After a weekend long binge of fried foods and gigantic portions, I’ve decided to embark on a water/liquid fast to help break me of my impossibly crazy cravings and get back to some semblance of normal eating habits. Yes, I realize a strict fast puts me in great danger of the yoyo binge-diet cycle once it’s done and over with, but I hope that journaling my experience will align me mentally to avoid that trap.

Of course, part of focusing my energy on "Not Eating" means I may be populating this blog with recipes and catching up on Yelps. So part of the challenges especially in Days 2 – 4 will be staving off the harmful thoughts that can crater my experiment.

Initially I will be experimenting with a 7 day fast, examine my results, and determine if it’s feasible to proceed another 7 days afterwards.

Fast-breakers include work and exercise, though I can easily give up one but not the other. My concern is undertaking the long drives to and from work and the mental energy required to stay focused at the job. I’m also apprehensive with the muscle catabolism that might occur if I avoid eating altogether.

Exercise is generally abstained from during water fasts, especially prolonged fasts due to the lack of energy that’s needed to fuel extra activity. The body will need to maintain its own necessary functions and to stray outside of the normal energy expenditure risks injury or damage,  not to mention cause spikes in hunger and mental anguish.

I am dreading the strength decreases or the supposed muscle wasting that a fast could produce (although recent research seems to debunk conventional wisdom), so I am weighing the options of taking a protein shake after moderate weight lifting sessions 3 times a week.

 

Day 1 concluded as I suspected. There were several periods throughout the day in which I had intense cravings, generally at times when I’d be snacking/eating: midday, midafternoon, evening. It was particularly distracting when coworkers were heating up their meals while I worked at my desk. Of course, it didn’t help that I was blogging food recipes. Drinking water didn’t really stave off the hunger either.

 

To distract myself, I read literature on fasting, gamed on Diablo, and performed a less strenuous 5×5 workout consisting of squats, military press and bent over rows at about 80-85% RM. 

 

I was sleepy on the drive home, but I attribute that more to lack of sleep than lack of food. When I was home, I was alert again. I did go to bed a little late again, but it seemed that as soon as I hit the pillow, I was out. 

 

I survived Fast Day 1.