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35 days without eating or drinking anything, but water…

One of my personal goals this year is to do a  40 day water fast.

In 2016, I did 20, 22 and 30 day water fasts over the year.  I felt great during each of those fasts.

I feel so good when I fast that it’s a “fasting high” that I am chasing – and this incredible great feeling is a big motivator for me to fast and why I find fasting to be easy.
I want to feel that nonstop great feeling/high all over again.

I only do water fasting, and not juice fasts.  Juice has sugar and carbohydrates, and from my experience the “fast” results and feelings are not at all the same as when I do a water fast.

To be completely honest  —  it is a big mental challenge to organize one’s life to only drink water for long extended periods of time —  I like the mental challenge and focus I am forced to have when I fast.

This year I want to break 40 days on a water fast.

But this time I lasted only 35 days …

I was aiming for 40 days, but unfortunately, I got to day 33/34 and was very tired and extremely, hungry.
Oddly, my resting heart rate is normally 43-45 bpm but for some reason it was 80-82 on day 35.

I was tired and felt like crap, and had to leave the office and go home at noon.
Ultimately, I decided after 35 days to break my fast.

I have read that you know it’s time to stop a fast when your hunger returns … and day 32,33, 34 I was very hungry.
This sensation did not happen on the previous fasts I have done.  Normally, one is not hungry at all during a fast.

I think I began this water fast too thin … so by day 28 I had burned all my fat stores and I started to become hungry.

I went to a Dr. from day 1 and then again on day 36.  I had my blood work, weight and even took an EKG on day 1 and then again on day 36.

When the Dr. measured my resting heart rate on day one it was 43 bpm, and on day 36 it was 82 bpm!!!

My resting heart rate should have either remained the same as day 1 or gone down a beat or two …
All other fasts I have done, my resting heart rate has gone down a beat or two towards the end of the fast.  Normally, it is expected your heart rate lowers, and does not increase!

Also, something worth noting is that I did not exercise at all this fast.  All other fasts, I exercised/ran or swam 6 days a week.  On the 22 day fast, I ran a 30 km run on the 22nd day … my fastest 30km run ever, and I felt great after the run.

This 35 day fast was by far the hardest one I have done, and oddly, I didn’t do any physical activity during the fast … maybe this was my problem and why I didn’t feel as good as I normally do when I fast.

On day 36, I had all my blood and tests redone and the Dr. commented, and I quote his email:   “your body is amazing.  It has maintained your sugar levels and blood count level perfectly despite the challenge.”  Within a day of breaking the fast, my resting heart rate was back down to 45 and seems to be fine now.

I was 87 kilo/191 lbs when I started and weighed 74 kilo/162 lbs on day 36.  I want to maintain 78-80 kg as my normal weight.

Although I didn’t have as good experience (as I normally have) when I fast, I am confident in the health benefits of fasting. I have read, watched numerous videos, and studied fasting for a long time. I am not just doing this stuff off a hunch.

I am certain water fasting is great for one’s health – but Dr’s and pharma companies do not make any money by people fasting, so we hear very little positive things about fasting.

In 5 months, From November 1st, I will do another long fast and aim to break 40 days next time — i have to break 40 days fasting because its one of my goals to achieve this year.

For anyone interested in knowing more about water fasting, please find information below.
I have included several YouTube video links to give as much information as possible.

I highly recommend the book:

https://www.amazon.com/Hygienic-Fasting-Sunbathing-Herbert-Shelton/dp/B000V10A7G

 

Dr. Alan Goldhamer has some great info on water fasting and how he has used fasting even to cure stage 4 cancer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_grRFH5oRDQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl8Y5jV0hN0&t=3696s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHbJMmm2rOU&t=159s

  
  
       

15 thoughts on “35 days without eating or drinking anything, but water…”

  2. William Blake

    I started the next day on May 18th, thanks to your blog, and am on Day 8 of water only. I’ve never done more than 10 days on water only, but your example is spurring me on. Greetings from Zambia.

    • Scott Ragsdale

      when i first began water fasting, i had a coffee in the morning (always around 3am) and that was the only thing other than water.
      as i got into fasting, i also quit caffeine. Broth has salt so didnt try it during a water fast; no juice either. only water. i am not saying it is bad … i just focus on water fasting.

  5. Chris

    Hey I haven’t fasted before but I find myself going days without eating naturally. I want to try a water fast but I have a fast matabalism and my current height is 5’10 and my weight is 115lbs. I have never really gained weight no matter the diet but I want to fast for many reasons, I’m looking into more things for fasting but I was wondering if you think it’s pissiboe for me to fast healthily

    • Scott Ragsdale

      i am no expert so i dont want to give advice. my suggestion is read up on water fasting. from my experience, anyone you will ask about it will be very negative on water fasting so be careful on who you ask and discuss it with — but read about water fasting so you understand it. Dr Goldhamer is a great resource of information. he has several youtube videos.
      have a good experience.

  6. Mary May Primmer

    Hi, I was wondering how often do you fast? I did 22 days water fast for the very first time last January 2018 and I’m planning to do 28days fast again this coming December. Do you think my body is ready for another long fast? I’m only 105lbs , 4’11” tall.
    Thank you so much for your time.

    • csr

      For the past few years, I fast every 3-4 months. this year, I did 40 days in Jan/Feb, 23 days in May, 24 days in August/Sept and now I am on day 28 of a month-long fast I am doing for the month of October. I like to fast. I am certain of the health benefits, but I am 6’4″ 180-195 lbs (my weight is steady, but depending on my training schedule I go up ten-fifteen lbs) also, i purposefully gain 10 lbs before a long fast. i am doing this long fast close to a recent long fast I did (in Aug/sept) because this fast is focused on “prayer and fasting” and i want to do the entire month of Oct. i fasted with a friend who has stage 4 cancer in aug/sept …

  7. Tomas

    Hi Scott,

    Don’t do it. If you felt extremely hungry that’s a signal that your fast is finished. Your body simply have no inside resources left to feed on. No fat or damaged tissues etc. And it’s not ‘breaking the fast’. Breaking the fast is when you start feeding still not being hungry. If you’ll keep fasting after you got extremely hungry, which is fully completed fast, your body is going to feed on your internal organs which will cause kind of damage you possibly will not be able to repair with any kind of fast later.
    It’s a simple and key rule every fan of prolonged fast has to know: as soon as you got extremely hungry your fasting is done. And you can eat proper healthy meal straight away. No need to bother with only juices for several days as in the case of ‘breaking the fast’.

    I have an experience similar to your in this thing.

    • csr

      i still had body fat so i surely could have fasted longer… because i still had energy from the fat on me so i am sure i would have been ok.
      i have read as well that you know when a fast is completed when your hunger returns and ultimately during hte fast in discussion, i did stop. however, a year later i did 41 days and fought through the hunger at day 34 and it went away and i was able to do 41 days – but it was nothing like the hunger from the fast in discussion. my goal was to break 40 days which i did …so i am glad i battled through the half day of strong hunger. i guess it depends on ones goal and if they still have body fat on their person.

  8. Henry

    I am on day 38 of my water fast if I restart eating what do you recommend I should eat watermelon or just start eating a normal diet again?

    • csr

      i am not the best to ask because i do it wrong…i always just eat whatever i want. but everything i have heard or read is that you start with fruit …
      i once broke a 30 day strict water fast by running a full marathon on day 30 and then after the marathon, i ate an entire big bag of M&Ms … which tasted so good. But this is not how one should break a 30 day water fast.
      after my 40 day water fast, i went out for french lunch … so i am not the best to ask at how to break fasts. i like to fast, and when i fast, i fast very strictly .. but when i break the fast, i dont do it the right way. great job for your 40 day fast.

  9. Lorie Welch

    I love your story and the discussion below. Thank you for sharing. I started playing around with fasting just months ago and my body feels 20 years younger. But until my current fast, I’d only done 2.5 and 3.5 day fasts. Now I’m on day 6 and determined to make it to day term at the very least. My true goal is two months but I’ll reevaluate at 10, and 30 days to see about adjusting my goals. I was 227a year ago. Today I’m 187 pounds. I was 197 when I started my latest fast, so I know if I broke my fast today if probably land at about 194. Again, thanks for sharing! I’m so thrilled about this new approach to health.

    • csr

      its 99.9999% mental. if your goal is to go 2 months … there is nothing to re-evaluate at day 10 or day 20.
      whatever thoughts you have … at the end of the day, how you feel is very mental so depending on your sleep, your support system of friends … etc. fasting is very easy. much much easier than all the youtube videos say it is … but you have to want to fast. if you want to do 2 months. fast for 2 months and do its strict, do not cheat or break it … no matter what your mind tells you. i guarantee that if you make it to the end of the 2 month … your life will never be the same.
      but like most things in life, you have to make it happen. after you achieve 2 months – send me another comment to update me. make it happen.