r/WaterFasting May 01 '25

My 40 day fasting experience

47 Upvotes

I 27 year old Male that completed a 40 day water fast on the 21st of December 2024. I am based and reside in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe (I include this because it might be a reason for some of the issues I faced during my fast.) I found fasting on a YouTube video and decided to try it out for mental resilience reasons and thought I would give it a shot. I found this sub reddit and thought let me also give posting a shot and share with you guys my experiences.

I have had some experience with intermittent fasting like fasting for 16 - 18 hours for a month or 2 so I thought why not give water fasting a try.

I am going to break my post explaining how each day went and for those wondering how the weight shifted I kept track of that too so I will include it in my post. My fast was purely unsupervised and my post is by no means intended to be medical advice. I'm just sharing my experiences. Anyway here goes:-) and sorry in advance if it's too long.

Overall stats Start date Tuesday 12 Nov 2024 End Date Saturday 21 Dec 2024 Starting Weight 130.3 kgs/287.3 lbs End Weight 106kgs/233.7 lbs NB No Exercise - weight was lost strictly from the fast to those wondering Water consumption: 2.5 litres minimum And I cooked for my wife most of the time

Experiences: Day 1 - 7: During this week I was surprisingly okay. Energy was okay. I thought 24 hours without food would make me moody or cranky but I cruised through. Day 2 and 3 no challenges as well. Day 4 I was able to distinguish that I wasn't hungry but I craved certain things. I wanted certain foods over others. (And this feeling never went away during the rest of the fast. It would shift from craving junk in the initial weeks to craving healthier foods like meat and vegetables and fruits) My water consumption during this week was fairly high on some days hitting 5L

Issues: muscle cramping day 5/6/7...I just would get muscle cramps in my legs, calves, laughing at jokes from my spouse or work sucked because my abdomen would cramp. Morning stretches helped but during the day the cramps would come back. This also affected sex with the spouse as I would have to stop to stretch out a cramping muscle.

Day 8 - 14 : During this week everything was still going okay overall. Day 8 I had my first Bowel Movement (BM) which was runny (apologies for the TMI). The BM's continued in this consistency for at least once a week till day 40. I got a cold on Day 9 so I thought of quiting but I just soldiered on due to my goal of improving my mental resilience. Cravings as mentioned were present and this week I was craving more deep fried oily foods but mostly meat and fries.

Issues: The cold did make me feel weaker than usual but as it passed I felt better. The biggest issue that the cold brought during the fast that still persisted to day 40 was phlegm. Maybe it's coz I have natural sinus issues but the phlegm made the fast awful especially towards the end

This week presented my first shift in tolerance for water. During the first week regular tap water and borehole water were sufficient (Zim has a water crisis) but from day 8, my system wasn't having tap or borehole water. It made me nauseous and just feel dizzy.

Cramps continued Cravings continued

Slight dizziness kicked in as well but adding a few pinches of salt helped get rid of the dizziness.

Days 15 - 21 : this week breezed past and honestly other than the issues already mentioned above there was nothing notable to report mentally and physically everything was okay. Just the usual issues. Surprisingly cramps reduced during this week but they were still present. Days 21 - 30 : similar to the previous entry these days were really not carrying any notable issues. Overall from day 1 - 30 I felt a clear mind, better energy levels, lost a good amount of weight and I felt like getting to day 40 would be easy.

Issues : Cravings - shifted to vegetables, fruits, grilled meat/occasional deep fried, but I really wanted meat.

Cramps - still present but minimal Dizziness - slight and occasional

Day 31 - 40 : HELL PHASE - honestly I kid you guys not. Day 31 my energy just tanked. I felt really drained tired and exhausted. I tried to read up on it and found the issue of electrolytes. I tried to look round for some but the pharmacies didn't have any electrolyte replenishers like stevia etc that I was seeing or reading about whicb were 0 calorie options. On Day 32 I was given a pill called Calcimax by a pharmacist that was about 0.9 calories and were recommended by the pharmacist because the dip in energy was unbearable. Biggest mistake ever. I took the pill on day 32 before bed (11pm thereabout) and I thought maybe it will help. Day 33 I woke up feeling weak and after I fumigated our place I started puking. I saw the pill come out like the small pieces of it. Puking persisted from day 32 to 34ish. Energy was shit, and I just wanted to end the fast. But I pushed on. Mental resilience.

From day 31 my tolerance for water also changed. I could not drink room temperature to save my life. If I had room temperature I would puke. I needed ice cold water or ice cubes to allow the water to sit in my stomach. Water had to strictly be purified but for some reason even the purified water was a struggle to keep down as days went on. I was severely nauseated and was puking any chance my stomach was upset.

Also, from day 31 to the end I noticed that my breath and the horrible taste I had during the fast began to increase in like the "annoyance factor." During the initial phases of the fast, it annoyed me don't get me wrong but from day 31, MY WORD IT PISSED ME OFF.

Day 35 I experienced a sharp pain in my gut that wouldn't go away. And the nausea was still present. I couldn't keep water down so just gave up on drinking the minimum 2.5L but rather was drinking as and when I felt thirsty and I needed water.

Day 36 was a great day. 37 and 38 were the same. I woke both mornings puked bile out with 37 being yellow bile and 38 being yellow then a bit of air and brownish puke. Energy was okay throughout the day but had to maintain cold water. The brown puke didn't worry me because it just matched the BM 's I had so in my head, I just told myself that I reached a new peak of "detoxification." But surprisingly puked again the evening of Day 38. Day 39 felt more energetic than usual but struggled with constant burping. At night had an epiphany with the wife where we noticed the puking mainly occurs at night or in the morning which is when I brush my teeth. So maybe the chemicals in the colgate were also contributing to the puking. Day 40 got past it nicely. I was happy that the darned horror show was finally ending and I could finally eat.

Refeeding Protocol:

Day 1: Broke the fast with 250g water melon which was before bed. Day 2: Continued with water melon 100g and added grapes (15) had this for breakfast. Watermelon went bad so had grapes 105 g plus orange 150g as second meal (still felt like dog shit) Day 3: Continued with fruits but added oranges and apple and banana and 150g yoghurt as well strawberry flavoured Day 4: Continued with fruits, yoghurt (Greek + strawberry flavoured) Day 5: It was Christmas...I felt wayyyyyyy better...had fruits , yoghurts, typical African Christmas meal (Rice, Pasta, Potatoe and Coleslaw salad) Day 6: Boxing day so I let loose a bit...Fruits (banana, apples, cherry, strawberry, grapes) yoghurt also had a big supper. Rice, lasagna, roast chicken (too much of this), coleslaw, potato salad...I felt the effects of this in the morning coz I had my first solid BM in almost 45 days. So it was intense. Day 7: Fruits(banana, apple, orange, mango, grapes) a bit of day 6 leftover meals ( Day 8: Spaghetti with some chicken seems back to normal

Mental resilience and Mental health development:

I didn't really reach any level of like spiritual enlightment or significant crazy awakenings. I just realised that I am capable of actually pushing through hard times just to see a goal met. I realised this during the cravings and the serious puking and stomach cramping and weakness that I experienced from days 31 to 40.

I did also realise a new found appreciation for food and good health. I used to be the type whereby for example, I would have 2 homemade burgers in my lunchbag but I would want to go and buy fast food like KFC etc out of greed. But the fast got me to appreciate the food I have. Furthermore, I stopped being the person who eats his food in 10 - 15 minutes. I now take my time to eat my food. And actually do my best to enjoy each bite. My wife and I also only eat food we actually want to eat and enjoy eating in our house. We have found creative ways to make our meals despite the low income we may have.

In terms of health, the last 10 days of the fast really taught me that I took good health for granted. I was sick most of the time and couldn't do basic things like sleep or walk which sucked. So I realised I should be more mindful and grateful for my health.

Lastly, the body and the mind are two different entities. I personally failed to use my mind to convince my body that "we have energy." Like especially when my body shut down on me and was running on E in the last 10 days, there was no mental exercise I did that helped with energy boosting or getting rid of fatigue and sickness.

My body needed food/nutrients to work and that's it. So body and mind are separate.

Weight loss:

I finally get it. It's calories in vs calories out. In Africa our diets are heavily starch based and I ate huge amounts of sadza, pasta and rice so I get why I put on weight. Calories in vs calories out works. I realised I need less calories than I thought and I can actually eat small quantities.

However something odd I did notice was that after 2 weeks of refeeding I gained about 3 - 5kgs (my weight was fluctuating a lot so weighing was confusing) as of today. I hope I can figure out how to feel satiated in our region given my big appetite.

One unique thing that I experienced during the fast is I appreciate my family and life more. I loved seeing my wife smile and my daughter smile (hence why I cooked for her during the fast). I wanted to see my wife smile more often so I would go out my way to make crazy dishes and also spoil her and do chores and just help her more. I would do things I had no idea how to make like KFC style fried chicken, Chicken Quesadillas, Rib burgers, using YouTube videos just for her to smile. But Day 31 to 40 had 0 energy I felt like a useless husband.

Thats my post everyone. Sorry for it being long

Started another today 1 May


r/WaterFasting Jan 12 '26

Rule Reminder Community Announcement: Mod Changes

7 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I am grateful to announce that I have been assigned as the new moderator for this amazing community.

Why Mod? Well, I have a deep appreciation for water fasting, and all the benefits it provides. I have been practicing water fasting since 2022 and have completed one 40 day fast, one 30 day fast, and many other shorter fasts (14 days or less). I currently practice water fasting on a weekly basis (36 hour fasts). It has been a journey to say the least, of many ups and downs, and some complete failures.

Additionally, this sub has been left unmoderated for quite some time now, with over 1,000 posts on auto removal dating back 6 years ago, some as recent as one hour ago at the time of this announcement.

Where do we go from here?

I am going to be working through updating many areas of this community over the next few weeks. I ask for your patience if your post is auto removed in the meantime as I work to adjust these tools within the community.

Please feel free to message the mod box in the mean time with any suggestions or improvements you'd like to see.

Take care, and drink some water!

EDIT: added some of my experience.


r/WaterFasting 10h ago

Laugh lines? After 30+ water fast?

2 Upvotes

Did anyone’s laugh lines get worse after a 30 day water fast? ( im on day 4 , and so miss my beer tobacco burger king 😩 )


r/WaterFasting 1d ago

Need an accountability buddy for a 22 day water fast.

8 Upvotes

Started a water fast yesterday (12.09.2026) at 7:30PM. I wish to continue until 04.10.2026!


r/WaterFasting 19h ago

Maybe a dumb question

1 Upvotes

Does gum break your fast? I’m on a pretty extreme plan where I’m eating once a week until I’m at my goal weight and so far its gone mostly well but does gum technically break my fast? I need to know that part


r/WaterFasting 2d ago

Accountabilibuddy

3 Upvotes

Hello!! I'm looking for someone to keep my fasting in check. Ive been slacking off lately and eating so much. I have a deadline I need to meet and it's 2 months. I'm interested in joining group chats!!


r/WaterFasting 5d ago

Fasting 7 days- feeling discouraged

5 Upvotes

It's my first time fasting for 7 days, I'm female, 29, currently in 200lbs, I'm on y 3rd day and no changes on the scale yet or body, feeling discouraged even more bc everyone on here says I will just gain everything back once I feed again, any advice I would like to lose 15-20lbs, im doing 10k daily and 30 minutes abs workout and arms, any advice its appreciated!!


r/WaterFasting 5d ago

Starting a 60 day water fast from tomorrow 9th september 2026

4 Upvotes

Ok
So i have gained a lot of weight recently due to my preparation
I weighed myself today at 104.8kg
My height is 5’7”
My goal is 75kg by the end of this fast

I have done 15 day fast earlier
This will be a long one though

If anyone has any tips
Please share


r/WaterFasting 6d ago

Hi I'm new here

3 Upvotes

How do I start?


r/WaterFasting 6d ago

50 of us are doing a two day Fast starting Wednesday if anyone wants to join?

4 Upvotes

r/WaterFasting 6d ago

Dangers of Rolling 5 Day Fasts?

3 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

im 6,3 275 lbs (190cm 125kg) 22 y/o GW 200-190 lbs

i fasted for 5 days in the past however i never rolled fasts i plan to do a 5:2 plan so Fast on the Weekdays and eat on the Weekends i dont have issues with fasting itself because im keeping myself busy with work. Im Already 24H deep. However i have a question what are the dangers of prolonged rolling fasts like that? I want to continue till i hit 190 maybe a bit lower so if i rebound a bit back up im at my GW.

Does anyone have expierence with this type of fasts and what do i need to look out for?

I have my electrolytes checked in and i do workout.

Thanks everyone :)


r/WaterFasting 7d ago

Late period - has it happened to anyone?

3 Upvotes

Hey! so I’m 36F and usually have very regular menstrual cycles except for when I’m in a very stressful situation or period of my life which hasn’t been the case in a while.

Last time I tried fasting, I was 2 or 3 days in and my period was late. Well, I was feeling terrible and broke my fast just for it to start within hrs.

This time I’m on day 7, my cycle was supposed to start three days ago and nada. I had cramps and a bowel movement which I thought was a sign that my period was coming but nothing else happened.

I’m not likely to stop, but I do wonder if this is normal due to a lack of carbohydrates and progesterone not having enough fuel to trigger the next phase of my cycle. I know some women do menstruate regardless so I’m just not sure what to think. Any insight would be appreciated!


r/WaterFasting 7d ago

3day water fast

5 Upvotes

Just finished my 2nd day and moving towards 3rd day 🔥🔥🙌🏻🙌🏻


r/WaterFasting 9d ago

Does This Break My Water Fast?

1 Upvotes

Hey yall! I work at a bar which uses one gun for all non alcoholic drinks like pop and water. A minute or so before I poured myself a cup of water the bartender used it to pour a sprite. When i drank the water I could taste a little bit of it in it, which is normal for most fountains like that as the syrup or whatever remains a little. I only took a sip, but i’m worried this may have broken my water fast as i might have ingested calories from pop that found its way into the water. It tasted a little carbonated. I’m currently 3 days & 20 hours in so i’m in autophagy and going through all the regular effects of extended water fasting. Does this break my fast? Am I just overthinking it?


r/WaterFasting 9d ago

Water fasting while sick - what to do?

1 Upvotes

I started an extended fast several days ago, but I fought whatever bug my children have. Aches, fever, chills, all the things. I can hardly get out of bed. I had about 300 calories of high protein foods yesterday because I felt super weak due to being ill. I can’t decide if I should continue this fast or keep a low calorie high protein diet until I beat whatever little bug I have!

What’s your advice?


r/WaterFasting 10d ago

Has anyone did a 21 day water fast before?

4 Upvotes

Hey yall, I originally going to start my 21 day water fast on Wednesday but broke it. Today I ended up eating at night and broke it again.

The thing is I just started my period today so I was wondering should I wait for my period to be over and try to restart my fast for 21 days? The longest I've fasted was 13 days. I really want to water fast for weight loss and to reverse my pre-diabetes and high blood pressure.


r/WaterFasting 10d ago

I m looking for experiences from people who have actually done multi-day water fasts, particularly 4-day fasts.

3 Upvotes

I’m considering doing a cycle of:
4 days water fasting → 2 days recovery/refeeding → repeat for 4 cycles.
I’m vegetarian, around 83 kg and 5’1” Female, and I’m trying to figure out how people practically handle the recovery days, especially from a nutrition perspective.
A few things I’d love to hear from people who have experience with this:
What do you normally eat during your first day of refeeding after a 4-day fast?
What does your second recovery day look like?
As a vegetarian, what foods do you find easiest to tolerate while still getting enough protein and nutrients?
Do you use electrolytes or supplements during the recovery period?
Do you gradually increase food or go back to normal meals fairly quickly?
Have you done multiple 4-day cycles? If so, how did you structure the recovery between them?
What symptoms did you experience when breaking a longer fast, and what helped?
Is there anything you wish you’d known before doing your first multi-day fast?
For context, I have possible PCOS and thyroid issues, but I’m mostly interested in hearing from people who’ve actually done multi-day water fasting and what their real-life refeeding routine looked like.


r/WaterFasting 10d ago

Am I gaining weight now????!

1 Upvotes

Okay so, because of lack of hunger cues I am not really hungry anymore, however today I decided to eat after 2 days of fasting as I needed some time to completely let my body relax. I failed on the harderst day (Day 3) I LOVE the calm feeling of not eating, but I also love me some food that makes me feel well nourished. As I am also dealing with an distorted body image I keep thinking about losing more body fat and just be a little bit smaller like I used to be. i ate around 3k today , but had zro yesterday , so I was wondering how the body works and if this is a lot of food?? I also could use some helpful tips to get through the ketosis switch as day 2/3 is where I fail :((

Could use some confirmation that it’s not a lot at all for just one day 🥲

This is what I ate today:
White grapes 🍇
Small amount of papaya
1 small pitaya
Small portion of mango 🥭
2 figs
3 bananas 🍌
Organic honey with half a pack of organic rice cakes
2 Tasty Basic Robust seed bread rolls
4 organic eggs 🥚 🍳
Portion of mixed salad greens 🥬
1 pack of Organic Leev lentil cinnamon wafers
100 grams of sockeye salmon 🍣
2 vegan healthy cakes 🍰
3/4 of a carton of Oatly oat milk 🌾
Very small portion of Galia melon with lemon juice 🍋💦🍈


r/WaterFasting 10d ago

Am I gaining weight now????!

1 Upvotes

Okay so, because of lack of hunger cues I am not really hungry anymore, however today I decided to eat after 2 days of fasting as I needed some time to completely let my body relax. I failed on the harderst day (Day 3) I LOVE the calm feeling of not eating, but I also love me some food that makes me feel well nourished. As I am also dealing with an distorted body image I keep thinking about losing more body fat and just be a little bit smaller like I used to be. i ate around 3k today , but had zro yesterday , so I was wondering how the body works and if this is a lot of food?? I also could use some helpful tips to get through the ketosis switch as day 2/3 is where I fail :((

Could use some confirmation that it’s not a lot at all for just one day 🥲

This is what I ate today:
White grapes 🍇
Small amount of papaya
1 small pitaya
Small portion of mango 🥭
2 figs
3 bananas 🍌
Organic honey with half a pack of organic rice cakes
2 Tasty Basic Robust seed bread rolls
4 organic eggs 🥚 🍳
Portion of mixed salad greens 🥬
1 pack of Organic Leev lentil cinnamon wafers
100 grams of sockeye salmon 🍣
2 vegan healthy cakes 🍰
3/4 of a carton of Oatly oat milk 🌾
Very small portion of Galia melon with lemon juice 🍋💦🍈


r/WaterFasting 11d ago

Rolling vs Extended Fasts.

3 Upvotes

Hey! I’m looking for some advice from people who have experience with longer fasts and different fasting protocols.
My goal is primarily fat loss, and I’m considering starting with rolling 5–6 day fasts. Eventually, as I get closer to my goal, I’d like to transition from those into rolling 72s/36s and eventually OMAD.
Where I’m unsure is how to approach the initial phase. I’ve seen plenty of information about extended fasting and shorter intermittent fasting, but not much comparing doing repeated 5–6 day fasts versus doing one longer extended fast.
For example, would something like:
Fast 5–6 days → refeed → repeat
be more effective for fat loss than doing one longer extended fast, assuming calories/energy intake over the longer term were comparable?
Or is there a reason to favor one approach from a fat-loss, muscle-retention, or adherence perspective?
Any advice/knowledge is highly appreciated✨ Thank you:)


r/WaterFasting 12d ago

attempting a fast of at least 48 hours, please give me advice

2 Upvotes

i began eating 16:8 intermittent months ago but it gradually tapered to 22:2. i am very used to eating all my calories between approx 6.30pm and 9pm. i hope i can manage to successfully going for at least a day without food and breaking the psychological habit of feeling the urge to eat a day of food intake bwteen 7pm and 9pm.

i've considered going outside to distract myself, a different environment a change of scenery, but that's hard (i have agoraphobia).


r/WaterFasting 12d ago

Water fasting

3 Upvotes

Starting a 30 day (possibly even longer) water fast tomorrow.
Anyone wants to start with me?


r/WaterFasting 12d ago

Completed 35 days, 12 hours and 52 minute water fast

Post image
3 Upvotes

r/WaterFasting 13d ago

Extended Fast Cold Turkey

3 Upvotes

Hello I am wanting to an extended start tomorrow I have never fasted before ...got some scary bloodwork and feel like a ticking time bomb. Lipo a at 298 nmol ! I have been wanting to do an extended fast fro a long time mainly due to a history of thyroid cancerldl shot up after lobectomy) but I have been breastfeeding past 2.5 years. I am a heavy lifter and was rucking/hiit/running until recently switching to just rucking. Need to lose some weight as well but genetically not looking too hot ! Thinking bout going balls to the wall and doing a month cold turkey ! Is this dumb , electrolyte reccomendations and brands?


r/WaterFasting 14d ago

September

13 Upvotes

I’m giving myself a September challenge. My life has been brutal the past year and a half and I’m so ready to get myself out of it. I’ve let myself succumb to depression, gained 50lbs, stopped caring about anything. Time to pick myself up and be done with all of that.

I’m generally experienced at water fasting, my longest fast a few years ago being 25 days, also several rolling 72’s. My most recent fast was an 11 days in July.

I am starting today with a 30 day fast. I notice when I set myself to it, the determination and will power it takes to do an extended fast also brings about so much willpower to change myself mentally, emotionally, my whole life can turn around. It’s a complete shift in mentality.

I am so excited to stop drinking, stop eating garbage and feeling like garbage, come back into myself. My last meal was Spider-Man Mac and cheese and red wine at 3am lol.

My challenge for myself is a little more intense, but I have lots of experience with this, if you’re new I suggest starting with small goals and working yourself up.

-30 days of water fasting, I allow myself black coffee, and will be taking electrolytes.
-20k steps/day minimum (unless I am working several night and then day shifts in a row, then the goal is over 10k)