"The purpose of this fast was to clean out the body"

Nov 2011: My latest journey - 33-Days, 0 miles.

I have fasted many times, but not longer than 3 days at a time. Although I once juice fasted for three months straight on orange juice and some cantaloupe juice; but that is a different ball game because you are taking in nutrients and calories. During those three months my energy level was quite high. But on a water fast you're taking in nothing.

I always wanted to experience a long fast, for various reasons, but never seemed to have the time. Well, coming home from my Alaska trip and resting a few weeks - getting caught up on work and etc - I finally was able to devote a block of time to this worthwhile project.

The purpose of this fast was to clean out my body of all the convenience-store food (and their related toxins and sludge) that I had been eating for the last few years on the road. And also to loose a bit of weight associated with that food.

Day-1 of the fast started out unceremoniously, and I was able to keep working throughout the day as usual. But I sure was hungry. Then that night the detox began to kick in, with a low-grade headache and general malaise.

Day-2 was rough, with increasing headache and discomfort. That evening I began to feel so bad that I debated stopping the fast, or at least slowing down the detox with a baked potato of some such. But I managed to persevere.

Day-3 was not quite as bad, as the detox seemed to be slowing down. And by that evening I was back to feeling fine. And that is also when the hunger left me.

During the next three and a half weeks I felt fine. No discomfort whatsoever; no hunger, but also very little energy. I was able to work half days, and then I spent my afternoons and evenings resting or just plain napping. Then about 3:00 AM a little bit of energy would kick in, so would get up and get back to work. Four times during those weeks I managed to ride my motorcycle around the block, but on the fourth ride I was a bit too wobbly for comfort and safety, so I had to stop that.

Throughout the fast I was drinking only pure water with nothing added. For a few days at the start I tried soda water but that only tended to upset the stomach. During the day I had to drink great volumes of pure water. And at night also, due mainly to the low humidity of this region (Sonora Desert of Southern Arizona). But several times a night I found myself waking up cotton mouthed, so I had to drink more. Finally I bought a cheap humidifier and placed it beside the bed, and that made a world of difference in my sleeping patterns.

One month went by without incident, and I had a feeling that I could do this for at least another month, although I was by then shooting for 40 days total.

Day-31: My energy began to drop, and I started feeling a general aching all over.

Day-32: more of the same, intensified. This is when by body starting falling apart.

Day-33: highly intensified, and that night I began to realize that this was not something that I could easily punch through. My stomach was nauseated, my body's every cell felt like it had a headache, and I had no energy whatsoever.

Day-34: at 4:00 AM I awakened Jenny to discuss my problem, and in a few hours we came to the obvious conclusion that I needed to stop the fast. The next problem was, the very thought of food - any food - severely nauseated me.

Eventually I decided on a piece of whole grain toast covered with applesauce. So setting at the table, looking at that awful piece of bread - for 15 minutes - I finally forced a small bite. It tasted like cardboard, with no flavor at all. Nevertheless, in the next half-hour I managed to eat 3/4 of the piece, small bite at a time. And one fresh blackberry - again cardboard.

An hour later Jenny offered a small glass of orange and banana blended smoothie. And that's when my taste buds kicked in. WOW! I had never tasted something that good! I told Jenny that it tasted like a cement mixer full of 50 varied flavors.

My stomach had shrunk so much that it could hold only four or five bites at a time, but as the day wore on, eating a few bites every hour or so, my body began to come back to life. In the days that followed my energy returned, although surprisingly slowly. But during the fast my insides received a huge cleaning, not just the stomach and intestines but the arteries too. And I felt the best ever.

Caution: Doing something like this without medical supervision might not be smart. There are several fasting clinics around the country, with doctors in residence. For a good idea of what's involved, watch the DVD video "Fasting Can Save Your Life!"