Went in a coma and couldnt eat for a few months. I had a stomach tube feed so i didnt starve to death.
College in the USA. I’ve gone several days without food, simply because I could not afford to buy anything to eat nor did I have transport (or money for transport) to buy/procure any.
I’ve also gone several days without food while sick. For me, these two things were QUITE different. Being too sick to eat sucks because I was sick and feeling so bad that hunger didn’t register. But being otherwise healthy, but having no access to food is something else entirely.
It was like a day before my every waking thought somehow revolved around eating and food, almost feels like being mentally ill. Every thing you think about turns into a tangent, memory, feeling about food. Hard to describe and it’s been so long, that fortunately it’s a foggy, distant trace of a memory. Just still remember that I couldn’t focus on anything worth a shit because any semblance of a thought process would devolve into food and eating.
So generally I do the following fasting schedule
- Daily: 18hr fast
- weekly 24hr fast
- monthly 48hr fast
- quarterly 72hr fast
- yearly 120hr fast
I don’t water fast as hydration is really important for good health and prolonged fasts make it really easy to get dangerously dehydrated.
How is it for me? Often the 24 hr fasts are the most difficult for me as a lot of hunger signals persist for me during that time, generally after that point I am all gravey.
For the quarterly and yearly fasts I try and line these up with time off from work because I like to do a lot of reflection and creation during these times for me. The reflection is usually pretty good, creation… well… results have varied.
Do you have a healthy body weight?
188cm and 103 kilos, though I’m aiming for stable at 93kilos.
I’ve gone three weeks and change without a single calorie of food. Not by choice - medical thing. Lost about 30 lbs give or take. Was hard to start eating again once I did. Lost additional weight beyond the 30. Went from fat to skinny. Took years to eat properly again. Now I’m fat again :)
Was interesting for many reasons.
- it’s possible if you’re injured to not be hungry and starve to death without feeling any hunger whatsoever
- while I lost fat, I lost more muscle. Crazy how the body canibalizes itself.
- still need water, that you can’t go without. But you can go a long time without food. I could have easily gone weeks longer I think without food.
- Hug your family and always tell them you love them. I lived through my ordeal and gained perspective, but many young people die without saying and doing the things they should.
How long do you think you could go without water as well as food?
No idea. I didn’t drink for three weeks either but I had an IV feed of saline. I think you die of thirst in a few short days.
Yeah the general rule is about 3 weeks without food, roughly 3 days without water.
