Re: Question for Mighty.Sun., others
"So I have heard that Mighty and some others here are water fast experts. I am starting a 1 week fast (maybe stretch it to 2) to mainly loose some crazy muscle I built from working out too much (3 hours a day for a year, and my thighs are HUGE while the rest of me is thin)."
Hi Anastasia,
hmm, i don't know about expert, but i'll try. For starters, fasting preserves muscle fantastically and would be a very inefficient means of burning it.
Buhner: "Over a 30 day water fast a person generally loses a maximum of 1-2 pounds of muscle mass. This conservation of the body's protein is an evolutionary development that exists to protect muscle tissue and vital organs from damage during periods of insufficient food availability."
from: http://www.gaianstudies.org/articles4.htm,
Physiological changes in fasting section.
Muscle most effectively wastes away with inactivity.
Also, we all (both male and female) have a certain amount of testosterone in our bodies, but you probably have fairly high levels which in addition to all of your activity would have helped you to build so much muscle. You might be interested in having that tested and in looking into ways of reducing it. If your testosterone is high, reducing it would certainly help in reducing your muscle mass.
"I also want to break a bad, bad habit of drinking gallons of water a day. I have managed to get my water down to 8 to 12 cups a day, and I feel so much better not carrying around the extra water weight. So, can I do this fast on 3 cups of water a day? I work from home, so I am not worried about driving, etc (execpt next week for a meeting). Is 3 cups for a week or 2 ok? Or is it dangerous?"
Most fasting experts advocate drinking only to thirst, which will vary from person to person. If 3 cups per day satisifies thirst then that's exactly what i would be drinking whether it be for a week or a month. In my most recent fast i was most commonly thirsty for about 4-7 cups per day and i awaited moderate and persisting thirst before endulging.