Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist or a professional in this field, and I do not wear the risk or responsibility if someone else tries this and it affects them either negatively or positively. Please consult your health care professional or general practitioner before undergoing any of what I’ve done. I cannot be held responsible.
What I learnt from fasting for 62 hours:
From 9:00 pm Monday the 23rd of November 2020 to 11:00 am Thursday the 26th of November 2020 I consumed nothing but normal potable tap water.
That’s it.
Zero.
Zip.
Nil.
Any other words that mean nothing….?
And so in doing this, I have become aware of a couple of things.
I thought by writing this out, it could potentially open my eyes further (and potentially someone else) to the extent of the new found knowledge that have come out of going through this process.
By no means am I documenting this for an ego boost.
Not at all.
I just thought that it could benefit someone else and for future me in some way.
So this is what I learnt in 58 hours:
- Be grateful for every meal, for everything that we can consume whether it be food or drink, because you never know if it’ll happen again. You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone, right?
- Everything starts in the mind. And finishes in the mind. Mental clarity and mental strength are vital to undertaking something like this.
- Clarity and stillness – 30 hours in you begin to feel clear, calm and start to wonder where the hell the energy is coming from.
- Reigniting energy and drive in my life from getting up early and still attacking the day with 100% energy
- How much I missed my insane training and exercise workouts (it’s highly recommended you don’t perform any vigorous, high physically taxing workouts while fasting) – all I wanted to do each afternoon is go for a run but I knew that will only end in harm – so I learnt to appreciate just going for a light walk instead.
- How much time I spend preparing and cooking my meals each night and in advance each day – all I needed was my bag and my water bottle and I was on my way to work. Moreover, at night I could come home from whatever I was doing that afternoon and just do another productive task.
- How much it pains me when you smell hot food while going about your normal day. The distractions are totally endless.
- How much I craved a coffee or a tea. Funnily enough, you are able to consume black coffee or tea without milk whilst fasting, however I opted to only consume water as this provided me with even more of a mission to not let the consumption of a non caloric drink even hinder my determination to push on. It is said that black tea and coffee do not break a fast but if you want to do a full digestive reset, it’s best to only consume water.
- The effects upon me going to work and performing my job were perhaps the most worrying of the process before I commenced. The first 24 hours during the day at work were quite tough, I am not going to lie. But once you kept pushing forward and keeping yourself busy, the following day I felt almost normal and performed my duties, including my cognitive duties as I would any other typical day. I was extremely surprised by this.
- My body definitely felt flat, and lighter but I still felt like normal except for the many stomach rumbles that vibrated me entirely.
- That if for any reason I don’t have access to food for a period of time, that I could easily push through it as what’s 5 hours without a meal when you know you just went 62 hours.
- When I broke the fast with a small meal (an apple), prior to it I felt like I actually could of kept going. The only reason that I broke the fast at 11 am on the Thursday was because I had a dinner planned that night and had to slowly introduce food back into my daily life. It is accepted that you should not break a fast with a massive meal as this can cause severe and intense stress onto the digestive system. It is much safer to ease back into meal consumption.
As I try a couple a more attempts at this, I am sure there will be many more things to learn.
Currently I am writing this in a fasted state and reflecting on what I did over a month ago, the little 30 hours abstinence is not even merely comparable to that of 62 hours.
I have gained confidence that I can do these as often as I feel healthy to do so and if I continue to get great health benefits from it, will persist into the future incorporating it into my usual routine.
Resetting is so goddam powerful.