To do a water fast for a fortnight

[Nicknamechoosingishard]

I know, it’s drastic and everyone talks about all the weight going back on but I’m desperate and I think I have a plan which I want to put to the vipers.....

I have tried unsuccessfully to lose weight several times over the years. I have a medical history which means exercise is difficult but not impossible. A mental health history which most recently seen me in the pits of depression and void of any motivation even to shower or wash a cup.

I’ve tried keto, slimming world and just portion control in the last year but I always fall off the wagon. It’s mainly due to mental health. Food is my crutch but it’ll kill me if I don’t figure it out. I’m on a waiting list for therapy and should see one within six weeks according to my doctor who also thinks my overeating is an emotional problem. At this stage I don’t know what’s true but I need help so I’m going to go.

I could go on for hours but there’s no point. I just wanted to give a bit of a picture behind my current plan.

I’m thinking all the fad diets where people put weight back on are because they fall off the wagon without a maintenance plan. What if I did a water fast and went straight to slimming world then? I’ve lost weight with slimming world so I know it works.

Getting weight off quickly is very important to me right now both because I have to go back to work soon and for my mental and physical health.

AIBU to water fast and go straight to SW?

Flame away but if you must could you please explain why you did? If I shouldn’t do it I’d like to know the rationale. It helps me to make logical decisions when I’m usually impulsive and make hasty decisions.

Thanks.

Hi OP

I suggest trying something like Exante. It is a meal replacement plan with 3 shakes/meals/bars per day. I did it once for a month and lost over a stone. I was having 3 - 4 of their products and a small amount of veg per day. It isn’t healthy long term but may give you that kick start you need. It can be easier to not have any ‘real’ food for some people as they are not eating it so don’t overeat if that makes sense. The shakes are actually really nice.

Good luck.

@cyclingmad - 2 weeks is not a "short period of time " without water. It will put you in hospital and may kill you if you don't seek medical attention quickly enough. All of which is totally avoidable.

cycling if the op didn't do the fast the correct way - especially for 2 weeks it could 100% be dangerous, and she isn't coming from the point of building up a knowledge of how to fast over time and also how to then refeed which you possibly have done.

Is this a cult like breatharians? There's a book?

Any one who says to do it's a idiot and that includes anyone on here, it's unhealthy it's stupid and dangerous.

Ah take vitamins ect well that proves it isn't good. There is no quick fixes to losing weight anything that is that quick is easily reversed and you will end up heavier than ever.

You need to have a healthly relationship with food otherwise you will have no chance. Low fat, low carb ect are all rubbish they are short term fixes, you need a variety of nutrients in your diet.

Eat less move more even if it's a simple walk, it is calories in Vs calories out, look up James Smith he takes the bullshit out of the fitness diet industry.

My sil did some sort of crash diet. She looked ghastly. And put weight back on. She's doing the slow and steady with gentle exercise diet.

I have been following James Smith for a while. He is a jumped up young chap in his twenties who has seen nothing of life. No surprise he considers it a no brainier losing weight. I thought so too, in my twenties when I had a young body and fast metabolism on my side.

My PT who is in her late 40s and been through pregnancy and childbirth, and pre-menopause has none of this one solution for all your problems approach. She has the life experience to advise. And at no point has she advised me to count calories because she knows it doesn’t work through her personal experience on HRT. She has experienced gaining weight on ‘reduced amount of calories’.

So it may work great for younger folks, but life is somewhat more complex than that.

I'm old too. Post menopause. There is no way that you get anything other than very ill or dead if you don't have water for two weeks.

There are people that have fasted under medical supervision for over a year. They had electrolyte support throughout though and were closely monitored.

Yes, medical support. Not some unsupervised fad picked up from randoms online.
Op, speak to an actual UK registered medical professional.

Hi op

I’m currently 18st 5 and 5ft 8

I’ve losy 7lb so far following weight watchers. I’m doing it online and finding it a lot easier than other previous diets

Noone is suggesting she just do it on her own FFS. It has always been said to do it with medical supervision, take electrolytes and vitamins and stop when you body tells you.

I have successfuly done 20days and thats my body's limit so unless you have done a water fast yourself quite frankly you know jack shit. and don't know what your talking about except screaming that its all shades of wrong.

I didn't die in 20days of doing it, I didn't have organ failure, nothing has gone wrong for me other than I lost the weight and I've kept it off for a year.

And as for taking vitamins there is nothing wrong with it because food in our world today is grown so poorly and picked before its fully ripened that it doesn't even contain enough vitamins as it is. I know because I grow my own salad and veg and trust me in 2 days of eating small amounts I can feel the difference and esp see the difference in my nails compared to shop bought salad.

Infact 90% of all our food contains sugar and they add sugar because its addictive and makes you go back and buy more of it. Plenty of documentaries out there that attest to this and also how agreesive agricultural farming techniques contribute to food being low in vitamins and minerals.

That's lovely @cyclingmad . But quite how extreme dieting other than under strict medical supervision by health care professionals is ever ok, I've yet to be convinced.

If you haven't done it yourself you know nothing what a stupid arguement there is lots of dangerous things you can do doesn't mean you do them, hell you can lose weight by chopping off a limb doesn't mean we should do it.

What was the reason for needing to lose weight so fast , oh yeah there is no healthy reason at all. Oh you needed medical supervision so it isn't healthy at all.

Even if it worked for you you an surely see this is dangerous or are you advocating people endanger themselfs. The OP has said they have mental health issues this would not be good for her.

Just because you did it doesn't mean others should.

Oh your little minerals is rubbish as well eat lots of begs and some fruit you can get them.

You will either crack and think of yourself as a failure or you will end up in hospital. Studies have shown a lack of calories also increases depression, irrational thoughts and self hatred issues, it’s why there’s a theory that people with anorexia can’t get better until they have enough intake as their brains aren’t able to take part in therapy.

Medical supervision isnt a daily supervision its simply checking your blood and ensuring your levels are normal - no harm in that most people are probably deficient in anumber of nutrients without realising it and if your on medication definately talk to your doctor.

My little thing on minerals isn't rubbish its out there and scientifically proven that now a days you have to eat far more than you would need to to get the same quantities of vitamins etc then you would if things were grown properly.

Its her choice she came on here to ask about it and i'm just giving her the correct information rather than jumping on the bandwagon about how its just dangerous full stop.

Have you even done it yourself? no you haven't so what do you know about it anyway other than believing its dangerous based on what? no facts or evidence its bad.

OP has said she is addressing her mental health issues. She was asking should she go straight on it. I am simply telling her as others have that if she wishes to do these are things to think about and to ease herself into it. So she does it correctly. I'd far rather give someone enough information so should they decide to do it they do it right then just say do't do it and they go ahead and then do it wrong.

Different diets work for different people. She has clearly tried other things before so maybe this will work for her. I have tried it all and this worked for me as does intermittment fasting coupled with keto. If i had listened to someone telling me don't do it I would never have found that this is right for me and still be unhealthy and fat.

Yet again you say unless you have done it you know nothing, it's a completely stupid arguement, people can study things without if effecting them.

let's contact a bunch of nutritionists and dieticians and see if they agree I'm pretty sure they wouldn't. You don't have to experienced something to say it is right or wrong.

On the vitamin front it's been scientifically proven vitamins struggle to be absorbed from tablets

Reason you lost weight is you weren't eating it's nothing to do with anything, ofcourse you are going to lose weight.

As said again what was need to lose weight so fast.

And don't think I haven't been there I have lost lots of weight non of it through fad diets.

I didn't do it to lose weight fast. I did it to give my body a break from the crap I'd been eating and to allow myself the time to really break my bad habits I had formed. I started off doing intermittment fasting and then decided to do a water fast so I eased myself into it over time.

I was losing weight from intermittment fasting beforehand, I lost more doing the water fast but the benefits for me doing the water fast was that my skin tightened up so I didn't end up with loose skin, stretch marks faded away, my skin cleared up and I had far more energy then before. It also allowed me to mentally take a break from food and deal with comfort eating habit I had developed over the years. Changed my persecptive on food and it really helped me listen to my body and understand what it needs and when and if my stomach is growling is it water or is it cos I am actually hungry.

Bfore intermittment fasting and water fasting I had getting tonsilitius regularly every year (4-5 times a year) One was so bad I was out for 20 days and on back to back courses of antibiotcs because it kicked off lots of infections in my throat . Since I have switched to fasting whether its the occassionaly water fast or continuing on my intermittment fasting and eating better through keto diet I haven't had tonsilitus once in over a year. Never has my sinuitis come back either.

Losign weight was a side beenefit for me. For someone who says they can reseacrch you should know what the beenfits of water fasting are and its more than losing weight.

Good for you if you lost weight through other means, it doesn't work for everyone as everyone is different. What works for you doesn't work for me. And water fasting and intermittment fasting isnt a fad diet.

lets see how clean your diet is bet you still eat shitty junk and processed food that is toxic for your body, loaded with sugar and god knows what that isn't natural.

For me its been a complete lifestyle change and whilst following keto I also avoid all processed food, food containg sugar and definately no junk food. I don't miss any food at all and I feel much better eating this way because my food is more natural and its now coming out that sugar is contributing to cancer growth and also now the biggest contributor to obesity.

I also source my meat from farms that are certified as raising their animals fed on grass only, no maize or grain fed pellets or cattle being pumped with hormones as I don't want to put shit into my body.

Still ignoring my dieticians ect thing and vitamins not being ingested properly from tablets.

Your body doesn't need a break from the stuff you have been injeststing the body is fine at a lot of things, it makes me laugh when people do a detox, no it's your liver that does that.

I'm happy it worked for you but you should not be recommending it for anyone only medical professionals should.

Intermittent fasting isn't a fad diet water fasting certainly is.

You'd be a fucking idiot to do so.

You are aware you can OD o on water,yes?

Ah sugar contribution to cancer growth is there any peer reviewed things sayong. That, my diet is not clean I've never claimed it is,you are claiming dangerous dietery practices work oh it's so toxic sod off with your rubbish

And stop with the keto that sums it up oh honey I'm losing fat I'm in keto its biggest load of crap in world.

Carbs have their place as do other food groups, I want the op to achieve her goal you have a dangerous agender

Look HeresMe, Dr Jason Fung wrote a book dedicated solely to fasting (among other authors). His book is full of medical research, graphs etc etc He has been supervising his diabetic patients in his clinic, measuring all the physiological data etc. He speaks from the point of medical evidence what happens in the body when one fasts. If you know nothing about it, admit it, rather than dismissing something you haven’t got the foggiest about.

I still think OP shouldn’t go like a bull at a gate into a two-week water fast. Start small and see how you feel, consult your Doctor if on any medication or have long-term health conditions.

I've read lots on diets, so stop dismissing me , a two week water fast is idiotic and dangerous I don't care who recommends it is not healthy. One book means nothing in the peer reviewed people who say opposite

His medical evidence is deeply flawed let's ask rest of medical community come on ask a dietician or nutritional expert shall we.

Why are you so invested in the op doing something that is frankly dangerous, damaging to their already fragile mental health I've go no idea.

I'd rather the OP ends up with better mental health than weight loss but that's not your agenda, I've seen the agenda in last few posts toxic food ect.