So little did I know, when I committed to a three day water fast, that Noah was going to learn how to rollover. Oy.
Initial sleep training had gone pretty smoothly. After his third month our pediatrician recommended stopping the night feed.
We were scared with the sleep training. He’s co-sleeping, so we just basically endure his crying next to us. I become a callous authoritarian, while Nicole’s soul bleeds from not being able to comfort him.
But after a couple nights of him crying for 20 – 30 minutes he learned how to self sooth himself to sleep. The third night he slept through the night. WIN!
And for the most part was good from like 7:30 pm – 5:30 am for a couple weeks.
Having an easy baby to sleep train, wasn’t spiritually enlightening enough, so I decided to do a 3 day water fast. And that’s when he discovered rolling over. D’oh.
Water fast for real? Yup.
Backstory, so I interviewed this super cool dude Zach Rehder for Purpose Up, and then signed up for his online spirituality course. It’s a really cool course if you’re into questioning all the stories your logical mind makes up and trying to get into that higher being zone.
Bottom line is no one wants to be controlled by a worst case scenario machine (our logical brain). So he deconstructs our ego and stories to help free us, which is I find helpful for spiritual growth.
Anywho, one of the parts of the course was a three day water fast, and I know I needed to do in June, since July was going to be one long goodbye to New York, since the family is moving to Miami. Yes Miami.
So two weeks ago I did the water fast. Only water, nothing else. For real. I was the most scared about caffiene withdrawal since I know I could go 24 hours without food.
So a little bit about my experience, overall awesome. I extended to 100+ hours / 4.5 days because after day 3 you’re just burning fat since you’re in ketosis. I would have done it longer but didn’t want to be antisocial and have a normal weekend with friends and Nicole.
Let’s just say the difficulty sleeping on the fast coupled with sleep training a rolling baby was a brutal combo which I’m sure added to my lethargy.
Overall it was awesome though.
Pros of the Water Fast
- a calm connected feeling with the universe and people – for real this was a huge benefit
- weight loss – most of it temporary, but real nice to feel the skinniest I’ve felt in years
- autophagy – internal clean up of bad cells including precancerous ones
- confidence in the ability to break from sugar and coffee and not be a quivering mess
- appreciation for how the body can adapt and how little food it needs
Cons of the Water Fast
- not the sharpest tool in the shed
- not my most productive few days with work
- people thought I was weirdo
- tough to sleep
- headaches from sugar and caffeine withdrawal
- get headrushes if you stand up too quickly at times and need to put your head down
Prepping for the Water Fast
- I had gotten pretty used to intermittent fasting for 16 hours a day with an 8 hour eating window
- Then I tried a couple 24 hour coffee / tea / water fasts
- Once you’re used to the 24 hours you should be able to try the 3 days
- Recommended to use distilled water
- I used tap water and probably have fluoride brain damage ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Breaking the Water Fast
You need to make sure to ease your stomach back into food, since it’s been shut down for a couple days
- Day 1: Juice in morning, watermelon and honey dew, broth and crackers for lunch, sautéed vegetables for dinner
- Day 2: Still light – falafel sandwich was a mistake, grilled vegetables for dinner
- Day 3: I was pretty normal but eating lighter