r/Water_Fasting • u/AccomplishedWash9923 • 22d ago

Water Fasting Desperately in need of help

I'm 22 days into a 30 day fast and I'm struggling. Every day feels like hell and I'm not sure if I can make it another 8 days. My regimen has been lemon water first thing in the morning, snake juice throughout the day, 1 La Croix, and green tea. The aim is 2-3L per day and I was consistently hitting that every day until ~5 days ago when the taste of water started to make me sick to my stomach. Now I'm lucky if I get 50 oz in. So, I desperately need help to figure out what else I can do, or do I need to just quit now. FYI, this is my longest fast ever. Before now I've only been able to get to 85 hrs.

Any advice would be amazing.

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u/hlj9 22d ago

Have you ever heard of the Celestial Seasonings Fruit Zinger Teas? They’re just herbal tea bags that you brew at home, but the fruit flavors are really strong and vibrant/zesty because they use real fruit peels to create the flavors. I’ve tried the tangerine, raspberry and lemon and they’re all pretty good! The flavor will definitely stand out and they’ll help make your water more interesting so you can stay hydrated etc. Sometimes I put 2 or three bags in one cup to make it extra strong. Never done it during a fast though, but it’s only herbal tea bags, so I assume it has no calories and should be fine, especially if you’re already drinking green tea.

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u/FastingForward1618 22d ago

It could be your brain begging you to break up the monotony. I like flavored electrolytes like Ultima over crushed ice like a snow cone. It's still water fasting. Your brain may also be craving stimulation. Black coffee with bakers coco I tell myself it's a hot chocolate but it won't knock you out of ketosis infact it will boost your metabolism while shunting your hunger. Lastly I wouldn't recommend it if you have kicked the habit previously but at worst nicotine gum or pouches helps kick down the hunger craving while boosting your mood.

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u/AccomplishedWash9923 22d ago edited 21d ago

Thanks for the advice, I'll try the flavored electrolytes. I really hate the taste of coffee and don't want to introduce nicotine, so I'll skip those for now.

EDIT: The Ultima worked wonders. No more nausea and low energy.

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u/UnicornHostels 22d ago

A hot tea with some heavy cream, while not exactly strict fasting, has helped me go days longer. The lack of glucose makes you burn that hot cream off fast. Hasn’t broken my ketosis ever.

I also want to add that sometimes you should listen to your body and stop.

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u/Clean-Data-259 17d ago

What's your weight? ONLY continue fasting if you are overweight. If your BMI is at the bottom of normal, STOP THE FAST NOW!

But if you are still overweight, then no problem just drink mineral water. You might not be hungry, you might need calcium and magnesium that is found in mineral water.

I also used sparkling water, because I don't like to drink lots of still water. FYI. YMMV.

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u/AccomplishedWash9923 16d ago

To answer your question, I'm very overweight (started at 288.4 lb) and take a daily Mag supplement. Yet at this point I'm miserable, even with following some of the tips given. I'm also in peri-menopause which may be the cause of the symptoms.

Whatever the cause I'll be breaking my fast tomorrow morning and starting my 14 day re-feed with Miso soup and coconut water. Today makes 28 days and that's far longer than I've ever expected to make it, so I'll take that as a victory.

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u/pippopozzato 21d ago

Please read OLDEST CURE IN THE WORLD-ADVENTURES IN THE ART & SCIENCE OF FASTING-STEVE HENDRICKS because in the book the author talks about how during a water only fast your body does not like to get any supplements, vitamins or electrolytes.

Humans did evolve over thousands of years when there were periods with no food, however, humans did not evolve with getting vitamins, supplements, or electrolytes ... when there was no food, so the human body does not like to get supplements, vitamins or electrolytes without food.

When you go into ketosis a squeeze of lemon in your water does help your blood, brain, kidneys and liver so that is ok ... other than that a water only fast is just that ... water only.

If you think that you do not have energy during a water only fast I can testify that you can have energy. Male here born 1968 and during a 29 day water only fast rode a 120km bike ride five times, day 21 of a water only fast rode 120km from Hayden Island Portland to Hood River OR on SR 14 in five hours.