My 7-Day Fasting Journal
This journal post supports its companion video! Click here for the video.
Day 0
Thursday, February 8, 2024
Last meal: Breakfast
I ate a bowl of blueberries and bananas with almond milk and a pot of tea. I savored every last bit.
The day included creating a video about the DRMTLGY brand HPR eye cream, which I was able to complete and schedule to go live on February 9th. I started with glasses of water around noon. The first time I felt hungry was at 2:15. Having water handy to stave off hunger pangs is key! I had to leave at 2:30 anyway for a chiropractor appointment. This doctor is working with me on an enzyme program she learned, and it’s connected to what is happening in the lymph system. I was back home at 3:45.
I also did two loads of laundry (so that I wouldn’t have laundry to do on the upcoming difficult days). I would have done my Saturday laundry (bras!), but I figured I can do that tomorrow.
I don’t own a scale and don’t have access to one, so I won’t be reporting before & after weight. The main reason for doing a water fast isn’t supposed to be to lose weight, anyway. It’s just a by-product (or a benefit, depending on how you look at it!)
I am taking measurements, however. Below are my “before” measurements":
In the evening I kept drinking water! I had a 2 hour video to watch through the dinner hour. Then went to bed around 9:30.
Day 1
Friday, February 9, 2024
I slept fairly well. Woke up a few times but fell asleep right away afterward.
Set my alarm for 7:00 am. I woke up earlier than that and had a bit of a headache. By the time I got up the headache was gone.
The weirdest thing that happened today was while I was opening the window coverings in the living room, I thought I smelled toast! Like someone was making toast! The scent lasted for about 30 seconds. Weird?
Today’s weather forecast was the warmest day of the week, so I took a walk outside. I also did a bit of cleaning at home (a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser on dirty spots on the doors!). I also realized there were 5 bananas in the fruit bowl. I peeled them and put them into freezer bags to use another day for smoothies. Now the only food I can see are an onion and 3 heads of garlic. I also noticed a bowl of wrapped chocolates that friends dig into when they’re at my house. I’ve never smelled those chocolates before, but today I did. I put them into the pantry!
I was really tired at 7:15 pm and was ready to go to bed. But then I remembered I had to post an important post to Instagram. So I got up to do that, and then got to bed at 8:30.
DAY 2
Saturday, February 10, 2024
I didn’t set an alarm to get up this morning. By the time I got up, it was 8:30 am. After brushing my teeth and washing my face, I realized I had no energy and was light-headed. I went back to bed until 10:00!
After getting dressed, I sat in the sunroom all morning, mostly listening to music and dozing in & out. I was too lethargic to do anything but rest and drink water.
The day before, I was touching one of my post earrings, and then realized only the back of the earring was there. I looked around for the post but didn’t see in on the floor or on my clothes. So today I pulled out the vacuum, emptied the canister first, and then vacuumed that whole area, intending to open the canister to see if I caught it. Well, while walking from the sunroom to the kitchen, I saw the earring on the dining room floor catching the light. It must have been on my clothes yesterday and fell off while I was walking.
But that whole vacuum experience wiped me out! So it was back to the sunroom to rest.
I realized today that resting is my job now! For a few seconds I felt like I wasn’t getting anything done - as if I was wasting time, but then told myself that during a water fast, resting is my job. It’s the only way my body can do its work to achieve my physical goals.
Later in the afternoon I wasn’t feeling as light-headed as I did earlier, and I got a little more energy. A brand I work with was having a big sale starting today, so I created an email out to my GloryB-TV email list, pulled in some of my video footage, and got around to updating this blog!
I’m writing this earlier…. but I’ll likely go to bed between 8:00 and 8:30 pm. Starting later in the day today was the best I had felt all day!
Oddly, I haven’t felt hungry. (All of that water drinking helps a lot.)
Meanwhile, I decided life is really boring without food. I really do like to cook. I like to make delicious, nutritious, and healthy food. And I like to eat.
But I digress. I still have several more days to go!
Day 3
Sunday, February 11, 2024
Last night I woke up a lot. Sometimes I was awake for a while. Years ago I trained myself to not look at the clock in the middle of the night, so as to not psyche myself out about the time. I’d have moments where I’d be awake, but then realize I had just been dreaming, so I knew I was asleep.
This non-sleeping experience made me grateful for Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s write-up in his book about sleeping during a water fast, which I read verbatim in the video.
Today I got up at 7:45. Then went back to bed (!) for an hour. I felt lightheaded, but not nearly as much as yesterday. Just tired. I have read that while water fasting, the morning seems to be when you need the most rest.
But I’m not hungry and I don’t have a headache! Both of those things are big WINS for me.
I had more energy in the afternoon, but I stayed in pajamas and a robe all day.
Day 4
Monday, February 12, 2024
Last night I couldn’t fall asleep! I went to bed at 8:45. And by 10:30 I realized I wasn’t falling asleep. I got up, grabbed my 16 ounce glass of water, and did something I don’t normally do when I can’t sleep (but a lot of YouTubers do), watched videos on my computer. Normally when I can’t sleep I stay away from all “screens”. I watched videos until 11:45, drank all 16 ounces of water, and then went to bed. Amazingly, even after drinking all of that water during 1 1/4 hours, I didn’t have to go to the bathroom!
I finally fell asleep. Then, as usual, I woke up several times, had a few vivid dreams, and in the morning I woke up to a brilliantly sunny day at 8:35. Promptly stayed in bed until 9:00. I’m not as lightheaded as on prior mornings.
My plan was to go grocery shopping on Day 6 to buy everything I need to start the refeeding process. But one of the first foods is melon. Usually when I buy melons they need a few days on the kitchen counter to ripen. So today is the day to go buy melons. That meant it was time to wash my hair!
I started that process at 11:00. After drying my hair and getting dressed, I was pooped out! I had to lie down for 5 minutes. Then I did my makeup and had to lie down again. While drying my hair and curling my hair, I had to sit down.
The grocery store didn’t have a small watermelons I wanted. So I bought honeydew and cantaloupe.
I can’t wait until Thursday!
Day 5
Tuesday, February 13, 2024
Last night I woke up and didn’t fall asleep again for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours! (Fuhrman said there’d be days like this.) I didn’t set the alarm. When I finally felt ready to get up, it was 9:45.
Still no headache (yay!). And I’m not actually hungry. But I think I’m anticipating eating in two more days, so my stomach is reacting a little bit, pretending to give me hunger feelings.
I had some business to do, including a frustrating call to my new cell phone carrier (they should train these people in the billing department!), so my computer work and phone work today are the most I’ve done since starting the fast. I’ll be glad to get back to a comfy chair and poop out.
Day 6
Wednesday, February 14, 2024
This is the last day of a full-day fast! I’m so happy!
It took me a long time to fall asleep last night. I got up after a while of “waiting”. By the time I fell asleep it was likely 1:15 or so. Woke up around 8:15 and got up at 8:30.
Today is the day I got to go grocery shopping for the refeeding days!
Aldi had the mini watermelons! And then to make the home made juice (I have a juicer!), I bought carrots and celery. I already have apples for the juice.
So I’m all set with food!
The eczema didn’t go away completely. :-( But the post-nasal drip is completely gone. My stomach is super-flat. I’ll be measuring for the “after” tomorrow.
Below is a photo of me taken today, Day 6:
Day 7 (& Day 1 of Refeeding)
Thursday, February 15, 2024
I fell asleep at a normal time but was really thirsty all night. I woke up a lot. By morning I drank about 3 1/2 cups of water. (The night before I drank about 1/2 cup.)
Nevertheless, I was SO EXCITED that this is my first eating day!
I got the refeeding plan from Dr. Joel Fuhrman and from Dr. Goldhamer at TrueNorth Health Center.
Day 1 includes melons - watermelon and honeydew melon for today. (Melons have a high water content.) Each portion is the size of a woman’s fist. And we eat this every two to three hours.
At TrueNorth they’re also including vegetable juice - carrots, celery, and apple.
By the time I ate, it was 1:00. The flavor of these melons was beyond any melon I’ve ever eaten! When you water fast, your taste buds get readjusted. Then I had about 1/4 cup of the veggie juice. Again, I’ve made vegetable juice for years. But the flavors my tongue picked up from the juice were amazing!
Around 2:00 my stomach started feeling a little sour. It just wasn’t used to food! It’s now 4:30 and I should probably eat a fist-sized amount of melon again.
day 2 - refeeding
Friday, February 16, 2024
The only new things to report today are that I ate melon (including the cantaloupe!) and a clementine. I was a little more hungry today and probably ate fruit every 3 hours, but I ate more than I did the day before.
Still drinking a lot of water!
day 3 refeeding
Saturday, February 17, 2024
As you might imagine, during a water fast you don’t poop.
If you don’t like “poop talk”, skip this section!
What and how we eliminate is part of our overall health. Normally, when I’m eating, I have regular poops - two or three times a day, one piece that slips out easily. I don’t have any pain or struggle with it.
But this morning, it was time for the first poop in over a week. Well! It wasn’t that soft one piece I usually have. It was small hard pieces that wanted to come out all at once. Fortunately I have a Squatty Potty thing to lift my feet. That made it easier. The whole experience reminded me of when I was a child and would get constipated and sit there on the toilet. My mother would finally wonder where I was - at the age of 3 or 4 - would find me in the bathroom and administer an enema to get everything out.
Hopefully the next BM will be normal for me.
Onto better topics…..
Today I’m adding lettuce to my food in the morning. At lunch and dinner I’m adding tomatoes and cucumbers. But no dressing, unless I come up with an oil-free, vinegar-free bunch of things to toss in the Vitamix. But the herbs and spices will be nixed. My stomach is still too sensitive at this point.
day 4 refeeding
Sunday, February 18, 2024
Today, it was still melons for breakfast!
At lunch I had a salad - more the size of a large side salad - with Romaine lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, and I peeled about a half of a carrot in strips. For dressing, into the Vitamix blender I blended 1 clementine, 2 inches of cucumber, 4 grape tomatoes, and water. It makes for a bland dressing, but at least the salad didn’t have to be dry.
For dinner, I got cooked food! Roasted butternut squash, steamed broccoli, peas, corn, and zucchini, and boiled potatoes. I can certainly taste several flavors in these food naturally that I miss most of the time.
I’m still chilly and wearing several layers of clothes at home.
More information:
While I didn’t weigh myself before or after the fast (I don’t own a scale!), I did take measurements, as shown below:
There is a lot more information available on the video and you’ll get more insight into how I felt every day. Click here to watch the video.