A fast fast

[Proteus_MST]

Hm, sitting 72 hours without having a walk then and when on the other hand would likely give you a thrombiosis.

This could severely hamper your learning efforts

[Alinestra Covelia]

Update at 36 hours: slight hunger pangs lasting about 5~10 mins. They were gone in under an hour.

Occasional light-headed sensation, but typing skills unaffected. Water diet still on, though I may need to go wash my cup.

Temperature changes are more noticeable. Taking a shower, I got cold much quicker than usual.

Falling asleep last night was also easier than usual. Normally it takes me some time to mentally "wind down" even after I'm in bed with all the lights out. This time I had an immediate sensation of "my mind sliding sideways" and fell asleep pretty quickly.

[Zkribbler]

Years ago, I had a friend in law school. When exams came, she "forgot to eat." When studying for the bar, she shrank down to a mere 88 pounds and looked like a walking skeleton. That sounds a lot like what you're doing. Eat, Bubbala.

Whatever you do, don't start in by eating protein. There's a bad phenomenon known as "protein shock." Start easy, with fruits and vegies.

[b etor]

Originally posted by Alinestra Covelia
That is patently crazy. There's no way I can subsist on water alone until the New Year. What are you trying to do, kill me?

You swine.

Tell you what, I'll try for Christmas instead, how about that?

sure you could. you can live off of just water, as long as you don't do much. and you should stop using deodorant and toothpaste as well. people pay big money to go places to do this and you can do it FOR FREE!!!1!

[Alinestra Covelia]

At 42 hours the first noticeable effects on awareness. Slight jitteriness, with tinnitus more pronounced than usual. I become less thirsty too, I have to remind myself to keep drinking.

My rate of reading slows down as well. Sometimes if there's a particularly dense legalese paragraph I have to go back and reread it.

Typing is starting to get unreliable and I'm thankful for the autocorrect.

My body feels fine but I think I'm developing a headache, which is probably the brain's response to low glycogen levels. I'll see how I feel at 9:30 p.m. tonight. If I'm still okay I might try for the full 72 hours. Falling asleep will be the main thing.

[Riesstiu IV]

This thread is stating to remind me of the Japanese guy who kept a journal recording his impending death by starvation.

[Richelieu]

You might want to consider the effects it is going to have on you when you eat again. I do go on 24 to 30 hours periods of not eating some weekends and i always find it very unpleasant how your body reacts to food when you do eat again. Particularly your digestive system. I won't go into any more details.

Still love your name by the way. It's one of the best things i've seen on the net.

[SlowwHand]

Eat lemons.

[Blake]

Fasting has a calming effect on the mind.

There may actually be a simple physiological explanation, the stomach has significant neural connection to the brain - this is one of the possible explanations for autism - nearly all autistics have (atypical) digestive problems.

Also it is also WELL known that stress causes digestive problems.

calm brain / calm stomach
calm stomach / calm brain

Interestingly one of the explanations for the rule that Buddhist Monastics only eat once a day, is that having an empty stomach improves concentration and thus makes i t easier to meditate (mind you there are a number of other reasons too).

I wouldn't tend to recommend going more than 24 hours without food, the body will switch over into conservation modes which will probably make it harder to concentrate and have a generally negative impact on the wellbeing of your body. Of course if you WANT to experience that, then feel free.

Do bear in mind you aren't able to accurately perceive your own loss of performance (until it's REALLY bad, like getting dizzy and stuff) so if you're actually doing anything IMPORTANT, now may not be the time to do such an experiment .
(Like sure you're still reading and writing fine, but what is the quality like?)

Oh yeah and with easing back into food - the stomach kind of shuts down, so wake it back up by eating a little, then just let your appetite guide you.

I used to do ~24hr fasts fairly often (when I was about 22), as a way to deal with stress. The 48 hr ones tended to end in dizziness and stuff, not so useful. I don't generally recommend fasting but it is fairly harmless.

[Zkribbler]

I fasted for a week once. The plan was to go for two weeks, but I got bored with not eating.

[Alinestra Covelia]

I did try an all-oatmeal diet for a week back when I was in undergrad.

I went for about two days before packing that in.

Oatmeal's boring

[Alinestra Covelia]

This may also be a good time to bring up the fact that I'm not changing out of my clothes, 24 hours a day, until the fast is over.

Avoid me if you see me, people.

[Blake]

Originally posted by Alinestra Covelia
I'm not changing out of my clothes, 24 hours a day, until the fast is over.

But you took a shower?

[-Jrabbit]

Apparently it ruined her hat...

[Wezil]

Originally posted by -Jrabbit
Apparently it ruined her hat...

I think she wanted to update the pic so it would be easier for us to spot and avoid smelly her.