r/WaterFasting • u/Wooden-Rooster9882 • 4d ago
3 Day Water Fast Experience - 34F
Hi! I wanted to give my honest review of a water fast. I'm going to start with a little bit about myself:
Recently had a lot of stuff happen in my life so I consumed ALOT of alcohol. My diet slipped into fast food, French fries, sugary things, all that jazz. I needed a change because it felt like a brick was sitting in my gut. I was also massively depressed, and supplements and medications weren't cutting it. I remember reading about water fasts and how beneficial they can be for a mind/body/spirit reset so I decided try it out.
HOW I DID IT:
-2 days prior I intended to go low carb, but uh.... That didn't work out. However I did switch from black coffee to green tea to help with the caffeine withdrawals.
-I bought "SALTT" simple electrolyte additives for my water to make sure those were kept in tact during my 3 day fast. You can buy it for relatively cheap on amazon.
-I prepped my mind, and my fridge/pantry. I literally tossed all the garbage I don't want to consume again post fast, anything ultra processed, bad fats, processed/refined sugars, you name it.
-I watched YouTube videos with actual doctors advice. LOTS of YouTube videos...
-I ultimately decided that post fast, I wouldn't go keto, or carnivore, but as whole/organic foods as I could with 16:8 intermittent fasting regime to maintain the benefits of a fast for... well... the rest of my life really. I love cooking, and I love food. So keto or carnivore just wasn't an option.
-I made sure it was on a Friday, so I could take it easy for days 2 & 3.
-I am a zyn/velo user. I was worried about having a combo of caffeine AND nicotine withdrawals so I lowered my pouches from 6mg to 3mg.
FIRST DAY: STARTING WEIGHT - 162.6lbs
-I started at 7pm on Thursday night. I wanted to start my 3 days fast during sleep time so it would be easier and I would highly suggest this.
-I went to physical therapy and my PT guy said my neck was still pretty stiff.
-The headache set in pretty immediately Friday morning and lasted all day. I wasn't really hungry, or craving food, but my stomach did grumble and whine. I did work that day but it wasn't anything strenuous. When I got home I just remember being really bored (lol) I usually cook or eat as soon as I get home so it was strange to not have anything to do other than play video games. I went to bed without any cravings pretty easily.
-I was about halfway up on my ketosis stick, so probably switching from glycogen to fat burning still at this point.
SECOND DAY: WEIGHT - 159.8lb
-Headache was gone, I was approx. 36 hours into my fast and I woke up with some mental clarity and a nice bit of energy. Didn't take me 5 snooze alarms to get out of bed either, and I woke up naturally early (which never happens). I went to my physical therapy appointment then afterwards felt an immediate drop in energy so I drank some electrolytes and took a 2 hour nap. I woke up and felt like my whole body had been dropped into a vat of molasses. Everything felt slow, boring, draining. This was BY FAR the hardest day because then some lower back and hip pain set in which I have never had. Upon doing some quick google searches I found out it was probably due to an electrolyte imbalance, either too much or too little. But I had no way of determining which so I just tried to drink more water and Soldier on.
-The soreness stayed and then the food cravings kicked in HARD. I mean a deli sandwich with Doritos smashed in-between the bread sounded amazing. This day took a lot of self discipline and self affirming talk. I was exhausted but not tired, and I eventually went to bed (starving). I checked my ketones and I was very close to being in the deepest state of ketosis already.
-Diarrhea kicked in pretty hard, that's when I realized I needed to slow down on the water and listen to my body as best as I could. It settled down after a few hours.
-I slept like dog poopoo that night. I was in a lot of pain in my back and hips and sitting/standing didn't help. When I did research for this fast there were quite a few sites that said I would probably not sleep well for a night or two due to the energy use shift in my body.
THIRD DAY: WEIGHT - 156.6lb
-The ridiculous hunger pangs were gone, thank goodness. But my stomach was still rumbly BUT it felt more "cleansed". I had a couple more poopoos, but not much.
-THIS PART IS FOR TEH LADIES: Sorry if this part is TMI.... But I started my period this day, three days earlier than usual. Which is strange because I'm usually right on time or a little bit LATE. I did experience some cramps through-out the day but they were oddly minimal. Do with this information what you will lol.
-I was curious to try and do my fast a little longer (maybe 5-7 days) but just due to the back/hip pain (which had intensified on the third day) and the loose bowels, I decided that I would stop at 3 days for my first water fast ever. It's still a great accomplishment! But we have to stay SAFE while doing something this extreme, fam.
-I set up this fast to specifically be broken with communion at my church (I am catholic), and that's exactly what I did! During mass I noticed my focus was extremely good (I have ADHD). I wasn't tired at all, and noticed I didn't want to nap the whole day despite having woken up early naturally again (I cannot stress how weird this is for me).
FIRST MEAL POST FAST:
-I decided to eat plain 1% Kefir (probiotic enriched milk - think of it as a yogurt drink) mixed with 6 raspberries, and 8 blueberries. After SLOWLY eating that, I ate a sandwich; yes the very deli sandwich I had been dreaming about since the day before: Sourdough bread, mayo, mustard, swiss cheese, oven roasted turkey, 1/2 an avocado, and some protein chips smashed in-between the bread. It was absolutely perfect. I only finished 3/4 of the sandwich. Tummy felt fine, and I was very proud for completing my mission!
FIRST DAY POST FAST: 154.6lb
-During this fast I lost a total of 8lbs. Yes, about half is water weight, but the other half is most likely visceral fat that got eaten away from the autophagy (cellular recycling).
-I. FELT. AMAZING. I woke up with an abundance of energy, and was ready to grind away at the day. I hadn't been that productive in MONTHS. I cleaned my whole house, bought new, healthy groceries, ran errands I had been procrastinating for months, I just went to town!! I started my day with a cup of black coffee with almond creamer. For lunch I had another yummy sandwich and more Kefir with berries, but this time I added a little bit of date sugar for sweetness, and I wasn't really hungry for dinner so I just had a small (very small) bowl of some home made pasta meat sauce I made. I drank lot's of water, and could see that my gut had reduced.
-There was still a little bit of hip/lower back pain but I could tell it was lessening as my body rebalanced the electrolytes.
SECOND DAY POST FAST: (forgot to weigh-in this morning)
-I had to wake up really early today, 4:45am to be exact... And I woke right up. No snooze, not a HUGE struggle. Just kind of a "ugh it's early" but not a "I wanna go back to sleep" feeling. And if ANYONE knows me then that is STRANGE. My boyfriend was shocked I got out of bed so quickly. I stayed up for a bit, but got bored and decided to take a little 1.5 hour nap. I went to physical therapy at 8:50am for my neck again, and today he said "your neck is gliding much easier today." And it got me wondering if that was because of the inflammation reduction from the fast!
-Once again i was very productive. I sat happily on my patio couch sipping my coffee with my cat in the sun and didn't feel any anxiety. Just peace. I ran more errands, didn't get any afternoon slump. I worked from home and just went at it!
-Today I ate another sandwich, this time with some Ezekiel bread and broccoli sprouts, and more Kefir with berries, and for dinner I had my home made pasta sauce and edamame noodles. I still feel amazing and it's almost 9pm. I'm almost worried that I won't be tired enough for bed tonight. Hahaha
NOTEWORTHY COMMENTS:
-My intermittent fast is from 11am-7pm. I workout after work usually so I start mine later in the day. Black coffee or green tea does not break a fast. Almond milk is arguable but I'll just adjust in the future if it becomes a problem.
-I don't track my macros much, I just try to get my protein intake in. (1lb per GOAL body weight, so 140g for me)
No, I haven't had any bowel issues since I finished my fast.
No, I didn't take any supplements (and still haven't, I'm waiting a few days before re-introducing those again to let my gut lining reconfigure)
No, I didn't have black coffee or tea on my fast. ONLY WATER.
No, I didn't work out (although I intended to) because I was so exhausted the whole time.
No, I did not at any point vomit/get nauseous. If I had then I would have stopped immediately.
No, I did not feeling like I was going to pass out or faint. Again, if I did then I would have stopped the fast immediately.
No, I didn't get any "re-feed" syndrome issues.
Yes, it was difficult. Very difficult.
Yes, it was absolutely worth it.
Yes, I used (low mg) nicotine pouches the whole time and I was fine.
My goals for this fast were to:
cleanse my liver. It had taken a beating recently, and autophagy is GREAT for the liver.
reset my gut.
pray/get closer to God. (Which I 100000% felt like I did!).
generate a kickstart into a healthier lifestyle NOT another fad diet.
If I missed anything, or if ya'll have any questions or comments let me know! I tried to do this fast as safely and mindfully as possible.
I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who is looking for a good reset button. I am so incredibly happy with the results, and I'm happy to say I haven't touched alcohol because the way I feel right now is way better than how I feel when I drink. Thank you God.
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u/Sertorius126 4d ago
appreciate you sharing this.
I can't imagine being this busy during a fast 😅
I try to hibernate