Three-day Fast; Take Three

"It is not the strongest of the species that survive,

nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change."

~Charles Darwin

You may recall that I've completed a couple other three-day fasts in the last five years. Well, I've decided to do it again.

Previously, I thought I'd add it to my routine and do it every other month or so, but I haven't been successful at that. It's difficult to plan a 3-day fast because of the social and professional pressures of eating. So much of what we do includes or revolves around food.

So I'm starting tonight. Why tonight? Because I want the option of having dinner on Tuesday night or extending the 72-hour fast to something closer to 80 or 85 hours like I ended up doing last time. I recall it getting easier by the third day and thinking, "Why not just one more day?"

The benefits of a three-day fast are a cleansing of both body and mind. Your body begins to dump glycogen

Saturday 0-12 hours:
1:30pm: I ate a late breakfast and haven't eaten since, so I'm saying I'm starting my fast now.

2:00pm: Started making bone broth to eat when I'm coming off my fast. Bones of one whole chicken, several celery stalks, carrots, an onion, salt, parsley and lots of herbs like rosemary, thyme, etc.

7:24pm: Feeling hungry for dinner. Little headache. Drinking lots of water.

9:24pm: Took the bone broth off the burner. Cooled and strained it, pouring it into small containers. It smells delicious. Some articles about three-day fasts say that drinking bone broth (or even black coffee) are perfectly acceptable. I wish I believed that would be okay, but I feel like it's defeating the purpose. Especially since I make my bone broth with carrots which have sugar in them.

Total water intake on Saturday: 75 ounces


Sunday 12-24 hours:
10:42am: Technically this is still day one because it's within the first 24 hours. Feeling just fine.

Sunday 24-36 hours:
3:00pm: Brushed my teeth so I felt fresh. The taste of toothpaste also keeps me from feeling hungry or thinking about food.

11:40pm: Took a nap earlier today. Haven't felt hungry, but have been thinking about food. Didn't give KDJ a heads-up about me fasting, as I thought this morning that I should have. She made what smelled like a delicious artichoke dip for us to share tonight. I can hardly wait to eat it. It smelled so good. Thinking about food a lot. But not feeling like I'm going to die. Drank two cups of tea tonight. Traditional Medicinals Everyday Detox and one of Lavender Chamomile, which is my favorite.

Total water intake on Sunday: only 53 ounces. I think that was because I was at church and also took a nap. More tomorrow.


Monday 36-48 hours:
5:40am: Woke up and felt ready for the day. Forced myself to go back to sleep. Maybe my body doesn't need as much rest if it's not processing as much food?

Going without breakfast wasn't difficult. My morning was busy, so that likely kept my mind off of food. But I also almost wrote myself a sticky note to look at all day to remind myself not to eat.

12:30pm: Had two glasses of tea for lunch. Lemon & Ginger and Sweet Dreams. Wanted more. But kept drinking water.

Monday 48-60 hours:
1:30pm: I usually eat something in the afternoon and it was difficult to get away from that habit. Especially since I hadn't eaten lunch and seeing our breakroom at work stocked full with food I wanted: avocados, hard boiled eggs, string cheese, and jelly belly! WHY do I love jelly bellys so much!?!?!--it's a curse, really. It's funny because today seeing my co-worker munch on a handful of jelly bellys was the first time in the last three days that I've really craved anything sugary. I've been thinking more about savory foods.

Mmm. Savory. Thinking about KDJ's artichoke dip that I'm hoping to taste tomorrow night. Maybe that's too soon after ending my fast tomorrow at 1:30pm. But we'll see. I know my stomach has shrunk, so tasting a little will probably be all I can handle. But I need to get celery or something, so I don't carb overload on crackers.

3:00pm: Was hungry by afternoon. Not so much physically hungry, as mentally hungry. Maybe even socially hungry. But it's a little hard to separate them all.

4:00pm: I'm already looking forward to what I'm going to eat tomorrow. So I stocked up from the breakroom. An avocado. A protein drink, which I probably won't even drink until Wednesday breakfast. But just getting food and putting it in my fridge in my office somehow soothed the disappointment of not eating this afternoon.

5:25pm: My acid reflux symptoms (tmi: burping) were felt this afternoon and evening. Probably also because I drank a full 17 ounces of water in one sitting right before I left the office to come home. I haven't been as good about sipping all day long. Not sure why. Maybe that's what's causing the hunger a bit.

8:39pm: I have the hiccups.

9:00pm: Going to bed early. A little tired and just feel like sleeping since I can't eat anything. Usually if I'm hungry late at night, I just go to bed anyway. Eating late isn't a great habit and for some reason I can go to be a little hungry and not have too much trouble with it.

But I'm already planning my first meal tomorrow: bone broth that I made on Saturday. Then my second meal is going to be half an avocado, 2 hard boiled eggs, some nuts, and spinach if I can get it. Oh and some artichoke dip. :)

Total water intake on Monday: 87 ounces

Tuesday 60-72 Hours:
Not that hungry. Again just mentally or socially. But it was easy for me to turn down a doughnut today since I knew I was getting my delicious bone broth. :) Haha.

Total water intake on Tuesday:76 ounces