11-Day Water Only fast - 1st day of re-feed

 

As mentioned, I hardly slept at all, but was ready to get the day going! An exciting day of liquids other than warm water! My taste-buds couldn't wait. At 8am I headed to the store for some fresh produce. I bought some large carrots, collards, red bell peppers, cucumbers, hen a red onion and green onions for later in the day, and a coconut water for sipping on through the week.

I juiced 3 carrots, 1 medium cucumber, 1/2 red bell pepper, and 5 collard green leaves. It was amazing!! I had the juice at around 9:30am. It made about 16 oz.

Then at 12pm I took the left over soup I made last night and added equal parts of water to make it last longer. It was just ad delicious! Warm with a beautiful subtle flavor. I never would have predicted it,but apple cider vinegar really enhances it! 

I waited an hour and a half and had another bowl of it at 1:30pm. I enhanced it with some dried basil and garlic and herb dash seasoning. 

about 2 hours later I saw a super ripe banana that called my name and I couldn't resist! It's on my schedule to introduce fruits tomorrow, but couldn't help myself! It was the sweetest, tastiest banana I've ever had! Flavors I've never tasted before came out and I thoroughly enjoyed each cut up round with three savoring bites! No regrets!

Then for dinner I made a blended cabbage soup. 

I sauteed some cabbage, red onion, and carrots in water with one anise star, some garlic and ginger. Then after they sweat for a while I dusted it with some onion and garlic powder and tiny bit of garlic and herbs dash seasoning. I then added veggie broth until it came to a boil. I let it simmer for a little bit, then blended it all up! I sprinkled some green onion tops on top, and later added some fresh peas too so I chew and take my time devouring this incredibly warming soup. It was amazing! Two bowls full were 220 calories and a lot of nutrients. I.3g of fat and 12g of protein!

The following days of my re-feed I had plenty of green juices, blended soups, cooked veggies, fruits, and then on to salad greens, and introduced sweet potatoes, beans, etc slowly within the week. Another successful water fast for the books!
 

 

11-Day Water Only Fast - Day 11

I am Dillon Holmes, and I recently stayed at the True North Health Center for two weeks for my first prolonged water fast. I fasted 7 days! I had the privilege of sitting down with Dr. Alan Goldhamer to talk about fasting. In this video we cover the following: -What is the ideal human diet? -What happens if we don't eat that diet? -What is water fasting and when did it come about? -Who is best for water fasting? -For what ailments is water fasting best suited? -Should we fast when we get sick? -What is the difference between TrueNorth and the McDougall Program? -Are there benefits from doing a short 3-5 day fast? -What is ketosis and how have we misused this critical body process? -Is it too late to get healthy if I have already had an extreme surgery? -Environmental toxins and fasting. -The ideal health care system.

Day 11, another good start to my day. I woke up well rested and feeling good. No tiredness, weakness, or any other negative symptoms. I actually feel better than when I'm not fasting because my joints and muscles hurt less upon waking. All my recent days on the fast seem to be quite similar recently. 

Because I went for a good couple of walks yesterday, and the temp dropped significantly outside today, I decided today was a no-walk day. I'm sticking with moving and stretching my body throughout the day, along with my favorite table pushups and deep squats. It's been quite a journey, and I'm enjoying my last day of water. 

I ate my last meal at 6:15pm 11 days ago, so, I decided that was a great time to end my fast. I had my first bite at 7pm.I would have liked to go a few more days longer, but my resting heart-rate was getting very low, and I knew eating would help me regulate that better. It dropped to 38 beats/min while sleeping and 44 resting heart-rate during the day, and had been dropping almost every other day. 

I broke the fast with a fasting soup recipe by Buchinger Wilhelmi clinic, so technically it's not really breaking it, but I wanted to ease in very slowly. So I made the batch of soup, and had about 10oz of it at 6:30pm and another 10 oz at 8:30pm. It was delicious!                                                                          

The recipe for this soup:

1 red onion, 20 baby carrots (sauteed in water), then added 2 cloves of garlic, 1/2 inch of ginger, onion powder, garlic powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tbs apple cider vinegar (to aid in digestion) and 4 cups of low sodium veggie broth. 

I had half of it, this evening which came to about 60 calories. 

Because the soup was the first thing my belly experienced, and it wasn't very filling, I noticed that I was pretty hungry trying to sleep, a feeling I hadn't felt for the past 11 days. This might have been a factor in not being able to sleep. I was very restless and basically just not tired enough to fall asleep! I did eventually fall asleep for about an hour and a half, then woke up at 2:30am and ended up lying in bed trying to sleep from then until 6:30am when I got out of bed. Although I basically had no sleep, I was feeling just fine in the morning. I was actually really looking forward to getting the day started to put more in my belly!

11-Day Water Only Fast - Day 10

A wonderful Vlog by Laura doing a 7 day water only fast for cell repair.

Day 10, entering into the double digits, and once again I feel amazing. No dizziness, extreme fatigue, nausea or any other negative symptoms apart from some struggles with sleep. I know I haven't been expending a lot of energy the past few days, so that could have a lot to do with it. You gain a weird energy surge when water fasting, even though you may feel weaker than normal. Tongue is still whitish, mouth dry (extreme cold weather and heater on has contributed to this), but overall, I feel really good.

Last night I took a magnesium pill at the end of the day, because I only had half a serving of my fasting powered though the day, and after sitting in a squatting position for a while, while tending to my pup, my calves felt very strained. I have to say it helped a lot, so from now on I'm taking the full serving of fasting salts without fail. I then took an L-Tryptophan pill and a Melatonin pill, but still had a hard time sleeping. However, oddly enough both my Fitbit and Oura ring said I was very well rested and recovered well, so I guess it wasn't as bad as I expected. I did however had nightmares! I was wondering when that would come about, Melatonin always gives me nightmares!

As for my day, I have to say it was my best day yet! My energy was hi, my body felt amazing, loose flexible joints, clear lungs and mind, and just feeling great! I took my pup for a short 1.5-mile walk, then came home and snuggled with her for a little bit while I got some work done, then just had to go for another solo walk because I was so energized, and the temps reached 40! All day long I felt wonderful, and am blown away how good I feel, considering so many Vlogers mention struggling this far along, but for me it somehow got better. Maybe the two days indoors of rest and just squats & pushups did my body good. 

I did hop in the sauna gain in the evening for 50 minutes, then followed it with a hot/cold shower. Again, I felt amazing and energized after that. Then it was time to wind down, so rested for the hour before I headed to work at 8pm. I took a Melatonin pill and L-Tryptophan pill again to make sure I sleep well. I was tired by bedtime, and did fall asleep, but I did wake up several times, but relaxed enough not to toss and turn, so although I was up many times and laid away several times in the night, I felt good and well rested in the morning.

My weight this morning was 117.9 lbs and 25.5% body fat.  

 

 

11-Day Water Only Fast - Day 9

 

Aussie brothers Sinclair and Saxon tell us about putting their bodies on the line to see what happens when they didn't eat food for 40 days. 

 

Day 9, I'm so proud of myself for being able to surpass my last fasting length, all while feeling amazing! I slept really well after taking some L-Tryptophan and Melatonin. I did have weird dreams though. Today was a long shift day at work, so I worked from 10pm last night until 3pm. I was able to keep my energy good throughout the day, getting in some squats and leaning on the counter push-ups though the day to keep my muscles active. I may not do much walking for the rest of my fasting period because the weather is so incredibly cold. I will take my dog for her usual walk in the morning though, once she's permitted to after a couple days of recover.

I've noticed that I've felt like meditating more, and did a few sessions from the MindValley app that I just loved, and plan to continue that practice for the duration of my fast. 

I spent the evening doing my usual routine, hour in the sauna, but only a hot shower today, then snuggle with my pup until I went to work at 8pm. I had warm water all day long, my electrolyte fasting powder, and tried a new loose leave herbal tea I had bought from my local co-op. 

 

All in all another great day in the books of water fasting! 

My weight this morning was 119.7 lbs and 26.3% body fat.