My Story

I have been overweight my entire life.  As of today, I am 43 years of age and weigh over 400 lbs.  I have diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high blood lipid count and many of the aches and pains of an out-of-shape 43 year-old.  I am desperate to change my health before I get any older.  In order to do this, I have decided to attempt a 40-day water fast to reset my body and hopefully lose a little weight.  If you like, you are invited to follow my progress through this website.  I will be keeping a daily journal and will be updating this website throughout the day to show my progress.

About the Fast

First, this fast has 3 phases.  The first phase is 3 days of acclimation which I am simply calling the PRE-FAST.  During these 3 days, I will be reducing my food intake dramatically.  No meat, no dairy products, or bread, just fruit and steamed vegetables.  Some of the fasting books recommend oranges, so I am going to stock up.  I have enough frozen veggies in the freezer to make it work.  The second stage will then start. This stage will last 40 days and be simply called the REAL or WATER FAST stage.  During this time, I will only be drinking distilled water.  I will also be doing without my medications and vitamins as well.  The idea is to shut the digestive tract down completely, so that the body can use that saved energy to clean up waste and toxins elsewhere.  That's the plan anyway.  After the 30 days of distilled water only, I will use a 7 day POST-FAST to re-acclimate my digestive tract back to food.  I will use fruit, steamed vegetables, popcorn and activated yogurt to get my body ready for real food again.

Precautions

Since this fast is going to be such as shock to the body, I will undertake several precautions.  I will be taking my blood pressure, body temperature and blood sugar daily.  If my blood sugar drops or I feel faint from low blood sugar, I will carry several pieces of hard candy in case I need to raise my blood sugar.  I will also be carrying my diabetic medicine with me at all times in case I have to lower my blood sugar.  Also, I will be carrying a note in my pocket, which explains what I am doing and my daily progress with blood pressure readings, blood sugar, etc.  That way, if I pass out, I will have something for the ambulance workers and emergency room doctors to speak for me when I can't.  Also, I am posting the same note on my front and back doors, in case I pass out and the ambulance workers have to enter my house forcibly.  I feel this is necessary since I live alone and work from home.  The retired neighbor across the street has agreed to check on me once a day and my sister is going to call in the morning and again at night to make sure I am conscious.  There is not much more I can do than that.  Naturally my family is totally against my plan.  Both of my parents are retired and they are threatening to move in with me for the duration.  I am not sure I can do without food and have to deal with the folks at the same time.

A Little History

Several years ago, I weighed 552 lbs at my highest.  I was somewhat mobile but any activity was an extreme effort.  I managed to lose about 125 lbs of that by going on the Atkins diet and starting a walking regimen.  I think that cutting out real soft drinks did the trick.  Today, I walk about 3 miles a day and only drink diet soda, but my weight is stuck in the low 400s.  I just can’t hack the Atkins diet anymore.  It works well for me, but after several months I am ready to climb a tower with a sniper rifle.  It has been about 6 months since my last attempt at Atkins and I don’t think I can do it again.  Let’s hope this fasting works.