18 day Water Fast Complete - Details Inside

​ [18 day fast](https://preview.redd.it/f01m64g3k7h91.png?width=417&format=png&auto=webp&s=8c50aa7403796124555912826b5db5b436647b6f) **18 day Duration:** Originally I set out to do a 3 day fast. After day 3 felt good, went for 7 days. After 7 days, felt good, went for 14. After 14, felt good, went for 21. Unfortunately I had to start refeeding after 18 days since I have a vacation coming up and wanted to be unrestricted on food options. **Background:** I have been doing 18-6 IF daily for years. I rarely eat breakfast but I do consume craft beer on the regular, the main reason for the extra weight. I do a few 3 - 5 day fasts each year, so my body is familiar with longer fasts. The longest fast I've ever done was 10 days and that was rough. All my prior fasts were with a different type of electrolyte and I never could find the right balance. I feel like the LMNT electrolytes I used this time were a big part of why this longer fast felt relatively painless. **Motivation**: I'm generally motivated to long term fast for 3 reasons. 1. Weight loss 2. Strengthening Health, rebuilding gut flora, letting colon reset, damaged cell recycling, huge boosts of HGH, massive inflammation reduction. 3. Reset my relationship with food. We tend to eat out of boredom and fall into lazy unhealthy patterns of eating. I find fasting helps me reset this to more functional and intentional eating patterns. **Weight Loss**: Male 6 Ft Starting Weight: 203lbs End Weight: 180lbs Target Weight: 175lbs Total Loss: **23lbs** **Supplements:** * I took 2 - 3 packets of LMNT electrolytes daily * Black coffee or iced americano in the morning * Small amounts of Taiwanese green loose leaf tea w/ slices of fresh ginger when nausea hit * Sugar free CBD gummies during those really deep valleys **Day to Day** Didn't notice day one. Day 2 and 3 were a little tough, as I transitioned into ketosis. Some hunger pangs. Day 4 in full blown ketosis. Started waking up with mild headaches the next 4 or 5 days but electrolytes as soon as I woke up made the headache dissolve instantly. Day 5 - 8 we're ok, I got into a rhythm of staying busy and not thinking about food. I wasn't really hungry, but would get brief hunger cravings from time to time. Day 9 - Euphoric. Not hungry, tons of energy, incredibly productive to the point my family is getting annoyed with me as I clean out spice drawers and cupboards and reorganize the kitchen. Day 10 - More incredible mental focus and attention. It's like I'm on drugs. These were easily the most productive days of work I've ever had. I was more genuine, patient and understanding of other humans. Forming elaborate sentences in short order, feeling like I could convert thoughts and ideas into words more efficiently than ever before. It was incredible. Day 11 - 13 Sinking into a regular flow now, wake up, coffee, electrolytes, work, electrolytes, relax, sleep, repeat. Not really hunger but missing food. Starting to crave eggs, tomatoes, avocadoes, cheese. Start looking up recipes on YouTube I can make after the fast. I created a 45 item doc by day 15. Day 14 - 16 Still focused, strong mental clarity, sleeping really well, feeling very healthy. Skin has great color, 0 inflammation in the body. Feeling weak though and a flight of stairs winds me now. Did a small 2km hike and had to stop a few times. Day 17 - 18 Tired of fasting. Dreaming of food. Hunger starts to show up more often. MY sense of smell is so incredibly heightened I would walk down the street and I could tell what each house was making for dinner. Day 19 - Break the fast. Overall slept great the entire fast. Tracked the quality of the fast with my Oura ring. Heart Rate, respiratory rate and HRV were also better than normal. Didn't do much exercise, the odd 40 pushup day here and there, some walking and that small hike. Also played a little baseball but mostly took it easy. **Refeeding** Day 1 of refeeding : Bone Broth, wait few hours, pickles, wait few hours, more bone broth, repeat, add Spicy italian peppers and olives in there as well. Small piece of cheese for dinner with organic Sauwerkraut and pro-biotics. Also some pro-biotics and Coconut Water Day 2 of refeeding : Same items as day 1 but make Carrot Ginger soup in Vitamix for lunch. Dinner: Avocado w/ Olive Oil and Sauerkraut. Also some pro-biotics and Coconut Water Day 3 of refeeding : 1 Egg, pieces of cheese, some prosciutto, more soup, Sauerkraut w/ Salmon for dinner. Also some pro-biotics and Coconut Water Day 4 of refeeding : More bone broth, pickles, avocado, Blueberry/Banana Baby Spinach Smoothie, more meat, not sure what yet. That taste of smoked gouda cheese on day 1 was mind-blowingly delicious. ​ **Next Steps** Looking forward to my new renewed relationship with food and rebuilding my gut flora properly with the right food. Thanks for listening, hope this helps someone else out there.