The fasting journal · matched to fast day 46
Day 46. Why I Ended the Fast
Day 46 was supposed to be a quiet Tuesday on the road to 90. It is not. John stands in his usual spot in the backyard with the little gnome in hand. Inside the first minute he says the sentence this site was never supposed to publish on day 46. The 90 day water fast is officially over.
Numbers first, because that is the house rule here. 178.4 pounds this morning. That is a 0.1 pound gain from yesterday, the first plus sign ever printed in the daily column. Total change stands at 50.2 pounds in 46 days from the 228.6 start on August 1. BMI 27, body fat 28.4 percent, muscle 38.3 percent, 1906 calories burned. The gain is not a mystery and John does not treat it like one. It is the story of the day.
What happened on Monday afternoon
Yesterday afternoon my health took a real turn for the worse. I had an episode in which I had nausea, which led me to be sick.
It did not pass. He was sick through the afternoon and all the way into the evening. There was nothing I could do to stop it, he says. No amount of rest or water was going to stop it. That last part matters. On a water fast, water is the entire supply line. Vomiting that will not quit drains fluid faster than drinking can put it back. MedlinePlus files that kind of persistent vomiting under reasons to get a doctor involved. A body rejecting the only input it gets is not a rough patch. It is a signal.
The call
So at about 10 at night John made the decision he knew would cost him the round number. He ate. A small amount of homemade beef broth, just a little bit, kind of to start reintroducing food back into his system. It worked. Things calmed down and stayed calm from last night into today.
He is not dressing it up. When I decided to do that, I knew that was gonna change the whole 90 day water fast situation. So I am ending it.
Twenty four hours earlier he stood in the same spot celebrating the halfway mark and 50 pounds gone. That is how fast a long fast can turn. It is exactly why this journal has said from day one that the fast runs under a doctor with monthly bloodwork. The plan was 90. The body said 46. He listened to the body.
The morning strip still reads 16, deep in ketosis. One small serving of broth did not undo six weeks of fat burning. What ends today is not the chemistry. It is the streak.
Refeeding starts now
The next chapter has a name and John already knows the shape of it. We are gonna now talk about refeeding. Broths and things like that for the next week or so. Build from there and even things out again in my system.
The slow ramp is not caution for its own sake. After a long stretch without food the body can react badly to a sudden plate, with dangerous shifts in fluids and minerals that medicine calls refeeding syndrome. Cleveland Clinic describes it as a serious risk in exactly this situation. Broth first and gradually more after is the standard answer. It is the one his doctor will be watching him through.
There is one preview of the refeed already on record. The broth tastes great. Everything right now is tasting great, he says, which is what six empty weeks does to a palate.
What 46 days bought
The run that ends today took John from 228.6 to 178.4. From obese to overweight on the BMI chart. Under 180. Fifty pounds and change, gone in a month and a half, verified on camera every single morning.
The calendar stops filling in at 46 boxes. John’s own closing line is the honest summary of why. Most important thing here, I suppose, is listen to your body. When your body says for you to do something else, you gotta pivot and you gotta do it. You do not want things to get out of hand.
The fast is over. The journal is not. Refeeding, the broth recipe and what the scale does when food comes back all start tomorrow.
Quick answers
Why did John end his 90 day water fast on day 46?
Because his body forced the question. On the afternoon of day 45 he had an episode of nausea that turned into vomiting he could not stop. In his words there was nothing he could do to stop it, no amount of rest or water was going to stop it. He decided he needed to eat something, broke the fast that night with beef broth and made the ending official on camera the next day. He was clear that he knew the decision ended the 90 day run the moment he made it. The lesson he pulled from it is the one he said straight into the lens. Listen to your body. When your body says to do something else you pivot, because you do not want things to get out of hand.
What did John break his 46 day fast with?
Homemade beef broth at about 10 at night on day 45. A small amount, in his words just a little bit, kind of to start reintroducing food back into his system. It settled things and the sickness had calmed by the next morning. He says the broth is simple to make but takes time to cook and he plans to share how he made it. One detail he added lands like a man who has not tasted food in six weeks. Everything right now is tasting great. Broth is also the classic first step of a refeed because it is gentle on a gut that has been empty for weeks.
Is vomiting a reason to stop a long water fast?
It was for John and the general guidance points the same way. Vomiting that will not stop drains fluids quickly. On a water fast fluids are the only thing coming in, so losing them faster than you can replace them is a real problem. MedlinePlus lists vomiting that keeps going as a reason to contact a doctor. John made the call the practical way. When rest and water changed nothing he ate. Once he ate he accepted the fast was over rather than pretending otherwise. Anyone attempting a long fast should have a doctor watching before day one, which is how this fast ran from the start with monthly bloodwork behind it.
What is refeeding after a long water fast?
The slow reintroduction of food after the body has gone weeks without it. After 46 days the gut and the metabolism are not ready for a normal plate. Bringing food back too quickly after a long stretch of undernutrition can cause dangerous shifts in fluids and minerals, which medicine calls refeeding syndrome. Cleveland Clinic describes it as a serious risk in exactly this situation, which is why the ramp matters more than the menu. John's plan follows that shape. Broths and things like that for the next week or so. From there he builds and evens things out again. His doctor stays in the loop the way she has been the whole fast.