The Aging Games

As always there's quite a bit of conflicting information out there about how to break a fast. One thing everyone agrees on is that the fast needs to broken slowly and gently. You also need several days to go back to eating normally. For example, if you do a 7 day fast, you need about 3 days of refeeding. On a 10 day fast, you'll need 4-5 days and so on. How you break the fast will make or break the whole experience. If you go right back to your old way of eating, you can easily negate all the benefits of your fast. One school of thought insists on breaking the fast with fruit, more specifically watermelon and then lots of veggies and more fruit. Since my goal is to remain in ketosis, I will be taking a different approach. I will be eating protein, fat and some low-carb veggies, bone broth and lots of water. I would also recommend abstaining from alcohol for at least a few days so you're not overburdening your liver. Listen to your body. Don't force the food if yo

The day has finally arrived for me to have my first solid bite after 10 long days of fasting. I read that it's important to have something very light to get the digestion going before you'd have a bit larger meal. I decided on organic kefir and a couple of walnuts. Macadamia nuts come highly recommended for breaking the fast but I just didn't have any. For those not familiar with kefir, it's like a runnier version of yogurt but with much more probiotics. About ten minutes later I had to do an urgent bathroom run, which I'd assume is pretty normal. I spent the next few hours contemplating what to eat. I honestly couldn't decide on anything. Was I even hungry? Should I have just kept on with the fast? Reluctantly I decided on a soft boiled egg, a little tuna, some cucumber and feta. I set down to mindfully enjoy every bite. The problem was that I did not find the food enjoyable at all. Quite repulsive actually. I would have thought I'd enjoy anything at al

That's 10 whole days for those of you who are bad at math. :) Wow, what an accomplishment. I can't believe that I had the willpower to stick to this. How did I know it was time to break the fast? Hunger returned with a vengeance last night. Also, weight loss has really slowed down in the last couple of days. I guess my body was running out of things to munch on. Well, I could still think of a few places but we have to trust the system. I woke up this morning very excited and started with some kefir to replenish some of the intestinal bacteria before my first meal. I'm now enjoying a nice cup of matcha tea with extra cream and a bit of bone broth protein (I swear it tastes like hot chocolate, yum!) and thinking about what my first proper meal will be. I still have some broth left so I was thinking of perhaps making some cream of mushroom soup and pretty much sticking to liquids today but the day is still young. Will keep you guys posted.

Today, on day 9, I've experienced the perfect water fast day, which consisted of: 1. Sungazing first thing in the morning 2. Enjoying some morning sun with feet grounded in the wet grass 3. Matcha tea with cinnamom (I used to hate this but what a treat now!) 4. Weight training for 40 minutes (it was the first day I felt like pumping some iron. Listen to your body!) 5. An hour long massage in hubby's massage chair (Hallelujah!) 6. 30 minutes of pressotherapy (for lymphatic drainage) 7. Relaxing hot bath with Epsom salt 8. 35 minutes of infrared sauna (those toxins gotta go!) 9. Skinny dipping in the cold pool (don't tell my neighbors!) 10. Nice walk on the beach and a dip in the cold ocean (plan for a bit later) Other than the matcha I've been drinking water all day. Some of it deuterium depleted for extra detox and healing. Depending on how I'm feeling I might do a small cup of home-made bone broth and my treat throughout the day is pink salt crystals

As I continued on my extended fast things continued to improve. My energy was high, hunger nonexistent and I was going about my every day life as normal. I continued drinking lots of water, eating salt as needed, drinking matcha and cream in the mornings and drinking a little bone broth when I felt like I needed a boost. I also went to the doctor for a quick physical and blood test to make sure things were OK. My best day was day 9, when I actually hit the gym and did 40 minutes of weight training and then swam about 50 laps in the pool. I felt like Wonder Woman. Then on the evening of the 9th day my hunger returned. Not just for a few seconds but my body was screaming at me to eat. I knew that this was a sign that my body was done and it was time to start eating. I waited until the next day to break my fast.

First of all, if you take any medication or suffer from a serious medical condition, you should not embark on a longer fast without your doctor's supervision. I originally started out to complete a 3-day fast but as I learned about the growth hormone release on day 4 and stem cell release on day 5, I just didn't want to miss out on the "sweet spot". I also knew that from day 4 your body switches to burning ketones for energy and the hunger and most of the discomforts should subside. Abs appearing after one week I woke up on day 4 feeling truly fantastic. I felt like I could do this forever. I had a nice yoga session walk, drank plenty of water and the day passed more or less uneventfully. Day 5 was just as smooth. On day 6 I had a bit of lightheadedness but some pink salt and extra water set everything right. I'm a pretty healthy person so I didn't really have a lot of detox symptoms. I didn't notice any nasty body odor, I didn't get headache

So guys I'm going to be brutally honest with you. During days 1-3 of my water fast, time stood still. I felt like it should be midnight already and it was only 2pm. Normally the days fly by too quickly but not during these first few days. I couldn't wait to get to bed so the hunger would stop and I wasn't very keen to wake up in the morning. If I could have just slept for three days straight, I would have. The hunger also made me rather angry (hangry) at my family and even my dogs as they just continued eating around me as if nothing happened. Pigs! I tried to keep myself busy as possible but your mind has a very hard time overpowering your grumbling stomach. Although this is very normal for the first three days, not everyone will have the same experience. Two friends who were fasting with me just sailed through the first 3 days and had a harder time with days and 3 and 4. So it really is an individual experience. But hang in there as things do get better.

Well, water, obviously but luckily there's some room for flexibility . You can also enjoy tea, herbal teas, coffee and bone broth as needed. Do not use any sugar or sweeteners but you can add a drop of heavy cream as needed. I had decaf coffee twice during my ten-day fast and to be honest I didn't find it very helpful. Each morning, however, I started with matcha tea and a drop of cream, blended well in the blender and sprinkled with cinnamon. It was heavenly. I reserved the bone broth for days when my strength was lacking and was only having an espresso cupful those days. Others are having 4-6 cups a day and they did really well regardless. I tried to stay as true as possible to being on a water only fast so I only used these crutches when I really needed them. As to how much water? Some experts say you need about 2 liters but I say just listen to your body. When you're feeling hungry or thirsty, drink more. I also found sparkling mineral waters, like Perrier , a li

After about day three, your body will switch to burning ketones instead of sugar for energy. This is the sweet spot people! Please keep in mind that ketone measurements are not always a good indication of what's actually going on in your body. Are you losing weight? Has the hunger dissipated? Then rest assured that you in ketosis and don't stress too much about testing ketone levels. Having said that, the following are the 3 ways to test your ketone levels: Urine  You can buy ketone urine strips at any pharmacy and test your urine levels any time you like. Please don't obsess if the sticks don't turn deep purple. Remember this only measure the excreted ketones and not what your body is actually using. Blood Blood ketone monitors and strips are quite expensive but this will give you the most accurate results. Breath Funny enough, you can buy a regular  breathalyzer (yes, the one the cops made you blow into) and other than alcohol, this also measures aceto

Water fasting has so many benefits I'm not even sure where to start. Let's look at some of the most important things: Weight Loss I know this shouldn't be the #1 reason to fast but let's be honest here, vanity wins out over health benefits every time. Sad but true. After getting rid of extra water, in the absence of food, your body will start burning your stored fat as energy. Die fat cells die!! After the third day, once you're finally in ketosis this becomes a very natural and healthy way for your body to kick into survival mode by burning stored energy. The good news is that this will all take place without you feeling any hunger at all. Healing Your digestive system finally gets a rest. Just think of how many hours each day are spent digesting food. During this time, much of your body's energy is concentrating on digestion and not much else. Giving your body this much needed rest will allow it to focus on healing and rejuvenating. This means that wa

One morning I just woke up and felt so disgusted with myself that I just jumped into my first water fast. I've since learned that this is NOT the way to get started. You really want to properly prepare your body and mind for the fast and find a convenient period of time, free of stress, where cleansing your body can be your first priority. The pic is just an illustration of how I felt Before I fast again, I will make sure my body is in full nutritional ketosis, which means it's burning ketones and not sugar for fuel. This would make the first 3 days of hell (until your body naturally switches to ketones), avoidable. If you are new to ketosis and the keto diet, this is a great source to get you started with information and lots of delicious recipes. A keto diet is also something you might want to continue on after your water fast to maintain the weight loss and other health benefits you'll be enjoying.  https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/keto

Having fasted various times throughout my life on juices, up to three weeks at a time, I finally decided to embark on the whole new journey of water fasting. My first goal was to complete three day but after learning that the magic begins on day 4 and the huge stem cell release is to be expected on day 5, I decided to carry on. Also knowing that hunger disappears after day 3 and the rest is smooth sailing, so why stop there? My lunch by the sea (hubby was eating calamari) The first 3 days were quite challenging but from day 4 onward things did get much easier. Once I reached day 5 and felt fantastic I decided to continue on to 7 days. At 7 days, I decided to carry on day by day, hopefully reaching day 10. Woohoo! What a milestone that would be! Not bad for my first water fast. Who's badass? I am!! So here I am just wrapping up day 9 and after my Mom told me that, "everyone knows you die after two weeks" I'm quite determined to carry on for 14 days, just to pro