I DIDN’T EAT FOR 6 DAYS, HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED

I recently went six days on water. No food, no electrolyte drinks, no protein shakes, no sucking on BCAA lollies. Just plain haitch-two-o. Was it worth it, did I see some benefits from denying myself the pleasure of chewing delicious food items?

Or was I just a shaking mess for six days and utterly crazy to even try it?

Well, you are about to find out. But before we dwell into the world of voluntary fasting I need to make few things clear. I am not recommending anyone to do this. I am not a doctor who knows the ins and outs of your health. I am a crazy personal trainer who likes to experiment on things and then share the findings with you.

If it’s not clear yet: just because I tell something on the internet doesn’t mean that you should go ahead and copy what I do, especially without a consent from your doctor.

HERE IS MY HONEST REVIEW ON SIX DAY WATER FASTING

My hope is that this post will make you think.

Why did I decide to fast on water for six days?

Here are the main reasons:

• The last few months I’ve been dwelling into the vast world of fasting by reading articles, listening to podcasts and hearing other people’s experiences with various types of fasts.

• There is emerging research (more on this below) on the long-term health benefits of doing extended fasts few times a year.

• Since birth we’ve been programmed to eat multiple times a day. Why do we keep doing it? Going six days without food seemed like a good way to challenge the status quo.

• We only have one life, one body, one shot at being great. I believe in challenging and maximising both body and mind. Fasting seemed like a great challenge to test some of my mental and physiological limits.

• In this day and age I repeatedly ask myself the question, “could I survive a possible nuclear warfare followed by a zombie apocalypse?” Say, I wouldn’t have the access to food for few days. This experiment would provide an answer to the food part. Although I am doubtful whether going without food does anything to my nuclear warfare and zombie survival rates. That’s probably a separate experiment altogether.

What are the benefits of fasting?

Good question. Here are some of the main benefits of doing six days of gastronomical tango with plain water:

• Autophagy, aka clearing the body from bad cells. Many diseases thrive and develop on bad cells, including cancer.

• Increase in the life expectancy. The current diet trends and 24/7 food availability leads to accelerated cell aging. Yes, we want the opposite of this. A bit like forever young Keanu Reeves. I mean, he is going fifty, looking thirty. Mad cells right there.

• The digestive system can have a holiday from the aforementioned 24/7 workload. This break allows the digestive system to heal and repair. Think about it, you wouldn’t like to work non-stop in the office. No dude, you’d burn out doing that.

• The body can put 100% of its focus on getting rid of all the nasty junk stored from years of abuse.

• Some of the other benefits include: reducing chronic pain, reduction in blood pressure, decrease in inflammation, and improved insulin sensitivity.

Is water fasting safe?

It was safe for me. I know how my body reacts to certain stresses so I knew what to expect. Well, to a certain extend anyway. Again, I am not a doctor encouraging you to try it. I won’t be responsible if you drown in hectoliters of water because you tried to quench your hunger with water. You hear me? If you do drown I won’t even come to your funeral. I’ll only send a card that says, “I told you so.”

How did I do it?

Ok, so finally the good stuff where I share the details of my fast. And, for those who skipped to this point… go back to where I talk about your possible funeral after a water O.D.

I wanted to do my fasting experiment a little different to what most other people have done so far. Meaning that I didn’t change my weekly schedule to accommodate the fast. I didn’t take it easier or have more down time to what my usual week would be. I didn’t stop training. I actually went as hard as I could each day, including two leg sessions. My sleeping patterns were the same and I didn’t allocate time for extra naps throughout the days.

Here are the specifics of how I did my water fast:

• I ate dinner on Sunday evening and didn’t eat again until the following Saturday afternoon.

• Only water. Except on one occasion, I only drank when I was thirsty. I didn’t try to kill hunger with water.

• As already mentioned, no coffees or pre-workout stimulants for energy.

• No supplements or vitamins.

• No complaining how tired I was. Not even at times when I felt that surviving a zombie apocalypse might be an easier task to accomplish than water fasting.

THE SIX DAY FAST RUNDOWN, DAY BY DAY

Day 0 – Sunday

Weight: 87.5Kg

8pm – Last meal before the fast. 3 scoops of Messina ice cream.

Day 1 – Monday

Weight: 87.5Kg

5:30am –  Wake up. I don’t feel hungry at all. A glass of water and a cycle to work.

12pm – Felt extremely tired and got hit by a massive headache from the caffeine withdrawal. I had a very week coffee which helped.

4pm – A training session. I did a full body workout and pushed every set to failure. Turned out to be a good session. I felt great during and afterwards.

7pm – Finished work and cycled back home.

7:30pm – Dinner. Big glass of water. I was expecting massive hunger pangs, but it wasn’t too bad.  

9pm – An early mark for bed.

Day 2 – Tuesday  

Weight: 87Kg

5:45am – Wake up. Cold shower and a big glass of water. No feeling of hunger at all. Cycled to work. I was expecting low energy and crazy hunger, but the opposite happened. I had a big boost of energy, and only a mild sensation of hunger

10am – I had a break for two hours and decided to cycle back home to get some work done. Felt great and had a sharp focus to get some work done.

4pm – Training time. Did an upper body session and pushed it pretty hard.

7pm – Finished work and rode the bike home.

7:30pm – Dinner. Felt hungry but wasn’t starving. Had my glass of water. Yay.

9pm – Bedtime

Day 3 – Wednesday

Weight: 85Kg

4:45am – Wake up. Energy levels were good. Had a standard breakfast of a big glass of water and rode the bike to work. I had a wide smile on my face and couldn’t quite believe how easy the fast had been so far.

10am – Training time. Did a crazy long leg and shoulder session. I felt really tired for two hours straight after the session.

12pm – The energy came back up, but I felt extremely hungry during my sessions with clients. I did drink more water than usual and the hunger went away.

7pm – The usual finishing time at work. Rode the bike back home.

8pm – Deep muscle soreness from the earlier training session. Decided to have Epsom salt bath to alleviate it.

9:30pm – Full on zombie after the salt bath. Crawled to bed and fell asleep in 10 seconds flat.  

Day 4 – Thursday

Weight: 84.1kg

4:45am – Wake up. Felt tired, sleepy and my legs felt like I had actually survived a zombie nuclear warfare. I had a cold shower to wake myself up and decided to take a 40 minute walk to work.

10am – Energy starting to rise, perfect timing for training. I only did a back and arms session. As was the case the day before, the energy dropped immediately after the session. But it did return quicker than it did the day before.

12pm – Two hour break. Energy was good and I felt remarkably good despite the whole body being sore from training.

7pm – Done with work. 40 minute walk back home.

8pm – Since I vouched not to alter my usual routine throughout the fast I went out with my girlfriend, as we usually do on Thursday evenings. Sat down for a small dinner. It was great. For her. I was only a spectator and stuck with my faithful glass of water.

10pm – Felt very tired coming home. Shower and bed.

Day 5 – Friday

Weight: 83.3Kg

4am – Wake up. I felt exhausted. Needed another cold shower to wake me up. Glass of water and a bicycle ride to work.

Once at work I realized that I started sitting on benches during the sessions with my clients. No good.

8am – Training time, only did the upper body. I had to keep my rest breaks in check, otherwise I would’ve sat on the benches for 10 minutes at a time.

12pm – The usual early finish on a Friday. Cycled back home.

12:30pm – Sitting on the couch and doing my best to ignore the brain telling me to eat. Couldn’t focus on reading so switched on Netflix. Worst hunger so far.

2pm – I decided to go for walk. Went to the park and read a book. Energy came back up and the hunger went away. Felt like an Ironman for being able to resist the earlier urge to eat.

Rest of the day was good. I was exhausted but didn’t feel hungry anymore.

10pm – Bedtime

Day 6 – Saturday

Weight: 82.1 Kg (not surprisingly, the lowest weight of the fast)

5:30am – Wake up. Final day. I was still very tired, but enjoyed the cycle to work as I knew it was the last day of the fast. And honestly, I was just counting the hours until I could eat something.

12pm – Did my training session of legs and a little bit of upper body. Pushed as hard as I could.

2pm – Met up with a friend. We went to the fish market for my first meal in six days. I had sashimi. Weirdly, I wasn’t that hungry, but I did really enjoy the meal. Fasting was over. I made it!

5pm – Came home and felt great. Lots of energy, mental clarity and focus. I felt accomplished for being able to go through the week without eating. The last few days especially weren’t easy.

CONCLUSION (PROS AND CONS)

Here are the pros and cons of fasting for six days, based on my experience

Pros:

– Saving time from cooking, meal prep and the actual process of eating.

– More stable energy – no blood sugar rushes and crashes.

– Better mental clarity.

– Strengthened the willpower.

– Getting ridiculously lean.

Cons:

– The last two days of the six day fast were towered by a crazy hunger.

– Feeling extra cold.

– Had a limited social life. Apparently a guy who drinks only water is not the best company to go out with. Go figure.

Would I go through six days without food again? Absolutely. I believe it’s good to do some form of fasting few times a year. It’s a general maintenance for the body. Cleaning up the body the same way as I would spring clean a house or service the car.

I also strongly believe that going through something challenging like this will only build up the character and discipline (and get you ready for the looming zombie apocalypse).