I recently completed an almost 8-day fast. By fast, I am not talking about six juices per day or all vegetables or all fruit or all eggs. The fast I did was a food-less fast. We were allowed to drink water, apple cider vinegar, tea, bone broth (in limitation) and one bulletproof style coffee per day.
As the day inched closer, I felt ready and excited. I was looking forward to giving my body a break from eating. I know many cultures do fasts and it has a lot of positive effects on our mind and body. Therefore, I was on board.
The weekend before my fast was to begin my daughter began getting sick, but I was not going let this stop me from crushing my fast. I bought bone broth and stocked up on apple cider vinegar. Here's my favorite ACV mocktail.
Day 1: I began my fast. I had my morning coffee. I drank water and ACV throughout the day, and when I felt actual hunger I drank a cup of bone broth. The only thing affecting my psyche was my daughter's hacking cough which we confirmed was walking pneumonia, and I began to have symptoms of the keto flu. Even with illness spreading, I ended the day feeling empowered.
Day 2: I woke up a little bummed that my daughter was sick and I wasn't feeling too great myself. I was glad we skipped trick-or-treating because even though I have been sugar free for weeks, having a bag full of candy is asking for trouble. The whole day went well, but towards our traditional dinner time around 5:30 p.m. my emotional eating tested me. I felt anxiety hearing my daughter hacking up a lung I was tempted to order pizza and drown my emotions in a hot slice. I held strong and completed day 2 of my fast.
Day 3: My keto flu symptoms continue and my daughter was still sick as well. I did not let this take me down. I was sick of bone broth by this point and all I had was water, tea and apple cider vinegar. Besides the flu symptoms, I felt okay. I definitely kept it easy and mostly cozied up to my daughter all day. I ended day 3 and patted myself on the back for not giving in to the emotional stress.
Day 4: I confirmed what I thought was still the keto flu lingering was actually the flu. Being in close proximity to my daughter it was inevitable I would get sick. So here I am on a food-less fast, a sick child, feeling very sick myself and on the verge of tears. I researched and asked questions of my Reset group, and prepared a list of stuff to fight of this bug. I was told I could add a spoonful of avocado or nut butter and I bought these fenu-thyme capsules. I armed myself flu fighting kit of fenu-thyme, avocado, tea and vapor rub. I did have a little avocado and stuck to liquids. I ended day 4 feeling a little guilty about having to add avocado, but I knew I had to let go of that guilty in order to let the fast continue to have positive benefits on my body.
Day 5: My husband stayed home to take care of us and this was a huge help especially on my mental state. It gave me an opportunity to rest a little more while he spent time with our daughter. I was feeling pretty crappy, but I do not give up easily. I was popping two fenu-thyme capsules three times a day and my vitamins two times a day. It seemed nuts to be taking 10 capsules and only drinking water and tea. Its weird that our brains are so accustomed to our ingrained beliefs about food that I could not imagine this being okay. I once again had a little avocado and continued on. At night time my guilt crept in again and I told myself that tomorrow I would skip on the avocado altogether and go back to 100% liquids. I went to bed early and still felt determined to finish this thing.
Day 6: It was definitely a little easier being sick and fasting having my husband was home with us. When they had their meals I had a cup of hot tea usually Lemon Balm or Cold Season tea. I would also add some ACV, lemon and a dash of salt. I spent most of the time on the couch watching movies and trying not to think of food. I mostly felt sick of being sick. I came to the realization that if we wouldn't have gotten sick I would be so good at this fasting thing! I made it through the day with all liquids and survived another day.
Day 7: I woke up still feeling like the women in the NyQuil commercials, and scheduled a doctor appointment for tomorrow. I fasted all day, took my vitamins, rested as much as possible and tried to keep myself entertained. My entertainment mostly consisted of pinning my comeback meals on Pinterest. I was already envisioning what my first meal would be. I could have broken my fast on this day, but I decided to push through and would see what news I got from my doctor. I could not believe I made it this far.
Day 8: I fasted all morning and in the afternoon I had my doctor appointment. My overall stats were good, blood pressure was great, but my temperature was a little high and my lungs didn't sound good. I definitely had walking pneumonia symptoms. I was handed a face mask, a barrel of antibiotics and told to go home and rest this thing off. I called my husband to tell him what was going on and his first response was your breaking your fast today and tell me what you want me to bring home to you. I could not believe that I made it this long. At 5:30 p.m. on day 8 I had my first meal!
What I ate for my first meal?
I was somewhere between a juicy burger and sushi. Haha! I didn't want to get sick from a heavy meal so I chose sushi. I ate some tuna cucumber rolls, a few bites of barbecue albacore, miso soup and some homemade salad. It was delicious and perfect.
What I learned about fasting?
Your fast may not go as planned because life is full of curve balls, but do not give up. I had planned out what my week would be like. How I would keep myself busy on my daughter's school days and so on. Well my daughter did not go to school all week and we both got very sick (still on the mend). Life does not stop while you are fasting. Your fasting week will be a good time to touch base with yourself and your relationship with food will come to light.
Would I do it again?
YES. I feel so healthy inside--light as a fairy. I lost some weight which is an added bonus. My favorite part is the high I felt knowing I did it. I rock at this fasting business. I plan to do a fast 1-2 times per year.
Tips for anyone interested in fasting?
Do your research and let your primary doctor know. If you can do it with a friend or partner because having some accountability and someone to lean on is great help. Prepare yourself mentally. Buy some bone broth, apple cider vinegar and some new teas to try. Take into account that the first few days you may get flu symptoms which is normal, but not everyone gets it. For those that didn't get full on sick like I did, I heard after day 4 your feel awesome. Lastly, use the time you would normally be prepping meals or eating for something that makes you feel good. I read, crocheted, listened to my favorite podcasts and used my Calm app more than normal.
If I can do it, you can too!
*Photo above via Pixabay on WordSwag app.
