Hi PineappleTraci!
Wow, you did 10-12 days! Holy Crabapple, You are my hero!
Were you at a center or under supervision or did you just go for it? I am kind of a scaredy cat so I got an MD to help
Thanks for those links-I haven't seen any of them so now I have something to watch today.
I can update, sure. Let's see...
Today is day 5 and I decided, with the support of my dr, to keep going until I felt like stopping, or up to a max of 7 days, which is the point at which it is possible, but not likely, to develop electrolyte imbalance, namely low potassium. So I am taking it as it comes, seeing how I feel.
Overall
Day 1-started to feel reduction from inflammation and alleviation of allergy headache and sinus congestion at about hour 18 without food. Totally normal energy levels. Took it easy, drank about 1.5 quarts mountain valley spring h2o, went to bed around 10, slept until 8 am. Had thoughts of food and some hunger in the later part of the day.
Day 2- was a bit more fatigued than normal, nothing crazy though. Hung out in bed on the ipad (my darling, wonderful, sweet and supportive DH has lent it to me for the duration of the fast. It is a fun toy!) watching stuff, on forums or reading things, or reading books. Had about 2 quarts h2o. Pretty uneventful. Still had a hit of hunger pangs, but nothing uncontrollable and nothing that stuck around. Went to sleep around 11 pm. Oh yeah, did some dry skin brushing, took a shower and did some gentle stretching, about 20 minutes. Talked to a Few people on the phone. Meditated in bed 30 minutes am and 30 minutes pm. I am that, So Hum.
Day 3- woke up around 8 am, felt really tired and groggy at first, and physically a bit heavy. Gradually perked up, after drinking some water, regained some energy, so I stretched, dry brushed and bathed while I was feeling up for it, and that woke me up even more. Talked on the phone for about and hour to my folks, just to ease their minds. Read, watched movies, meditated, felt OK in general. Was mostly in bed, but got up here and there for 10 minutes or so.
No hunger whatsoever, in fact the thought of food is a bit unappealing. My mom spent a good deal of time talking about food she made for my aunt and uncle, who came for a visit and are not vegan, and it did not bug me one bit.
(Interesting side note, my cousin, who is my age, shy of two months, was just told by her doctor that she did not metabolize animal protein or salt well, so she has to top eating both. My aunt and uncle were excited to share the recipe for the Esselstyn lemon cake recipe my mom served them, because they *loved* it so much, and so yet another dietary change in the family, Whoo Hoo! She'll likely stick with it, too since she learned this as a result of having kidney stones. So painful!)
Day 4- this day was interesting. I slept really well, woke up a little groggy, then had really good energy. Cleaned up some, (DH is having a really busy week, so there was a lot of light mess, like socks on floors, and unwiped countertops for me to OCD-out on, until I got sort of muscularly tired, for lack of a better description, and said "eff it, it's clean enough!" and put my "I see no dirt or mess" glasses back on) dry brushed, bathed, stretched, and was a Chatty McChatterson on the phone for a couple of hours.
Also, it was my Mom's birthday, so I got treated to an in depth description of all the special foods she ate and planned to eat that day. Fortunately, it did not bother me, in fact even less than normal, because food was still not really all that appealing. Meditated am and pm.
Somewhere in the late afternoon I started to get a bunch of joint pain and inflammation, which of course I was not happy about, but at the same time could indicate accelerated detox or healing, which is a good thing, I guess, so a mixed bad of an emotional reaction about it.
Fell asleep around 9:30 pm
Day 5-woke up at 8 am, slept GREAT, very nourishing, restful sleep, joint pain is gone! Hooray! Feel good so far, will update more later. Haven't done much yet today except catch up with my DH about his week, and write this post.
I should mention that I am feeling generally well and better than I have on previous fasts. One of the things that can happen on a fast is that your blood pressure drops and that you get "postural hypotension" a fancy way of saying that you get dizzy when shifting from lying down to sitting up or standing. I have gotten dizzy in the past on most, but not all of the fasts I have done, but I have not been dizzy yet on this one.