For the first time in my life I had decided to go on a proper 7 day fast. This was mostly inspired by a retreat with Jasmuheen a few weeks ago, though she didn’t actually talk about fasting, but her lifestyle made my body crave feeling clean from the inside. I have heard plenty of stories of my friends fasting and they always said it was an incredible experience, but I previously could never even last one day.

During Jasmuheen’s retreat, she taught us how to intake prana to nourish our physical bodies, so we can survive without food. I figured this was good knowledge to have before beginning a fast, even though my prana is not at 100% yet.

Below I will describe what happened to my body, my mental and emotional state each day, so if you decide to do something like this, you will know roughly what to expect (even though your experience may be totally different to mine).

Summary:

• Most important point: before starting a fast, PLEASE read about how to get OUT of a fast, as in my opinion it is more important than learning about the fast itself. If you don’t break the fast correctly, that could cause some very serious issues that I have outlined at the very end of this article
• Weight loss: I lost 5kg in 7 days
• What to do: daily enemas are a must, read why below
• What not to do: do not drink water for the first 48 hours
• Hunger: if you don’t drink water at the beginning, you will get through the fast easier as hunger wont be much of an issue
• Energy: you wont have much physical energy to do anything from day 1, so I would advice you not to go to work. Light exercise or yoga is recommended (if you can).
• Detox symptoms: these will depend on you personally, I experienced NO negative symptoms during the fast besides lack of energy

*Post-fast update* – My experience was actually very different to what I read on the internet, so I think this is a great example – not everyone feels really awful, so if you are worried about throwing up and starving, read my experience first, and you might feel better knowing that not everyone goes through the same thing. However, I also realised the importance of breaking the fast properly, so before going on a fast, I urge you to read about how to break a fast, as I went through one of the most painful experiences because I failed to acknowledge the importance of doing it properly…please don’t make that same mistake – read about it here.

Pre-fasting

Diet: Just for you to get the whole picture, I’ve been a raw vegan for 1.7 years, although I did have a slip up a few months ago when I moved to Bali. For the whole month before the fast I went back to being 90% raw vegan. A few days before the fast, I didn’t change my diet to lighten it up, though I did stop having breakfast.

Cleansing: For 16 days prior to the fast, I was on an anti-parasite cleanse. I will write a detailed post on that later.

Reading: I have been reading and watching videos about fasting to get some knowledge of what to expect. One of the most important things that was mentioned was doing a daily colon cleanse and I chose to take the option with warm water and apple cider vinegar. It is said to destroy the yucky fungal layer in our intestines that we all have from eating foods that are not good for us. This is important because on the 3rd day, our body will begin to “eat” whats in our intestines, and it will poison itself if the gut is not clean (this is the short version, feel free to google this stuff, its fascinating).

Mindfulness: I spoke to my physical body everyday, I told it how much I love every little bit and that I am not doing this fast to hurt it, but to clean it, and I asked for its collaboration to get through this as easily as possible. I find it is important as your body reacts to what you say or think, and if you don’t do it, it will freak out as it will “think” that you are just starving it to death and may rebel against you. I found that this was the single most important thing I did during this week – read on for details.

Weight at the start: 59.8

Start of the fast – never got hungry

A friend of mine recommended to go through the first 2 days without food AND water, as apparently it is easier, though it is supposed to make the 3rd day a bit harder as the toxins will begin to move around my body with the water.

Mindfulness: As I woke up, I did a short meditation to help my body intake more prana to nourish my physical body using techniques I learnt from Jasmuheen.

Physical: In the morning I cleaned my colon using an enema with about 2 tea spoons of apple cider vinegar and did some stomach exercises during the procedure to get deeper into the gut pockets. The thought that there is still meat in there from 10 years ago totally grosses me out so I want to get rid of it!

After that I did some gentle yin yoga for 30 minutes as apparently mild exercise such as yoga or walking is good to do during a fast. This was the first and last time I did yoga this week as after I had no energy or desire to do so.

At 12:00 I drove to go shopping with my grandma and felt a slight loss of energy, by the time we got back 3 hours later, I was falling asleep and thought to myself that it wasn’t the best idea to drive, even on the first day.

My ears have been a little blocked since day 1 until the very last day, Ive also had no mucus whatsoever since the first day.

Emotional: I heard a lot of people say that those who fast are usually easily irritated and moody, but I in fact experienced the opposite effect today.

Hunger: Surprisingly, I never got hungry…at all! I guess the no water thing really does work. Last time I tried “fasting” I drank like 2 litres of juice and gave up “fasting” at 16:00 as it got too hard.

Mental: I am weirdly calm, I thought I would freak out half way through the day, but I think talking to my body and reassuring it that Im not killing myself really worked. There was only one split second where I thought I should give up (events always come up that you want to go to at inappropriate moments), but it went away really fast.

Weight in the evening: 58.2kg

My body is “drinking” in the shower

Sleep: I woke up quite a few times during the night, but only for a minute or so. Each time I was surprised that I wasn’t hungry. I did dream of food though, I was eating black currants and I could really taste them in my sleep. Im pleased I wasn’t dreaming about a steak or junk food though haha!

Hunger: Still no hunger, its amazing!

Physical: I woke up feeling great, very alive and so happy with myself that I managed to go through the first day. The lack of energy hit me the moment I stood up though, I live on the top floor and it was a little tiresome to go up and down the stairs.

It was interesting to notice my reaction to water. When I take a shower or a bath, it literally feels like my body is drinking, it gives me some relief and makes me more alive. I read that showers are important during a fast but I never knew how it would feel. This morning water tasted different when I brushed my teeth too, I could feel how “fake” it was, it was not a nice feeling but I loved the fact that after just one day of fasting I became sensitive to such things.

I went out for a walk today and barely made it 400 metres, felt a little nauseous.

My teeth are still super clean by evenings of everyday throughout the fast.

Late in the evening I decided it is time to drink a little bit of water, as a dry fast is only recommended during 48 hours. Cant say it felt too pleasant, I got a little hungry right after I drank and it caused some burps.

Mental: In the morning my mind was not interfering, thankfully, I was still working on my computer and Im not planning on giving up. By the afternoon, I got soooo bored, I was very close to giving up just out of sheer boredom and feeling utterly useless.

Emotional: I thought I was very calm with no extreme emotions, but my boyfriend told me I was a little grumpy…guess other people see it better…

Weight: 57.5

Almost fainted – do not drive

Sleep: Same as last night, kept waking up and dreamt of food again, though this time I was eating soup in a restaurant and was totally grossed out by it, it didn’t taste good at all. In my dream I kept beating myself up for not going to a salad place.

Hunger: Since I’ve started drinking I have a little bit of hunger, but very mild, tolerable.

Physical: I actually drove down to the supermarket in the morning and felt good, as long as I don’t walk too much then its ok. In the afternoon I also drove to the vet’s…almost fainted at the sight of a syringe, but when you’re fasting I noticed that your heart starts beating really fast at certain situations (like fear or walking too fast). In the afternoon I even survived a shopping trip to a big mall (though I didn’t drive this time).

As off 5pm I feel amazing, no hunger, no pain, no throwing up, why is everyone complaining about the 3rd day?!

Apart from general weakness, I also noticed, in the late evening I had a weird feeling in my legs, the exact same one I used to get when I drank alcohol. Its kind of numbing, kind of prickly and just generally uncomfortable. This lasted until I went to sleep, and I think that may have been the toxins coming out.

My breath is starting to smell, finally! I read that this is a sign that toxins are starting to come out…apparently in a few days your whole body will smell of acetone…

Emotional: Its funny, but I got some bad news today but I was totally cool with it, no anger, no resentment, I think Im actually calmer than I am on any normal day. Who said people on a fast are always moody?!

Weight: 56.5

Im totally motivated!

Sleep: It took me a couple of hours to fall asleep, but for once I didn’t dream about food!

Hunger: Still no hunger, I am amazed!!

Physical: Its incredible that after 4 days of no food, there is still crap (excuse my language) coming out of me, the last couple of days it was all yellow, and today its all black! I heard about this, so Im happy that I’m finally reaching to the years-old yuckiness.

Mental: I can totally do this! I am now more certain than ever that I can manage the 7 days, I feel great apart from the weakness, and I have no bad side effects, now I know that if I ever get stuck in a cave without any food that I will survive without problems 🙂

Emotional: Next weekend I am planning on running a raw food workshop, so I instinctively think about recipes. This kind of messed with my head as my stomach began to rumble, so I had to force myself to think about something else.

Weight: 55.8

Very weak, hardest day

Sleep: freezing but ok, dreamt of ordering a raw salad on an island, the woman gave me a pfft look, made me wan a write a blog on social issues with being a raw foodie

Hunger: In the evening I sat in the kitchen for the first time, watching my mum make raw chocolates. That wasn’t so bad, but when I sensed the smell of incredible raw crackers coming out of the dehydrator, I started getting slight urges. Not even because I was hungry, but purely for the taste. Though I actually wanted to eat oranges, not the crackers.

Physical: I am absolutely loving my body, the weight loss has been a nice surprising side effect, and now it is acting as a motivator for me to continue.

I am still very weak and today was the worst day so far. Standing up for too long made me nauseous. Went to the beach and just about walked 200m. My head goes dizzy when I stand up and when I close my eyes I get stars in my eyes (well that happened since I started, but more so now).

As I mentioned before, my heart is beating faster in some situations, and today it happened a lot more frequently, its not a nice feeling. For example if I walk (especially up the stairs), or even when I picked a spot (because I instinctively held my breath). I usually deep much slower and deeper than everyone I know, and now I feel shortness of breath, which is quite irritating.

My morning colon cleanse made me very nauseous, I was pretty close to throwing up so I decided to pass on the headstand lol. What came out of me was even more gross than yesterday, it was all black with yellow froth, Im assuming thats bile, as everyone says that you will eventually start releasing bile from all ends…how lovely.

My breath was worse today too, but still no acetone smell.

My senses have heightened, my sense of smell has always been freakishly sensitive, but last tonight my dog came in after a bath and I almost threw up and had to run out of the room because the smell was so disgusting! The same thing happened with sound, it felt like my grandma was speaking very loud that my ears hurt, so I became angry and had a row with her…not good but I just couldn’t control it!

On the positive side though, I went to wash my hair this morning and realised…my hair feels like I just washed it today, and its been FIVE days since I actually washed it! That totally amazed me, its incredible the effect food has on our bodies.

Emotional: When I got a little hungry, I started getting very angry and irritated. I read that everyone gets this reaction, mine was just a little slow to come. I snapped at everyone all evening, even though I realised what was going on. Thankfully my parents did too so its ok, its so amazing having understanding and supporting people around you when you do this!

Weight: 55.5 (before salt bath) and 55.2 after bath

Pooping stones

Sleep: great

Hunger: I was a little hungry in the morning, but after speaking to my body a little and reassuring it that I will soon feed it, the hunger went away immediately. Very slight hunger in the evening too, but totally tolerable.

Physical: Im actually releasing stones (well they’re actually like plasticine but look like stones, I didn’t bother verifying that fact) – a little gross, but sooo happy to see that coming out of my body!

Emotional: felt no anger at all, in fact I was very happy and loving all day

Weight: 55.2

Angry and extremely tired

Sleep: great

Hunger: none at all

Physical: still letting out stones…I wonder if this would continue if I kept on going with the fast for longer.

Feeling very tired and angry, maybe that is because I know the fast is coming to an end and Im getting impatient, or maybe because I know I need to cook for my raw food workshop soon.

Extremely tired, but I had to drive to the vet, and could barely keep my eyes open let alone hold the wheel – thankfully the vet’s is just around the corner from my house.

Emotional: quite angry most of the day

Weight: 54.8

Food: I read that it is good to end a fast at 5pm on the 7th day, and even though I feel I can easily do another 7 days, I decided to stop today since it is my first time and honestly, Im just really bored 🙂

The first thing I had was: juice from 1 lemon squeezed into 1 cup water. The taste was so sweet to me, and sent shivers all over my body. After 5 mins I felt a burning sensation in my throat. In general I feel good, no reactions. Drank a few sips of that every 10 mins and can already feel the difference – Im feeling more alive, no longer as tired (perhaps is psychological though?).

In the evening I decided to suck the juice out of 2 mandarins from the tree outside – I thought it would be nice for my first few “meals” to be completely organic from my own garden. I feel great!

In the evening I decided to experiment and had 7 grapes (without skins) and felt stuffed. Still no reactions.

Breaking the fast

This is a subject that is hugely important, and so I wrote about it on a separate post. I had some major issues coming off the fast as I did it incorrectly, and I wouldn’t want you to have a similar experience so please please read about it here.