So what is a long fast really like?

Recently, I decided to undertake a 100+ hour fast. The family were away so I was able to not eat for a sustained period without worrying anyone.

The first thing I did was to plan my start and stop times. 10PM Sunday until 10am Friday. The fast was to be beverages only, no food. As usual i mainly drank lemon water with occasional cups of decaf tea and coffee.

Once I had my plan, I needed to be sure that I was fully committed to performing the fast, I made sure that there was no fresh food that would go off while I was fasting (this has occasionally tempted me to eat so as not to waste the food but that's just a trigger of mine).

Sunday
Went to sleep at my normal time (around 10pm) feeling happy and intrigued to see what the next few days would hold.

Monday
A busy day, an hour of martial arts in the morning, lots of chores to get done, and then 90 minutes more martial arts in the evening. Drinking lots of water and feeling good. As I always fast on Mondays I didn't expect any issues and didn't have any (This is the benefit of feeding off previous successes). Went to sleep at 10pm

Tuesday
Woke up feeling a little congested (commonly known as the low carb flu) but otherwise fine. Weighed myself and was 4.4 lbs down. A nice start! Today's fun activity was hiking in the brecon beacons (wearing a 28lb pack) that was about a 4 hour activity, the afternoon was spent walking around and getting some other chores done. Felt colder than usual this evening (often reported side effect of fasting although i only get it occasionally). Tried to get to sleep at the usual time but was literally overflowing with energy, took another 3 or 4 hours before I got to sleep

Wednesday
Woke up feeling fantastic, full of energy, not congested in the least. Weighed myself - down 3 lbs. 60 minutes of martial arts is a great way to start the day, once that was done, lots more walking and miscellaneous chores. Feeling very serene and peaceful, feeling a little warmer than usual (another common side effect at least for me). Went to sleep at the usual time, slept like a baby.

Thursday
Woke up feeling fantastic and full of energy again. Weighed myself, down 1.2 lbs. No martial activities planned for the day, but had some shopping and things to do, so ended up being quite busy and active. Temperature normalised from this point onwards. Started to think about what I would consume in the recovery phase.

Friday
Woke up feeling great (had to get up earlier) with a 2.5 hour drive ahead of me, weighed myself - down another 1.6. Had a drink, shower and then drove off. Got to 10am and although not feeling at all hungry, had something to eat. The reasons I didn't continue were that I knew I could go longer (one of my golden rules is to always finish knowing you can go further), it was my longest fast so far and I didn't want to push it too hard too soon, and that I had achieved what I had set out to.

Summary
I experienced very little hunger pangs or cravings, this I attribute to the preparations I had put in place, and the long term fasting I have performed establishing a solid base. I had also removed as many of my triggers as I could.

At the end of this fast I was down 10.4lbs, but more importantly I had learnt that I could go that long without food without any detrimental effects, physically, emotionally or spiritually.

I am currently planning a longer fast of around 8 days, until that one I will continue with my weekly 40+ hour fasts and daily intermittent fasting using a 16/8 window.