I decided to fast for 24h, and my body responded.
A timeline sequence of what actually happened!
No One Told Me This Would Happen, During, a 24 hour Fast.
It was 2 days before the new year and I wanted to try something different. Something to really shock my body. Something I hadn’t tried before.
I had done intermittent fasting before but never gone a full day without eating.
This time I decided to take the leap and see the benefits (if any) of hard-resetting my body through 24 hrs of only drinking water.
THE NEED TO SHOCK MY BODY
After a long, challenging and defining 2019 I was simply ready for a full system reset.
I was in Bali, fresh off a full weekend of purification with a Shaman (which was absolutely incredible, but we’ll leave this story for another time), and the time felt absolutely right.
I believe that planning your nutrition or dietary changes should be an intuitive practice. You have to discover what works and what doesn’t work for you and the needs of your body.
I didn’t necessarily feel the need to do anything super crazy for an extended period of time so a 24 hout fast was a good first step for me to explore fasting as a way of putting my body into ‘survival mode’.
I’ve had been 59 days completely sober and on a master cleanse of my spirit, body, and mind — hence the trip to Bali.
My experience with intermitted fasting and detoxing up until this point had been quite pleasant — earlier win the year before turning vegetarian I tried an 8 weeks block of white fish and asparagus only arranged into 5 meals between 12 pm and 8 pm.
Aside from my pee smelling as bad as ever, I lost 6Kgs and felt relatively stronger and more energized and focused overall.
I’m a firm believer in ongoing detoxification and flexibility in one’s diet. Differently from cleanses, which by definition are short-term interventions, a detox lifestyle is maintained by opting for putting clean ingredients and products into your body with the flexibility of still being able to indulge in the not-so-healthy-foods we all like.
THE FAST
2:00 pm — The day I decided to do this, everything fell into place. I had a strong desire of being able to trail a 24-hour fast before the end of 2019, so when the occasion arose I grabbed it with both hands.
I was having lunch at one of Bingin’s beach top cafes called the Cashew Tree when it hit me.
After this coconut smoothie and Tempeh burger, I am not gonna eat for 24h — my fast starts now.
After lunch I got on with my planned schedule: work, reading then sunset meditation as well as come catching up on reading and FB Ads reporting.
Normally at around 6 pm, I open up Zomato or Trip Adviser to find my next restaurant for dinner — this time I simply had to remind myself to skip this step.
I drank lots of water, especially when I felt like having a snack. And overall I did not feel any cravings or hunger for the first 4 hours.
6:00 pm — My first wave of hunger hits me. It’s not intense but I felt it. Consciously knowing that I couldn’t feed myself was the first challenge. I look at the clock and realize only 4hours have gone by and it's way too early to even start thinking about that nutritious lunch I'm going to be eating tomorrow (perhaps at the Cashew tree again).
I decided to shift my focus away from my hunger by opening up a book. Brene’ Browns ‘Rising Strong — WHAT A BOOK! I encourage everyone to read it.
9:30 pm — I get ready for bed. roll the fly curtains around the bed down and as I lay down I noticed my stomach feeling lighter than usual at bedtime. No bloating, I'm not lethargic — just happy to turn the aircon on and put my head on the pillow.
6:00 am — The alarm goes off, I get out of bed and walk over the other side of the room to turn it off. I am awake.
My morning routine in Bali consisted of 100 push-ups before leaving the villa to follow by 2 big glasses of water and a short bike ride to Mû Resort to attend my 8.30 am yoga class. I would normally sit at the cafe order an espresso and some seasonal fresh fruit but this time I sat by the pool, did some catching up on emails, a few phone calls and had just enough time left before the class to meditate.
8:30 am — The vinyasa class was extraordinary. I felt once again. Light, focus and clear… A little hungry too by this point.
10:30 am — Straight after the yoga class, I jumped in the pool and tried to distract myself as much as possible. By 10.30 am my second wave of hunger hit. Normally at this time, I would be having breakfast and my hunger really tends to spike up after a morning workout. Today I instead sat by the palm trees and decided to start plotting out the segments of how I was going to deliver this story to you.
During this process, I felt super focused my mood and energy are on point, and the structure of my story is coming to me effortlessly. I feel just as energetic, if not, more energetic than usual. I’m also feeling very calm and grounded. Normally I would have to about through my first draft of a story but not this time.
12:30 pm — My third wave of hunger hits, especially as I’m stimulated by the smells and sounds of food around me at the Mû resort. Even the monkeys around me are eating. This was the strongest wave of hunger I felt during the 24-hour fast. I am now over 22 hours in and my stomach is grumbling.
At this point, a crazy thought kicks in….
Should I push for 36hours? I remind myself to listen to my body and stick to the initial plan for the sake of writing this article. I drink a tall glass of cold water and get back to reading my precious Brene’ Brown book.
1:30 pm — It’s nearly time to eat again. I decide to close the circle by eating at Cashew Tree once again. The plan is to break my fast without shaking up my usual eating habits too much (no binging, unusual indulgences, or abnormal portions).
I sit down in the newly renovated courtyard area, politely ask for the menu, and order a vegan falafel bowl and a Coconut Devine smoothie (you should try this thing… I travel back to lignin beach especially for this smoothie. It's orgasmic, to say the least).
That's it. The fast has been successfully completed. I feel satisfied, content and accomplished. I’m full and feel very balanced.
OVERALL THOUGHTS.
24 hours was a great stepping stone to try something a little more distressing on the body in 2020. I have friends who comfortably fast up to 7 days once very quarter all throughout the year (insane I know!).
The effects of this fast became most noticeable the following morning when I woke up feeling particularly refreshed and light. My skin was glowing, my erection was strangely prolonged (unsure if it was due to the fast, but I felt the need to report the facts); and had no symptoms of nausea, discomfort, and lack of appetite which are often common after your first forced fast
I felt refreshed, and these effects seemed to have sustained over the course of at least a few days.
Hunger comes in waves and this is probably the most help fun tip I can offer you if you want to get through a 24 hour fast or any type of fast for that respect. These waves don’t last very long, so if you resist the urge of giving in to the cravings you’ll be well on your way to succeeding.
On my first ever 24-hour fast, I experienced three waves of hunger each lasting 10 to 20 min max. Barely a drop in the bucket. To the point where I even entertained pushing for an extra 12 hours.
Now the question is… Would I fast for 24 hours again? Hell yeah, I would.
The next frontier for me will be pushing my body to more challenging waters and perhaps try to hit the mark on a 7 day fast.
I would recommend a 24 hours to anyone looking for a simple, easy way to reset your system, get rid of bloating and as a personal challenge to try something new and attack any issue related to energy levels, appetite, or gut health.
You may be surprised what a little challenge disciplinary challenge like NOT EATING can do for you.
All I’m trying to do…
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