Posted: 11/18/2010 8:31:14 AM EDT
|
38.5hrs with no food and only 2.5 bottles of water so far...not sure how much longer I can go. Low activity level is making it easier.
I am feeling light headed and my stomach is growling. I have read that fasting is good for you though so I am going to try and make it till 10pm tonight which will be 48 hours. Edit: I suck 41.5hrs in and I ate a small orange 
|
| I've had to fast for medical tests, and I've endured food deprivation in some of my military training, but I really want to give this a shot one day as well. Not now because it's almost Thanksgiving though. I'm stretching my stomach now to be able to shovel more food in next week. |
|
I commend this, it is always good to test yourself. I did a test of this and I did 5 days with no food only water no booze. It was eye opening. I was great until it came to hard physical activity. I was wasted when I went hiking but I liked the experience.
I did drop 7 pounds kinda crazy. as long as you are not stupid about it I see no problem with it. |
|
Quoted:
Hope your not doing anything mission critical. But its always fun to test yourself. I've found it easier to stay busy, even if its exhausting work. The second i sit down, i start thinking of food. Yep. Even if it's just missing a meal, I can do that no problem if I'm busy/focused on some task. |
|
You can go for many weeks without eating before death.
"Ten individuals died after sustaining their fasts between 46 and 73 days. Victims of war and torturous containment conditions have successfully fasted between 28 and 40 days." http://www.professorshouse.com/family/health/how-long-can-a-person-live-without-food.aspx This site says that people can go for up to 56 days, yet the above info said some died way before that. "Medically speaking, most doctors agree that healthy humans can go up to eight weeks without food as long as they have water." http://health.howstuffworks.com/diseases-conditions/death-dying/live-without-food-and-water1.htm "Obese can live from 3-weeks up to 25-weeks and more without food depending upon initial health and amount of fat" Just depends what sort of things you do. Under stress, cold, heat or harsh condtions one could die sooner than what one plans for. I use conservative figures 3 to 4 weeks. If you want to say 5 to 6 weeks I wont argue. If you last longer...that is a bonus for you. |
.
|
Fasts can be very good for you, many do them to stay healthier.
The reason they CAN be is because they can also be very difficult if you don't have a good diet to start with. If your diet consists of a lot of processed foods or you are on a variety of meds, it can suck. As was mentioned, you will lose quite a bit of weight. Some will be water, but some will be fat. Your body stores all the crap it doesn't know what to do with in your fat, so when you lose it, you can have higher concentrations of all the garbage in your body at once. When this happens you can get symptoms of all kinds of things. It is generally recommended to work on a healthy diet for a while before a longer fast. Something I haven't tried, but may, is to do a 3 day with the first and third days allowing juices. I have done short fasts, but whenever I think of doing a multiple day fast I start getting really hungry... 
|
|
Nothing wrong with fasting. But you DO need to stay hydrated.
I've lost 20 lbs. since late September cutting calories down to 1,000 to 1,500 per day. That along with 3X a week running and workout with the family and 3X a week MMA workout and sparring. Let's just say I'm not gonna fight in the higher weight classes again....
|
|
i did a seven day water fast a couple years ago with no adverse effects. i only stopped due to my girlfriends constant concerns about the health effects. i didn't go crazy on exertion, but didn't feel too bad during the process. also made sure to ease back in to solid foods gradually after for a couple days - bananas and soups. i've considered doing another and think including dietary fiber like metamucil or something might be ok. fills the stomach and keeps the system working, but without any calories - as long as you get the sugar free version. eta. water was a big part of it. at least a gallon a day. it kept my stomach full and let me feel as if i was flushing out all kinds of toxins and whatever else in the process. |
|
Drink water.
There is no benefit from going without water. Dehydration is very dangerous. You can cause permenant damage to kidneys and other organs without propper water intake. As for "how long you can go" without food. It is well documented. People can go 3 weeks or more before serious harm. There, I saved you the trouble. In SERE school, we went a week eating only the occasional bug or berry (essentially nothing). It wasn't that bad after the first couple days. There is nothing wrong with pushing yourself and finding out your limits, but you need to do it in a safe and responsible manner. Drink water. |
|
Quoted:
38.5hrs with no food and only 2.5 bottles of water so far...not sure how much longer I can go. Low activity level is making it easier. I am feeling light headed and my stomach is growling. I have read that fasting is good for you though so I am going to try and make it till 10pm tonight which will be 48 hours. Edit: I suck 41.5hrs in and I ate a small orange let us know how your kidney and liver test results look. why stress your body when you don't have to? if the shtf, you aren't going to be able to say i'm good to go for 41.5 hours because there are so many other factors to consider. but, consider the stress you just put on your body for no reason at all. |
|
I am a pastor and I fast for spiritual reasons. I have went 17 days before on just water and prayer. With that said, I have fasted for medical test (I fought cancer for 12 years) and the non-spiritual fasting was a lot rougher!!! I fasted for 3 days before brain surgery and that was rough!!!! I have been told by other pastors that fruit juices do help with long term fasting but I have never went that way. I would drink more water and take some salt tablets.... Just my .02, Amos1909 |
|
My church (LDS) encourages it's members to fast once a month for 24 hours and then contribute the monetary value of the food we would have eaten as an offering to be used for those in need.
This provides for the poor, disaster relief, and established the infrastructure for others to get some emergency preps for cheap. 
There are also some spiritual benefits as well. It helps you realize how dependant you are on the Lord, as well as learning some self discipline and sacrifice. |
|
Quoted: I commend this, it is always good to test yourself. I did a test of this and I did 5 days with no food only water no booze. It was eye opening. I was great until it came to hard physical activity. I was wasted when I went hiking but I liked the experience. I did drop 7 pounds kinda crazy. as long as you are not stupid about it I see no problem with it. Provided you don't get hypoglycemic. |
|
If you are going to fast, you should do the research first and understand how it will affect you, and what the pros and cons are. I have fasted 3 times so far for about 6-7 days each time, having only 1-2 filtered glasses of fresh juice each day ( to maintain vitamin levels). You should not just go by what other people write back on the internet. At 40 hours or so, you are probaly still burning through your bodies stores of glycogen. When you use up these readily available sources of energy, your body will begin to metabolize fat. If you are not used to how your body reacts with reduced calories, you will think you are light headed or easily distracted. It is a function of the lowered metabolism. This could compromise your ability to operate a car or use machinery, but I was not subject to these concerns.
Really, even 48 or 72 hours is not that big a deal. You must keep drinking adequate amounts of water, but not so much to flush the salt and other minerals out of your body. That why I always had a small fresh juice (it probably gave me 100 calories or less a day - it was the vitamins I was keeping up). I've done it before and will do so again. It will clean out your system. My energy levels were a bit lower, and I slept soundly for about 10 hours each night instead of my usual 7-8 due to the reduced energy. But when I started eating limited foods again, I felt better, my skin was clear and I had burned up about 5 pounds of fat. Probably the most surprising thing was that in 6 days of no eating, I only lost 5 pounds of actual weight. For some people, just the thought of missing 2 meals would finish them off. I did it with the hope that I would fast enough for the body to begin to consume scar tissue and malignant cells ( to ease some injuries I had for years). Well, my injuries are still there, but I think they are reduced in severity. I say, do it, but research it, and do it with care and control. |
|
While fasting to test the effects is an interesting experiment, it is not much as a form of preparation. The reason most of us prep is because we do not plan on fasting, or even missing a meal. In fact, fasting is the exact opposite of what you should be doing in a SHTF situation. From flood to EOTWAWKI, your activity and stress levels will be increased as will your caloric requirements. Soldiers in the field routinely consume 3000+ calories a day. Many still lose weight during this time.
So while there are many reasons to fast, it is not the best test bed for preps. As others have said, stay hydrated. Some of the IRA prisoners lasted around 80 days (if I recall correctly) during their protests in the 80's on just water. (I am not recommending you test this out) stasiman |
|
Quoted:
Fasting to "test" yourself is stupid, starvation is not something you can train for. Whether you have water or not there are only two possible outcomes, you will die or you won't. Knowing your body's limits is actually extremely valuable should one ever be in a situation where food and water are scarce. |
I cant believe I lasted that long ,boy that was tough !!! I'm never doing that again.
|
There's so much BS in this thread it's unreal. Only ONE person smart enough to mention glycogen and one other smart enough to mention blood sugar... You'd probably be better off eating rationed portions for 48 hours or a week. You'd still manage to feel like shit but your blood sugar wouldn't be in the 50s. |
|
Quoted: There's so much BS in this thread it's unreal. Only ONE person smart enough to mention glycogen and one other smart enough to mention blood sugar... You'd probably be better off eating rationed portions for 48 hours or a week. You'd still manage to feel like shit but your blood sugar wouldn't be in the 50s. Thanks. 
|
|
Quoted:
Fasting to "test" yourself is stupid, starvation is not something you can train for. Whether you have water or not there are only two possible outcomes, you will die or you won't. People do what they can do to measure themselves against uncertainty, Bro. I would hardly call it stupid. Actually, fasting to test yourself is a good way to test and train your discipline and your resolve. If your're going to snap after 24 hours without food, how will you react when faced with long periods of famine? How easily will you make that decision to give your child the last morsel and deprive yourself of it? To the OP and others interested, the homeopathic and natural foods folks have loads of reading on fasting and its benefits for health. |
|
Quoted:
There's so much BS in this thread it's unreal. Only ONE person smart enough to mention glycogen and one other smart enough to mention blood sugar... You'd probably be better off eating rationed portions for 48 hours or a week. You'd still manage to feel like shit but your blood sugar wouldn't be in the 50s. Depends on how "rationed" your portions are. Below a certain level you're going to burn more calories keeping your digestive system working than it's worth to eat. |
|
Quoted: Quoted: There's so much BS in this thread it's unreal. Only ONE person smart enough to mention glycogen and one other smart enough to mention blood sugar... You'd probably be better off eating rationed portions for 48 hours or a week. You'd still manage to feel like shit but your blood sugar wouldn't be in the 50s. Depends on how "rationed" your portions are. Below a certain level you're going to burn more calories keeping your digestive system working than it's worth to eat. IMO, better to run at a deficit in the name of "training" than risk the inevitable corticoid/hormone imbalances from a fast on a whim. |
|
I went a little over 3 days fasting. I eventually quit when I had to return to work. Anyway, I didn't just sit around the house either. Went on 8 mile hikes daily. I made sure I had a buddy with me so I would be somewhat safe. Girlfriend didn't like it when she found out what I was doing, though
EDIT: I know it was a bad idea too, I didn't plan on it until I went a solid day without eating. I just wasn't getting hungry, so I decided to see how far I'd go before i had to work. |
|
Quoted:
EDIT: I know it was a bad idea too, I didn't plan on it until I went a solid day without eating. I just wasn't getting hungry, so I decided to see how far I'd go before i had to work. Cocaine is a hell of a drug. Anyway, I'm glad that someone mentioned by hypoglycemic. I don't know if I am or not, but I DO know that after only a few hours without a meal, I fall apart and turn into a monster asshole that can't concentrate on anything but getting food in my stomach. Just reading this thread puts me in a foul mood. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
There's so much BS in this thread it's unreal. Only ONE person smart enough to mention glycogen and one other smart enough to mention blood sugar... You'd probably be better off eating rationed portions for 48 hours or a week. You'd still manage to feel like shit but your blood sugar wouldn't be in the 50s. Depends on how "rationed" your portions are. Below a certain level you're going to burn more calories keeping your digestive system working than it's worth to eat. IMO, better to run at a deficit in the name of "training" than risk the inevitable corticoid/hormone imbalances from a fast on a whim. Once you go over about 48 hours or so your body adjusts to it just fine. Fasting allows the body to convert over to burn fat, "running at a deficit" does not. |