Skip to content
Before sharing with you my insights about the two experiences with water fasting, I want you to know that I tried it in the past and it didn’t work.
But I did it again (no failure is going to stop me) for 62 hours and this time it worked. And later for 120 hours.
Having in mind these things, if you’ve tried to water fast before and it didn’t work, maybe you’ll give it another chance after you read this article. If you failed in the past, it doesn’t mean you’ll fail forever. Try now, in two weeks, and again in two months.
If you fail, don’t worry. Water fasting is not easy.
My experience with 62 hours of fasting
After a few failures, I wanted to try water fasting again and I did it for 62 hours. No food, just water.
I started Sunday evening, right after eating the last meal of the day, somewhere between 17:30 and 18:00. And stopped fasting Wednesday morning, at 8:00. In total, 62 hours.
I’ll share with you a few of the things that I did and worked well and some of the things that I did and didn’t go too well. Here’s how I started and… it may seem a bit stupid.
I decided to water fast after I ordered something from KFC. I don’t order too often from KFC – actually, since I restarted my carnivore diet this summer (I used to be pescatarian), I think I only ordered 2-3 times from KFC.
When I got the order, I noticed it was incomplete. I called KFC, told them what happened, and they said that next time I’ll order something from KFC, they’ll give me the rest of the order. Whatever…
In that moment, I told myself that I didn’t want the rest of the order and that I won’t go to their store anytime soon. At the same time, I told myself that, exactly for this reason, I should try water fasting.
While it didn’t make much sense, it was the reason I needed to water fast. Even if it seems stupid, it worked. I used the incomplete offer from KFC to give sense to water fasting.
Once I decided I wanted to water fast, the first thing I did (which was just as stupid as the KFC situation) was to take some duct tape and put it on the door of my fridge, so I made sure I won’t open the fridge by mistake.
On the first day, when I saw the duct tape on the fridge, I started laughing. I tried to open the door to see how well it holds, and I was surprised. It was a good method to restrict my access to food.
The first day of water fasting
The evening I started water fasting, I didn’t feel hungry at all, probably because the last meal I ate was around 18:00, so that was a normal day. For this reason, the first day of water fasting was the next day.
When I woke up, I drank some water and didn’t feel hungry at all.
On both the first and second day, I used meditation to resist the feeling of hunger. I meditated 3 times per day, at 8 in the morning, then at 13:00, and again at 18:00, with 30-minute sessions every time.
I remember that, when I was really hungry the first time and I couldn’t hold the hunger back just with water, I thought about trying something else. That’s when I drank sparkling water and I felt a bit better. Probably because my brain thought that I gave my body something else, not just water.
The second day of water fasting
When I woke up, I didn’t feel hungry at all. I meditated and went on with my day. Around lunch, I started feeling very hungry, but the meditation from 13:00 helped a lot.
Only when it was 15:00 – 16:00, I started feeling like I was losing focus and that’s when I decided to stop working and take a break. I meditated again at 18:00, watched a movie, and sketched a bit in a drawing book.
During the second day, my body started smelling weird. Both before and after taking a shower. Probably all the toxins were leaving my body, therefore the smell.
The third day, when I stopped fasting
Wednesday, I woke up at 6:30 and waited until 8:00 so I could eat.
The first thing I did was to drink a ginger shot. A few weeks ago, I started to have one ginger shot and I’ve been doing it since, every morning, except for this period of water fasting. I felt that ginger shot in my entire body!
Then I ate a banana and went for a short run.
The importance of emotional stability
I believe that emotional stability is vital when you want to fast. If you want to try water fasting (or any kind of fasting), make sure you have emotional stability in your life.
In the past, when I wasn’t emotionally stable and something was triggering me, I was going directly to the fridge to eat. Through food, I was managing my emotions.
If you’re not ok from an emotional point of view and you won’t eat, you’ll torture yourself.
Conclusions after 62 hours of fasting
Water fasting is a great method to tell your body you are in control – not your cravings.
Beyond that, it gave me the feeling that I’m capable of doing the things I set myself, even though they may be difficult. When I set myself to do things that are not easy and I do them, I strengthen my neuronal pathways connected to resilience and perseverance.
In these 62 hours, I lost 1.6 kilograms and I’m happy with my achievement.
If you want to try water fasting, I hope you’ll have a decent experience. And if you fail, keep your attention on what you learned and try again.
My experience with 120 hours of water fasting
If my experience with 62 hours of fasting was sometime in September-October 2024, at the end of January 2025 I decided to try fasting again, and this time I did it for 120 hours.
You’ll find below a short text I wrote in January.
—
I just finished 120 hours of water fasting. It means I didn’t eat any food for 120 hours. 5 days. I just drank water.
I would have wanted to finish it tomorrow morning, but I discovered enough things and it doesn’t make sense to continue. I also started experiencing some odd pain, which is not strong, but I don’t want to endanger my health.
On short, my second to last meal was Friday (17th January), around 18:00. And my last meal was today (22nd January), around 18:00.
I drank one and a half liters of water every day and lost 4 kilograms.
Here’s the journal I wrote at the end of every day:
Day 1
I was hungry around lunch, while I was walking, but didn’t experience any dizziness.
At a certain point, I had a really great feeling, connected to the beauty of achieving difficult goals. I simply felt a lot of energy in my entire body because I was thinking about the achievement of the first day.
Day 2
After 16:00, I started feeling hungry and having difficulties focusing.
Everything I felt was more intense. For example, I was thinking that I am grateful and the whole feeling connected to being grateful felt strong in the whole body, for a few minutes.
Day 3
I started to have a weird feeling, like my taste buds wanted to feel anything but water. I could have made myself some tea, but I decided not to – I wanted to continue with water.
During the evening, I had my first headache and felt dizzy. As soon as the headache passed, I gained a lot of clarity and was able to focus really well.
Day 4
I started the day with a weird sensation, like my belly was full, but I hadn’t eaten anything for 80 hours.
Right after I got up from the bed, I started feeling dizzy and I had the feeling I was moving in slow motion.
Around 13:00, I started to feel different tastes in my mouth, like pickles or Raffaello, and around evening time, I started smelling waffles. This made me hungrier more than anything. It looked like my brain was having a laugh.
Day 5
I started to feel back pain because I didn’t move at all during the fasting period – I just sat at my desk and worked. I also didn’t go out because I wanted to preserve my energy, but I believe the pain was more related to not giving my body the resources it needed.
I went out for a short walk, of 15-20 minutes, and started feeling sleepy. I had so little energy left in my body.
General conclusions
If you want to try water fasting and you haven’t tried it before, start with one day.
Also, after the 3rd day, it doesn’t make much sense anymore. The benefits of the immune system are achieved by the end of the 3rd day (72 hours of fasting). Any extended fasting after that doesn’t make sense, unless you want to test your limits.
I’m happy with my achievement of 120 hours of water fasting. It’s a new record that I don’t intend to break anytime soon.
With love and optimism,
David
