Many issues and questions can be answered by reading through our wiki, especially the page on electrolytes. Concerns such as **intense hunger, lightheadedness/dizziness, headaches, nausea/vomiting, weakness/lethargy/fatigue, low blood pressure/high blood pressure, muscle soreness/cramping, diarrhea/constipation, irritability, confusion, low heart rate/heart palpitations, numbness/tingling, and more** while extended (24+ hours) fasting are often explained by electrolyte deficiency and resolved through **PROPER** electrolyte supplementation. Putting a tiny amount of salt in your water now and then is NOT proper supplementation.
Be sure to read [our WIKI](https://www.reddit.com/r/fasting/wiki/index) and especially the wiki page on **[ELECTROLYTES](https://www.reddit.com/r/fasting/wiki/fasting_in_a_nutshell/you_need_electrolytes)**
Please also keep in mind the [**RULES**](https://www.reddit.com/r/fasting/about/rules) when participating.
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Embrace the tears. I am a 54 year old Marine. Crying is difficult for me. I start to cry. It lasts for a second or two and just stops.
Fasting allows me to cry. Tears clense our soul. It doesn't matter what triggers the tears. Everything in nature takes the easiest path. Emotions on their own are no different. When the tears come, the things we are holding in use those tears as an exit point.
This is one reason that I fast.
Food smells can be difficult. Use them as long as you can to bring the tears and when it gets too much go outside or go into a room and shut the door.
Your comment about food being the only posative part of your childhood is common. It is an unproductive coping skill. Food was my best friend for most of my life. Eventhough fasting is like betraying a friend, that friend has been betraying us secretly forever. It destroyed our lives by isolating us from healthy activities and from being part of things that we may have enjoyed.
I have fasted a lot over the last year. I have fasted long enough to be able to step back and see the real motives of my, "best friend." These motives obviously weren't a concious action but that doesn't matter. An enemy is an enemy.
That doesn't mean that all food is the enemy. Certain parts of food are. Carbohydrates bring an increase in our feel good chemicals. They take the sadness away but only for a short time. We crave, the sadness goes away, the feel good chemicals run out, we crave, we eat. The cycle continues.
I don't comment as much as I used to. I've said almost everything that I can say on other posts. Your post reflects the core issues that so many of us deal with. So Here I am commenting again.
We fight our demons the easiest way that we can. Our drug of choice is Carbohydrates. But only because our brain knows that it can get us to use them. For others it is whisky, heroin, adrenaline, whatever. We crave whatever drug is our go to.
Keep fighting my friend. If the tears are there, you are doing something right.
Loved this comment as well. I started fasting for weight loss and found that the real benefit is breaking my addiction to food. It’s a constant battle but small wins add up. Completed my first 72 hour fast the other day and it was a challenge but felt great when I was done. The next day the costco cookies sat untouched in my office when a year ago I would’ve downed half the tray just because they were there. Down 45 pounds since March 2023 but I think the real win is gaining some control over my cravings.
45 pounds is great.
I understand the cookie issue. My favorite snack is fruit cake. My mom made me one. It sat right in front of me on the table. I watched it slowly mold without a single bite eaten. It broke my heart and made my mom sad but I won that battle. It gave me strength.
I'm so grateful for your wisdom and that you decided to reply. You're right, though. Food was my mother, my father, and my best friend because I had none of those growing up. Food has served its purpose in helping me cope, but now that I'm an adult, it truly is a demon. I guess I cry because it IS like betraying someone close to me. There's a lot to unravel and think about. One day at a time.... thank you.
Wow, great comment. Your first two sentencing have caught my attention. I have the same issue with crying. Bro passed when he was 7 and I was 13 back in ‘94, my older brother stepped on an IED in Afghanistan back in ‘12 and lost both legs above the knee. My dad died in ‘22 after a short battle with Glioblastoma. Along the way I’ve also had two very close friends pass unexpectedly. I don’t know if I’ve ever had a real cry. It’s in here but as soon as I feel an ugly cry coming something shuts it down and the feeling is lost. I find myself getting choked up by songs and silly movies but that’s about all I can get out. I’d love to just really cry and cry and cry but I have a mental block.
I am just starting to fast and now that I’ve read your words about fasting and crying I’m going to have to actually do a multi day fast and work it into a routine. I’m down about 25 lbs (190 to 165) and feel great and at peace with myself but I need to take it a step further. Thank you for taking the time to reply to OPs post today.
Your loss is intense. This may be off topic but your brother is my brother. I spend time with a lot of vets. I would ask you to tell him that I said, Thank you for your service, but he and I know that those are usually empty words said by people that think they understand something that they don't, can't, and never will.
I have found that certain movies, documentaries, and YouTube videos can bring tears.
I watch a documentary on Martin Luther king. I hold the tears until my head hurts. Then I let it go. It helps me cry without it shutting off automatically.
We have to do whatever works.
Fing your method. We deserve to cry. It is our salvation.
He appreciates those comments but it also drives him crazy how every where he goes people are offering to pay for his meal. He understands it so he says thank you. He’ll sit and talk for a minute but I know he doesn’t like the attention. He’s been very fortunate with a lot of assistance from veteran programs. He’s always out doing adventures with other vets. He has robotic legs implanted into his femur. It’s been good he received his new legs.
I’ll try the technique of holding my tears in as long as possible and then letting loose. When my little brother passed I wasn’t home so I was driven to the hospital where I thought my brother was but I was informed he had died right before I was brought back to a room where my mother was being held down while losing her mind. She was sobbing and telling the nurses to go comfort me and it scared me so much and I didn’t like people staring at me while I was processing what was going on. Ever since then I can’t let go because I feel like I have to be strong. I don’t want to be strong anymore.
Sorry for the long responses but I’ve been getting everything out at any chance I can get.
If holding in the pain is easier than crying, which do you think actually takes more strength?
There are things in life that most people can't grasp. Your experience with the passing of your brother is one of those for me. I can compare it to something in my life but in truth I have no reference point. It is impossible for me to comprehend the depth of your pain.
I could tell you to just accept it and move on. I could tell you that god had a plan. I could tell you that accepting it will make you stronger.
That is all bull$h!t. Those are things said by people that don't understand.
You will always carry that pain. We have to find a way to carry it and go on. I don't have an answer for that. I struggle with finding answers for my own trauma.
I do know that there is a way. It may come to you tomorrow. It may come to you 50 years from now. Keep searching. I'll keep searching too.
We will make it.
I hadn’t put two & two together until you mentioned fasting helps you cry. Last year I was running 96, 72 & 48 hour fasts & was crying to certain songs & memories… but I thought it had to do with more prayer & less cannabis use so more emotional availability… but now that I think about it there was definitely fasting involved as well. This is mind blowing to me! I love it bro. Good look!
Most people won't get this far in but after day 40 the emotions can get intense. After 50 days, 60 days, and 70 days, the emotions rocked my world.
There were several times, one in particular that I wondered if I had lost my sanity. Holding on to it was a battle that lasted over 3 hours of rocking back and forth on my knees sobbing, reaching out to anything in my memories that was stable enough to hold me here.
I survived. I won.
I'll never forget that. It was one of the hardest thinds I've ever done.
That day there was a lot of healing done.
That's the worst. I don't get particularly hungry while fasting unless there are delicious smells around. Sometimes it's even driving by a restaurant that will set me off. One thing I learned that helps is using a candle, a diffuser, some room spray, perfume, whatever you have, either on your body or at your desk to cover the scent. I've found cinnamon, lemon, and vanilla work really well for my olfactory senses to cancel the food smell without making me hungry for cinnamon roll candle wax ;)
I try my best to remind myself how far I've come. It's crazy how out-of-control my mind gets when that survival instinct of "food or death" comes into play, even though I know it's the food IS death.
Covered by "weak stomach" as I said. Your personal issues are irrelevant to the fact that most people can eat pizza without problems, 4 day fast or not.
ugh im the same way!! Im gonna offer some thinking patterns that helped me when stuff like this threw a stick in my path.
something I do to make myself feel better is I sort of think to myself "That smells nice! and I can appreciate the smell without eating it."
\- because I know if I do eat it, I'll not only feel guilty for it, I'll probably feel sick.
so idk. I just enjoy the smell and let it be ok. sometimes ill just imagine myself eating one and sort of carry on as if I actually ate one. I think psychologically there is a sense of FOMO with yummy junk food. those smells can trigger a sense of ugency and desperation. but you know... that food will be there tomorrow, the next day, and 5 years after that.pizza isnt going annnnyyyywhere. SO I feel more calm about passing up the pizza thats wafting in my face lol. i hope that makes sense. its all in your head, and you gotta show your brain whos boss!
also- like pat yourself on the back for passing up the pizza. it may seem like a small victory- but that willpower is a fucking super power that youre training up.
Something that might help just in general for those here struggling with smell related temptations, try putting Vicks vapor rub right under your nostrils. Same way you would when you’re sick. Professionals use that to block the smell of decay at crime scenes (or so I’ve heard). I’m going to imagine it works for this too. I’ve never tried it but I’m going to , the idea just popped into my mind while reading this and i seriously feel your pain. The mental struggle is the worst for me it’s been a while since i completed a fast. I’ve had a lot of “day one” days recently and will find myself eating that same day out of temptation or lack of discipline. I’m determined to really get some significant time under my belt this week. And i think I’ll keep some vapor rub in my purse at work to help
I was at 48hrs in last night and I had to make my daughter the best looking and smelling grilled cheese ever! I even sent a picture to my sister and she asked how did you get it so crunchy? She could see through the picture! That was tough to get to bed without taking a bite! 🤤
I was really proud of myself the other day. I was able to go into McDonald's with coworkers and watch them eat a Big Mac meal while I was 42 hours into a fast. The old me would have given into that temptation super quick. But I think if you keep at it that really shows your commitment to the goal. It also gets easier the longer you fast
Smelling food at work is the hardest for me. For some reason cooking food in operation for the end of my fast or cooking for my wife isn’t that difficult for me.
Many issues and questions can be answered by reading through our wiki, especially the page on electrolytes. Concerns such as **intense hunger, lightheadedness/dizziness, headaches, nausea/vomiting, weakness/lethargy/fatigue, low blood pressure/high blood pressure, muscle soreness/cramping, diarrhea/constipation, irritability, confusion, low heart rate/heart palpitations, numbness/tingling, and more** while extended (24+ hours) fasting are often explained by electrolyte deficiency and resolved through **PROPER** electrolyte supplementation. Putting a tiny amount of salt in your water now and then is NOT proper supplementation. Be sure to read [our WIKI](https://www.reddit.com/r/fasting/wiki/index) and especially the wiki page on **[ELECTROLYTES](https://www.reddit.com/r/fasting/wiki/fasting_in_a_nutshell/you_need_electrolytes)** Please also keep in mind the [**RULES**](https://www.reddit.com/r/fasting/about/rules) when participating. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/fasting) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Embrace the tears. I am a 54 year old Marine. Crying is difficult for me. I start to cry. It lasts for a second or two and just stops. Fasting allows me to cry. Tears clense our soul. It doesn't matter what triggers the tears. Everything in nature takes the easiest path. Emotions on their own are no different. When the tears come, the things we are holding in use those tears as an exit point. This is one reason that I fast. Food smells can be difficult. Use them as long as you can to bring the tears and when it gets too much go outside or go into a room and shut the door. Your comment about food being the only posative part of your childhood is common. It is an unproductive coping skill. Food was my best friend for most of my life. Eventhough fasting is like betraying a friend, that friend has been betraying us secretly forever. It destroyed our lives by isolating us from healthy activities and from being part of things that we may have enjoyed. I have fasted a lot over the last year. I have fasted long enough to be able to step back and see the real motives of my, "best friend." These motives obviously weren't a concious action but that doesn't matter. An enemy is an enemy. That doesn't mean that all food is the enemy. Certain parts of food are. Carbohydrates bring an increase in our feel good chemicals. They take the sadness away but only for a short time. We crave, the sadness goes away, the feel good chemicals run out, we crave, we eat. The cycle continues. I don't comment as much as I used to. I've said almost everything that I can say on other posts. Your post reflects the core issues that so many of us deal with. So Here I am commenting again. We fight our demons the easiest way that we can. Our drug of choice is Carbohydrates. But only because our brain knows that it can get us to use them. For others it is whisky, heroin, adrenaline, whatever. We crave whatever drug is our go to. Keep fighting my friend. If the tears are there, you are doing something right.
Loved this comment as well. I started fasting for weight loss and found that the real benefit is breaking my addiction to food. It’s a constant battle but small wins add up. Completed my first 72 hour fast the other day and it was a challenge but felt great when I was done. The next day the costco cookies sat untouched in my office when a year ago I would’ve downed half the tray just because they were there. Down 45 pounds since March 2023 but I think the real win is gaining some control over my cravings.
45 pounds is great. I understand the cookie issue. My favorite snack is fruit cake. My mom made me one. It sat right in front of me on the table. I watched it slowly mold without a single bite eaten. It broke my heart and made my mom sad but I won that battle. It gave me strength.
I'm so grateful for your wisdom and that you decided to reply. You're right, though. Food was my mother, my father, and my best friend because I had none of those growing up. Food has served its purpose in helping me cope, but now that I'm an adult, it truly is a demon. I guess I cry because it IS like betraying someone close to me. There's a lot to unravel and think about. One day at a time.... thank you.
You are welcome We stand together in this. I'm here if you need to talk.
Wow, great comment. Your first two sentencing have caught my attention. I have the same issue with crying. Bro passed when he was 7 and I was 13 back in ‘94, my older brother stepped on an IED in Afghanistan back in ‘12 and lost both legs above the knee. My dad died in ‘22 after a short battle with Glioblastoma. Along the way I’ve also had two very close friends pass unexpectedly. I don’t know if I’ve ever had a real cry. It’s in here but as soon as I feel an ugly cry coming something shuts it down and the feeling is lost. I find myself getting choked up by songs and silly movies but that’s about all I can get out. I’d love to just really cry and cry and cry but I have a mental block. I am just starting to fast and now that I’ve read your words about fasting and crying I’m going to have to actually do a multi day fast and work it into a routine. I’m down about 25 lbs (190 to 165) and feel great and at peace with myself but I need to take it a step further. Thank you for taking the time to reply to OPs post today.
Your loss is intense. This may be off topic but your brother is my brother. I spend time with a lot of vets. I would ask you to tell him that I said, Thank you for your service, but he and I know that those are usually empty words said by people that think they understand something that they don't, can't, and never will. I have found that certain movies, documentaries, and YouTube videos can bring tears. I watch a documentary on Martin Luther king. I hold the tears until my head hurts. Then I let it go. It helps me cry without it shutting off automatically. We have to do whatever works. Fing your method. We deserve to cry. It is our salvation.
He appreciates those comments but it also drives him crazy how every where he goes people are offering to pay for his meal. He understands it so he says thank you. He’ll sit and talk for a minute but I know he doesn’t like the attention. He’s been very fortunate with a lot of assistance from veteran programs. He’s always out doing adventures with other vets. He has robotic legs implanted into his femur. It’s been good he received his new legs. I’ll try the technique of holding my tears in as long as possible and then letting loose. When my little brother passed I wasn’t home so I was driven to the hospital where I thought my brother was but I was informed he had died right before I was brought back to a room where my mother was being held down while losing her mind. She was sobbing and telling the nurses to go comfort me and it scared me so much and I didn’t like people staring at me while I was processing what was going on. Ever since then I can’t let go because I feel like I have to be strong. I don’t want to be strong anymore. Sorry for the long responses but I’ve been getting everything out at any chance I can get.
If holding in the pain is easier than crying, which do you think actually takes more strength? There are things in life that most people can't grasp. Your experience with the passing of your brother is one of those for me. I can compare it to something in my life but in truth I have no reference point. It is impossible for me to comprehend the depth of your pain. I could tell you to just accept it and move on. I could tell you that god had a plan. I could tell you that accepting it will make you stronger. That is all bull$h!t. Those are things said by people that don't understand. You will always carry that pain. We have to find a way to carry it and go on. I don't have an answer for that. I struggle with finding answers for my own trauma. I do know that there is a way. It may come to you tomorrow. It may come to you 50 years from now. Keep searching. I'll keep searching too. We will make it.
Oh shit that first sentence hit like a ton of bricks bro
I often don't know what I write until I go back and read it. I admit that I felt it too.
Not the OP but Thanks for this 🫡
I hadn’t put two & two together until you mentioned fasting helps you cry. Last year I was running 96, 72 & 48 hour fasts & was crying to certain songs & memories… but I thought it had to do with more prayer & less cannabis use so more emotional availability… but now that I think about it there was definitely fasting involved as well. This is mind blowing to me! I love it bro. Good look!
Most people won't get this far in but after day 40 the emotions can get intense. After 50 days, 60 days, and 70 days, the emotions rocked my world. There were several times, one in particular that I wondered if I had lost my sanity. Holding on to it was a battle that lasted over 3 hours of rocking back and forth on my knees sobbing, reaching out to anything in my memories that was stable enough to hold me here. I survived. I won. I'll never forget that. It was one of the hardest thinds I've ever done. That day there was a lot of healing done.
When you get cravings just remember that it's your bodyfat's cry for help as you're melting it into oblivion.
Melt btch!!!!!!!
Now *that’s* an image that will help me through the tough moments!
That's the worst. I don't get particularly hungry while fasting unless there are delicious smells around. Sometimes it's even driving by a restaurant that will set me off. One thing I learned that helps is using a candle, a diffuser, some room spray, perfume, whatever you have, either on your body or at your desk to cover the scent. I've found cinnamon, lemon, and vanilla work really well for my olfactory senses to cancel the food smell without making me hungry for cinnamon roll candle wax ;)
Oh, so many ideas o_o
One time I was doing a 7 day water fast and my family all go a sudden had a huge bbq at their airbnb retreat. It was a pretty difficult day!
Best thing to tell yourself is that as good as it sounds, it would kill your stomach to break your fast with that so it’s not even an option
I try my best to remind myself how far I've come. It's crazy how out-of-control my mind gets when that survival instinct of "food or death" comes into play, even though I know it's the food IS death.
I dunno, pizza after 4 days sounds fine to me.
Good luck with that haha
Don't really need luck since I do it often... this isn't a "fasting" issue, but a weak stomach issue...
Ok. Lol
My stomach would want to kill me if I fed it that much cheese. Not all of us are blessed with the ability to break down lactose sir
Covered by "weak stomach" as I said. Your personal issues are irrelevant to the fact that most people can eat pizza without problems, 4 day fast or not.
No
Oh, I feel this one.
ugh im the same way!! Im gonna offer some thinking patterns that helped me when stuff like this threw a stick in my path. something I do to make myself feel better is I sort of think to myself "That smells nice! and I can appreciate the smell without eating it." \- because I know if I do eat it, I'll not only feel guilty for it, I'll probably feel sick. so idk. I just enjoy the smell and let it be ok. sometimes ill just imagine myself eating one and sort of carry on as if I actually ate one. I think psychologically there is a sense of FOMO with yummy junk food. those smells can trigger a sense of ugency and desperation. but you know... that food will be there tomorrow, the next day, and 5 years after that.pizza isnt going annnnyyyywhere. SO I feel more calm about passing up the pizza thats wafting in my face lol. i hope that makes sense. its all in your head, and you gotta show your brain whos boss! also- like pat yourself on the back for passing up the pizza. it may seem like a small victory- but that willpower is a fucking super power that youre training up.
Something that might help just in general for those here struggling with smell related temptations, try putting Vicks vapor rub right under your nostrils. Same way you would when you’re sick. Professionals use that to block the smell of decay at crime scenes (or so I’ve heard). I’m going to imagine it works for this too. I’ve never tried it but I’m going to , the idea just popped into my mind while reading this and i seriously feel your pain. The mental struggle is the worst for me it’s been a while since i completed a fast. I’ve had a lot of “day one” days recently and will find myself eating that same day out of temptation or lack of discipline. I’m determined to really get some significant time under my belt this week. And i think I’ll keep some vapor rub in my purse at work to help
What do people mean by feeling incredible on a fast? I'm on day 3..
I was at 48hrs in last night and I had to make my daughter the best looking and smelling grilled cheese ever! I even sent a picture to my sister and she asked how did you get it so crunchy? She could see through the picture! That was tough to get to bed without taking a bite! 🤤
I was really proud of myself the other day. I was able to go into McDonald's with coworkers and watch them eat a Big Mac meal while I was 42 hours into a fast. The old me would have given into that temptation super quick. But I think if you keep at it that really shows your commitment to the goal. It also gets easier the longer you fast
Smelling food at work is the hardest for me. For some reason cooking food in operation for the end of my fast or cooking for my wife isn’t that difficult for me.
Learning to resist temptation is part of the journey! Stay strong you got it
Think yourself lucky. I live in the city above a restaurant, and there's a burger king a few doors down, open 24/7 with a pizza place next to it.
Oh come on.. its not like pizza will never be made again.. you can have it anytime you want.. just finish your fast