How Does Water Fasting Help In Weight Loss
For the first two days during your water fasting phase, all you lose is the water weight. The fats start to burn from the 3rd day of water fasting phase. When you stop eating, your digestive system stops working. Your body slows down, except the brain and the heart. The stored fat is now broken down to provide energy for all involuntary and voluntary functions of the body. Water helps to get rid of the toxins and any waste present in the colon. This further helps you to lose a good chunk of weight. All this coupled with the right amount of daily exercise will help you to lose a considerable amount of flab.
Other Anomalies: What Ketosis Tastes Like White Coating On Tongue Detox And Weight Loss
Ketosis: From day 4 and onwards, there was a constant taste of ketones in my mouth. It wasnt pleasant. A constant taste of fermented sweetness that was slightly metallic thanks ketosis. I eventually had to get a couple bottles of carbonated water to distract myself from the taste.
Detox: In some personal fasting journals I read online, some have spoken about a white coating on their tongue. I can attest that this is certainly the case. Some sources I found on YouTube mentioned the white coating on tongue is a sign of your GI tract being shut down.
Alternatively, the white coating is also an agreed upon phenomena in the Ayurvedic/holistic medicine world that it is a sign that detoxification is happening.
Speaking of which, another sign that detoxification is happening is if you get headaches during the first 24-72 hours of your fast. I had minor headaches but they didnt last too long.
Weight: I lost a lot of weight! On average, I lost about a pound a day. In totality, I lost close to 14lbs or 7 kilos over the span of 240 hours.
There was a very interesting correlation I noticed as I was taking my weight and tracking my energy levels. Between day 5-6 and day 7-8 I lost close to 1.5lbs. Those two days were the roughest days I experienced during my fast. My energy levels were so low it made functioning tough.
Figure Out Calorie Needs
There are no inherent dietary restrictions when intermittent fasting, but this does not mean that calories do not count.
People who are working with a doctor or dietitian to manage their weight need to create a calorie deficit, which means consuming fewer calories than they use. People who are looking to gain weight need to consume more calories than they use.
Many tools are available to help a person work out their calorie needs and determine how many calories they should consume each day to gain, lose, or maintain weight.
A person could also consult a healthcare professional or dietitian for guidance on how many calories they need. A professional can help a person determine the best foods for them and find an overall healthy way to lose weight.
Also Check: Which Is Better For Weight Loss Keto Or Intermittent Fasting
What Are The Common Mistakes Of Water Fasting
The common mistakes of water fasting include starting too fast, insufficient preparation, unrealistic goals, not drinking enough water, and not implementing key behavior changes. Not paying attention to these issues can decrease the effectiveness of water fasting and can even have adverse effects on the fasters well-being.
Who Should Avoid Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting is not for everyone. Particularly, lactating and pregnant women. Individuals with chronic diseases taking medications for diabetes, heart disease, or blood pressure should avoid doing as per some studies.
Diabetes people should take special caution because fasting can lead to dangerously lowering the blood sugar levels.
Note: You should consult an authorized medical expert before incorporating intermittent fasting for your weight loss.
Recommended Reading: What Fasting Plan Is Best For Me
Is 7 Day Water Fasting Safe
Its not particularly uncommon for people to periodically do a 2 to 3-day water fast, but a full 7 day water fast is quite intense and not recommended nor safe for many people.
Fasting for a week may result in adverse health and metabolic changes such as dehydration, a loss of lean muscle mass, hyperuricemia, hyponatremia, protein-sparing, sodium, and potassium-sparing, decreased serum calcium and magnesium levels, and acidic urine.
Additionally, a 7 day water fast or long-term caloric and nutritional restriction can result in symptoms such as headaches, nausea, vomiting, constipation, the inability to regulate body temperature, muscle loss, lightheadedness, shakiness, poor healing, blurry vision, difficulty sleeping, mood instability, and adverse nutritional deficiencies.
If you are going to embark on a 7 day water fast, it is imperative that you speak with your doctor beforehand and seek medical clearance and guidance before you begin.
How To Fast Safely
Heads up! Weâre getting into prescriptive territory where I talk about how you can try fasting. Iâm not a doctor, veterinarian, spiritual healer, or anything else that would remotely qualify me to give you medical advice, so if you try this and you die itâs your own damn fault. And PLEASE donât be stupid and do something like donate blood, go in a sauna, run a marathon, or anything else that will put undue stress on you if you fast.
The fasting community is a little confusing.
Some people say âdrink only distilled water while fastingâ some people say âbe sure you take a lot of electrolytes.â Some say âMake sure you take a vitamin supplementâ some say âavoid vitamins.â
What Iâve learned from doing experiments like this is that when you get into newer areas of research , 99% of the information online is contradictory nonsense and you have to figure it out on your own.
You should do your research too, not just trust me or another blog. You can die from fasting, usually from drinking too much water, flushing all the salt out of your body, and going into cardiac arrest. Thatâs why you only drink distilled water. Or is it why you donât drink distilled water? No one agrees really, so I drank a lot of Brita-filtered water and didnât worry about it.
Some people said you should only have 1-2L of water a day, some said just keep it under a gallon, some said to drink a ton to flush the toxins out. I just drank when I was thirsty.
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Gonna Pass On The Water Fast Thanks
But, if you:
- think the risks outweigh the benefits
- dont feel you could safely perform a water fast
- have medical or non-medical reasons why water fasting isnt suitable for you
thats OKthere are plenty of other ways you can reach whatever health goals you have.
Maybe another IF protocol would suit you better.
Water fasting vs intermittent fasting 16/8
With intermittent fasting 16/8, you get to eat . Consume all your calories over 8 hours and fast for the remaining 16. The fasting window is shorter than with water fasting, and this approach has far fewer risks and more benefits.
That said, a time-restricted fast is something you do every day, and that can cause more disruption to your life than intermittent water fasting.
Water fasting vs 5:2 fasting
5:2 fasting means following a modified fast 2 days of the week and eating as you usually would on the other 5.
As youre not going completely without food, youre on safer ground, less likely to hit significant side effects, and more likely to improve your health.
Water fasting vs alternate day fasting
With alternate day fasting, you do a modified fast every other day and eat as you like on the days between.
Again, its a protocol you need to follow regularly to see the benefits, but the research suggests its safer and more effective than water fasting.
Water fasting vs the warrior diet
What To Eat After A 7 Day Water Fast
After your 7 day water fast is over, its important to carefully and strategically plan what you are going to eat.
A dangerous condition known as refeeding syndrome can occur if you eat too much too soon after fasting for so long.
Refeeding syndrome is caused by the rapid changes in electrolytes and water balance that can occur once you finally give your body some nutrients.
Certain electrolytes, such as potassium, magnesium, and phosphate, are required for digesting and absorbing nutrients, particularly carbohydrates.
The levels of these electrolytes can drop significantly during a 7 day fast, substantially impairing your ability to process incoming nutrients once you break your fast.
You need to gradually ease back into eating and choose foods to break your fast that are lower in carbohydrates and gentle on the stomach.
Typically, fermented foods, bone broth, and cooked vegetables are a good starting place, but its important that you get individualized guidance from your healthcare team.
Ultimately, its important to work closely with your doctor and strongly consider safer alternative approaches to dieting.
If you want to take your fasting project on little by little, check out our guides to 24-hour and 36-hour fasting first.
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Water Fasting And Long Term Weight Loss Goals
Im writing this section on July 7, 2022 over 7 years since I completed this water fast and lost 20 pounds in 7 days. And I want to openly address the long term results of using fasting as a weightloss tool for 8 years as a part of my healthy lifestyle.
When you first finish fasting and resume consuming calories again, there will ALWAYS be some initial & immediate weight gain. In my experience, it is generally 10% of what weight you lost so if you loose 20 pounds, expect to put 2 pounds back on just accounting for the food in your system.
A word of caution, if you end your fast and immediately return to your unhealthy lifestyle you will undoubtedly suffer from weight gain. Any time you want to maintain weight loss from any diet you must make serious lifestyle change & diet plan changing your eating habits whether that is monitoring your calorie intake, low-calorie diet, doing more cardio, increasing fiber intake, portion control, intermittent fasting, etc..
A Word From Our Nutritionist
Fasting one day a week, whether you simply restrict calories or go for an all-liquid fast, has shown very promising scientific results in terms of overall health. Its important that while youre fasting, you remember the golden rule: stay hydrated.
Drinking plenty of water, or any other zero-calorie liquids like tea, sparkling water, or mineral water, will help you get through the first initial fasting period.
After the fasting period ends, its important not to break your fast with a large meal. As tempting as it is, it could cause stomach upset.
Return to your eating habits slowly. You also want to make sure your meals have a lot of healthy fats, good sources of protein, and plenty of fruits and veggies.
Always talk with your healthcare provider before diving into intermittent fasting. For some people, the extreme calorie restriction can bring about disordered eating, which is the exact opposite of what youre trying to do with fasting one day a week.
Take it slow, talk to your doctor, and dont be afraid to figure out what works best for you! Your fasting day might look different from someone elses, and thats okay.
Also Check: How Fast Will I Lose Weight Intermittent Fasting
An Unexpected Benefit Of Extra Time
I hadnt imagined fasting would free up time, but adding up the time spent cooking, eating, and cleaning up, for each meal, it made sense.
I enjoyed the extra time, but then a week was up, and I really wanted to break the boredom, so I finished my fast.
Everything then returned to normal. My weight climbed a little, and I stabilized at 85kg. But a few months later, I wanted to fast again.
What To Do For Weight Loss And Overall Health Instead Of Water Fasting For A Week
If youre looking to lose weight or improve your overall health, there are better ways to do it than water fasting for a week. Instead, try making changes to your diet and lifestyle.
- Cut out processed foods, sugary drinks, and refined carbohydrates. These foods are high in calories and low in nutrients, so they can contribute to weight gain.
- Increase your intake of fruits, vegetables, and lean protein. These foods are packed with nutrients and can help you feel full longer.
- Exercise regularly. This can help you burn calories and improve your overall health.
Note that the most effective approach to lifestyle changes is small, gradual changes that you can stick with over the long-term. Crash diets, like water fasting for a week, are not sustainable and can actually be harmful to your health.
If youre looking to water fast for health reasons, talk to your doctor first. Water fasting is a potentially dangerous practice, and its not right for everyone. Your doctor can help you understand the risks and benefits and determine if water fasting is right for you.
Recommended Reading: Intermittent Fasting And Weight Loss Results
Hours Of Water Fasting
After a full 24 hours of water fasting, the process of autophagy is said to begin.
Autophagy is the process of cellular debridement, in which dead and damaged cells are removed and cleaned up around your body.
Viable cellular components and proteins might be recycled, while damaged and misfolded proteins, such as those linked to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimers, are destroyed, helping protect your body from such diseases and other sources of oxidative damage and premature aging.
The Journey To Quick Weight Loss Results Begins But It Doesnt Start With Water Fasting
My journey started a few years ago with an innocent comment from a three-year-old. It was my nephew who said: That is a big belly.
You have to love the complete honesty of kids. We laughed it off, but it certainly stuck with me.
He was right though, you can see the before, and after photo below, I had a big belly. I did lose a lot of weight, and this was my journey.
Recommended Reading: What Is The Best Intermittent Fasting Time
Health Benefits Of Short
Water fasts between 16 and 24 hours fall into the category of short-term water fasting or time-restricted eating, which involves consuming all of your meals within a time range. For example, you could choose to have your meals and calories between 10 am and 6 pm and drink only water when you are not eating. Time-restricted eating is flexible, but its particularly beneficial if you eat your meals before sunset. This helps you eliminate bad habits like late-night snacking, and it improves your sleep and insulin sensitivity.
Water fasting benefits include:
Water fasting leads to weight loss
In the only long-term study of time-restricted eating conducted to date, those who ate within an 8-hour window dropped 9% of their body weight after 12 months, while those who ate without the time restriction lost 7.2%. Most other studies of time-restricted eating show 3-4% weight loss within 8-12 weeks. A more recent study showed that participants who ate in an 8-hour window lost 2.3 kg more in 14 weeks than those eating over 12 or more hours.
Water fasting improves insulin sensitivity and reduces blood pressure
Eating within a 6-hour period was shown to improve insulin sensitivity,blood pressure, and oxidative stress in men with prediabetes. These health benefits occurred even in the absence of weight loss. Greater insulin sensitivity and low inflammation are associated with reduced risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
Water fasting reduces breast cancer risk
Aka Clairvoyance Insight Intuition The Force Pineal Eye Parietal Eye Extrasensory
Please beware that, ontologically speaking, your third eye starts opening up after a month of not eating anything, so you start observing beyond. It can be an interesting experience for some if you wish to avoid this, consume a tablespoon of meat broth or animal protein in juice form around day 20, so you can block these magical senses with a little soup of animal meat intake. Don’t drink too much where you may break your fast only a little to close up your psychic vision voluntarily.
Regarding the third eye-opening, This issue requires a very in-depth dialogue, and I can not dive into this article without knowing the reader’s level of conciseness. But I can say this the Goal of humanity is to know themselves. As Yunus Emre said, The meaning of wisdom is knowing who you are. If you don’t know who you are, What’s the use of knowledge anyway? So once you go 40 days without eating, your senses, which you may call the third eye, will start to open up. Ontologically speaking, you will also start to transmit light and dark, which are made of the universe. It is better to disregard the low-frequency level instead, simply dive into yourselves, clear the effect of your traumas, and endeavor to better understand your real self.
Also Check: Fasting Plans To Lose Weight Free
Tips On The Water Fasting Weight Loss Calculator
The results produced by this calculator are approximations and vary from person to person. Please consult your local medical professional for advice.
To be able to use the Water Fasting Weight Loss Calculator effectively in conjunction with your actual water fasting, you should be re-checking your approximate weight loss calculation weekly .
This is because as you fast, you will be losing weight and that means your starting weight will change. Due to the approximate nature of the calculator, there may be some inherent error associated with calculations greater than 7 days.
As an example, say you take the plunge and start water fasting. Your stats are:
- Starting weight: 220 lbs
- Desired fasting duration: 30 days
Entering this into the calculator, you will get a total approximate weight loss of 27.76 lbs.
However, a week into the fast, you step on a set of scales and take note of your weight as 212 lbs a loss of 8 lbs. If wed entered 7 days instead in our calculation above, the approximate weight loss should have been 11.2 lbs, a difference of 3.2 lbs from the actual weight loss. This means that you were losing weight slower than what the calculator estimated.
That is why we suggest re-evaluating the weight loss calculations every 7 days to decrease the discrepancies between the estimated and actual weight loss values as you progress during the fast.
