Yes, I went 40 days without food. Crazy, yes. I did mostly a water fast with some cleansing herbs thrown in for good measure. I did drink herbal teas, two kinds Yogi Detox and Bigelow Mint Melody. I am not going to play the holy health guru here; I am a heathen strait up. When things get too tough in my life I turn to beer and weed. Even when things are not tough, I eat with joy, deeply. Sometimes I yummmmm and ahhhhh so much at eating my partner tells me to shut it. Of course, with all the great food there is; it is deeply enjoyed with a fair share of beer and weed during the best of times. I did not give up coffee on this fast. Why the confession, because, looking on line there are all kinds of fasting rules. Most people forget rules are there to make us think about what we want to do; not to be a cage. With giving up beer, weed and food and limiting my coffee to a cup or less a day I feel I can say with all honestly, I fasted whether I fit someone else’s rules or not. The proof is physical. I lost 43 pounds and that does not happen if I were not fasting.
Now, as with any article on fasting I must give a
disclaimer, to protect me from you and you from yourself. I am not a doctor. If
you are not an adult (17 years and younger) you NEED to consult an adult before
trying an of these suggestions. If you are an adult, you need to think for
yourself, do your own research, come to our own conclusion, take your action
from your own conscious, and accept responsibility for those actions. I
admitted in the first line I am crazy so take it all at face value.
I am not one who takes another’s advice without truly taking
it as my own, meaning I am like a king surround by those in his court, all
giving advice, I listen, I think, I feel and intuit, and then I come to my own
conclusion. No one can follow all the advisers in the court and probably the
smartest, the jester is often ignored. I will list links to helpful websites
below. Some of the sites I did not take any of their suggestion but the info
they shared allowed me to come to my own conclusions. It is unfortunate when
friends give advice, and I even do this on occasion but not often, and things
do not work out and they come back with the old, “But I told you……”. In such a
case there was no advice given there was an “I know better than you”
pronouncement, which is always a form of control. Real advice is given then
dropped. Where it goes is not important because it has no agenda. So, when fasting I advise you to look at a
wide range of articles, take in as many points of view as possible, and then
sit with it, and really feel what is right for you. If I learn one thing during
this fast it is going without food for 40 days is a BIG deal not to be taken
lightly.
A little history, I have fasted and cleansed for over 30
years. I started with 3 and 5 day fast in my early 20’s. I had lived in a Forth
Way Community and it was a common practice. We all fasted once a week on
Wednesday. I remember the uproar of the students how it was impossible to live
without food. We all learned that we could live and thrive on less than we
thought. I was young, innocent and trusting therefore I took whatever the teacher presented as truth. Of course,
being strong and devout to the group I had no problems. This experience had set
me on a life of fasting. I have done mostly "master cleanse" fast which is
drinking mostly a concoction of lemon juice, cayenne pepper and maple syrup.
There is a ton of info on this on line, so look it up. I have learned with the
40 day fast there is a big difference between a juice cleanse fast and a water
fast. I have done cleanses for up 10 days periodical throughout life. I
typically do a cleanse fast at least once a year of 5 to 10 days. I am now 55
so that is a lot of shorter fast and cleanses.
Most folks will be wondering- WHY! There is never no easy
answer as to why someone does such extreme things. Why climb Everest and
because it’s there is not an answer but a smart aleck remark. To be complete
honest I am one who is an extremist; so, I take what others would think of as fool-heart
risk or even CRAZY, there that word again, undertakings; it is not something
new to me. As I mentioned earlier, I do not blindly take advice and I am use to
the doubters. I am sure there are reasons I am not conscious of laying somewhere
in the deep cave of my being. What I do know is the last three years have been
beyond hard for me. My partner has experienced a relapse in to her mental
dis-ease with all the full-blown drama that ensues. It is so hard to see and
FEEL the one you love unable to see themselves or that thin vale we attach to
as reality. I have been one who has lived their life with a certain degree of
intuitiveness. I have mostly felt I was listening to Mah-n-Jah’s (God) will for
my life. This does not mean thing always worked out, in fact the hardly ever
worked out the way I thought they would. This also does not mean I do not and
did not experience resentment and anger at things going astray. I vent but I do
not vent on others or society for my lack of what I determine success. I vent
at Mah-n-Jah (God). Now most would call this blasphemy but I believe in going
to the source and if Mah-n-Jah gave me emotions like anger and resentment I am
certain that they understand their usage when dealing with earthly
frustrations. So, during the last 7 years we acquired a small plot of land and
I set out, as I felt inspired to do, to create an organic farm use as little
gas as possible. You can check out the website for that adventure here- http://tiedyefarm.org/ . I always have
strived to find ways I can to help and honor in some way our Mother the earth
as while as my children and therefore all of humanity and this was my latest
effort. To mark a long story short, it did not work out. After a few successful
years it all went downhill. We had PHD’s and soil test and advisers galore and
no could figure it out. All the sign point to a thriving farm. Then we
discovered we had garden symphylans, which are not unheard of in Oregon and can
not be treated so the farm was done. I felt betrayed! The chance of picking a
plot of land with symphylans was slim not to mention the cost of starting the
farm and most important the putting in of energy and soul into the land. Well,
I descended into self-pity hell. I had not been able to process any grief while
also dealing with my partners situation. Sometimes when we love someone else,
they DO need to come first. I was rageful at Mah-n-Jah (God). Yelling
-Screaming- punching denting into the garage door -insane in the fullest and
then putting that aside to be there for others needs. I was drinking and smoking
a ton and had gained quite a bit of weight. It was time, in fact beyond time to
get an attitude adjustment and a long term fast seemed to be the way to get
back to my roots, forgive myself, forgive Mad-n-Jah, and to get back in touch
with my true being and my intuition. My partner has gone on meds which seemed
to open the door for me to take time for my healing, the time had come for me
to get serious and I took it! Off and running, more like by the end walking
slowly, 40 days of fasting, prayer and meditation.
This was a long 40 days. I learned water fasting is nothing
like cleansing, though the longest I ever cleansed was 10 days even in that
time period the differences became apparent. Water Fasting seemed to be a
slower deeper process. It came in waves. Cleansing seems to plateau and then
you ride a “Fasting High”. I never had a fasting high for more than a few
intermittent days or hours during this fast.
It all started the same, the first 3 days can be rough. There is hunger
and the consistent desire to eat. It is both mental and physical. The body and
will are in a constant struggle. Food Dammit! Fast Dammit! Most times I when I fail
a fast or cleanse after deciding to do so is in the first 3 days. Sometimes
things are not working out as life might has other plans; sometimes it does not
work out because, shit, I like to eat. Normally after the first 3 days on a
cleanse thing get better. Gradually you feel lighter, light becomes brighter
and eyesight clearer (In fact my glasses usually stop working well, which goes
back to normal after the fast). The mind begins to clear and a state of
ethereal serenity takes hold. It can be blissful and somewhat addicting. This
is what I anticipated to happen on the water fast, 40 days of bliss and
Mah-n-Jah(God). I decide to do this fast during COVID-19 as one does need space
and time to fast or do a long cleanse. There is light-headedness and one does
get extremely tired at times.
After the initial 3 days of the water fast the “fasting
high” started to settle in. I was happy prepared to meditated for the remaining
30 day and to commune with the higher realms. NOT SO FAST! About day 5 or so of
the water fast the bottom fell out. My body started to cleanse on a whole no
level. I felt like shit! Flu like aches and pains, mind cloudy, lethargy, disorientated,
I could not sleep enough and felt like I could not function at a societal level
at all. It is amazing we all get sucked into a societal level of functioning
where there is no time to be outside of that level, it is like a cage keeping us
from inner work and deep contemplation, like fasting or meditative retreats. Sure,
one can go to some fu-fu retreat center and have a retreat if they are wealthy
or give tons of time to the societal level and then take a retreat, but then
they are so worn out all they probable really need is a good nap. This phase
lasted until about day 15. I was just about ready to throw in the towel. I did
come on a blog, PersonalExcellence (linked below) that was very helpful as she did a 20 water fast
and listed day by day her progress. I found it hard to find such accounts on
line. Google is now full of the new intermittent fasting trend and info on
longer fasting is getting buried. There are many Christian articles on
spiritual fasting I found useful (also listed below) but none with a day by
day, blow by blow account. CelestineChua’s blog gave me info I needed to know someone else was not living in the
bliss zone during this period. I continued because of this info. I was feeling
like something was going terribly wrong because this was so much different than
the cleansing experiences I had in the past.
After about day 15 thing did start to slowly progress into
an even keel. Back on day 12 I took a hot Epsom salt and hydrogen peroxide
bath. I usually do these with a cleanse. It went well with the normal and to be
expected light-headedness when getting up. When I take a bath during a cleanse,
I always tell my partner to keep her ears peeled as it would be easy to fall
with your head in an outer space disconnected form the body. One’s ability to
“think” about little things like gravity tend to be skewed. Skip one week ahead
to day 19, still being in the cleanse the body mode, I took another hot bath
with the same Epsom salt and hydrogen peroxide. That time the result was like a
truck driving over me then backing up for another run. I realize I never did a
juice cleanse this long before so there was the time difference and this was
different. I was feeling good going into the bath, better than most would
expect for living on mostly water for 19 day so I gave it little mind. Upon
getting out of the bath there was the usually light-headedness while sitting on
the edge of the tube waiting for the fuzzy to clear. It seemed too, so I stood
up or almost. I was so quickly on my knees I do not remember getting there. I
do remember thinking I should kneel and then it seemed I was there without
moving. I managed by crawling to get to the bed and laid there for a go long
time. I felt all was good with the world again and got up to get some water. I
made it to the door and that dam door handle felt like it was greased. I tried
for a second to hold on and me and my empty fist I hit the floor. I was out
cold. My grandfather was a boxer and he had a good story or two but he must
have forgotten the one of lying on the mat and never hearing the ref say 10. I
came to after a while, probable not long and made it to get water. It was then
I fully realized this is nowhere near a juice cleanse and needs to be taken
much more seriously. I took some E-emrgan-c electrolytes blend and things
started to get back to normal. I have to watch my electrolytes
in summer. If I do not I can get sever cramping at nights and even occasional
dizziness during super-hot days so this made sense. During the rest the water
fast when I was getting too light-headed, I would reach for the electrolytes.
The longer I fasted the more I needed. I was afraid of ODing on the stuff so I
looked up what we need in a day to survive and the E-emrgan-c was nowhere near
what was require with no other food intake so by the end some days I took it
twice a day as my horizontal plane was become more like the deck of a ship. Once
again it is important to do your own research and listen to your body.
I had one session of craniosacral message therapy on day 21.
That was followed by an acupuncture session. I normal do these in succession as
they work great to re-enforce each other’s therapeutic qualities. Usually after
these sessions I came home and take a short nap. This time I came home and
passed out I slept just about the rest of the day and the next day as well. I
just could not get out of bed. This was not in a bad way. When I did get up to
have some water, I felt good just sleepy which is much different than tired.
Tired to me feels like I am dragging, like I need to get something done and
have no energy. Sleepy feels almost content like the choirs are done,
everything is done and it is just OK to take a peaceful rest. I did have another
acupuncture session on day 28. I go to a local practitioner, Leyna Jensen L.Ac,(she is great and well worth your time if you ever find yourself in Corvallis) who does what is known as CommunityAcupuncture,(the link here is to her page but it does describe the philosophy).
This is a great concept for those of us who need help and know acupuncture can be
great in healing of all kinds. It cost less. There is a room with numerous lounge
chairs. You get your treatment with all the others. I once went to an acupuncturist
from and trained in China. It was very difficult for me to understand him but
one thing he made clear was American were very soft went it came to acupuncture.
His needle hit the mark, which was not always comfortable. In fact, the more of
a twinging pain the better the treatment. Man, this guy was good a real miracle
worker. The other thing he say was in China when one went to a clinic it was
full of people and they all just got treated all in the same room when it was
your turn. No individual rooms, incents or astral music, he would say,”
Americans Soft”. This is similar to the experience with Lenya minus the painful
pokes. The second treatment was focus exclusively on the fast and connecting to
one higher power. Once again, I was
pleasant sleepy for the next 2 days and took full advantage. It was raining
quite a bit and there are few things nicer than drifting in and out of a restful
slumber while listen the quiet blanket of rain surround you.
The next several days breezed by with light occasion work
like chopping wood and hauling water. And no this is not some Zen koan but real
life and it does make an interesting saying. Then another mistake was spurred
on by my hedonistic nature. Unfortunate in this instance, but momentary slightly enjoyable even so, I took part in a toast. I believe Mah-n-Jah (God) gave us a body with sensual pleasure to enjoy and
not to label as sins. Why is it all the goodies get labeled sin anyways? So,
the sense of taste, the texture of food, the aroma of a feast, the orgasmic explosion
of the climax of sensual crescendo at the moment when there is nothing else in
the world than what culinary delight is in your mouth, on your tongue and the
intense enjoyment of that singular moment. There are few things on this earthly
existence that are so blissful, at times even better than making love. That
being said, if one indulges each and every night the pleasure lessens over time
and pretty soon one is left pursuing the memory rather
than the moment. Hedonism is best practiced in temperance, boy if that isn’t an
oxymoron, rather than in a daily orgy, which is what I thought I was going to do. I practice my winter celebrations on the
Winter Solstice. New Year’s, festival of light, thanking the Sun for his return
and showing my appreciation of those who bring light into my life on the
Solstice. I got my partner her presents, some puzzles, chocolate (this goes
without saying), and the customary new year’s Champagne. I decide, and I do
mean decided, given it much thought, consideration and internal debate, to have
just a wee-bit of Champagne. I poured about 3 ounces; I drank about two before
giving the rest away. Yes, I felt light-headed and woozy but not bad. This was
almost instant and that is why I did not finish the small portion. What happen
in the next half hour or so I did not expect at all. I felt as if a weight was
tied around my ankles and thrown in the river. Sinking into a never end
heaviness. It was not an emotional dread but a bodily sensation of being pulled
down into the earth and crash landing. Not pleasant at all. The next day I was
very light-headed and ended up drinking two electrolyte drinks to just keep my
head on straight. I would not recommend this foolhardiness on anyone, even if
they did make the decision consciously themselves. Once again, I was faced with
just how different this was from cleansing. I was and am gaining much more
respect for this process of extended water fasting by each episode encountered.
It also got me realizing that breaking this water fast was not going to be an
easy affair.
There was one totally unexpected turn of events. After 6
weeks without beer or rich foods of any kind, I got gout. It was insanely
painful! It woke me up at night though I did sleep during the day a bit more.
It was much more painful at night. It started with about a week to go. I almost
gave up the rest of the fast but figured I could endure almost anything for a
week. Time at this point in the fast was becoming somewhat surreal with the monotonousness
of daily life. Remember this is during covid-19 lock down so I was free to
fulfill my days with long hours of meditation combined without eating lead to
daily patterns of little exterior stimulation. This period was also consumed
with rainy, dark, low clouded days which just added to blurring of time into a book
of one repeating page. With the gout I was stunned. I thought I was cleaning
myself out so this made no sense. I did some more research and found some studies
form the 1920’s (study one) (study two)
which both point out that Uric Acid levels in the blood increase during longer
fast. It seemed to hit highs at about day 30 and then fluctuated while still
remaining high during the remainder of the fast. This corresponded with my experience.
Unfortunately, this time period also corresponded with the Christmas holidays.
I thought I was doing better, but being in the “I thought” zone I could have
very well been lying to myself. At any rate, we went out to do some of our
yearly activities which required a good deal of walking. MISTAKE!!! This sent
the gout into warp drive. Its pain level went form a good solid 8 to a 15 on
the 1-10 pain scale. This lasted about a week and a half, then; it took about
another 10 days for the pain to gradually recede. I started drinking Tart
Cherry juice and Yogi De-tox tea more which seemed to help, but it was not a
night and day difference. It was a long slow slog.
The rest of the fast was somewhat uneventful. I remained
tired at times and sleepy at times. Some of the blogs I read said they
experience insomnia. That has not been my case at all. I have felt chilled from
time to time and have waken because of that but a few blankets was a quick cure
to get back to the work at hand, sleep. I did not experience hunger during most
of the fast until the end. I do not think it was because my body was saying
EAT. I was having more and more light-headedness so maybe my body did need more
input but I still have some fat rolling around for it to munch on. I think more
the expectation of food created the hunger. The past memory and the desire
created is what I was feed on not the true need for food.
The re-eating faze I took with all seriousness. I did a lot
of research of differing opinions about how to go about this. One thing all
stated was “GO SLOW”. Admittedly when in
my 30’s I would always end a cleansing fast, this is the fast I did at the
time, with a pizza and beer. One time after a 10 day fast. My thinking was I
just saved so much money not eating I deserved to spend a bit financially and
calorically. AAAHHHH, yet another case of gross rationalization. More recently
I have ended my cleansing fast with a light salad of lettuce, cucumber and
apples. I never fasted beyond 10 days and I was drinking Master cleanse during
the fast. I realize about day 25 that breaking this fast was not going to be
anywhere the same as the past fast I undertook.
I started to break my fast on the evening of the 40th
day. I fasted for 40 days and 40 nights as the first night I fasted was on the
last day I eat food. That night I drank Master Cleanse, about a cup and a half.
This took me 3 different serving spaced out about 2 hours a part. That seemed
to go well. During this phase I was hyper-vigilant to what my body was telling
me. The next day I continued drinking the master cleanse every 2 hours at a
rate of about ½ a cup each time. I ended up drinking about 4 cups. This did not
make me feel good. I felt my stomach was rejecting the juice. I had a cup of
miso about 7pm for dinner, this did go down smoothly and felt very comforting
and nourishing. After this I stopped the lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne,
to be honest I used very little cayenne as it seemed it might be a little harsh
and maybe that still was the problem. For the third day I just had miso. One
cup in the morning one at night. I had read over and over if things are not
digesting well STEP-BACK. Thing seemed to work with me. From the 4th
day on I started introducing foods each day.
I was eating very
small portions and chewing extra-long. I come from a family with 4 children and
the mantra at our table was “you snooze you lose”. I was the oldest and the most ravenous of
eaters. My chewing habits were shit. I ate like a wolf; rip, 2 chews, swallow.
So, I was and still am making a very conscious effort to chew slowing and enjoy
the favors and texture of the meal. I am finding so far; I am enjoying this
quite a bit. As mentioned earlier, I am a heathen when it comes to the sensual
pressures of food with the mind set more is better, but I am fined with this
trade off to chewing, it is so enjoyable just because of that heathenistic side
is soooooo relishing the fulfilling pressure of taste.
Another thing I had let laps for years now was saying a
prayer over my food to give thanks. When we had teens in the house the prayer
at meal time thing got put on the back burner and was all but forgotten. Our
teens were, like most, more consumed with what was going on after the torture
of spending ½ an hour eating with their folks than the meal itself. Combine
that with the ridicule of “God Pops, why so much God” and it was not worth the
fight. I have found with teens the less they have to push on the less push one
gets as a parent. All they want is to figure the world out for themselves,
which they should. Offering guidance after a fact seems much more taken in than
the same suggestion before the fact. Of course, as a parent we all have
different comfort levels as to how far we let our children at any age explore
for themselves. I am once again experiencing the heartfelt gratitude and quite
thankful reverence of honoring the creation and creator of the food and the
life given so I may eat. Even if it is salad life was taken for me to survive.
Lettuce has as much right to fulfill its destiny from flowering and creating
seed as a cow has to reproduce. I am thankful when all in any form give themselves
for my benefit.
Day 4 I made veggie broth with lamb stock we made from our
own lambs. I mixed ½ broth and ½ water. I eat that and the miso for 2 days. On
the morning of the sixth day, I eat the veggies in the stock. It was not very
good, mushy with little favor. For
dinner that evening I had raw cucumber and apples with some apple cider
vinegar. It was yummy! I had that for the next couple of days. Slowly I add
more veggies to the mix and eat this for both breakfast and lunch. Then at day
6 I start with proteins. First goat cheese, then hard-boiled egg, and finally
some sheep feta. By day 8 I felt I had run the gambit of foods I need to
introduce. We had been through New Year’s eve where I still just eat salad. We
had some friends over and I indulged in a few beers. All this had gone quite
well and I sure I was ready for the big breaking of the fast- PIZZA AND BEER!
Hold on a minute! We make our own pizza with gluten free crust. I usually put
pesto, veggies, chicken sausage, with sheep feta and mozzarella. Super tasty.
After eating this it felt as if it just sat in my gut for 3 days. It was very
uncomfortable. I instantly went back to my salad regime. I have continued to
eat mostly salad for the next week or so and strangely enough I am quite
satisfied with that. I did try to eat a gluten heavy meal as I hear sometimes
long fast can help one get beyond gluten sensitivity. It sure did taste great
with a lot on yummmiinnng! Unfortunately, that also did not go well. I think I
will try again in the near future but with much less gluten and see what
happens. I was given a bunch of jerky from Montana on the eve before I fasted.
It was tempted to hold off fasting for a few days to indulge in the treat but I
did not. I did go for it about day 14 of eating and that went just fine!
I have been eating
now for 3 weeks and it is going well. I am not drinking anywhere near the beer I
was or smoking as much pot as I was. I have limited those activities to once a
week without over indulging. I do find that less is more in these cases, which
is always hard to remember. The pot definitely has a much more spiritual
quality about it when used with reverence and less often. I have regained about
10 lbs. and then have leveled off; which is OK. That has put me at a steady
weight loss of 30 lbs., mostly gut fat. I feel the weight gain is mostly water
as my main caloric intake is mostly salad.
The last thing I wanted to mention is the main reasons I
started the fast did not really materialize during the fast itself. As mentioned
in the beginning I was looking for some degree of spiritual clarity and re-connection.
I was looking forward to having a clear mind, to meditating unencumbered, and
come to some decision about next steps in my life. This did not happen to the degree I wanted.
My mind did not ever feel clear up, but on the contrary, was ever more
cluttered. I even hit myself in the head a couple of times, yelling “SHUT UP!”,
which worked for a brief period of time. This state did not deepen my
connection with Mah-n-Jah (God). My wants, desires and just telling Mah-n-Jah
(God) how things should be never has worked out fully for me. With this being
true I have never hesitated to expressing fully to my creator my concerns,
desire and even gratitudes when they became apparent to me. I do feel I have benefited spiritually in some
ways from the fast. I feel much less angst towards all of creation and myself
though at times I still seemed to become overly frustrated with minor things. Patients
has never been one of my virtues with the exception of my interaction with my
children and all children.
Would I do it again? I am not sure, I feel conflicted. I am
not just into doing such things to prove to myself I can overcome bodily
desires. I have done enough of that kind of work in my life to know I am strong
on that level when I truly want to be. There were some positives though that
seem to taking root within my being. I am aware of an energy shift happening inside
of me. I feel there is a seed that was
planted within. A seed of something quiet, humble and spiritual expanding. We
will see how that seed grows and if I can nurture it to become a magnificent
Redwood within.
So, there you have it. The long tell of a very long fast. I
hope it is useful. I did not fine a lot of detailed info on such fast on the
web and this is the kind of thing I would have want to fine. Good Luck and
happy fasting!
Here are some of the site I found useful in researching this fast. I continued to do research throughout the fast as this emerged. As mentioned above I am not endowing any of these website they are here to inform your our decision making process.
Copyright © 2021 by Joseph and Human Anonymous
Some thoughts on cleansing-
http://www.thenaturalguide.com/detoxification.htm
Studies on Uric Acid in blood and fasting-
https://www.jbc.org/content/66/2/521.full.pdf
https://pmj.bmj.com/content/postgradmedj/45/522/251.full.pdf
A lot of info to think about, this is not a plug for the due running the site, just info -
https://thefastingmethod.com/
I got a lot to think about here, most of it made sense to me, whatever that means-
https://www.fitnessthroughfasting.com/index.html
Braking fast specifically, same site-
https://www.fitnessthroughfasting.com/breaking-a-fast.html
Good Info Health coach angel on risk-
https://www.marksdailyapple.com/long-fasts-worth-the-risk/
Info on liver and kidney during fast with different kinds of fast-
https://www.medicalmedium.com/blog/truth-about-fasting
This is a good Christian prospective on Spiritual fasting, There is a lot of good Christian stuff on this-
https://www.the-grove.net/fasting/40%20day%20Fasting%20Instructions.pdf
Blog Personal Excellence by Celestine Chua I was about to to quit before I found this-
List of reaction one can have during a fast, good info to have-
https://detox.net.au/fasting-cleansing-detoxification-reactions/
I enjoyed reading your journey.
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