I starved myself for 5 days. Here are the risks and benefits to your body.
It sounds crazy, I know
When reading the title of this post, you’re probably thinking I’m crazy. I agree, I am crazy, but hear me out. I began researching water fasting after watching a YouTube Video by Yes Theory. So, what exactly happens when a person does not eat for nearly a week? I’ll begin my story prior to the fast.
Preparing for the fast (or the lack thereof)
Living in the US, citizens generally have food every day, I always have wondered about those who don’t have food constantly available. We always read and hear how lucky we are; less fortunate people across the world may struggle to feed themselves consistently. So, I decided to put myself in their shoes and not eat for 5 days. Although I will never understand what it means to live without a readily available food and water, I can try to get a taste of their struggle.
Before beginning the fast, dietitians recommended the average person should have a decently healthy diet and should slowly begin the fast. Many recommend doing a keto diet before fasting to get the body ready to eat fat. I didn’t follow any of those recommendations. They felt fake. Not everyone has the ability to follow the recommendations. Some people would have enough money to eat McDonald’s one day and then not have enough for the next week. Which is why I decided to simply and abruptly stop eating. I simply ate too much one day and then pursued the water fast. With a full stomach, I just strolled into the fast..
The Fast
As you could guess, the first day of the fast wasn’t too bad. I only felt hungry near the evening. I still felt like I had 100% energy and could exercise easily. Throughout the entire day I filled myself up with a lot of water instead of food. The fast hit another notch on the second day. Hunger started to overwhelm me throughout the day. Food advertisements on social media were the worst. I vividly remember seeing a Wendy’s advertisement about spicy nuggets and then only thinking about eating the nuggets for the next hour. I don’t even like Wendy’s much, but since I had no food in me those nuggets might as well have been [some fancy food]. When drinking water, I could feel the water hit the bottom of my stomach, and when I went to the gym, lifting became more difficult. I’m also currently a college student, and biking around campus became much more difficult as well.
The third day was the worst. I had trouble focusing and I could also feel myself losing weight. My stomach felt so flat that my clothes began feeling looser and baggier. Day 3 was also the day when I realized how important drinking a lot more water than you think you need. Near the evening, I took a nap and since the dorm I live in has no a/c, I woke up sweating. I didn’t realize how much water I lost while sleeping and didn’t drink a lot of water for the next hour. This was a mistake. I soon couldn’t see straight and my body started to ache. I could barely stand and think properly. I then took my bottle and finished it. I could feel the water go entering my system and create an effect immediately. I felt a head high that would soon lead to making my headache go away. I then drank another 64 oz of water to help take care of my dehydration. It took about 2 hours for me to lose the ache but a loss of energy was still there simply due to not eating.
At first glance, you may think the 4th day and 5th day would be worse than the 3rd, however, quite the opposite occurred. I no longer felt as hungry as the previous days. In fact, I almost felt no need to eat at all and was able to focus on the work I had during the day. Lifting weights still became more difficult which was a nice reminder that eating nothing does not make you superhuman.
Post Fast
Ending the fast is an aspect many people look over when thinking about a 5-day water fast. After 5 days, the body has hit a state where eating too much can lead to negative effects. Dietitians recommend eating food high in fat and protein and first and then slowly moving towards eating everything. I personally started with eating grilled chicken nuggets for a day and the moved on to eating everything else. I’m not entirely sure if my way is the best way to end the fast but nothing terrible happened to me.
Completing a 5-day water fast was an experience I’d recommend to anyone healthy enough to try it. The fast allowed me to understand how privileged I am to have food on my plate every day. I also learned that my body can reach new physical and mental limitations. Before, I would think that I have to eat three times a day and it was difficult to skip a single meal. Now, I have better control of my body physically to wait days before eating. I’d also highly suggest also reading “Water Fasting: Benefit and Dangers” to get a better understanding of what the exact benefits of water fasting are.
