Struggling Through a 72 Hour Fast

In the past, I've really been into fasting. I've seen the benefits it can have on weight loss, hormones, and just my general well being, but I took a long break from it recently.

I decided the other day that it was time to get back to it again. I've done some short intermittent fasts where I skip breakfast, or try to have a short 4 hour eating window.

There wasn't anything going on this weekend, so I decided to do a 3 day water fast. I started on Thursday evening at 8pm after we had dinner with some friends and planned to eat again on Monday morning before working out. That would make it about 84 hours.

I usually hit a wall after about 40 hours of fasting and am ready to be done, and this time was no exception. I made it through 48 hours and was ready for bed! Getting up this morning, however, I expected today to be a little easier, but it wasn't! I've been sluggish, lightheaded, hungry, and mentally struggling all day!

I've been counting down the hours until 8pm tonight so I can reintroduce food. I have had black tea with a little kefir and kombucha in it today, as well as a little bit of MCT oil. Normally I can make it the whole time (even 90 hours) without a problem, so I'm wondering if it's because I have taken such a break and haven't been doing Keto. Maybe that's why it's so tough this time.

I was looking at a magazine with Keto recipes before bed last night and EVERYTHING looked amazing in it. Ha! This girl is just ready to have some salad and chicken!

I follow the advice of Dr. Mindy Pelz in her book Fast Like a Girl, as well as her YouTube channel. I believe in fasting because I've seen it work in my own life, along with a Keto diet! My problem today is that my brain and my body don't want to work together to get to the end of this fast. Ha! ...just four more hours to go!

Do you do any fasting? Have you ever looked into it and the benefits it can have in your life?




My previous 3 day water fast post
My previous fasting post

Sort:  

Fasting is a powerful concept and one with which we have considerable experience. Primarily, we have benefitted from trying to consistently keep our "eating window" to just 5 or 6 hours. Resulting in us eating twice a day, rather than the more typical "three squares" a day.

We are less consistent with a full day of fasting, although we have had periods of our lives where we have managed it successfully weekly, for months ...

Three days though? Definitely more challenging, as your post attests. Only one time have I done that. A divinely inspired time in Washington D.C. where we responded to a request to join a counter protest against all those assembled, in their attempt to influence a Supreme Court decision re: the "right" to abortion. The outcome? I touch on it here, in the "Warning" section ...

By the time you read this, you will have successfully finished what you were inspired to accomplish. I trust that will result in the peace and contentment only He can provide!


P.S. Related to your post, if you have not yet heard of it, we highly recommend a book, "Good Energy," by Dr. Casey Means.

    • Caveat: Very sad and sobering that a woman who is so clearly and remarkably gifted, attributes the "spiritual roots" of what should be clear testimony to the fact we are "fearfully and wonderfully made" to something else entirely ... 🙄😞 Well, God is not mocked. And like the rest of His word 2 Corinthians 4:4 is true. Looking past that, we believe this book contains invaluable insights for anyone today and we have told our children we wish information like this had been available to us at a much earlier time in our lives ...

Thanks for your message! Fasting is something that's usually easy for me, but this 3 day one was tough. Ha! It's interesting how many people fast for various reasons. And also interesting how many people who should be fasting who don't fast. 🥴

I fasted away ~50 lbs. once, and since then have generally eaten once a day to satisfaction, although I'm not at all religious about it. Sometimes when I am working on a big project I don't eat for a day or so, because I don't like taking breaks and disrupting work flow. I've never really fasted on purpose, I just was unwilling to eat for a month, and when I broke out of that condition I just never went back to eating three square meals a day and getting fat again.

Because I never really set myself a fast it's never much inconvenienced me. I am familiar with hunger, however, and with not finding it overwhelming or anything. I suspect that if I did say 'I'm going to fast until Tuesday', THEN I'd maybe struggle with it, because I'd struggle with the arbitrary time and restriction. As long as it's just sticking to the flow of production I have going the hunger is just incidental to that purpose I have, so it's not some arbitrary and artificial thing.

Not sure if that makes any sense at all to you, and I don't mean to disparage what you're doing or anything like that.

Thanks!

Goodness, that's a lot of fasting! About a year ago I was really strict with myself doing fasting and Keto and I lost 20 pounds, off my already slender frame. It was all that baby weight from 6 kids. I was trying to figure where it all came off of and then I noticed even my wedding ring was loose. It must have fallen off of everywhere, but it was really easy to gain back on our trip to the US. Ha!

"...it was really easy to gain back..."

LOL

Processed foods are usually made with ingredients and by means that seem to maximize carbs and our bodies turning them into fat. I'm becoming more and more convinced I should eat a keto diet and tightly control my carb intake.

I lost mine while we were in Panama in anticipation of a trip to the US so I could gain some of it eating out. Ha! We rarely eat out here - birthdays or when people come visit.