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Fasting

tomwaits

Master Poster
tomwaits
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Nov 18, 2007
Messages
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I'm currently fasting for a few days. I knew there are few, if any, physical benefits of fasting but I wanted to know how dangerous it is. How long can someone fast before it starts to do damage to the body? (I'm talking about only drinking water)
 
tomwaits said:
I'm currently fasting for a few days. I knew there are few, if any, physical benefits of fasting but I wanted to know how dangerous it is. How long can someone fast before it starts to do damage to the body? (I'm talking about only drinking water)
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The Rule of Three:

3 minutes, 3 days, 3 weeks.


How long a human can generally survive without air, water, or food, respectively.
 
tomwaits said:
I'm currently fasting for a few days. I knew there are few, if any, physical benefits of fasting but I wanted to know how dangerous it is. How long can someone fast before it starts to do damage to the body? (I'm talking about only drinking water)
Click to expand...
So why are you doing it?
 
The Rule of Three:

3 minutes, 3 days, 3 weeks.


How long a human can generally survive without air, water, or food, respectively.
Click to expand...
You can survive without oxygen for about ten minautes, the longest time holding breath underwater was 8 minaute 58 seconds. Well, you theortically don't need to drink water because in some foods their contains alot of water, so if you eat food like tomatoes constantly you could proberly survive without drinking water like desert rats.
 
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Why are you fasting?

One benefit will be that you lose weight. Unless after your fast is over you scarf three times as much food as normal.
 
I am a food addict and I wanted to lose weight, so I see this as a sort of mental preparation to overcome hunger. Also I just wanted to see if I could do it for a few days. Why not?
 
I am a food addict and I wanted to lose weight, so I see this as a sort of mental preparation to overcome hunger. Also I just wanted to see if I could do it for a few days. Why not?
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Stop eating junk food and start jogging or something(don't join a gym it is a waste of money). Mental preparation will only have a short term effect, after the fasting you will proberly go back to normal. I would not obess about losing weight or worry about it, unless your really unhealthy then I would worry, weight is genetic and if your not naturally skinny then I wouldn't worry.

If you over eat and be lazy then I would start to worry.

Ask yourself

Am I unhealthy?
Am I lazy?
Do I eat unhealthly?

If you anwser is yes then change it, don't fast.
 
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If that's your strategy, I doubt it will work. You'll lose weight but get it right back unless you change your lifestyle. The latter is the key, not being hungry.

Good luck, though. Pulling for you.
 
Look, I know how to really lose weight. Exercise and healthy eating is the way to go and I am well aware of this. This is just sort of an experiment to test myself.
 
Look, I know how to really lose weight. Exercise and healthy eating is the way to go and I am well aware of this. This is just sort of an experiment to test myself.
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It would be more effective to just start to exercise and eat more healthy slowly. Like instead of eating sweets you could eat some fruit and then slowly introduce more fruit into your diet.

Again, I don't see the point of the experiment, as what does it prove? that you don't have to eat junk food. Well, I think you know that already.

Stop procrastinating and eat healthy.
 
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Actually I have some sympathy with the 'testing myself' mentality, I think it's perfectly OK to experiment with your own body to see what your limits are, as long as you do it healthily, sensibly and safely. As fasting is common in some religions, there are bound to be websites which give good advice about how to fast healthily.

However, what you must be extremely careful of is that this doesn't lead to bulimia or other eating disorder. If you are addicted to food, you may have a personality which allows for destructive behaviour. The last thing you need is to get into a fast-for-days-then-binge-for days routine, because the binge eating will make you feel much worse about yourself and will also ruin your health.

If this was independent of your food addiction then I'd say "interesting experiment, go for it". But are you sure you're 100% clear of any emotional hangups about food? If not, then fasting probably isn't the best idea right now. Maybe it would be better to try it after your new diet and healthy living lifestyle are the norm. At least then your body is used to smaller quantities of food and the health-risks associated with fasting will be fewer.
 
tomwaits said:
I'm currently fasting for a few days. I knew there are few, if any, physical benefits of fasting but I wanted to know how dangerous it is. How long can someone fast before it starts to do damage to the body? (I'm talking about only drinking water)
Click to expand...
I'm definately not an M.D., but I got curious by your question, mainly because fasting is held by almost every single mainstream religion.
Well, the body will look for other sources of energy in absence of food. Sucking on glucose from the liver and fat acids from around the body. In the end; when the fatty acids and glucose are no more, it begins to harvest on proteins and thereby muscle mass. After 40 to 50 days of starvation, you're in the risk zone of fatal experimentation. Read all about it.

But hey, both Moses and Jebuz fasted for 40 days and 40 nights, so what do science know? :)
 
tomwaits said:
Look, I know how to really lose weight. Exercise and healthy eating is the way to go and I am well aware of this. This is just sort of an experiment to test myself.
Click to expand...

I say go for it! 2-3 days won't hurt you unless you're diabetic or something.

I used to fast one day a week when I was in my 20s. I've never been overweight, but was just doing it to see if I could. I didn't keep it up for long.

It might even help when you go back to eating since your stomach will be less stretched. . . as long as you don't eat a huge meal when you break your fast.

On a similar note, I knew someone who did the Optifast program some time ago. She was overweight. For that program, she had no solid food for a long time (I'm thinking like 6 weeks or more). She drank some sort of Ensure type of stuff and had weekly blood tests to make sure she was OK. During the "fast" period, she went through a program that basically instructed her on a new and healthier way of eating and living. (Not "dieting"--since those all work about the same: great when you comply, but horrible when you quit them.) I think she did pretty well with it.
 
If you are looking to lose weight, start yoga, do a cleanse, cut out the red meat, sugar, bread, and milk products..you will see a huge difference within a month. To get calcium and protein, eat plenty of fish, beans, and drink rice milk. It worked for me! I lost about thirty five pounds all told ;) Good luck!
 
I've fasted several times for much the same reasons: I felt that I was taking my food for granted: scarfing it down rather than savoring it, and I was curious to see how my body would react. I once went for a week, although it was a very sedentary week. I was pretty woozy by the end. Twice I went for 3 days while walking 15 miles a day. The last time I fasted I wanted to lose some weight fast. I went for three days, and on the last day I had several margaritas and played Frisbee for two hours. I'm a cheap date!

Do not do any of those things. Everyone has different tolerances. Fasting happens to be something I'm really good at. I know people who get lightheaded if they don't eat for 5 hours. If you feel dizzy, eat. I've satisfied my curiosity about fasting and don't intend to do any more long ones.

Also, losing a lot of weight quickly can be dangerous for some people.

You'll have a lot of time on your hands. You may want to think of some projects to do that will take your mind off food. Late night TV commercials = evil.

One of the fun things about breaking a long fast is that everything tastes fantastic! Even a mediocre ham and cheese sandwich just explodes with flavor. That's probably one reason why people who fast to lose weight tend to gain it back almost as quickly. So, yes, it's possible to renew an appreciation for food by fasting, but I tend to revert to old habits.

You may notice a big burst of energy when you start eating again. Your body wants to squeeze every calorie and nutrient out of the food.

Have fun, and don't pass out, hit your head, and die!

Oh, and if you ever get the chance to go a long time without speaking, (while maintaining social relationships) like 4 or 5 days, I highly recommend it. It can be hard to arrange, and writing notes constantly instead of talking defeats the purpose, but it's a very cool thing to do. That, to me, is far more interesting than fasting. It's shocking to learn how much that comes out of my mouth – and out of the mouths of others – is little more than mindless babbling. Very, very educational.
 
Back when I was woo, I used to fast for periods of 4-7 days 4 times a year, to begin each season. I was convinced that I was "de-toxing". I never noticed any long-lasting weight loss or appetite alteration, though I wasn't focussed on that. I think the notion of "de-toxing" is probably bunk, now, but one thing that I did notice: on day 3 of a fast I always felt like crap and didn't even want to get out of bed, but days 4-7 my energy level soared and I felt fantastic. I'd really like to know why, from a biological perspective.
 
I've found that fasting is an excellent way to gain weight. I have trouble eating enough because I have a high metabolism and am rarely hungry. Just maintaining my current weight, which most would consider thin, is a chore. After a one day fast though, I can increase my food intake greatly for a few weeks without having that "can't eat another bite" feeling all the time.
 
I doubt you will come to harm if you fast without fanaticism, and as Gravy says, don't faint and kill yourself. Low blood sugar can make you a little wobbly.

I did this once many years ago, just to see how it felt, but found that even though I felt all right in general, by the end of the second day I was not safe with machinery. I got kind of spacy and careless. Since I was in a job that involved the constant use of dangerous, unguarded power tools, I dropped the fast immediately. The very feeling that some mystics might find worth pursuing is the very thing you do not want if you are operating a table saw! So I strongly advise that until you know how this will affect you, plan to stay clear of dangerous machinery, risky situations, commuter traffic, etc.
 
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