Dec 12 2007
Water Fasting - Day 1
Weight loss on Day One - 3 pounds.
As I mentioned in my previous post, I decided (rather on a whim, actually), to start a 5-day water fast. My intention is to personally test a claim made by Allan Cott, MD., in his book Fasting as a Way of Life.
Dr. Cott claimed that fasting (water fasting, not juice fasting), is beneficial to anyone addicted to a harmful substance, like alcohol or other drugs, because the body will reject these drugs after a fast. He also claimed that a person who fasts is less likely to return to old, bad eating habits, because the cleansing process that happens naturally during a water fast will make your body abhor all toxins - like refined sugar and other processed foods.
So, is he right? I decided to find out.
I called my doctor to get her OK, but I didn’t do anything else to prepare for the fast. I know I’ll lose weight (it’s impossible not to lose weight if you don’t eat), but my primary interest is to see if I get fewer sugar urges during the holidays, when I’ll be surrounded with some of my favorite deadly treats. I figured that this would be the perfect time to test Dr. Cott’s claims.
I’m now writing this on the morning of day 2 of my water fast. Yesterday I felt no urges to eat anything at all - but I did have a strong craving for water, which I drank in large quantities. I contribute my lack of appetite to my headache - and I know the headache came because I didn’t drink my normal three cups of coffee yesterday. Caffeine withdrawal always brings on a headache (something to do with the expansion or contraction of blood vessels in the brain, I think. I’ll look it up).
I should have given up the coffee a week or so before going on the water fast, just so I could tell for sure if any symptoms happen specifically because I’m not eating anything. It’s not a perfect experiment, but I was in a hurry - the holidays are only a few weeks away.
I began to feel a bit sluggish in the afternoon, but that may also have been caused by the headache. I don’t get them often, so I’m a wimp when my head hurts. Dr. Cott said that you should always get up and exercise to get your energy back, so I followed his advice and took my dog on a walk to the library.
Everything else about my day was perfectly normal. I wrote several articles for my blogs, and created a video showing people how to install Wordpress the easy way for one of my other websites. I took the dog for his regular walks in addition to our trip to the library, and I did the laundry. Pretty ordinary stuff. Most importantly, I didn’t miss the food.
Now, on the morning of day two, I still have a very slight headache, but nothing to really bother me (still the caffeine withdrawals - it takes a few days for them to go away). I still don’t feel cheated because I didn’t get my breakfast, and I’m still feeling a strong urge to drink lots of water. I’ll walk over to the grocery store and buy some more bottled spring water, so I can limit the amount of chlorinated tap water I consume this week. And of course I am happy that I lost those three pounds.
All in all, my first day’s experiment in water fasting wasn’t very exciting. Just a normal day, except I didn’t eat anything. Will it continue to be this easy? Come back tomorrow, and find out.
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