My 5 Day Water Fasting Experience

“I fast for greater physical and mental efficiency”  – Plato 

Having been a regular faster for a few years now, fasting as a practice is not new to me. However my fasting has been in a mild form, where you go without solid food and salt for a period of 24 hours or so. Water fasting however, is something I had never done before and to be honest, I was afraid of it. The thought of being on only water for one day, let alone a few days was daunting to stay the least.

The reason I took this on is because, the last few days I had been feeling this strong intuitive urge to clean out old junk ( energetically) and a pure water fast was deemed as the fastest most effective way to clean up!

Second, Navratri was round the corner. Navratri, which is a 9 day period of intense prayer and fasting in the Indian calendar. It is meant to honour Goddess Durga, who is the representative of the Divine Feminine and Destroyer of Evil. It is also meant to be time of re-birth and renewal. So the timing seemed to perfectly coincide with my need to detox!

And so I shakily embarked on my water fast, with a 3 day objective to start with. Below are a list of my notes while I was fasting – Hopefully they will give some sort of an anchor for others on the same journey.

Water fasting Day 1 –

“I survived up until now without any caffeine so that is great. I haven’t really been hungry either. I guess the fasting over the years helps but it’s only 21 hours since I last ate, so not a lot. I will go forward and try and keep up the water fast a few days.

I have to say, I already do feel a bit foggy and not so inclined and motivated to work. I did do Yoga today, but prior to this fasting launch, and for the last few days my body has been less than perky. All physical ailments that I ever had – all in the left part of my body are acting up – my shoulder, my hamstring, my hip. And energy is very low.

I am looking forward to seeing how I hold up with this fast.”

Water Fasting Day 2 –

“I slept really well on Day 1 night which a surprise cause I always was believed it was really hard to sleep empty stomach. Day 2 was harder than Day 1.  I had a headache most of the day and was much weaker than Day 1. Came home and crashed on the couch – had a nap but ever since waking up from that nap, my heart been has been elevated. It felt like as long as I was up, it would stay elevated.

I contemplated if maybe that was my body telling me that I needed to stop. I decided to read about it but apparently it’s a normal reaction and should pass. I thought that by the morning, it would be a lot better.

It is amazing how well I sleep though, like my body is healing in my sleep. I slept a good 8-9 hours though I did dream a lot about food along with other telling stuff!”

 Water Fasting Day 3 –

“Woke up this morning but had this feeling that I should lay down as long as possible. The moment I moved I felt my heart beat again so it is still elevated.

I feel quite weak and don’t have the inclination to move much. Every movement feels like a chore. I am also a little afraid of falling off anytime or fainting. Not much though.

I am at work and probably shouldn’t be but I feel like time would pass faster if I was busy. And sitting on a chair is not too bad as long as I am not moving around much.

Its afternoon and I feel a bit better already. Not as unsteady as this morning and my heart beat seems to be calmer.

– I will however go to a doctor and have my vitals checked, just to ensure things are smooth, since this is my first water fast and I am not being assisted.

So got my vitals checked and I am actually doing much better than I was expecting! My Blood Pressure was 100/  70 which is almost super healthy J. My blood sugar is really low at 3.1 mmo/l but I guess that is expected.

I am starting to feel a little more energetic by the evening than I was in the morning and definitely better than Day 2. However, also have bouts of emotional outpours but generally I feel more happy than sad.”

Water Fasting Day 4 – 

“Yipppeeee! I made it to Day 4 and I am doing quite fine. I feel better than I did yesterday. I have moved around a fair bit but not a lot. I have absolutely no strength to carry anything which has any weight. I can walk around but my heart rate does start increasing the moment I stress even a little,  like a few steps too fast. I have taken the day off though and feel like doing things that I love like gardening or even cooking though that may be hard.

I also want to clean up everything at home, but that is my natural need anytime I spend some time at home but could also be a side effect of detox – the need to clean up within and without. Don’t have much energy to actually clean though and will get to it once my water fasting is over.

Day 4 was a day I spent cooking most of the day so that was a bit of a challenge. It was my daughter’s birthday so there was cake cutting and ice cream and chocolates galore but I managed to stick it out.

Also treated myself to a massage which felt really nice.”

Water Fasting Day 5 – 

“I woke up well rested and feeling mentally awake. I also feel more energetic and my heart rate seems to be bothering me less even though it is still elevated. Today I feel like I could go on doing this for days. But since this is my first attempt at water fasting, I am not assisted and have a day job, I will finish this at the end of Day 5. I am really happy that I did so well so far, and proud of myself. We all really are capable of so much more than we can imagine. Next time I will hit 7 or 9 days as my schedule allows.”

 Post Day 5 : Breaking the fast and getting back to eating

I broke my fast with watermelon which was absolutely delicious. The body needs time to re-adjust to eating, so this is the time where you need a little more control over your mind. Thankfully, if you are in tune with your body, it will tell you what it wants and what it does not want.

I stayed mostly on fruits and vegetables, for the next 3-4 days and broke into normal eating after the recovery period.

My Takeaways for Healthy Water Fasting:

1. Prepare body and mind – Eat light before and prepare yourself mentally a few days before
2. Drink the purest form of water you can get your hands on
3. Do not expect to lead a regular day to day life while fasting – body and mind may go into shut down.
4. Rest as much as possible – you won’t have much of a choice!
5. Extended water fasts must be done in an assisted facility
6. Break back into food as slowly as possible, taking care not to eat artificial sugar in any form for a few days after
7. Post water fast, eat natural for as long as possible – for maximum impact

IMPORTANT : Thank you for reading this post. If you are interested in trying out the water fast, please do read enough on the subject prior to trying a water fast, and do not do an extended water fast unassisted even if you have do not have any health issues.

I found this website to be quite useful –

http://www.allaboutfasting.com/water-fasting.html

HAPPY FASTING!

 

Related Articles:

The Challenges and Benefits of a Water Fast