Water Fasting: Water Fasting. The Ultimate Fountain of Youth,
Weight Loss, Healing & Breakthrough.
Tap Into The Power!
This water fasting page starts a series that will discuss various aspects, including Weight Loss
-
Tips
and Physical
Healing & Health Benefits.
There is a link at the bottom of each page that will take you from one to the other,
so don't worry if you lose your place while you are reading.
In these pages you will find information that
can help you to better understand what water fasting is all about. It is my hope to give you
a foundation from which to start.
There is, however, something that I want to emphasize
right from the start: FASTING IS NOT A QUICK FIX.
It takes hard work and dedication to reach our goals in any field. Water Fasting is no different.
Yes, the
weight loss and health benefits are amazing, but one has to be willing to go through some
discomfort BEFORE and AFTER the fast.
What I mean is this: Fasting for 100 days only to return
to a diet of pizza and cheeseburgers is insanity. For LONG-LASTING results, it
is indispensible for one to make PERMANENT eating-habit changes
once the fast is over.
For Beginners
Indeed, water fasting is a very powerful and natural tool to help you lose weight and
cleanse your
body of toxins and disease. I dare say that it is by far the most powerful source of healing and
rejuvenation known to man. That is why I always refer to it as a Fountain of Youth.
Regular water
fasting can often foster dramatic anti-aging effects. But it is wise NOT
to jump blindly into a fast longer than three days without suitable preparation.
If you are a beginner, I suggest that you start with a partial fast. Skip one meal a day
- say lunch - and drink a healthy amount of water as replacement.
Do this for a whole week.
That alone will give you a good idea of what fasting is all about. You will be exposed to
hunger pains and detox symptoms.
But you will also get to experience the increased energy, mental clarity and sense of wellbeing that
fasting provides.
A partial water fast will make the detox process less uncomfortable. It is a wise preparation step!
I learned it the hard way.
Going from a full-course fatty meal to fasting is a recipe for misery.
Many highly toxic & obese persons - like I was - go from never fasting to a full-fledged
water fast overnight. They are quickly floored by the severity of the hunger pains and massive
detoxification symptoms. Do a partial fast instead and make it easier for yourself!
24-Hour Fasting
Once you do a partial fast as described above for a few weeks, then start water fasting for short periods
of time. Start with a 24-hour fast. Don't think that to attain a benefit you HAVE
to fast for months. That is not true. Fasting for longer periods of time will foster deeper detoxification
and, of course, greater weight loss. But ANY effort you can make
RIGHT NOW is more than enough to get you started! Little by little
you can work your way to longer and longer fasts, if your health so allows it. Do not hurry and please
take it easy.
IF YOU HAVE MADE UP YOUR MIND AND ARE READY TO DO A 24-HOUR FAST,
FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS 
* Choose the particular day in which you plan on carrying out the fast. If possible, select a
day that is NOT packed with activities and engagements. Sunday is a good day.
But don't procrastinate. Choose a day and - DO IT! Water fasting while
also going through a regular day is not optimal but possible nonetheless.
* Make sure that you have good quality water! While most cities have decent tap water, this is an occassion
for you to give yourself the very best. If you don't have a water filter, now would be a good time to
get one. If you want the best, I recommend
water ionization. Stock up on seltzer water and
green tea.
* Tell at least ONE person close to you of your intentions, but
DO NOT shout it from the rooftops. Trust me
with this one. There are many who simply will not understand and may even try to talk you out of fasting. But,
by all means, make sure to have human support. Make it a point to visit our
Forum I and/or
Forum II and join the community
conversation.
*At least ONE WEEK before the fast, reduce your intake of sugar, fats and caffeine. The stricter you
are with this particular step, the easier the fast will be. Caffeine detox can cause strong headaches.
If your body is brimming with sugar and grease, I can tell you what the hunger pains and detox symptoms
will be more uncomfortable than they have to be.
Eat salads, steamed vegetables and lean poultry and fish
as much as possible. Also, start to drink at the very least one-half gallon.
The water AND the reduction of sugars, fats and caffeine will move your bowels and
kick-start the detoxification process.
* Purchase a bottle of a herbal cleanser like
Herbs & Prunes and start to take one-two-four tablets daily, also for seven days prior to the fast.
In combination with the change in diet and increase in water-intake, this inexpensive yet extremely-effective
cleanser will start to induce powerful bowel movements. This will commence to purge your digestive system
of built-up fecal matter adhered to the walls of the colon. This pre-fast cleanse will reduce the hunger
pains and detox symptoms because many of the toxins in your bowels will already have been eliminated.
*Eat your last meal at around 8PM the night before the day of the fast. On the morning of the fast,
have two full glasses of water upon awakening to get the bowels going. Take two-to-four tablets of the
Herbs & Prunes with a cup of green tea with a pinch of lime.
SORRY, NO SUGAR OR HONEY!
Go through your day as planned, making it a point to drink as much water as possible.
Every time the hunger pains
hit you, drink another two glasses of water. If you have to leave your home, make sure to take sufficient
water with you, along with at least two or three bottles of seltzer. I usually take a whole gallon of water
and six-pack of seltzer when I have to go out. Refrigerate the water when you get to your destination. If no
refridgerator is available, keep the water as cool as possible and away from heat and sunlight.
* At around noon, when hunger strikes, crack open a bottle of seltzer and drink it slowly. You can add a pinch
of lime to the seltzer for taste. I have found seltzer water to be very useful in
curving hunger pains. If you are taking the Herbs & Prunes, you will be having regular bowel movements.
So make sure to stay fairly close to a bathroom.
* By around 3PM, you will certainly start to really feel the hunger pains and may experience the beggining of the
detoxification symptoms. Consider
yourself fortunate ... your body is working hard to rid itself of toxins that were curtailing your health. Drink
more water and seltzer. Have a cup of green tea for energy. You're almost there!
I also encourage you to keep
a journal and spend
time writing your thoughts, feelings in it. Jot down how you are feeling physically and mentally. Record any
mood swings or particular symptoms that stand out more than others. This information will be very useful for
future fasts.
* Drink more water and seltzer through the rest of the afternoon and have ONE more cup of green tea
if you need it. When the clock hits 8PM, you are done!
Break the fast initially by drinking a glass of watered-down orange or grape juice. About
ONE HOUR
later, have a bowl of sliced apples and pears. One apple and one pear is more than enough.
DO NOT HAVE A FULL-COURSE MEAL! That can make you very sick. Eat light and
GO TO BED!
* In the AM, drink another two large glasses of water upon arising and have a light breakfast of fruit and
oatmeal, preferably with low-fat milk. This is a good time to strongly think about your life and future and
consider permanently changing your eating habits for the better.
Stay Connected
DON'T BE A LONE RANGER - wanting to be a
spiritual water fasting giant to the exclusion
of people close to you. One of the biggest mistakes most beginners make is to
stop eating abruptly because they want to lose weight. They start water fasting
overnight and try to keep it a secret. Or they plan the fast, but still fail to inform a select
few of what they are doing.
Water fasting is a physical powerhouse that can nuke debris from your system and
give you an outlook on life you never thought possible. It is, in some ways,
supernatural. Yet it is the toughest of all types of fasting because you receive no taste or
substance in your body for the alloted time - except for the water itself.
My longest water
fast was 60 days, and most of it took place in a camp where there were at least five people who knew
what I was doing. Without the support of a selected few, I may not have made it.
Overcoming Limitations
If you are reading this, it is because in your soul you realize that there
has to be more to life than what you have been experiencing. There is perhaps an instinct inside of
you that wants to overcome limitations and experience a better life quality. Don't stop reading my friend.
This can be the beginning of the rest of your life. And, amazingly, all you need to effect the change
is - water and guts.
One of the questions I am always asked when somebody is starting with fasting is:
How much water should I drink? My suggestion is - drink as much water as necessary to keep you going.
It is not unusual for me to drink one or even two gallons of water a day when I am fasting.
Some people argue against the intake of large amounts of water, indicating that to do so is to
risk becoming "water poisoned." There have been cases of Poisoning, but these are the extreme examples. Just use common sense.
As I said, seltzer water with a little lime helps to settle the stomach and appease
water fasting hunger pains. That has
worked wonders for me at some very harsh water fasting moments. Try not to drink water
that is too cold. The closer to room temperature it is, the better. Again, that is just a recommendation
based on what has worked for me. Take your time and try different temperatures of water until you find the
one that grants you the most comfort from the hunger pains.
Toilet Sprints
When first water fasting, you will likely have to dash for the toilet with frequency.
The body is not used to such large shots of liquid; the water pushes on the colon and
induces the elimination of toxic fecal residue.
At this point, between the first and third day of
water fasting, the waste coming out of your body will be
from recently-consumed food. Getting to the often "years-old" dregs stubbornly attached to the colon
will take a little longer. That is where the true miracle lies.
The best way to accelerate the colon cleansing process is to
massage your stomach, pressing in with both hands open. First emphasize the top of the colon, then the bottom... then the liver.
Repeat this several times a day when water fasting.
The point is to drink large amounts
of water, and then to massage your abdomen to maximize the amount of dried and toxic waste eliminated
from your body. Drinking large amounts of water is NOT the same as
drinking juice or soda. Water is pure life ... soda and artificial juices are not.
The Powdered Juice Dilemma
Many people often tell me that they simply do not like to drink plain water in large
quantities. That they would much prefer to sprinkle it with some type of sugarless powdered juice so it can
go down more smoothly. This, in my opinion, is baloney.
My answer, for the most part, is that many bodies have become so accustomed to trash that they insist on
continuing to sniff it - even after stepping out of the manure pit. This may sound harsh, but the message
I am attempting to drive home is that water fasting should be just that. It should not be Kool-Aid fasting.
Tough it out and get your body used to drinking pure water without additives. Remember, easy does it.
Slow wins the race.
A Final Recommendation
I recommend adding Himalayan Crystal Salt to the water several times daily
while fasting. The salt is known to contain energy and healing properties that assist in bringing the body's
regulatory system
(homeostasis) into balance.
This fosters improved blood pH, digestive
system functions, brain activity, respiration, and it also helps remove heavy metals from your body.
Alright, enough yapping. Let's move on to PART II of the water fasting
series and talk about
Weight Loss.
Return From Water Fasting to Fitness Through Fasting HOME
Robert Dave Johnston
Fitness Through Fasting-Editor/Webmaster
Publisher:The Anti Prevention Nation Ezine &
FastingOlogy 9-Month Membership Course.
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