Weight Control: New Years Resolution: 10-Day Fast: Day 1

Day 1: 78 kilos

Today my 10-day water fast begins. I am not eating as of this morning. I weighed myself first thing after I woke up: 78 kilos. That’s my benchmark. I had a normal dinner last night (meat & vegetables), but also ate bread and holiday chocolates. I’m also a little sore because I ran yesterday about 25 kilometers.

I did a morning self-hypnosis session focusing on the four points mentioned in the previous post:

(1) return to my previous eating habits, largely based on the Mediterranean Diet; (2) cut way back on sweets and breads; (3) start the year with a 10-day fast; and (4) join a new gym that’s just opened in my neighborhood (actually it doesn’t open until mid-January).

These four points will help me return to my natural weight of 72 kilos. I’m going to reinforce them with daily 15-minute sessions of self-hypnosis during the month of January. I also included suggestions to release any negative energy related to my divorce, as well as from any other issue.

If you’re interested, there’s lots of good videos on water fasting on YouTube. The basic idea is to eat no food during 10-days, but to drink lots of water. There are several health benefits related to this: losing weight, of course. But also, lower blood sugar levels, improved immunity, reduced inflammation, lower blood pressure, improved heart health, better brain functioning, and reduced cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

I’ve done several 3-day fasts over the years, so I have some experience with them. Still, I’ve never done a 10-day fast. This will be a new experience.

On my prior 3-day fasts, the first day is the hardest. I have cravings. My stomach rumbles. It’s hard to resist temptations. On the 2nd day, things settle down. The desire to eat fades away, as do the rumblings. On the 3rd day, I’m usually not hungry at all, but sometimes my head spins. I’ve subsequently learned this is normal: according to some articles I’ve read, the head-spinning goes away on the 4th or 5th day. We’ll see.

According to the articles and videos I’ve seen, you should begin to feel better around the 3rd or 4th day. Your body switches into ketosis. You burn fat instead of carbs and sugars. Your mind gets clear and you have more energy. There’s been a lot of talk recently about people in Silicon Valley using fasts to improve their performance. I’m looking forward to finding out if a 10-day fast does the same for me.