The fasting journal · matched to fast day 21
Day 21. Three Weeks In and the Burger That Is Not Coming
Three weeks. Twenty one mornings on the scale, twenty one X marks on the calendar and not one bite of food.
199.0
The scale said 199.0 this morning. Started at 228.6, so that is 29.6 pounds gone in 21 days, 13 percent of my starting weight. Another 0.7 pounds since yesterday. Nice.
How do I feel? I feel awesome.
The weekend plan
And it is Friday, the beginning of the weekend. So here is the plan. I am going to go out, I am going to have a burger, some fries, maybe a drink.
Oh, wait a minute. I am fasting.
Well, there is nothing like a cold glass of water.
I said that on camera without thinking and that is the interesting part. Three weeks in, the hunger is not what talks. The habit talks. Friday has meant a burger for most of my adult life and the sentence came out before the fast had a chance to interrupt it. I am not fighting that voice anymore. I am laughing at it and then I am drinking my water.
The question from the DMs
Some of you have been asking what the results were from the last water fast I did. Fair question, so here it is.
It was not as scientific as it is today. I sort of just did it on my own. No doctor, no bloodwork, no daily log, nobody watching. I started at 265 and I dropped down to about 185.
That is 80 pounds and I am proud of it. But I also know what happened after, because I am standing here at 228 on day 1 of this one. The fast worked. What came after the fast did not. That is why this time the whole thing is built differently. A doctor with stop authority, labs every 30 days and every morning reading published where anyone can see it. The weight coming off is the same story. The system around it is the new chapter.
Three weeks by the numbers
The curve is doing what a curve should. Week one took off 16.1 pounds, mostly stored water. Week two took 8.8. Week three took 4.7. Slower every week and that is the body settling into burning what it has stored rather than dumping fluid.
The ketone strip came back at the top of the chart again, the same reading it has held since day 8. Body fat percent on the home scale is down from 42.3 to 34.2 since day 1. Muscle percent is up from 34.5 to 36.5. BMI reads 30.2, which is two tenths from leaving the obese category for the first time in this fast.
Day 21 done
Three weeks down, sixty nine to go. No burger, no fries, no drink and no regrets about any of it.
That being said, I am going to let you guys go. Have a nice weekend and I will see you next time. Cheers.
Quick answers
How much weight can you lose in 3 weeks of water fasting?
John's number after 21 days is 29.6 pounds, from 228.6 down to 199.0, which is 13 percent of his starting body weight. That is one supervised result, not a promise. The first week was the fastest at 16.1 pounds, because the body sheds stored water first. Week two came in at 8.8 pounds and week three at 4.7 pounds. The curve is flattening exactly the way it should and every morning reading since day 1 is logged on the bloodwork page.
Do you still crave food after three weeks of water fasting?
The honest answer from day 21 is that the habit of food is louder than the hunger. John opened the video on autopilot, it is Friday, go out, have a burger, some fries, maybe a drink and then caught himself mid sentence. That is a routine talking, not a stomach. His hunger flattened out back around day 3 to day 5 once ketones showed up on the strip. What lingers is the social script of a weekend and that is the part he is laughing at rather than fighting.
What happened on John's previous water fast?
This is the question his DMs keep asking, so he answered it on camera. His last long fast was done on his own, no doctor, no bloodwork, no daily log. He started at 265 pounds and came down to about 185. He has also completed a 40 day fast and an 83 day fast before this one. The difference this time is everything around the fast, supervision, monthly labs and a public daily record, which is why the numbers on this site are the ones to trust.
Is John in the obese BMI category anymore?
By the home scale, barely. It read 34.6 on day 1 and 30.2 on day 21 and the standard obesity line sits at 30. Two more tenths and the category flips. A home scale BMI is an estimate, not a clinical measurement, which is why the fast also runs on lab work drawn at the start and again about every 30 days. The next draw lands around day 33 and goes straight onto the bloodwork page.