During lunch, while I was scarfing a delicious ham sandwich (bad jew, I know), my friend Charlie Hoehn wasn’t eating.
I asked, “What’s up?”.
“Oh, I’m on a 7 day fast, ” Charlie said.
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“WTF. Fer reals,” I said.
“Yea, while I was going through some things last year this was one of the few experiences that really helped make my life better,” Charlie said.
It also gave him mental clarity like nothing else which made me curious to try.
I decided that since I’ve done a 24 hour fast before, going for 60 hours would be pushing myself to the limit. Yes, I skipped right over the 48 hour fast (more on this later).
So for 60 hours, I was in. Queue weekend…
For the first hours of the fast, I was gold. This will be cake I thought (pun intended).
I did a 14-mile bike ride and then some light walking.
Bad idea.
“The wall” hit me around 4 pm.
Tired, low energy, just low everything!
Towards night time I could feel my stomach rumbling but it wasn’t unbearable.
Sunday is where it got really challenging.
Stupid me decided a 4-mile hike and 3 hours of disc golf were a great idea. They weren’t.
My energy was very low and I got extremely light headed whenever I tried to stand up.
This was a rough day, I’d go in-and-out of hunger and got weak very quickly throughout the day when I normally wouldn’t.
As night began I was extremely productive with work and creative with my writing. Maybe cause it was hard for me to move so typing on my couch seemed easier than usual.
The day was near done but I couldn’t sleep…
And I couldn’t sleep and it continued. Shit.
It scared me. I searched online for what a normal heartbeat should be which is 60-100.
I checked my pulse which was 68 and then tried to rest.. Finally, around 2:30 am I passed out.
BUT woke up again at 3:42 am.
My heart was going all zany again. WTF is going on. I got a bit scared.
Internally I was debating: “No way I can break my fast. I committed to myself, my fasting partner (very helpful) and others that I’d see this through to the end.”
Most of us think we are stubborn and I’m no exception.
I had to ponder if it was worth it to potentially damage myself long-term vs the ego that was challenging me at that moment.
I also struggled with maybe this is just the hard part I have to get past and suck it up.
My heart kept throbbing…
So I made the executive decision to make some oatmeal.
The downside risk of dying was not worth trying to reach an arbitrary goal.
…I still feel some guilt today for not going all the way.
Noah’s famous oatmeal
I felt better nearly instantly.
Lost 7 pounds (149) after not eating for 50 hours.
What can YOU learn from this?
Discipline is good. I’m super glad I had the self-control to not eat and reinforced that I can do this in other parts of my life. Short term not having discipline is okay but the long-term reward from it will make you much more likely to get what you want.
Reading is shit. Experience is gold. (< Click to tweet) You can read about how to start a business or a diet or anything you’ve been avoiding doing forever. The best way I’ve found to truly internalize knowledge is to experience it yourself.
Food = Energy. I never looked at food like gas to a car. When you give your body food it’s basically converted to energy so you can do the things you want it to do. Better food = better energy.
Question your habits. I’m SO used to just eating at put-food-in-my-mouth o’clock. Know what I mean?? It’s getting dark so that must mean it’s dinner time. But are you really hungry? This experience reset my expectations to really question if I’m hungry at that moment or not. (Back in 2008 I wrote a book review on Mindless Eating. Check it out for some healthy eating tips.)
Simplify your decisions. Yesterday, I realized while snacking that it’s easier to not have to decide with food. With fasting, I knew I wouldn’t eat but snacking on jerky yesterday I had to figure out how much I wanted to eat. This made me realize why the 100 calorie Almond packs are so powerful. If you know the decision will be hard or uncertain, figure out how you can pre-commit or reduce having to decide when you don’t want to.
Would I recommend this for you to do?
HELL no, if you want to do it as a diet. It’s not a bad kickstarter to a diet but it’s definitely not sustainable.
Yes, if you want to explore how far you can go, become more aware of when you actually need to eat, and want a challenge.
I actually realized that a 48 hour fast would have been a great challenge for myself too (without draining ALL my energy).
Would I do this again?
Yes, I plan on fasting for only 24 hours once a month. I also plan on exploring a 48 hour fast once a quarter.
Less for the challenge and more for the reminder that I don’t really need to eat as much and bring my awareness of food to the front of my mind. It was amazing how much food consumed my thoughts when I didn’t have it for only 2 days…
Okay, action time. Leave a comment and take the challenge to fast for 24 hours.
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422 responses to “What I Learned Not Eating for 60 Hours (48 Hour Fast Extended)”
Thanks for the good read. I’m on my second fast. The first one was 41 hours. I was ready to eat when it was over . This one I’m going for 60 but I think it’ll be 63hrs before I get to eat ( I’m just over the 24 hr mark) I’m just drinking a lot of water not, really not exercising like crazy. Doing some push-ups and curls plus get some activity from being an outside tech for a telecommunication company. My reasoning for these fast is for cell regeneration. You know, discard the old and in with the new. Nice to relate with someone.
I think next time you should try by slowing down on the physical activities you do during fasting. It looks like you are within your appropriate body weight. The fasting + physical activity might have caused unnecessary strain.
I just finished my second fast. I did 24 hours the first time and managed to go 60 hours the second time. I had pain in my knees, I hit that point around hour 44/46 where I was like boy I got to eat but powered through with some weight loss shakes. I woke up on my last day and was irritable, in a bad mood and I was so tired. I started eating at my 60th hour, I wasn’t mega hungry either and I don’t seem to get that high after I eat any more. It’s just like food is fuel. My first meal back was a bagel with egg, avocado and tomato. My second meal was a big plate of sashimi and my final dish of the day will be steak and veggies. Overall I feel much better, but it was painful at times. And i get super fatigued. I don’t think exercising is a good idea if you’re doing it for the first time. And next time I do it, I will ensure im occupied every day so I don’t fall in to this moody attitude on my last day lol!
YOU’RE WEAK!
Just kidding, I am currently into my 60th hour of a 72+hour fast (I say + becasue the 72 mark will be at 8pm today, Friday. So why not continue through the night for an additional 12).
The definitive euphoric feeling at 50hrs is certainly there but my stubborness to complete this goal (for myself) is too strong to back down!
One of the most helpful ways for me to succeed is too broadcast the start and the journey along the way to my IG. Holding me accountabale for the success when completed or the guilt for not.
btw, down 5lbs from 164 at the moment! But I feel GREAT ! (bmi is currently 18.2%
I’m 52 hours into a monthly 60 hour fast. That I have been doing for the last 9 months. I prepare myself by eating 15 to 40 carbs a day, and 26 macadamia nuts or drink macadamia milk for good fats and all the protein I want. I find that when I fast I’m in less pain from old injuries. I’m a 59 your old disabled male and it’s been over 37 years since I’ve done any drugs or alcohol. I’m hoping that autophage will self-eat my inflammation and that I will overcome this disability.
Living in the Middle East I dry fasted about 15 hours a day for a month, and felt fine. So during the pandemic I decided to take it farther by eating 16- 8 most days and fast 48 – 72 hours every 2 weeks. I lose a lot of weight for my lean base weight, but my goal is health and it seems to work well. I feel worse during the fast than many people describe, but not a big deal. I’m 74 and plan to reach an active 110 at least, so this is part of the plan along with no processed food and my ginger/lemon/turmeric/cider vinegar daily drinks. I feel like this pattern is natural for me, but plan to try longer fasts once or twice a year.