Diary of a 7-day Water Only Fast
Day 1
Glucose: 84 mg/dL
Hematocrit: 50%
Blood Ketones: 0.5
170.3 lbs.
103 cm chest
80.5 cm waist
38 cm right arm
59 cm right leg
39 cm right calf
25 hrs in, I find my motivation for writing existent but less burning. It is more challenging to formulate sentences honestly and coherently. The lack of food deprives me of stability, and I feel slightly more enclosed. I think this phenomenon of reticence and waning motivation partially reflects decreased dopamine levels. Undoubtedly many other factors come into play.
I generally don’t eat for 14-15, so it wasn’t a surprise that my first feeling of hunger began around 15-16 hours after my last meal. Usually, when I don’t eat for 24 hrs, hunger comes in waves and generally peaks around my typical eating period. However, this time it came and fastened itself to me like a wet shirt that's hard to pull off. I don’t really know what to make of this, except as of recently, I have not practiced any form of fasting for over 18 hrs.
Around the time I accomplished my writing and most of my work for the day (not including this diary), I was about 21 hrs into my fast. Thirty minutes later, I had the worst hunger of the day. My stomach felt like a cave toppling inwards, and I had a minor stomach ache. I decided now was the best time to work out, so I did. Afterward, I felt good.
The 24 hr. mark rolled around the corner, and with it came a slight pang for food. I thought about quitting but instantly stifled those thoughts. I notice I can be persuasive when it comes to quitting. After all, who knows me better than myself? What keeps me going? In truth, I don’t reflect much on the benefits of fasting despite knowing the many marvelous benefits, including gene expression, autophagy, stem cell maintenance, etc. Instead, what keeps me going is the self-shame of eating when I told myself I wouldn’t.
Day 2
Glucose: 70 mg/dL
Hematocrit: 52%
Blood Ketones: 1.2
167.2 lbs.
103.5 cm chest
79.5 cm waist
38 cm right arm
59 cm right leg
38.5 cm right calf
Approaching 50 hrs, I find myself in an aggravated state of mind. I only hope my journaling won’t reflect this disposition.
Last night, I was slightly more susceptible to the cold and felt empty in my stomach, and my sleep latency was affected by it. An hour after waking, I felt good. In fact, I felt mildly euphoric. My brain was cooperating with my intentions, and my intentions felt pure and fluid, like a system that's been rebooted. I attribute some of this feeling I have felt many times before to increased ketones and BDNF. However, I don’t want to talk about that.
Later today, around 42 hours, I began to get hungry and a little weak. It was an odd sensation to feel lucid yet have a body lagging. It was as if my head was shocked by the body that supported it. Anyways, I'm not quite sure if I recognize this feeling. Perhaps I haven’t articulated it. It’s not quite the same as the tranquility and hunger from a long hike. At any rate, my fluidity of thought began to subside the longer I remained hungry.
50 hrs in, and I'm still hungry. I tried relieving my appetite by walking and basking in the sun, and it did help a little. But not very much. Later, I attempted to watch the sun go down and take pleasure in the beautiful arrays of red and orange that lit the sky. However, this forced behavior produced little to no positive effect. It makes me think about how much our experience is influenced by our current state of mind…
Day 3
Glucose: 68 mg/dL
Hematocrit: 54%
Blood Ketones: 2.3
166.2 lbs.
103.5 cm chest
79.5 cm waist
38 cm right arm
58.5 cm right leg
38.5 cm right calf
Over 73 hrs have gone. At this moment of writing, I am on the balcony taking in the subtle warmth of a summer evening. A slight and persistent breeze keeps coming, and I see my hair lightly dancing in my periphery. I'm calm and relaxed, and it's not just a feeling I'm trying to convince myself of. I truly feel calm. However, this state of mind and body is delicate; I can’t find the ground, and because of it, I get agitated more easily by loud sounds like that of a barking dog.
Last night's sleep was a mess. It took a while to go to sleep and stay asleep. The tiredness of my body battled with the alertness of my mind. The first seven hours of the morning were also not the best. Although I tried to be productive, and my overall progress reflected it, I could not shake the feeling of hunger and tiredness. My stomach felt distressed, and my eyes felt heavy.
68 hrs into my fast, something shifted. Around this time, I started to see the light at the end of the tunnel. An hour later, I worked out. Afterward, I not only saw but began to feel the light at the end of the tunnel. It came quickly and pleasantly, like a warm wave washing over me. It was nice. It's still quite nice. No one is around at the moment. Everything is quiet. And I have the opportunity and pleasure to just feel after a day of productive work.
Day 4
Glucose: —
Hematocrit: —
Blood Ketones:—
163.3 lbs.
103.5 cm chest
78.5 cm waist
38 cm right arm
59 cm right leg
38.5 cm right calf
I am approaching 99 hrs. I had to go out of town today. Now I’m sitting in the front seat of a car, trying to block out the engine noise and oncoming traffic humming and whirring past. Not pleasant, but also not too bad either. I hope I can write faster than the headache that always comes when writing or reading in a car for an extended period.
Sleep wasn’t great, nor was it as bad as last night. I woke up a lot but could go back to sleep a little faster. When I finally awoke to begin the day, I felt okay. I felt much like the self I was before the fast. I didn’t feel hungry, wasn’t exceptionally calm, or even mildly euphoric; just normal and sane. This feeling lasted until about 92 hrs into my fast.
Suddenly I became hungry; not ravenous, but much like the hunger I get from an 18 hr fast. The worst part about it is that moving didn’t help. I had to walk, lift, carry, and unload boxes for my new apartment, which didn’t help. It was like a long tunnel I needed to crawl through to get to the other side. No shortcuts. But now I can finally see the other side.
There’s something pleasurable about starting to see the light when it's dark outside. Perhaps it's because the mind begins to slow and starts to recognize the things that are shaping it. Starts recognizing what’s part of it— the human that carries it. And in my reflection, I can tolerate what I feel and see. That has to be enough.
Day 5
Glucose: 67 mg/dL
Hematocrit: 52%
Blood Ketones 2.7
162.2 lbs.
103.5 cm chest
78 cm waist
38 cm right arm
58 cm right leg
38 cm right calf
It's evening again. I'm trying to drown out the noises around me like it's a threat. The sound of forks clinking, mouths chewing, dogs barking, and loud talking makes it harder. It's not the narrative or imagery of food that grates me but the sounds themselves. I’ve become hyper-sensitive to noise while everyone around me is just living their lives. I can’t blame anyone. Not even the dogs.
Today is so much of a photocopy of yesterday that I feel it would be redundant to describe it. Instead, I will talk about what’s new. I find that food represents itself differently to me. Usually, when I go without breakfast, I eventually get hungry. This feeling of hunger gets further aroused by savory smells, such as the smokey, sweet, and comforting smell of barbecue ribs or the homey and heartening smell of stew in a slow cooker. However, it affects me in reverse right now. When I smell something nice, I begin to feel a little better, and my cravings slowly subside. It's as if my body is saying, hey, where good there’s food around. There’s no need to stress. Just relax and enjoy the smell.
Presently, I feel relaxed. It isn’t like this the whole day, but it's nice when it comes. Sometimes the transition is gentle, and I don’t recognize the feeling until I’m here. No doubt, sometimes I'm so out of tune with myself that I altogether miss the feeling when it arrives. I think part of what makes fasting a spiritual practice is that it heightens the perception of recognizing feelings. By recognizing feelings, awareness of the self emerges.
Day 6
Glucose: 70 mg/dL
Hematocrit: 51%
Blood Ketones 2.9
160.8 lbs.
103 cm chest
77 cm waist
38 cm right arm
58.5 cm leg right leg
38 cm right calf
I don’t want to write tonight. Not that I'm feeling particularly bad, on the contrary. On a craving scale, today has been the best since. I just don’t want to write. Maybe it's because writing requires thinking, and I don’t know where to start. I don’t want to start. But I will, of course.
Last night's sleep was exceptional compared to the previous five nights. I can’t remember waking up at all during the night. The first satisfying night could partially be attributed to warming myself up before going to bed, which certainly helped, especially considering that I’m cold-sensitive right now. Anyways, The pleasant contrast lingered and charmed me into sleep.
When I awoke, I remembered thinking, I feel good. I got up and was momentarily faint, but that was okay. I’ve been getting that a lot recently. I don’t interpret that fainting sensation as a negative experience. It’s different when fasting.
Later tonight, I made dinner, not for myself but for my family. The aroma felt alive similar to how I feel when I listen to a good classical composition. It was a narrative. How the smells danced, tugged, and moved together was its own story. I felt like I was part of that story and didn’t need to be further pulled into eating it.
Currently, I’m at the last 22 hrs. Generally, I feel adequate, like everything is in place, and even if it weren’t, I would manage. I think this is because I now recognize that I can manage. To that and life, I say, bring it on.
Day 7
Glucose: 61 mg/dL
Hematocrit: 52%
Blood Ketones 3.9
169.6 lbs.
103 cm chest
76.5 cm waist
37.5 cm right arm
58.5 cm leg right leg
37.5 cm right calf
Another night of good sleep. Another good morning. The day was a bit of a drag, partly because I had to work physically. My stamina was disinclined for any labor that dragged on for hours. As a result, it took a toll on my mind, and I began to get hungry again. Keep focus, I told myself. And I persisted in artificially uplifting myself to no avail. Instead, I suppressed my feelings and continued working.
In another circumstance, with more time, I might have taken a break and reflected. I might’ve sat down and appreciated the tree in front of me or my emotions and tried to learn something. This was not the day, and those around me felt the reverberations of my unchecked mood.
An hour after my fast, I slowly drank a cup of bone broth and finished in about 60-70 minutes. Ninety minutes later, I'm sitting here right now, having some more bone broth with a little bit of rice. Damn, the rice tastes good. Not only good, but in some obscure way, it tastes valuable and luxurious, like I’ve been offered a precious experience. At the moment, I realize that some people don’t have this luxury. They don’t fast by choice but by a scarcity of food. I shouldn’t neglect those less fortunate because I fail to relate. Not relating only demonstrates my capacity for not understanding.
Discussion on Measurements
What was most surprising about the measurements I made was my hematocrit. I expected it to decrease, but it went from 50% to 52% at the end of my fast. Maybe the high variability in the Keto-Mojo monitor was unable to portray my HMC accurately. But I don’t know, so I take all my hematocrit readings with a grain of salt and don’t put much emphasis on accuracy. As for the glucose and Ketone readings, I measured them 2 to 3 times around the morning and averaged them. Again I don’t put much emphasis on accuracy; however, there was a directional change that suggests at least some form of reliability. Not much, but some!
Though, my body measurements were interesting. I feel inclined to talk about them in the form of percentages since it will be easier to recognize the change. I lost 10.7 lbs, actually, less, since all I had was broth and some rice, and the next day, I lost another 1 lb. This adds up to a nearly 7% decrease in my weight. However, I expect to gain back 3-4 pounds of water weight in the first week.
All measurements were done relaxed:
Chest: I was surprised that my chest circumference did not change (103), give or take 1/2 a cm.
Waist: My waist circumference decreased by 5% (80.5 to 76.5 cm).
Bicep: lost about 1.3% of arm volume (38 to 37.5 cm) and, surprisingly, could sustain 38 cm until the last day. Maybe the measurements were off by 1/2 a cm, but even then, I find it impressive.
Leg (Quads): even a smaller decline of less than 1% in leg volume (59 cm to 58.5 cm)
Calf: not surprisingly, I lost nearly 4% of calf volume (39 to 37.5 cm). My calves are also the most challenging muscle group for me to grow.
Workout and Water
I worked out for about 40 minutes each session on the 1st day, 3rd day, and 5th day. What I found consistent with every session was that the workouts initial period was the hardest. There was that first 5-15 minute phase where the session was making me feel worse than when I started. However, I instantly felt better once I got over that hump and completed my workout for the day. I've concluded that resistance training within reasonable limits can make cravings and emotions more manageable and stable. At least, for me. Perhaps the positive effect of working out during my fasting period temporarily increased or consolidated many hormones associated with mood and craving.
As for what I drank, I only drank ESSENTIA water. The amount consumed varied by 15 ounces, but on an average day, 65-70 ounces. Some might say that is not enough, that I should drink 80+ ounces considering my weight. Maybe. But it felt about right. This leads me to conclude that if you fast or doing anything and something feels right or doesn’t, feel free to make an alteration. But before you do, recognize and understand the feeling, so you’ll know what modification if any, is necessary.
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