What happened when I drank only water for 20 days

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First of all I decided to find out the benefits of water fasting and here's what I discovered
When your body can't get access to carbohydrates its favorite source of energy it starts to use storage fats as a result you can lose about one pound of fat every day this makes water fasting one of the most effective short-term weight loss methods this process also decreases inflammation in your body consequently the recovery repair and healing of your body becomes faster and more efficient your blood sugar doesn't fluctuate so much water fasting decreases blood pressure and lowers your stress levels it slows down the aging process it lowers the risk of developing heart diseases water fasting can also help if you have digestive problems like irritable bowel diarrhea gas gastritis constipation or loss of appetite this sounded pretty good to me but I still wanted to be sure that I wouldn't harm my body by quitting food altogether people who are advised not to fast include people who have eating disorders women who are pregnant or breastfeeding people who are underweight people with serious heart problems people with type 1 diabetes people who have uncontrolled migraines since I wasn't in any of these groups I decided to give water fasting ago

Now I had to determine the duration of my fast most sources recommend fasting for somewhere between 5 days and 2 weeks but I also discovered stories of people who had managed to survive on water for up to 45 days I was definitely not ready for that despite my nagging doubts my final decision was still to go big and start a 20 day water fast and here's how it went

Day 1 & 2
The first two days were going to be the most difficult I felt incredibly hungry almost as if I had missed several breakfasts lunches and dinners my energy level dropped in my mood left much to be desired I was increasingly irritated and my patience was wearing thin what was happening to my body at this stage it went into battery save mode which means that my metabolic rate became more efficient in addition my body was using less energy it helped to know that I'd feel better soon at the same time I can't say that these first days didn't have their advantages first of all I was exercising my willpower and doing this successfully it made me feel very proud of myself also I knew that there was a process of cleansing going on somewhere in my body these first days were also beneficial for my heart

Days 3 through 7
On the third day the second stage of my water fasting began by that time the much-awaited process of ketosis had started that's when your body gets down to burning the fat it has stored as it has no other sources of energy surprisingly I stopped feeling hungry almost all of a sudden simultaneously I started to feel a bit more energetic and less tired on the other hand I had some pretty bad headaches and couldn't sleep normally also when I forgot about my experiment and stood up too quickly I felt lightheaded the thing is that when you follow a typical diet that contains foods rich in carbohydrates your body gets glucose from starches and sugars glucose is the main source of energy for your body when it doesn't get any more glucose your body needs to use your stored fat instead it breaks this fat into glycerol and fatty acids as a result of the second stage I started to lose weight this also had some kind of detoxifying effect on me not everybody knows that the human body uses its own fat to store different toxins or toxic metals if it didn't do this these substances could seriously harm the body and since this fat is used as an energy source during the process of ketosis toxins get expelled from the body

Days 8 through 14
After the first week of feeding myself nothing but water I experienced the kind of fasting high I felt great happy and impressively energetic but what pleased me the most was a particular clarity of mind however when I measured my blood pressure it was lower than my norm and that was probably the reason why I felt cold most of the time I felt positive changes in the functioning of my digestive system since it wasn't receiving any of the toxins that used to get inside my body with my food intake sure fasting at this stage was kind of stressful but it was a good stress one that was making my immune system stronger and more resilient they also say that when the effects of fasting add up at this stage they encourage the healing processes in your body to speed up but I didn't have an opportunity to figure out if that was true

Days 15 to 20
When I got to the 15th day of my water fasting I was incredibly proud of myself I knew that very few people reached this stage I also knew that this was a period when I had to be immensely attentive to my condition and visit a doctor if I felt that something had gone wrong luckily I felt no different in fact I felt light and active by the way many sites and blogs recommend limiting physical activity for the period of fasting some of them went as far as to suggest taking some time off work I couldn't afford this and so I went on with my normal life I commuted by train every day I worked 10 hours a day and I didn't even give up my gym routine naturally I tried to reduce the pressure on my heart by doing cardio that wasn't too intense but at the same time when I lifted weights I didn't notice that I'd become weaker in any case on the 21st day of my fasting I was ready to break it a person who has spent almost three weeks without solid food can't just begin to eat anything and everything they see that's why I started by drinking fruit juices in broth and eating cooked veggies they helped me to acclimate my digestive system to the process of consuming food once again believe it or not I felt at my best after my water fast I lost some weight though not as much as I'd expected my vitals were impressive in a good way and some helped abnormalities were no longer a cause for concern only you can decide if you are ready for a fast or not and only you can choose the optimal duration of such a fast

The only thing I would recommend is consulting your doctor before making this decision