The fasting journal · matched to fast day 4
Day 4. The Edge Comes Off And The Energy Comes Back
Yesterday I told you about the wall. Today I get to tell you the part that comes after it. Day 4 and the fast finally gave something back.
The scale said 218.0
This morning the scale said 218.0 pounds. Down 2.6 from yesterday and 10.6 total since I started Saturday at 228.6. Four days, 10.6 pounds. Same honesty as before, a big piece of that is water leaving with the glycogen, not pure fat. You can already see the daily number shrinking, 8 pounds across the first three days and 2.6 today. That curve is normal and it will keep flattening.
The composition numbers keep agreeing with the direction. Body fat read 39.4 percent today, down from 40.1 yesterday and 42.3 at the start. BMI is at 33.0. Body water actually ticked up to 28.4 and muscle held at 35.2. Every day of this log lives on the bloodwork page if you want the full table.
The edge came off
I said yesterday was the first tough day and it was. Today the switch flipped. I am doing better than yesterday in three ways I can actually feel.
One, I just feel better overall. Two, there is less stress on my body, that heavy loaded feeling backed off. Three, I am less anxious. The best way I can say it is that the edge came off. And I honestly have more energy today than I did yesterday.
That is not me being tough. That is chemistry. The ketones are kicking in and getting higher and higher and when that machinery comes online the gap I described yesterday starts to close. On my 83 day fast it went exactly this way too. The wall shows up around day 3 and then the lights come back on.
The strip is starting to turn
Yesterday my ketone strip came back blank. Zero. Today I held it up against the chart on camera and there is the first hint of color on the pad. It is faint, you have to look for it but it is not blank anymore.
I test myself every single morning and this is exactly the experiment I wanted to show you. Blank on day 3, a trace on day 4 and if the last fast is any guide it gets darker and darker from here. Watch this strip over the next week. It is the cheapest lab test in the world and it does not care about my opinions.
The sleep question
I got a couple of DMs asking the same thing, so let me answer it here too. Do I have any sleeping problems on this fast?
No. Honest answer. I sleep fine. Some people do report lighter sleep during long fasts, especially in the early days when the body is running more on stress hormones. So far I am not one of them and if that changes you will hear it here first, same as everything else.
And yes, the gnome was back on mic duty today. He still works for free.
Day 4 done
Four X marks on the calendar. 86 squares to go. The baseline bloodwork from last week should land from the lab any day now and the full panel goes up on the bloodwork page the moment it does.
Day 4 done. Water up. 🩸
Quick answers
When does energy come back during a water fast?
For most people the low point lands around day 2 to 3, when glycogen is spent and ketone production is still ramping up. As ketones rise, usually between day 3 and day 5, energy and mood tend to rebound. John's switch flipped almost exactly on schedule, with a rough day 3 and a noticeably better day 4.
How do you know when ketosis is starting?
The cheapest signal is a urine ketone strip. It reads blank before ketosis and starts showing a faint trace color as ketones rise then darkens over the following days. The way you feel usually agrees with the strip. The edginess of the fuel switch lifts and steadier energy comes back.
Does water fasting cause sleep problems?
It varies. Some extended fasters report lighter or shorter sleep, partly because the body runs on stress hormones more during the fuel switch. Others sleep normally the whole way through. John got this question in his DMs and reports no sleep problems at all through day 4.
Is losing 10 pounds in 4 days of water fasting normal?
At John's starting size, yes but most of it is water that leaves as stored glycogen burns off, not fat. The daily drop shrinks as the fast goes on, which day 4 already shows. After 8 pounds in the first 3 days, day 4 added 2.6 more. Some water weight returns when eating resumes.