds with each 21 day fast? Holy Cow! Youâre a guy, and was seriously trainingâŠI am kinda of a âsoftâ walker, and do not, as of now lift weights. I do yogaâŠToday, I changed how I use the electrolytes, and had a lot more energy, plus I drank like 4 liters of water. I am good to go 3 rounds of 21 days, with a one week re-feed between. It will be a very disciplined and potentially hard time, until September, where I hope to be 63 kg. or less. Thank you again for taking the time to give me such an in-depth answer. I really appreciate it.
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Hey, I am halfway through this present 21 day water fast! Today is almost done, 22:30, where I live.
Today was the 11th day of this 21 day fast.
I feel strong, no dizziness or weakness. I now have a new experiment going onâŠInstead of using a pinch of salt in water when I feel weak, which did not actually work, I am making an electrolyte kind of water. I put .5 tsp. of Potassium and Bicarb of Soda in 1 liter of water, with .25 tsp. of Him.Salt, and Magnesium included. I started today, plus I upped my water by a liter, so I drank 4 liters, and might do more tomorrow. I am sleeping soundly and deep, for which I am very grateful for. So, that is it! Bye for now, and happy fasting.
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Its not as much as you think overall. The reasons are:
- I work on adding lean muscle mass which weighs more than fat but takes up less space
- Iâm focusing on resetting my body set point rather than on daily weight loss. You can read about it in Dr. Fungâs book, The Obesity Code or learn about it in my 2nd Zoom PowerPoint presentation.
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@schmidtsmia I just did the 17.5 days and lost 28.5. Iâm sure I would have hit 30 at the 21.
Only one day did I over exert myself in my storage unit.
Otherwise I literally sat or lounged all day - no stress, no appointments, no drama, etc.
Watched a ton of fasting/YouTube. Posted here, joined 3 FB groups and read and posted there.
So yes! You can sit on your Duff and just drink the water and focus on the goal.
I could have kept going but I need to be refed by July 4th for a planned weekend hooplah.
But trust me, I have a plan after that for a month of ADF and Iâll be sticking to it.
Oh! Have to tell you as I was amused today. After my first refeed today I felt like Iâve been eating all along and seemed like the fast never even happened. If I didnât have a witness I wouldnât believe it for myself. 
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Congratulations! 28.5 pounds in 17 days, WOW. Thank you for the encouragement. I guess I have to be less active, right now, because the strength in my legs give out, really easy, while walking my dogs. I guess for the time being, it will be short walks. I hope my dogs understand, and forgive me. What are your plans now? Are you going to continue to include fasting in your daily life?
Yes, I was reading about that when one increases muscle mass, one resets, more easily, the so-called âset-pointâ.
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Today is day 14 of my 21 day fast. I have not written here for the last 2 days. I have my Gâkids here for the W.E. for the first time since March. I have been rather busy, and that is good, because it makes me think less about food, and gets me out of my head. I even am able to cook for them and not have to eat it.
I took my measurements yesterday, and since this fast began, I have reduced my chest by 2.5 inches, my waist by 3 inches, and my hips by 2.5 inches! All in 2 weeks. My bras are not as tight, and I do not feel as swollen. I can bend my leg up to my abdomen, to put on pants, without the gut being in the way. That is a real fabulous feeling. Slowly but surely I am getting my body back to the size I am comfortable with. I am sleeping deeply and through the night, which is not my norm. My right knee feels ever more normal, and I do not have to wear the brace. Nice. I decided to do what Yasemin suggests, and just drink plain water, and if I feel too weak, then just add a pinch of salt, no more than that, to the water. I gave up on my experiment with adding all these minerals in water. Firstly, it tastes ghastly, and secondly, I think it is overkill. I seem to remember, from my previous extended fasts, that this weakness does get much better, after the first 2 weeks. I will watch and see. So, that is it for now. Happy Fasting!
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