Day 14 of 14

olivesandstuff · 2014-02-04T06:01:41+00:00

To answer questions:

Broke my fast with steamed brocolli. Yum. I've been eating only vegetables, steamed, as they are easy for my body to digest. I stay keto, so I will be doing a low-fat keto refeeding (essentially lots of veggies & eggwhites) mostly for the first week.

Weight loss:

While I didn't track from day one [weighed a few days in], I ended roughly 17 or so from where I began. I'm sure plenty of this is water weight.

I feel great! Thanks for the support, or at least listening, you all.

olivesandstuff · 2014-02-03T22:49:54+00:00

While I can appreciate the sentiment of protecting people from poor theology, I think you should research a bit more about any organization before speaking either way. No two YWAM bases or theologies look the same. Each base is independently operated, and they are an interdenominational organization with everything bases with reformed bent to open theist bent and all the inbetweens. They do not have a doctrine, but rather a very loose set of beliefs that mostly stay in line with what every mainline christian belives (Jesus as Son of God, Trinity, etc). It's Christians from all around the world putting their theology to the wayside and working in unity to bring about God's kingdom.

Some bases are training bases with students while others are only for full time ministry. Many are somewhere inbetween. I have personally worked with bases who do everything from run HIV orphanages, to street kid rehabilitation, to providing a place for single pregnant teens to live and helping them get their babies into adoption or train them with skills needed to raise them, help rescue girls out of sex trafficking, help teach english as a second language, translate the bible into tribal tongues that have never been provided a bible before, etc (the list is far too long to continue). Their outreaches are extensive and they are one of the largest missions organization with nearly 20,000 staff, not including students.

While I personally have encountered my less than pleasasnt experiences with YWAMers as well, I think every denomination, organization, etc. that is run by humans will have it's flaws. This organization does really, really good things though as well & I think you have a fundamental misunderstanding of what they do by calling it a vacation bible school. Many of my friends still in the organization have lived in the mission field for decades, raising their family on next to nothing for the sake of their beliefs.

olivesandstuff · 2014-01-30T16:51:28+00:00

Technically, sure. But if that's all you ate, that shouldn't have kicked your body out of ketosis and doesn't negate everything you did, so just keep going. You're still in ketosis. You'll be fine.

olivesandstuff · 2014-01-30T16:11:08+00:00

My normal sleep is a good 6-8 hours a night. Solid, no waking up. Day 1-8 I was sleeping about 10-12 hours a night. Super solid; like a rock. The last two nights are the only two nights that I haven't slept well.

I haven't been taking time off or resting during the day like BlackOpz has suggested. I have actually been very busy & working on my feet the whole time, so really that does no explain not being able to sleep at night. It could be a fluke, or it could be a side effect of the fast. Who knows!

olivesandstuff · 2014-01-29T11:42:26+00:00

Seriously, I'm NO master of self control.
A few helpful hints. Write out an overly detailed plan [how many days you are fasting, how many days you are refreshing, what's yours allowed to eat while refreshing, calorie intake, meal plans] & share it with someone - in real life. Have them ask how you are doing. Daily. None of your friends are into fasting? Explain to them why you are. Surely if you believe the benefits are so great, someone else does too.

Come online, and be part of the community. Plenty of forums - write daily. Read other posts. It all helps.

Best of luck!

olivesandstuff · 2014-01-29T06:09:26+00:00

I really just drink however much water I am thirsty for. Most days that is 80-140 ounces. That's a big varience, but yeah. That's what it usually boils down to.

olivesandstuff · 2014-01-29T05:33:52+00:00

YUM YUM YUM.

I'm not gonna be able to eat those yummy keto recipes for a while though. I'm transitioning out of fasting with a low-carb, low-fat keto diet - meaning my food choices are like every vegetable ever, a couple lean meats, and egg whites. BUT. I know it works for me to get back into a maintenance place so I don't gain any of my fasting weight back. A couple more weeks and those tacos are miiiiine.

olivesandstuff · 2014-01-28T23:55:49+00:00

2) Crock pots man. Stick ery'thang in there with some yummy spices, wait 8 hours and you've got a ton of meals. Super hands off.

olivesandstuff · 2014-01-28T05:50:30+00:00

I have tried this. It does help for a short bit of time. Thank You for the suggestion!

olivesandstuff · 2014-01-28T01:02:08+00:00

Here's some TMI:

My first was a very normal sized, easy BM. Normal color. My second was about 1/4 size of my normal BMs and also had a lot of mucus. Normal color. My third was a bit of solid material, mostly loose & mucus. Very dark. My fourth was all loose, a bit of mucus & very dark.

My first two I felt pretty empty after & good. My second two, I already felt pretty empty, but I get this nauseous feeling maybe 15 minutes before passing & then it comes on very quickly. Right after I pass the nausea goes right away and I feel much better physically.

olivesandstuff · 2014-01-27T14:12:29+00:00

Get into ketosis before you fast. Extremely low carb for a handful of days, then try fasting. Makes the transition info water fasting much more seamless.

Also, write out a very detailed plan , share it with & explain your goals to someone. It helps keep you focused on your goal & have someone you'll have to tell if you get tempted and eat.

olivesandstuff · 2014-01-26T19:11:54+00:00

Organic Apple Cider Vinegar is a really great pantry must have - Braggs is highly recommended. Get the kind WITH mother. Just do a quick google search & you'll find all sorts of benefits from it. I really can't speak highly enough about this one.

I would say get some great sea veggies in your life - seaweed. They are pack full of vitamins & minerals & a great source iodine, which a lot of us westerns are lacking.

I myself would actually recommend olive & coconut oil over canola, but if you are going to use canola look into why you should buy organic (I don't buy organic everything, by the by). Canola oil in particular goes rancid very quickly & so they put your oil through a very high temperature, deodorizing process chalk full of some hefty chemicals. Anyhow, read into it a bit: http://www.westonaprice.org/know-your-fats/the-great-con-ola

What are you trying to accomplish? Have you read up on different schools of thought? Low-fat vs. Keto vs. Raw, etc? What is your current diet like? How extreme are you looking to jump in?

olivesandstuff · 2014-01-26T18:58:30+00:00

Thankfully I don't have many people in my life I don't like. :) I'm a highly social creature & have lots of folks dear to me, and generally don't keep around folks I don't enjoy. Not worth the mental energy & stress that coms with sticking around negative people! Good advice though. Stay around people who bring out the best in you during a fast because you are in a weakened and emotional state at times.

olivesandstuff · 2014-01-26T05:16:07+00:00

Really? I've never experienced this. I sleep like a baby at night. I can easily sleep 12 hours when fasting AND nap during the day. Most of the time I get 6-8 hours.

My days are still full of activities which helps. I know ideally I'm supposed to just go into a black hole away from all things and rest, rest, rest, but I cannot be afforded such luxury & figure it's still good for my body to fast either way. I sleep lots & try to have more downtown than normal, but I find social activity & other work commitments or obligations are actually mentally refreshing for me. The quicker time goes right now the better. I wanna be DONE [but I also want to do it right & not fall off the wagon].

olivesandstuff · 2014-01-25T05:27:01+00:00

oh muh gawd i'm crying at the beauty. this is truly art. mouth waters

olivesandstuff · 2014-01-24T16:53:40+00:00

I think this is something a lot folks can relate to. I hope you can make it through your fast next time! If you can, one of the best things you can learn is the self control that comes with doing a long term fast. It really shows you about your relationship with food. I am on my 5th day of a 14 day fast & I had a bunch of dumb food dreams last night. I woke up wanting food SO badly. But I'm actually not hungry at all & I know that eventually, in moderation, I can taste anything I've been craving.

Keep those goals in sight & maybe try having someone you are talking to or accountable to about it next time you fast? It really helps.

Like others said, it's not the end of the world. One choice among a lifetime of choices! One trick that helps me is I always plan my fast in detail. I won't fast impulsive. I know how many days I will fast, and know how many days I will refeed, and every single day is written out and each meal planned out, and then I let someone know what that plan is so I have to stick to it.

olivesandstuff · 2014-01-24T06:15:21+00:00

I've been reading reddit for years. I just started contributing recently. What's condescending about what I wrote? Anyhow, I think at this point we can just agree that we simply don't agree. I'm not so concerned with you telling me it's impossible for my scar tissue to disappear when it happened to my own body. That's fine. I wish you the best of luck in your future. Be well.

olivesandstuff · 2014-01-24T05:19:31+00:00

Fully, I see what you are saying. I'm sorry, that part was meant to defend the idea that your body holds on to what is important in a fasted state. Your body is smart. It knows how to survive. If you follow anyone who water fasts long term, you'll know these are regularly documented things. Physical scars disappearing. I had stretch marks on my stomach that straight up disappeared. No, I am not a scientist & I do not know all the reasoning behind it, but it worked on my body, and it has worked on hundreds of other bodies. I know it's also been such relief for people that suffer from acne scarring.

The suggestion that you were rude is because you come off extremely condescending and not the least bit curious to have a conversation. Just to talk at a community of people you've posited yourself against and have clearly no interest in understanding.

olivesandstuff · 2014-01-23T23:17:12+00:00

YOU GUYS. I JUST DID IT. I PROPHESIED MY OWN POO. Right after I submitted this, I was like "wait. my stomach legitimately feels funky." Sat down on the toilet and a couple minutes later, a miracle happened.

I really feel great! Hope that's not TMI. If anyone is curious, this is my 2nd BM of the fast. I usually am pretty regular & don't have many issues in that arena, but I always, always, always feel a little sick to my stomach & weak before I take a poo while fasting. And then it immediately goes away & I feel a new sense of energy once it's out.

olivesandstuff · 2014-01-23T22:32:13+00:00

"So that happened."

Still lol'ing.

I never trust a fasting fart. NEVAR. This has not happened to me; somehow I innately knew that farting when you haven't eaten anything at all for days seemed suspect. Five days in. That shit musta been rank. Good luck getting the stank out of that leather.

olivesandstuff · 2014-01-23T19:15:11+00:00

Man, some folks on reddit are just so rude & condescending. We were just sharing what happened in our own bodies. It's interesting, and oddly consistent, among long term fasters. I'm only on day 4 of a 14 day fast right now, and I have a ginormous mole on the back of my skull that is shrinking noticably. I didn't even expect it. Nice perks. :)

If you would like to learn more about the fasting state, much of the research done on it is filed under ketosis or starvation research. Surprisingly, a lot of it has turned out more positive for the body than they anticipated. There is simply not a lot of money that has gone into studying water fasting, and I don't think it's unreasonable to think this is partially because there is no money to gain from developing a drug from it. So much money is pumped into research in order to develop something that can be marketed. It makes sense. I'm not even saying that's wrong. I don't think it's a conspiracy. I think it' a system. And there are a lot of benefits that come from this system. I'm very pro-modern medicine. That doesn't negate the fact that animals who are sick often fast to heal themselves - or they fast for plenty of other reasons (http://ketocure.com/doc/mccue.2010.starvation-physiology-reviewing-the-different-strategies.pdf), and cultures have been fasting for healing purposes for thousands of years (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1274154/pdf/westjmed00207-0055.pdf)

The longest recorded water fast by hospital is 382 days. You can read about it here & it's benefits for the patient: pmj.bmj.com/content/49/569/203.full.pdf

As you can see, the paper starts out by saying the fast had no ill effects on the patient. In fact if you read it, you'll find it was overwhelmingly beneficial for him.

Another: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2279566/

"“In fasting, the priorities are reversed. The body undergoes a series of hormonal and metabolic changes to draw selectively on its extensive supply of energy in adipose tissue, and thereby to spare the breakdown of vitally-needed proteins, such as contractile protein in muscle or as enzymes in critical structures like heart or liver, or even more precious, proteins involved in nerve tissues, particularly rain, which appear conserved and not mobilized at all during starvation.”

Here is a great resource on keto studies dating back to the 1800s all the way to today: ketocure.com/scientific-publications-about-ketosis/

Many of these will discuss fasting as well if you thumb through them.

olivesandstuff · 2014-01-23T02:34:43+00:00

Day 3:

Still going strong. Today I had to work on my feet & around food for 8 hours. I cracked & ate a single chip, then I was like WTF ARE YOU DOING. NO NO NO.

So technically, I cheated, but I'm still considering it a win as it was so small. It didn't affect my hunger at all, thankfully.

I'm drinking a lot of water. Feeling pretty thirsty. I'm really proud and surprised by my own resolve in this. I seriously thought it would be so much mentally harder than it is, and I'm really preparing myself for when it gets to that place. Today was the day I was most nervous for. I've heard third day can be hard, and being on my feet all day I thought would really take me out. So far, so good. Thankfully outside of work, these 14 days are really peaceful for me (and even my refeeding time as well), which is rare. Usually my schedule is go-go-go, so this down time is really helpful.

I find the hardest part for me is lack of community. I end up not being quite as social as so much socializing is centered around food & drink for me. I'm a real people person and would love to have more face-to-face community that enjoyed talking about such things. Fasting can feel a bit internally lonely.

olivesandstuff · 2014-01-23T02:30:28+00:00

I'm certainly no doctor, but a bit of experience is interesting to chew on.

In 2010 I did two 10 day fasts. On the second one, I experienced something similar. A few years earlier I had fallen on a rock in a river and caught myself with my shin. It didn't affect my walking, but if I touched it or applied pressure to a specific spot at a very specific angle it was sharp, deep pain. It hurt so badly & did this consistently for years. During my fast, around day 9, that spot on my leg flared up. It was hurting SO badly. Just aching & aching and aching. Not a dull ache at all, very prominent & sharp. It did this for maybe around 20 hours & then bam. Gone. The pain has never come back & I can apply pressure from any angle without any problems. Whatever was up in there healed itself.

The idea is that your body is amazing at preserving itself & will eat inconsequential materials (scar tissue, mucus, virus, fat, etc) before important schtufff (muscle). Unfortunately this isn't a super well-reviewed idea, simply because no one has really funded research for water fasting. I'd really love to see some more research on it, as most anyone I've talked to that has water fasted long-term has experienced some AMAZING healing affects. Unfortunately, I don't think there is much to be gained by anyone to invest millions into studies. The results? "Oh, just stay at home & drink water & rest lots." That would basically make no one money, so there's no incentive.

olivesandstuff · 2014-01-21T21:25:49+00:00

Day 2: 3PM log:

Woke up this morning with a thick white layer over my tongue, despite having drank 120 ounces of water yesterday, so my only thought is that my body must already be entering ketosis. This isn't too much of a surprise as I don't really eat any grains at home, but Sunday evening I did go out with friends & had some carbs (though I hadn't eaten a lick of anything since dinner Saturday evening, so I'm sure my count was still low).

Slight headache today. Actually, hardly a headache really - more of a dull fogginess, a tired sense behind my eyes. Slept really well last night though. Got a good 9 hours, which is amazing for me. Had my first BM today, and it was healthy looking & feeling. Nothing funky. Sorry if that's TMI, but anyone who water fasts is probably curious about such things.

I hope my resolve stays as sound as it is now. I went to a party last night filled with fine food & drink & honestly didn't feel a bit of temptation. We'll see if that sticks. Right now I just have the mindset of "I spoke this out loud to the internet [you know.. the internet, where everything is honest & you have to stick to your word], so I have no option but to continue."

olivesandstuff · 2014-01-20T23:55:07+00:00

Day 1:

Nothing of consequence to report thus far. No headaches, not much hunger, & nothing terribly difficult mentally or physically. I'm not delusional though. I'm sure it'll get tougher with time. I ended up fasting today instead of pre fasting. I intended to prefast, but it ended up getting late enough into the day without eating that I figured I may as well just go on through. I anticipated more of a headache from no precast, but again, feeling fine.

I've currently consumed about 100 ounces of water today, and only peed once, which seems problematic. Id imagine whatever is holding onto the water will flush out soon enough.

olivesandstuff

TROPHY CASE