Today has been a sensational day for me!
For starters, i knew it was to be my final day of fasting whether i achieved a return to genuine hunger (also known as "fasting to completion") or not. I was both excited about the prospect of achieving this goal of 30 days (if genuine hunger did not arrive sooner) and about the truly exciting prospect of being able put something in my mouth that had an actual taste.
What took me by extraordinary surprise is that about 8 hours before the 30 days were up, my body entered into this amazingly desirable (and desired) state of "genuine hunger", telling me that it was definately time to break the fast. I had pretty much given up on the hope of achieving genuine hunger this time around, so the surprise to me was phenomenal and i am sensationally excited that this arrived!
Had i not been 8 hours away from reaching a full 30 days, i would happily have broken the fast within an hour of experiencing this... the hour would have been to just be sure it was the real thing. But since i was so close to the 30 day goal, i forced my way through this very powerful sensation of physical hunger in these final 8 hours, which became more and more intense with each passing hour. These final 8 hours were most certainly the most fantastically difficult hours of the entire fast as my body was SCREAMING for food the entire time and it was so intense as to be all-encompassing.
The transformation of how immensely hungry i became today contrasts rather strikingly with the near total absence of physical hunger i had experienced in the previous 29 days and 16 hours.
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As stated in the previous post, i plan to gently and gradually reawaken my long slumbering digestive system starting with only live juice and fresh vegetable broth for about 7 days.
My produce was about 6 days old and its a bit of a distance to the nearest major store (i live in a small mountain resort town), so i had to toss out all of the green leafy vegetables and a couple of other items, but most of it is perfectly fine. I was really wanting a nice broth from various green leafy vegetables, but had to settle for a tomato broth and a 3 onion broth. Now that i know i am done fasting, i'll make another trip soon because i really want to now nourish myself with the best of everything
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I chose to break my fast with fresh juiced red bell pepper, wanting to break it "live" and not wanting anything too sweet just yet. The juice was diluted 50/50 with water and initially i had only about 2 tablespoons... waited 5 minutes then had 4 more, waited 5 minutes then had about 8 tablespoons. I continued to break the fast very gently in this way, and after an hour i had a half cup every 15 minutes or so. I then enjoyed some delectable tomato broth.
Throughout the entire fast, i experienced no nasty symptoms whatsoever... no heartburn, no nausia or other debilitating feelings of illness. To be sure i was often light headed upon rising and i had a coated tongue and a bad taste in my mouth, but i consider these to simply be par for the course and not so unpleasant as to cause me discomfort.
In the end, i burned 20 pounds of actual fat over the 30 days (keeping in mind that i walked 2 hours per day for the first 21 days which contributed substantially)... and 18 additional pounds of temporary loss (predominately water) which will be back on my body within 2-3 weeks. Thus i consider 172 pounds to be my "real weight", though today i weigh 154 from a starting point of 192.
I am excited to enjoy each step of the easing out process and to get back to the point where i am eating immensely nutritious full meals... as well as once again enjoying the intense exercise which i had taken a 30 day break from.
Hi 2cb4!
"You sound so well pleased and glad. Very happy all went well!"
Thank you, a return to hunger was such an unexpected delight! The closer i came to 30 days, the more i felt it probably wasn't going to happen.
"By the way, did your tongue remain coated? Some say that disappears."
My tongue remained coated. I asked a question to chrisb1 as to what that might mean.
"What is that anyway?"
A good question, i hope somebody will answer that here better than i can. To my best understanding, the body is utilizing the mouth as another modem of elimination and i also believe it is a direct product of ketosis.
"Has this been your longest fasting journey? When you think about it, thirty days, it sounds so long. The body is such a wonder!"
Yes, this was the big one in a sea of many that were much shorter, the previous long being 14 days. Props to this forum for providing me with the confidence to go this long
.
"Your posts have, and are a great source of information. Even your mention of using a tablespoon. One is not used to being so gentle, and it is so needed. Sort of like caring for a small baby! "
Thank you again for your kind words
. I figured if my digestive system has been in a deep slumber for 30 days, the least i could do is awaken it by humming lullabies and not using a loud clanging alarm clock.
"What will you remember most from this journey?"
The fact that i felt almost no hunger for 29 days and 16 hours and a hunger that became quite intense and completely unwavering over the 8 hours to follow, never disappearing even for a moment and gradually growing in strength hour by hour.
"Well, enough questions, I shall let you savor some of natures bounty!"
Not at all, for me discussing my fast is a very important element in that savoring process
.
Warm regards to you as well 2cb4.
Hi Chris,
1. Just wondering, in the 8 hours of not eating after i first experienced the return to hunger, was i technically starving, or does the body provide a warning/grace period there? It seemed pretty harmless, but i definately didn't want to go to sleep with the fast unbroken for an additional 8 hours (atop the original 8) since 30 days arrived at bedtime, nor would i have continued to fast a full 24 more hours if i had experienced this at 29 days.
2. Does this return to genuine hunger definately imply that i have been completely detoxified, or are there any other possibilities as to why i began to feel this? (ie: body fat % or certain vitamins and/or minerals became too low?). Or would there be an entirely different sensation in these alternative instances?
3. My coated tongue did not clear during these 8 hours of hunger, could this mean that i wasn't completely detoxified, or might this be a product of ketosis, whether detoxified or not?... nor did i feel a tremendous surge of energy when this point was reached as if the world had been lifted from my shoulders.
I felt as i had the day before except for the "day and night" contrast in hunger.
Thank you much,
Mighty
Hi Rooth,
Thank you for your reply which makes a lot of sense.
So to your knowledge, there is no way to recognize whether we ran out of reserves or toxins first, the genuine hunger will feel the same either way? If this is the case, i wonder if a tongue that remains coated upon the return of hunger (as mine was) is indicative of a situation where reserves ran out first.
I would be happiest to know that i rooted out all the toxins, but i am really happy to have gone to genuine hunger in either case.
Is it still called "fasting to completion" if the reserves ran out before the toxins
?
Hi Mighty,
All I can say is huge kudos to you, you rock Mighty!!!!!!!!
I would also love to hear how the re-feeding is going. Bet you're really using that Vita-Mix a lot huh?
Good for you Mighty, I know you'll do well in the after fast process.
Willow ![]()
Hey Willow :),
Thank you much for your kind words
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Yes, i am finding the Vitamix to be absolutely invaluable, specifically as an aid to keeping certain live foods at their simplest digestively and to maximizing the nutrient assimilability in this all important time of re-gathering as many as possible. I don't know that i'll ever go another day in my life without using it
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