About four months ago, I completed my very first 24 hour fast. I went from midnight to midnight only consuming fluids, mostly water. And you know what? It wasn’t as bad as I imagined it to be. I was under the impression that it would be the most difficult day of my life. But it wasn’t even close to that. The following is a detailed report of what I experienced during those 24 hours.
Easy Peasy
- 12am – 2am: After my last meal, I stayed up and watched Netflix for a couple of hours, like I would normally do.
- 2am – 10am: Sleeping and preparing for the day, so still doing good.
- 10am – 12pm: I usually don’t eat breakfast anyway.
- 12pm – 3pm: I had already began an intermittent fasting program prior to this and usually don’t eat until around 5 o’clock most days.
- 3pm – 4pm: I mention this small, one hour time frame because at this point I would usually have a snack. And my stomach was beginning to rumble.
Rough Stuff
- 4pm – 7pm: Hours 16 through 19 of the fast. At 5 o’clock, I started feeling strong hunger pangs. They continued on into the 6 o’clock hour. But amazingly and totally unexpectedly, after 7 o’clock, all feelings of hunger were gone!
- 7pm – 11pm: Hours 19 through 23 of the fast were very interesting. At 7 o’clock, I began to feel weird. This indescribable feeling continued throughout this block of time. I don’t know if my senses were actually heightened but they fluctauted, I’m sure. I wish I could describe it in more detail but I cannot. It has to be experienced.
- 12am: Mission completed. I was hungry of course, but I wasn’t starving. I thought I would gorge myself when I did eat, but I got full rather quickly. It was surprising to say the least.
Fasting More
I certainly felt the benefits the day after. I slept better and felt rested when I woke up! Imagine that! I had energy and my mind didn’t seem as cloudy as usual. My whole body felt great. Overall I just felt better. It went deeper than physical senses. I felt it inside as well. That part is hard to explain. I just felt different.
I highly recommend this fast. Not only as a stimulant for weight loss but as a way to clear your mind, body and maybe even soul. The positive effects are documented to range from increased fat burning to cellular repair to the creation of new nerves and so on.
Now, I try to get in a 24 hour fast at least once a month. It has proven more difficult now as I have recently ramped up both my weight training and cardio routines. As for fasting, my next milestones are to not drink anything during the fast while increasing it to 36 hours.
Jay Owens 