I decided to do three-day fast which started Sunday afternoon and ended Wednesday afternoon. For the benefits of others, I am sharing my experience here so that others may have an idea of what to expect. Keep in mind, I did this strictly for health reasons, but there were some spiritual benefits nonetheless that I will touch more on in a moment.
My three-day experience
Here is a breakdown of my three-day fast:
1. Day one was fine. One-day fasts aren’t much of a big deal anymore since I do them often enough. Someone who may not fast regularly should ease in to a three day fast. If you have never fasted before, near the end of the day (at least for me) is the most challenging.
2. The second day was the hardest. I had a headache most the day and could not focus. I had some dizziness and weakness throughout most of the day. My mouth also felt weird. Kind of like dehydration, but not? My body was also getting rid of a lot of toxins and such, so I made sure to keep hydrated with water all day. I was craving all the worst things and there was plenty of temptation to stop. But…
3. When I woke up today (day three), though still kind of weak, I felt like I could do more. So, I got up, cleaned the restroom, swept the house, made some Oolong tea (nothing added) and was generally OK until I had my first meal.
I mostly had been drinking water throughout the day with tea as breakfast and dinner; Oolong tea and Chamomile Lavender.
And, as of the morning of the third day, I had lost about 8lbs.
Aftermath
I reintroduced myself to food with a meal consisting of yellowtail sushi, avocado roll, miso soup, and seaweed salad with a glass of lemon water. These are simple foods that, as far as I’m concerned, are not difficult to digest but some may want to forgo the fish.
I also calculated that I saved roughly $70 in food and gas expenses!
Lastly, as I stated earlier, I did not do this fast for spiritual reasons. It was all health-driven. But, an interesting side effect was that I did get some spiritual encouragement/affirmation/benefits anyway. For that, I am most thankful. I believe the reason is because when you already someone who belongs to the Almighty and His Spirit is with/within you, whenever you do something to improve some aspect of your life, be it physical or spiritual, He lifts you up, encourages you, and blesses you. I don’t have Scripture on hand to back that up, but I’m thankful nonetheless that I was blessed spiritually.
Next time, I will do this sort of fast for both physical and spiritual reasons.
Hourly breakdown
Now, the encouragement for doing this for my health came from something I read about what happens at certain timeframes throughout the three days of fasting. I’ll close with that info here:
4-8 hours
- Blood sugars fall
- All food has left the stomach
- Insulin is no longer produced
12 hours
- Food consumed has been burned
- Digestive system goes to sleep
- Body begins healing process
- Human Growth Hormone begins to increase
- Glucagon is relaxed to balance blood sugars
14 hours
- Body has converted to using stored fat as energy
- Human Growth Hormone starts to increase dramatically
16 hours
- Body starts to ramp up the fat burning
18 hours
- Human Growth Hormone starts to skyrocket
24 hours
- Autophagy begins
- Drains all glycogen stores
- Ketones are released into the blood stream
36 hours
- Autophagy 300% increase
48 hours
- Autophagy increases 30% more
- Immune system reset and regeneration
- Increased reduction in inflammation response
72 hours
- Autophagy maxes out