So Ive been fasting and today is day seven. I feel great, my spirits are up and I have not really felt hungry. There are times when I get a little light headed and there are times when I do feel hungry but they dont tend to last longer than a few minuets, less than 5 id say. But I cant stop thinking about food. Its frustrating!

When eating I always think about food, what to eat next, when will I eat next... Constantly and when I do eat I have the habit of overeating and im on this fast to cleanse and re-center myself and get a bearing on these issues of mine and its happening during my fast! Id like to do at least ten days, but everyday I struggle with thoughts of food (mostly fruit), its like dealing with an inner food demon. I wonder is this normal? Ive read that after day three most dont have cravings for food, and while Im not having cravings, I cant get my mind off it. Id just like one day to not dwell on food. Too have that peace of mind to not be constantly debating with myself.

Besides all that, when it comes to day 10 and If I dont feel any different physically wise Id like to continue until my body says to stop (I hope that at some point Ill stop with the food thoughts) but how do you know? What are true hunger pains? WHat other signs do you look for?

nomnomnomnom...!

Hi MJ, I've done 10 day water fasts and more. I have done it as long as 12 days. My friend did 41 days.

When I fasted, I collected all sorts of recipes and such. I also got a lot of junk reading done as I didn't have much energy. That's great that you have so much energy. That must mean that you aren't very encumbered.

In my opinion, if this is your first fast, go with 10 days and then begin the re-feeding process. Be careful that you break the fast with a small portion of fruit like half an apple. A great book on fasting is "The mucusless-diet healing system" by Arnold Ehret. He also wrote "Rational Fasting" which I haven't read. That might help you better.

The object of fasting is to allow your body to detox without diverting energy to digest food. If you don't have any encumbrances, there is little need to fast. This would mean that your diet is so clean and your environment is so pristine that you have taken in no toxins. I, myself, prefer to do a couple of 10 day fasts a year. You can do it more frequently but it is important to ensure that your body had enough minerals to sustain the frequency.

I believe the object of fasting is to speed detox. If I go with that premise and I do other types of cleanses/detoxes during the year, there isn't much need to do severely long or frequent fasts. Hope that helps. Therese

I've done short fasts and much longer ones. You can't mistake the hunger pains.

1. Juice no longer is appealing. You can force yourself to drink it but it's like you get nothing out of it. You might LOVE carrot juice....and this will go away. Even if you're doing different juices as variety and taste..it's yuck.

2. Hunger Pains. Not the same as thoughts of food or smells of food triggering hunger..(which actually stops).. it's like deep pains/cramps. not painful but your body clearly begging for food.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/2010 03:57AM by BackAgain.

This is not my first fast it is actually my fourth. The reason I am doing this one is because I went on a binge of eating cooked vegan junk food for a couple weeks and this was the only way I could break the cycle. I have to admit it has done the trick, I feel a thousand times better!

Last night was the first time I think I was actually hungry, it was not painful but it was more than a just a craving, I also felt very lightheaded and kinda out of it and just relaxed on the couch waiting for it to go away. It never really did, lasted all night off and on (I drink so much during the day I get up to pee at least three times a night), but this morning I feel back to normal... I would love to make my 10 day mark but I dont want to hurt my body, I also go back to work tonight and want to have enough energy for that. I think Ill see how I continue to feel this morning.

Thanks for your help and advice!

nomnomnomnom...!

Its been a couple hours and im not hungry, not one bit! But i feel so out of it, I dont know how to explain it. I almost feel like im vibrating, odd I know but it is like a combination of shaky, lightheadedness and being spacy but at the same time not really any of those. Im going to break my fast just because I want to feel more grounded for work (I work on a boat and we are going out to sea, have to do manual labor and such).

I have decided on strawberrys and kiwi to break it with. I would much perfer watermelon but I dont know if they have them at the local store. If they do then Ill be picking up one of those too!

Happy friday everyone!!!

nomnomnomnom...!

Happy Friday, morgenjune! Hope they have watermelon at the store : )

Thank you and they did! It was so good, sweet and juicy, the perfect thing on a warm sunny day

nomnomnomnom...!