The fasting journal · matched to fast day 17
Day 17. Weekends Are the Hardest Part of a Water Fast
Day 17 is a Monday, which means John just survived the hardest part of every fasting week. The weekend.
25.6 pounds in 17 days
The scale said 203.0 this morning. Started at 228.6, so that is 25.6 pounds gone in 17 days, another 0.7 since yesterday, 11.2 percent of my starting weight. Body fat percent is down from 42.3 to 35.3, muscle percent up from 34.5 to 36.2. Every reading lives on the bloodwork page.
How do I feel? I am doing well. I am feeling good. No problems here. Seventeen days without food and the honest report is that the body has settled into the work.
The stretching habit
One thing I do every day to help me through this process is I stretch. It helps with muscle fatigue and aches and stuff like that, if I have any. When you are dropping weight this fast your body is doing a lot of rebuilding behind the scenes and a few minutes of stretching keeps everything loose and quiet. It costs nothing, it needs no gym and at 56 it is the kind of habit that pays for itself either way.
Weekends are tough
I gotta tell you, weekends are tough. They are. Because you are getting together with friends, you are getting together with family. The food is everywhere. You can smell it everywhere, it looks good, probably tastes delicious.
Here is what nobody tells you about long fasts. The hunger is not the hard part after the first few days, that switch flipped for me back in week one. The hard part is social. Weekdays have structure. Weekends are built around tables and after 17 days your nose picks up everything. The barbecue next door. The bread somebody just cut. All of it.
So my method is simple. Stand strong, grab your glass of water, hold on to it tight and just keep moving along. The glass keeps your hands busy at the table. The people around you understand, mine do, the conversations carry you through. And when the smell of something delicious makes its case, I come back to the same sentence. We are trying to accomplish something here.
Ninety days is the goal. A weekend is just two of them.
Day 17 done
Seventeen X marks on the calendar, second full weekend behind me. That being said, I am gonna let you guys go. You have a nice day. Cheers.
This is a doctor supervised fast with baseline bloodwork on record. Do not attempt an extended fast without medical supervision. John built up to this over 15 years of shorter fasts.
Quick answers
Why are weekends harder on a water fast?
Structure disappears. On weekdays there is a routine, work, errands, a schedule that keeps your mind busy and meals out of sight. Weekends are built around gathering and gathering in almost every culture means food. John spent day 17, a Monday recap of his weekend, talking about exactly this. Friends come over, family cooks and the food is everywhere. You can smell it, you can see it and after 17 days without eating, your nose works better than ever. The fix is not avoiding people, it is going in with a plan and something in your hand.
How do you deal with food cravings while fasting?
John's method after 15 years of practice fasts is physical and simple. Grab your glass of water, hold on to it tight and keep moving along. The glass gives your hands something to do at a table, the sips answer the reflex to put something in your mouth and staying in the conversation keeps your brain on people instead of plates. He also leans on the people around him, everybody in his circle knows what he is doing and understands. The last piece is the reason itself. When the smell hits, he reminds himself that we are trying to accomplish something here. A craving is a moment, the goal is 90 days.
Can you stretch or exercise during a water fast?
John stretches every day and credits it for keeping muscle fatigue and aches away. Stretching is about the gentlest movement there is, it keeps muscles flexible and joints moving through their range, which matters when your body is changing this fast. Hard training is a different question on a long fast and that one belongs to a doctor, which is why this fast runs with medical supervision and monthly bloodwork. John keeps his movement light, walking, stretching, daily errands and lets the scale do the heavy lifting.
How much weight has John lost in 17 days?
25.6 pounds in 17 days, from 228.6 down to 203.0, which is 11.2 percent of his starting body weight. Today's drop was 0.7 pounds. His body fat percent has moved from 42.3 to 35.3 since day 1 while muscle percent went from 34.5 to 36.2 on his home scale and his ketone strip still reads at the top of the chart. Every daily reading is published on the bloodwork page and the fast runs with baseline labs and doctor supervision.