Day 3 (72 hours) into my water fast

Check out the results of my fast.

72 hour water fast disclaimer

I do not recommend that anybody else try this type of fasting. Consult your medical practitioner about any lifestyle changes that you plan to make. I am simply sharing my personal experiences as I fast. This is meant to serve as anecdotal evidence and is not meant to be a substitute for sound, medical advice.

Find the results below.

How much weight do you lose on a 3 day or 72 hour water fast?

I weighed 73.5 kg (162 pounds) right after my last meal. I currently weigh 68.5 kg (151 pounds) at the 72 hour mark. I therefore lost 5 kg (11 pounds) from 3 days of fasting.

I still had a lot of food in my belly as I weighed myself at hour 0 (right after my last meal). My blood pressure has dropped and I have lost a lot of water weight. This leaves me to believe that I've only lost about 2 kg (4 pounds) of fat.

I suspect that most people will lose a lot less than I did. My metabolism is high because I exercise regularly and I eat healthy. This means that my body is very efficient at burning fat for energy already.

An estimated 2 kg of this is fat.

Hunger levels during a 3 day fast

I was the hungriest during the first day. My hunger dropped by about half on the second day. I wasn't hungry at all for most of my third day, but I do feel a little food deprived right now as I wright this article (about 72.5 hours after my last meal).

I'd say that my hunger has consistently dropped day after day. It is not completely gone, though. Water (salt water in my case to keep my blood pressure steady) has definitely helped to curb hunger cravings throughout the 3 days so far.

I feel better than I did on day 1.

Energy levels after 72 hours of fasting

I had an energy drop yesterday (day 2) afternoon.

I woke up with low energy that seems to come and go. I currently have low energy. It is not an uncomfortable kind of low energy. I feel very relaxed and laid back.

I find it hard to muster the motivation to do anything. I just want to sit back and watch videos.

Sleep during water fasting

I slept very little on day 1 (about 5 hours of sleep in total). I didn't feel like I needed any more sleep than that. I slept about 4 hours on day 2.

Day 2 (yesterday) night I fell asleep and slept through until late this morning. I slept for just over 8 hours - very soundly.

It looks like my sleep has returned back to normal. I had extremely low energy when I woke up this morning and it took me a while to get the energy to start the day.

Caffeine during a water fast

Some people say that you can have caffeine and that it will extenuate some of the benefits of fasting. Other people say that caffeine increases some fasting benefits but stops other benefits. I don't drink caffeine during my fasts in order to make sure that I get the maximum benefit from a pure water fast. I consume nothing but water and table salt.

I must say that this fast has been much easier that my previous fasts. I'm pretty sure that the fact that I stopped caffeine 6 days before my fast is a major contributing factor.

Most of the negative side effects of water fasting could probably be attributed to caffeine withdrawal for most people that embark on a pure water fast.

I don't drink coffee when I fast.

Does food tempt you when you fast?

I have just completed 72 hours of fasting and my family made this wonderful stew with a new tomato-based sauce.

The smell fills the whole house and it smells absolutely delicious. I am tempted to break the fast and grab a bowl, but I don't feel too deprived to be without it at the same time.

The fact that I can enjoy it in the future and the fact that I am currently upgrading my body is enough to keep me from giving in to temptation.

Fasting gives you a strong sense of will power that transcends into other areas of your life. I feel proud of myself for navigating past this temptation. It is a lot easier than you would expect on day 3.

Why am I so cold when I fast?

The massive drop in blood pressure and metabolism of fat for energy will make it harder for your body to generate heat. Heat also costs energy that becomes very precious to your body during a fast.

I have noticed that my body temperature drops quite considerably. In order to keep myself motivated enough to stay away from food; I bargained that in place of that I can have two luxuries: heat and sleep. I have loosened my self-imposed restrictions on sleep and I have allowed myself to sit in front of the heater whenever I want.

It is healthy for you to get too hot and too cold from time to time. I have currently been fascinated by research into the health benefits of heat and cold.

Since my body is already under enough stress during this prolonged fast, I won't do any heat training until I start eating again.

Low blood pressure is a part of fasting.

Have my allergies and asthma improved after three days of fasting?

I noted on both my first and second day of fasting that my allergies and asthma seem to disappear completely after 24 hours of fasting. This effect lasted all the day through the second day.

I woke up this morning with a slightly tighter chest than what I have had for the first two days. It seems as if I've had some sort of reversal of these benefits on my third day. My allergies/asthma is much, much better than it ever would be when I don't fast, but it is not as good as it was on day one and two.

I think that this could be for one of two possible reasons. Firstly, my body could be more adapted to going without food and therefore it is starting to return to a place of normalcy (like, for instance, the fact that I slept fully for the first time last night).

The second theory is that the small recurrence of my asthma or allergies is part of the healing crises that is said to happen during fasts when the body starts to heal itself.

See the results from my first day of fasting.
See the results from my second day of fasting.
Here are the results of my fourth day of fasting.
Here are the effects 24 hours after I end my water fast.

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Day 2 (48 hours) into my water fast

This is what happened at the end of my second day

Fasting disclaimer

This information is for anecdotal purposes only. None of the information contained on this page is meant to serve as medical advice. I am simply sharing my own experience as I embark on an extended fast. Do you own research and consult your medical practitioner if you want to do a fast of your own.

Check out the details below.

My experience during the second day of my water fast

I stand proud at the end of day 2, 48 hours into my extended fast. Here are the results and other comments that I have to say so far:

How much weight can you lose on a 2 day or 48 hour water fast?

I weighed 73.5 kg (162 pounds) at the end of my last meal. I weigh 69.5 kg (153 pounds) at the 48 hour mark. This equated to a 4 kg (9 pounds) reduction in weight. I'd estimate that only 2 kg (4 pounds) of this is actual fat mass. I had a full belly at hour 0. I have also lost a lot of water weight as my blood pressure dropped.

Most people should expect to lose about a half a kilogram (or a pound) of fat mass per day of fasting (see my first day's report for my clinical reference to that number).

I am losing more weight than normal because I already exercise regularly and eat healthy. My metabolism is good enough that my body automatically burns calories at a faster rate. 

I don't need to fast to burn fat. I'm doing it to see if it will cure my allergies.

What you do outside of fasts is important.

The effects of a 2 day (48 hour) water fast on allergies and asthma

I felt noticeably better from yesterday (about the 24 hours mark) already. It is Tuesday night and I haven't taken an antihistamine since Sunday night (before the fast began).

I have not sneezed or produced excess mucus as a result of my allergies in these two days. It has been as if I don't have allergies at all. I blew my nose once in the last 24 hours.

I slept without any breathing issues at all last night. The fasting definitely has an immediate, preventative effect on my allergies. I would say that it works better than any antihistamine that I have tried.

I struggled to sleep due to the fasting last night but I breathed normally throughout the entire night. My chest did not close up at all and I breathed very easily right through the night until now (late into the following day). This is remarkably better than I would feel after using an antihistamine.

The long-term benefits of fasting increase dramatically with every extra day that you do. I don't have any allergy or asthmatic symptoms at all now, but I want fasting to cure it permanently - not stop it temporarily. 

The longer I go, the better my chances are at curing my allergies and asthma for good (see the documentary I linked to in my first day's journal for evidence of fasting's ability to cure allergies and asthma).

I will only know if the fast cured my allergies permanently when I start eating again. Stay tuned for that. I will update every day as I go on.

Fasting reduces allergies.

Low blood pressure during fasting

Your body lowers its blood pressure dramatically when you fast. It does this for a variety of reasons. Insulin, triggered by sugar from food, helps the body to hold onto salt and retain water. Without food, insulin drops and blood pressure plummets along with it. 

Secondly, your body uses a lot of water to flush out the by-products of ketosis - primarily at the beginning stages. It won't need to flush out the ketones as drastically as you go deeper into ketosis.

Last night (after 24 hours of fasting), I struggled to sleep well. My blood pressure was extremely low. I felt dizzy, light headed and ill. I could hear my heart beating loud in my chest. These are all classic signs of low blood pressure. The dehydration caused by water loss made me feel cold most of the time (dehydration can make you feel cold).

I contemplated ending the fast because I feared that I was pushing my body too far - I felt horrible and it kept me from sleeping well. I eventually decided to carry on seeing if my blood pressure goes back to normal - and it does!

I still feel light-headed, but not as much as I did last night/earlier this morning. I drank more water today to help my body flush out the ketogenic by-products without having to lose more water weight. I have been adding salt to my water to help my body retain more water.

I weighted 69.5 kg (153 pounds) this morning (36 hours into my fast), and I weigh exactly the same tonight (I weigh myself every 12 hours for this experiment). I have definitely lost fat between now and then. The fact that I haven't lost more body weight in 12 hours means that my blood pressure is slowly returning back to normal.

I feel better now than what I did about 16 hours ago. My experiment shows, so far, that blood pressure stabilizes after dropping during a fast.

It gets easier along your fast.

Low energy from fasting

I felt hungrier than anything during day 1 of fasting. My hunger is starting to stabilize. The temptation to eat, being around a family that eats regularly, is still quite strong.

Today, more than anything else, I feel weak and low on energy. My body feels like it is so much heavier when I get up and lift my arm, for example.

I am happy that my blood pressure is going back to normal because I would hate to feel weak and dizzy at the same time.

This is probably because of the fact that my sugar stores are running out and my body needs to learn to rely on fat exclusively. For all the weakness, I have the feeling that my energy will return to normal (or possibly better than normal) shortly.

It is normal to have an initial energy drop at the beginning of your water fast. It returns to normal at day 3 to 4.

Know your limits.

See the report on my first day (24 hours) of fasting.
See the results of my third day of fasting.
Check out my fourth day of fasting.
Here are the effects 24 hours after I end my water fast.

Stay Strong!

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