I know there aren't many of them out there today but I am 15 years old and I am an extremely healthy eater, or so I've thought. Everything I eat is organic, non-processed,ect. but after learning about raw foods, I am now converting over. One question that I have though, is would it be safe for me to go on one of these fasts and for how long should I go on it? I am currently 100 lbs which is one of the highest weights I've been at yet. I came up from 93 lbs so I think I might be fine but I was just wondering if anyone out there could tell me if a fast would be safe and if it would be, what kind of fast could I attempt?

I hear you. Good questions.

#1 - Fasting is the WORST way to lose weight - as it lowers your overall metabolism. If you must fast, do light juice fasts....or MANY fasts...of just 1 day....for a long period of time.

-Use enemas during fasts...if you wish....to help facilitate elimination...along with gentle abdominal massage.

-Make the VERY SMALL changes on a day to basis that allow you to stretch. Make sure you have clear lifetime goals in mind that REQUIRE healthy eating. You'll find a way to succeed for sure then!

-Congratulations on your healthier lifestyle! You'll get lots of great support on this board and elsewhere....from myself and the other wonderful folks.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

I am also wondering what your height and frame size are... you are still growing, and even though you have gained weight, you might not have a lot of weight to spare. As a female, I didn't grow height-wise after 15, but I did still have to fill out (hips and such).

DZM has great advice--focus on make small changes you can maintain, these changes will bring the greatest health to you. This is far better than making drastic changes you may not be able to continue. Good luck! It's so great to start out on the path of health early in life.

Hey rost0037! I am 5 foot 3 and I'm honestly pretty thin. I don't have a ton of weight to spare which I was wondering. Thanks for your help and thanks to davidzanemason for yours

I am just starting to experiment with fasting myself and have a very low body weight also. I'm 5.11" or 181 cms and weigh around 120 pds or 55 kgs.

I have just completed about a 28 hour water fast. I don't know what others experience but the last hours were prety tough for me. By the end of the day I was getting weak from hunger and went to bed fairly exhusted, by the morning around 2 oclock it was so uncomfortable I was almost counting the minuites until I could eat and ended up getting up at 2:30 and making a green juice.

I experienced a strong fatigue which I wasn't expecting. I have an incredibly low fat ratio in my body so I'm wondering if that was why... otherwise I must assume its because I'm still fairly toxic although I've been eating only raw veges and fruit for about 6 months and almost no fat for the last 2. I was drinking plenty of water. Next time I think I will just do a day from night till night and eat before bed, as before this time I was still feeling ok. Anyone have and thoughts / experiences ?

Hi Jmann!

I am 5'3" also! Small-framed, and thin but weighing a few more than you But in my mid-20s--and my hips didn't grow until I was 20, so keep in mind that you may still need to grow in ways you wouldn't expect (all of a sudden my pants didn't fit! It was bizarre after over 5 years of being at the same height). My roommate was tiny and petite and all set to be a ballet dancer--until her freshman year in college when she grew giant breasts and hips, and is now very voluptuous and beautiful (and NOT overweight). You never know!

So--I would not try and lose weight, or do anything that would make you lose weight, like a lot of water fasting. DZM had great ideas as always, you could also juice fast, so you get all the calories you need while giving your digestive system a break. Trust that your body will be at the weight it should be as long as you give it what it needs--and give it what it needs! Focus on building healthy tissue through healthy foods and your body will cleanse itself. 100 is great and you may find yourself at a higher weight later on--and that's okay!

Thanks rost0037. As a wrestler, I'm actually underweight right now since the minimum weight is 103 so I should try to keep my weight up. I have heard though that fasting cleanses your system. Is that true because that is really my main objective in the fast? I have read all sorts of stories about people who, before they transitioned to raw foods,went on fasts. I thought if it did, that i would try but im not sure to believe or not? thanks again for all your help and im sure ill see u around more on the message board.

Fasts aren't critical to switching to a raw foods diet, but they do accelerate the detox process. It puts you in a direct line of communication with your body, and for the first time, it's when a lot of people get to hear/experience directly all the ways in which they've been living unhealthfully. Not that fasts are by nature scary and painful--they are beautiful, energizing, and transforming--but part of the healing process is definitely the body saying when something needs to go.

At least for me, the last time I did a 10 day juice fast, I didn't intend to do it to go raw, I just wanted to clean house--and shocked by all of the ridiculous symptoms (makeup from years ago coming out of my nose in blue and purple gobs, sweating yellow, experiencing cravings for junk food I haven't touched in years), it served as a serious wake-up call. Fasting is just like pulling an e-brake, and for those who have unhealthy diets/lifestyles, it gives the body a moment to yell loud and clear, "THIS IS WHAT YOU ARE DOING TO ME!!"

Plus, when you experience the clear head and high energy associated with having a cleaner, healthier, happier body, naturally, you'd want to keep it that way! And what better way to do that than to add more fresh foods post-fast?

In the beginning, fasting can trigger severe detox symptoms. Also, you have to be totally committed to keeping the level of health brought on by the fast afterwards, or you will slowly lose some of that over time (even though I went from cooked vegan to 50% raw after my ten days, I still gained the weight back over time and got sick). In a way, this is why just gradually increasing your amount of raw is easier, the transition is permanent--and mark my words, you will see SIGNIFICANT changes.

At first, when I went 100% raw, I felt kind of "lazy" since I had done several hardcore juice fasts in the past and wasn't doing them now: after about 6 weeks, though, I saw more changes in my body than I did on any of the fasts, and all were PERMANENT. Now I'm just going up, up, and away. =)

If you are new to fasting, I would advise just keep increasing your raw, and do short fasts of 24-36 hours, maybe twice a month, if you feel the need.

Good luck!

I want to add that if you are a boy, I bet you will be able to gain a lot of muscle eating cleanly and keeping fasts to short spurts as suggested. Good luck!