I DID A 5-DAY WATER ONLY FAST- here's what happened

I posted on WhatsApp the other day that, I did a 5 day water only fast and some of my friends were so shocked by it, like how is that even possible? Apparently people can't imagine going a whole day without eating, talk less of 5 days. Their curiosity about how the fast went, is the reason I'm writing this post. So, if you're also curious like them, please stay with me...

First of all, I had goals, my reasons for wanting to do the fast:

1. For mental clarity: I would say due to information overload, consuming contents I had no business consuming, my mind was a mess... so many confusing thoughts and ideologies. I couldn't decide on anything, it was a constant battle, I would make a decision now and few moments later, I'm changing my mind again. I didn't know who I was or what I wanted, lost my identity, I even denounced Christianity at some point, just wanted to be a free thinker. Lost interest in everything, so, going into this fast was a state of emergency for me. Fasting can help detox or quieten your mind and make your spirit more alive and active, when your spirit is awaken, you have clarity to make better decisions for yourself.

2. Health benefit: I wanted to do this for the health benefits too. Water fast can reverse a lot of ailment and the longer you are able to go, the more benefits you get. People have gone on a 21-30 days water only fast and reversed serious life threatening sicknesses and diseases. I'm not going to dwell on this, as I'm not a medical practitioner, so you can do your research on this and don't take my word for it.

So, the first thing you want to do when you want to embark on this sort of journey is to first seek medical advice, to know if you're even healthy enough to do this, cos some people may have underlying health issues such as lacking some vital vitamins and essential minerals in their body that it may not be safe for them to do this at this time.

Well, cos mine was just a 5days fast, I didn't see any doctor, I just winged it. All I did was make sure I ate good food the week before I started this, to load up on any essential vitamins and minerals my body needed to take me through this, and I was fine.

You may also need to get electrolytes to infuse in your water sometimes for when you feel weak and start having headaches during the course of the fast. I just got pink Himalayan salt, it served as an electrolyte for me.

Second thing is, write down your goals, what you want to achieve with the fast. If you don't have a strong enough goal for the fast, you are most likely going to give up faster than you imagined. This wasn't my first attempt on this sort of fast, I had previously attempted a 3 day water fast sometime ago and I didn't even last up to 48hrs. I thought I was going to die, I stopped it at about 32hrs cos I didn't have a clear goal driving me. This time it was different, I had clear goals, they meant a lot to me, was literally desperate for a change and so even when I faced challenges during the fast, give up where? Never! I kept going...

Challenge

Challenge

To begin, I had breakfast on Friday morning at about past 10am, afterwards ate nothing, so I started counting the fast from 10:30 am Friday Morning. 

The major challenge I faced during the fast was that, I initially planned on staying indoors all through, I took leave from work to do this, however the electricity company had other plans for me. My prepaid card unit finished and the type we use is that type of card you have to go and recharge physically at the Ikeja Electric (I.E) office or any of their distributors around. We don't have much of these distributors around cos it's an old model meter, the only one I know is quite a distance from my house but the I.E office itself is even farther. This credit unit finished on Saturday (1-day, 5hrs) into my fast, the hunger pangs had already gotten to that stage where it felt like my stomach was eating me and all I wanted to do was lie in my bed and drink water to digest myself to my stomach, till this phase goes away, but again, I.E had other plans for me.

Imagine undergoing such excruciating fast and not having light to ease your pain, while you're seeing your neighbors enjoy light, that's a suicide mission. I was too weak to go anywhere on Saturday, so we stayed without light and please who has strength to draw Gen? (just dey play). 

Then on Sunday (2days) into my fast, I attempted to go recharge this card at the I.E office since that distributor doesn't open on Sundays. Was also going to attempt going to church from there as the I.E office was not far from church, so that would be one stone, two birds, beautiful! So I did... but guess what? I.E had network issues!!! So my recharge was unsuccessful, ahhh... ok! I stayed calm, I said let me go to church first and worship my Lord and personal Saviour, then on my way back, I'll come and try again but when I came back, it was the same thing!!! Wanted to die at that point... the security guard that was attending to customers was now redirecting us to somewhere else, I said, you and who? I came here with my last drop of energy for the day, and you are saying I should go where? How? I wasn't even listening to what he was saying, as a walking dead girl was standing in front of him at that point, I just carried what was left of me and went home. How I got home without branching Chicken republic to break my fast first was nothing short of a miracle. So, I was home successfully, with no light again... 

Next day Monday (Day 3) into my fast, I was already feeling like a ghost... but my mom begged me to try going to recharge the card again, as she is such a busy person and I didn't tell her I was fasting cos I didn't want her panicking and wondering why I want to kill myself. I couldn't say no to her, but at that point, I was like, the only thing that would allow me go recharge this card again is if I break my fast at this point cos I got zero energy. I started contemplating it but then I looked at my written goals, I was reminded of my why, so I knew I wouldn't be happy with myself if I gave up now. My mom left for work and I was left with my ghost and the Holy Spirit to determine how we're all going to recharge this card together, without breaking this fast prematurely. That's how I just knelt down and prayed, Holy Spirit please help me... how I got up and went to recharge this card, everything was a blur honestly but the bottom line is, I was successful. The distributor guy was around, so I didn't have to go that far, and I did it, glory be to God. At that point, I just knew that if I didn't break my fast within this Day 2 & 3 I had to step out, I won't break it till I'm done... nothing is taking me out again till I'm done and finally I got to Day 5 successfully!!!

Breaking The Fast

Please, after such a prolonged fast, do not attempt to break the fast with solid food, you would complicate things for yourself, cos after such a fast your body is basically brand new, you're like a new born baby learning how to eat again, and you won't feed a new born eba or fufu or double layer burger right? That could have serious consequences, even death! So go easy on yourself. Start with something light and easily digestible by the stomach. and Oh! Did I mention food starts to taste a lot better after a fast? My goodness! The taste of food heightens, like you're just eating for the first time. You will have a new appreciation for food.

Here's how I broke my fast: 

Day 1: Watermelon, boiled eggs after sometime, after which I made light okro vegetable soup (no meat or fish, no swallow) for dinner.

Day 2: Oats with almond milk and diced apples, sweetened with a little bit of honey, okro vegetable soup again for lunch, and mashed potatoes and vegetable sauce (no meat or fish) for dinner.

Day 3: Oats with almond milk and diced apples, some boiled eggs later, at dinner time, I started eating normal- had Pepper soup with assorted meat and some rice.

Trust me, I would have done better than this if not for scarcity of Naira notes, if you're in Nigeria, you know what I'm talking about. So I did the best I could with what I had, as I couldn't eat out at this time.

I avoided meat and fish on day 1 & 2, and also diary products cos those are not as easily digestible by the body at that time, substituted with almond milk cos it is plant based. You can get creative with how you break your fast, there's no one food fits all, just follow the basic principle of easily digestible food, and know what works for your body. For me, I listened to my body, my taste buds and of course my Naira buds. I ate what felt right for me (provided it wasn't negating the basic easily digestible food principle) and it worked out fine. Breaking the fast is not the time to load up on fast foods, sugary food and fruits, you would just destroy all the hard work you've done. So you really want to be careful on this step. Choose fruits that are water base with little or no sugar, hence why I chose to start with Watermelon. Please avoid acidic fruits like orange and pineapples.

Goals Achieved?

Did I achieve the goals I wanted to achieve with this fast? Yes, but not immediately...

What happened first was that, I noticed my love for myself increased... my spirit became more alive and sensitive. I became so sensitive to toxic things, things I would usually overlook, suppress or not pay any attention to became easily noticeable by me, and they were so unbearable. I would literally be put off, if it's too much, I'll cry and cry until I feel like I've flushed it all out of my system. I just couldn't stand toxicity anymore, even toxic food, I would give away things like soft drinks and all kinds of things that just felt wrong for me to ingest. 

I became aware of my addictions, things I didn't even know I was addicted to until I was tasked to let them go cos they no longer felt right, OMG! It was war... excruciating pain, but gradually I am able to let them go one by one, still a work in progress but we're definitely making progress.

Then of course, my Christianity was no longer in question... I was no longer a Christian by chance, simply because I was born into a Christian home, it became a conscious choice for me.

About the health benefit, major health issue I wanted to solve was my uncomfortable monthly periods, after the fast, period improved. I would probably give more details about this later when I get to where I really want to get to, cos like I said, the longer you do this fast, the more benefits you get. So, I am going to attempt a longer fast some time later in the year but for now, I'll take the improved symptoms.

Weight Loss & Look

About weight loss, you are definitely going to lose some fat when you do this, and this is a cheap trick to get that flat tummy too. However, if you're a slim person, not looking to lose weight, not to worry, you'll gain some weight back after a few days of re-feeding, but the weight you gain back after a fast is more of muscle mass, not necessarily fat, atleast that's my own experience. If you now add working out to it, you're going to be a sexy meshin (lol). I don't do workouts yet though.

However, if you're on the big side and looking to lose some weight, you would with this fast but keeping the fat off will require some change of diet and discipline on your part.

Growth hormone also increases after a fast, so your body digests and absorbs nutrients from food properly and distributes it to the appropriate parts of your body for a much healthier growth.

And one additional thing, you start to look more beautiful/handsome!!! Yes, atleast that's my own experience. People haven't stopped commenting on how more beautiful and well rested I look since I did the fast... That kind of fast cleanses your body from the inside out and that is the best skin care routine you can give yourself. So, if there isn't any other reason for you to attempt this fast, at least this is one reason to consider. You will just be glowing and blinding everybody's eyes. It's okay to buy good skin care products, however, you can take care of your skin from the outside but the real glow comes from the inside.

This is definitely going to be a lifestyle for me, perhaps an annual or bi-annual thing.

If you do attempt this fast, please let me know how it goes. Looking forward to hearing your success stories.