My first year doing it was challenging, but not tough......if that makes sense? I have rather clean eating habits (no pork and no red meat) so the hunger pains weren't too severe for me. Got light headed and felt lethargic though. I spent most of my day walking around in a hoodie and laying down. After about the 3rd or 4th day, I no longer had hunger pains. It got a lot easier physically, but mentally it tortured me. I didn't realize how much I used food as a way to pass time. That's literally all I thought about, even when I physically wasn't hungry. Speaking of time.....it moves soooooo slow. The finish line seems like forever. And that's why it's way more mental than physical. You fight your mind way more than you fight your stomach. Oh....keep some gum on deck. Breathe isn't the most pleasant when doing it either.
Now I'm about 5 years into doing it every January and it's a breeze. I spend about a week leading up to it cleaning up my diet (no candy and slow down on the drinking) so that the hunger pains won't bother me and I'm good to go. I've gotten to the point I can workout, hit the sauna, etc while doing my water fast. My mind it used to it, but I still have to fight thru. It's really challenging, mentally.....I can't stress that enough. Especially walking around the house with the wife and kids chowing down and I'm carrying a jug of water around. At the end of the day, you find out how strong our bodies really are and realize we simply eat way too much as Americans. Each time, I lose about 10-15 lbs. Then I spend another few weeks being mindful of what I'm putting in my body because you kinda value the work you put in and will feel kinda guilty eating a greasy burger or something. But life grabs a hold of me and by February, I'm back to my old ways. But the experience sticks with you. So even if you don't eat all the way healthy afterwards, you become mindful of it and will make better eating choices sometimes. I recommend it for everyone. We've been conditioned to think we need to eat not only everyday, but multiple times a day, and that's not true at all. And if you're a spiritual person, the inner strength you use to get thru it is dope.
