I started fasting, consuming nothing but water and a few grains of Himalayan rock salt, last Saturday night, with Sunday really being “Day 1”. I’m aiming for 40 days, but I’ll just take it a day at a time and see how things go as I go. So I’ve been saying “Up to 40 days” just in case I don’t make it that far.

I'm kind of kicking myself for not starting this blog subject and doing it each day, but better late than never hey Steemians?

Before I get onto how I’m doing today, I’ll briefly tell you about each day as I remember them.

Day 1

And so it begins

No real big deal, just like a normal day actually.
I did miss my morning coffee, but it wasn’t a big deal as I have skipped coffee for days in the past.
Normal bowel movement which was expected.

Lunch time came and past and I did slightly feel a little jealous watching my family eating.
I spent the day keeping myself busy so I wasn’t thinking about food and I drank a lot more water than I normally would in a day.

I can typically last until evening without eating before cravings for food start to set in, which they did, but by drinking a lot of water before going to bed I was able to get to sleep without any issues.

Day 2

Monday Monday

I woke up earlier than I do other days as I have a weekly guitar lesson with my teacher at 7am Monday mornings. Once again, a coffee would have been lovely, but I stuck with my water, got on with the lesson and got on with the rest of the day.

Bowel movement was very small and thin (sorry if that’s too much detail, I’ll try and keep my mentions of that subject very simplistic. I’ll refer to it as BM from now on too.)

Lunchtime was a bit tougher on the second day, hunger was trying to make me break my fast, but I was determined to continue on drinking lots of water to keep the “hunger pains” away.

Even though I’d had an early morning, going to bed that night was more difficult even after drink lots of water. I still felt very hungry. I remedied the hunger and managed to get to sleep OK by sucking on a smallish chunk of Himalayan rock salt. Having that little bit of flavour really helped and I don’t consider a little bit of salt to be breaking the fast.

Day 3

Working from home today. Yay!

I arose feeling pretty normal. Not hungry at all. Yes, coffee would have been nice, but I didn’t feel like I needed it. Water was quite satisfying but BM was almost not happening at all.

Logged onto my computer and focused on my work while drinking lots of water throughout the day.

I noticed that despite me drinking probably more than twice the amount of water that I typically would in a day that my urine had become quite dark. Dark urine is usually associated with dehydration but as I had been drinking so much water, well over 3 litres a day, I took that as a sign that my body has started to kick into cleans mode.

While my family enjoyed their lunch, I recall really enjoying the smell of celery in the room. It was strong, peppery and the smell satisfying enough to satisfy any hunger I may have felt. I found that strange as in the past, when I have been hungry, the smell of foods can either make me feel sick or over hungry.

I wasn’t so fazed about not eating when it came time for the family to enjoy their evening meal and going to bed that night wasn’t much of an issue like it had been the previous two nights.

All up though, on reflection this third day was the toughest day so far.

Day 4

Back into the office today.

I awoke feeling pretty good, not hungry at all, no desire for a coffee but I was thirsty. I gulped down my first glass of water quite quickly and followed that with a few more glasses before I left home for the office.
BM wasn’t happening this morning, but after the day before I was expecting that.

I had stupidly forgotten to grab my water bottle before walking out the door and had to make the whole hour long trip into the city without a drink. I was quite thirsty by the time I got into the office but I felt like I still had plenty of energy and I settled into my desk and kept myself busy.

I went for a walk to the park for my lunch break. It was overcast for most of the day but I was fortunate that the clouds cleared and I was able to enjoy laying down on the grass while being bathed in lovely warm sunshine.

Once again, I noticed that the smell of food was enjoyable as I walked past the tea room where people were eating their lunches, even the food smells that would usually turn me off.

I did feel a little tired after returning to the office from my walk to the park, but that passed and the rest of the afternoon wasn’t any different to a typical day except I drank a lot of water when I would have been drinking coffee if I wasn’t fasting.
Urine was still quite dark this day too.

That evening at home I wasn’t feeling anywhere near as hungry as I had the previous evenings.
I took a hot bath before going to bed. I had my small chunk of rock salt and slept very well.

Day 5

Wow, what a day of up and down.

Morning was no problem, drank my water and went about getting ready for the day after a small BM.
I really enjoyed my morning shower, almost too much to the point of almost not being ready in time for my train to the city. I remembered my water bottle this time which I completely polished off before getting into the office.

I was noticing a lack of hunger in myself. I’m not saying I wouldn’t have enjoyed the luxury or some food, I just didn’t really feel like I needed it. My water was satisfying enough.

I walked to the park for my lunch break and enjoyed the sun so much I even took off my shirt to get that little bit extra vitamin D.

Not long after returning to the office, brain fog set in. I was feeling like I had hit a wall and running really low on energy. It was becoming hard to concentrate so instead of coding I found other things that I was able to do without too much brain effort. Even so, I did stay in the office a bit late to finish off the things I was doing.

My urine was still quite dark in colour. I did a bit of research (online) into water only fasting and read that it was pretty common for urine to become dark for a while when fasting even with increased water intake. I also saw a recommendation to do a salt flush with a half tablespoon each of rock salt and epsom salt to a litre of warm water and decided I’d do that when I got home.

I still felt quite exhausted by the time I was home that evening. My eyes felt tired, my head felt heavy and I was starting to think that I wouldn’t be lasting too much longer on the fast.

I made up the salt wash. Boy oh boy, was that lovely. It was like a meal to me. I drank it in a coffee mug warm and it was like drinking soup. I was so happy that I could even have seconds… and thirds (plus) until the whole litre was gone.

I ran a hot bath and added Epsom salt and watched a documentary about Heavy Metal on my laptop while soaking in it. After the bath I noticed my urine was starting to become clear again and as I had read the salt wash had also stimulated a nice little BM.

Another thing I had read and my body was starting to show agreement with was that it’s not uncommon in the early stage of the fast to experience small pimples or boils on the skin as the body starts using that method to clean house too. Yes, I was getting them. They were on my arms and torso. Not too many, but they are there.

I hadn’t noticed any body odour or bad breath yet but I had started developing a bit of a film on my tongue.

After the hot bath I had zero trouble getting to sleep and I had one of the best night sleeps I’d had for a while.

Day 6 (Today)

Quite a spring in my step this morning.

I wasn’t even that thirsty when I awoke. It was almost a struggle to drink my water.
I went about the usual getting ready to head off for the city. Urine had a little bit of colour but has returned to a normal almost clear state. There was no BM this morning.

My shower was just way too nice, I had to pry myself out by making the water cold to wake myself up from the dreamy state I found the shower had put me into. I dressed as normal and hit the wall.

Bang!

I wasn’t going anywhere today.

I crashed on the bed for another half an hour and then logged into my work on the laptop. I didn’t have the brain fade I experienced the day before, but I didn’t feel like I had the energy to be walking around. So I set up in bed and that’s where I spent most of today.

I had another shower and another rest for my ‘lunch break’ just after midday. I didn’t sleep but I was close and it was enough to rejuvenate me for the rest of the afternoon.

I think I would have been lucky to have drunk three litres of water so far, I’m not quite sure as I’m not measuring my water intake. I just didn’t feel like drinking as much today yet my urine has remained pretty clear.

As I type this up I am having my nice warm salty water and I’m about to go to bed. Feeling quite good actually. No hunger, no heavy nor light headed. I’m not even as tired as I expected I might be but I am ready for a good sleep.

The only this that has me down a bit about today is that I had planned to see a few bands tonight, Iron Drive, Holy Diver (DIO tribute), Ace of Spades (Motörhead tribute) and Kilamain. A friend was also celebrating her birthday at the gig so it’s a double bummer that I can’t make it. I probably could have but I don’t think I would have handled the smell of stacks of alcohol and I no doubt would have hit the wall again at some stage in the night. Best for me to stay home and relax.

Tomorrow Will Be Day 7

I go swimming each Saturday morning so that’s going to be interesting how that makes me feel. It usually makes me feel quite tired afterwards and I’m also thinking of having a sauna while I’m there. Anyway, that’s a tale for tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Thank you for reading this far. I plan on posting about my progress daily from now on so if you’d like to keep an eye on my progress, feel free to follow me, even if it’s just for a while to see my fasting posts. You can always stop following after that if you like.

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• My Water Only Fasting Experience – Day 7