63 Hour Fast - No Food for New Years
Introduction:
Hi everyone. Starting January 1st I will be performing a 3 day water and salt only fast. The longest I have gone without eating is around 24 hours and I am really curious to see how my mind and body react. There are many reported benefits of fasting and I’ve always been curious to try. I will list my motivations below.
Motivations:
Mental Clarity
I think this fast will be very mentally challenging at times and I am ready for the test
I am curious to see how I feel / how my body feels and reacts
Health benefits / autophagy
Gaining about an hour a day in productive time (not needing to eat)
Starvation is good for learning and memory - what do I want to learn over the course of the first 7 days of the new year?
Day 1:
Starting weight: 131.6lbs
Day 1 was honestly not bad
Recorded my first vlog: something I probably would not have done had I been sedated by food
Night 1:
Not as hungry as I thought I was going to be
Mental clarity
Sensation of tension / flexing behind the eyes (increased vision)
Last poop for the next 48 hours
Day 2:
Dull hunger
Continued tension / flexing behind the eyes
Good mood
Feeling light
Night 2:
Honestly probably the best I felt out of all 3 days
Smelling the world’s most buttery butter after smelling my brother’s dinner
Brain fog completely lifted. Feeling mentally sharp
Feeling like my midsection was hollow
Thoughts of becoming a food vlogger after binging food related tiktoks for an hour
Sinus clear af
I was in such a good mood + everything seemed like a good idea. Manic episode?
Lots of burping and farting even though I hadn’t eaten anything in 2 days
Day 3:
Weighing in at 126.8lbs - I’m down 4.8lbs but there is nothing left to burn
Things take a turn for the worse
Low energy, cold, nappy
A little light headed
Difficulty focusing
Night 3:
Breaking fast after 63 hours
Food tastes amazing
Everything I ate on the evening of the 3rd night:
Eggs with rice, cheese and pickled radish
Koobideh and Geymeh Sabzi
Nose went back to being it’s usual stuffy self
Conclusions:
Pros of fasting for 63 hours:
mental clarity
increased smell, vision and hearing
feeling nearly 0 stress with regard to everything except hunger
clear sinuses (nose usually very stuffy especially @ night)
Improved memory
Cons:
felt cold, hungry and lethargic at points, mostly on day 3
missing food / flavour
Neutral:
a lot easier to get focused / fixated things whether it was work or youtube shorts
decreased libido
weight loss:
I lost 1.5% of my weight in 2 days. This is after re-nourishing
Before re-nourishing, I had lost 3.64% of my bodyweight (131.6lbs to 126.8lbs)
slept less
Lessons learned:
Most of the time, I eat because: I’m bored, I want to be comforted I want to experience flavor, or it’s normal to do so at specific times.
When you are hungry, the little things matter less: I wasn’t bothered about things that would normally get to me.
Fasting is a great way to shift your perspective. Starvation is motivating: I was only focused on my immediate next step as long as I felt like it would get me closer to food. I felt like a productivity machine!
Moving forward: Fasting was a pleasant and productive experience
I am considering eating every other day AND / OR
Performing a 2 day fast at the beginning of every month
