Observing The 40 Day Fast

Citizen of the Kingdom

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Thanks for this Cassia. :) Yeah, I actually did two 14 day fasts in the past, but I was the same way. I would sneak a little coffee to keep my energy high, and I have this love for pickle juice (slightly watered down) when I'm not eating that I cannot describe. Maybe the need for salt, but it's like my eyes start rolling back in my head when my head tilts back, kinda like a shark LoL. Both times I was cheating maybe 150 calories a day.

That's why I know His grace is upon this one, because it's been complete cold turkey (well, not even cold turkey. The dog still gets the cold turkey, but I don't). But I'm trying to be as strict as possible because once I open that door a little, I have the feeling like I may start letting it creep open a little wider every day, and I can't let it happen this time.

I'm hoping the acid indigestion is subsiding now. If not, I'm gonna keep your advice in mind and maybe try a little lemon juice next time (but NOT pickle juice. That would be the beginning of the end for sure, LoL).

Thanks again for the tips. Much appreciated. :oldthumbsup:
I remember that the 2 things allowed during water fasting that wouldn't break the fast are lettuce and lemon. You might want to try a salad of that. You shouldn't be hungry at all after a few days ... hmnnnn ... definitely not pickle juice lol
 
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Mayflower1

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Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions. For I was ashamed to request of the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road, because we had spoken to the king, saying, “The hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him.” So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer.
Ezra 8:21‭-‬23 NKJV

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Hidden In Him

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I remember that the 2 things allowed during water fasting that wouldn't break the fast are lettuce and lemon. You might want to try a salad of that. You shouldn't be hungry at all after a few days ... hmnnnn ... definitely not pickle juice lol

Oops! Forgot to do my weekly update!

Cassia, thanks for the advice on the lemon water. As it turns out, it didn't really work for me all that well, but I might be different for others. I got the impression from reading some things online that the consensus is still out on its effectiveness. I just decided to stick with Tums. Currently taking about 4-5 a day, only when necessary.

Physical Update: The hunger isn't really the tough part about a long fast. It tends to largely go away once you're into the third week. What Is tougher to handle, for me anyway, is this nasty taste you have in your mouth, constantly LoL. You get a white coating that covers your tongue, and the taste is pretty awful. You also get dry mouth in a hurry, but both can be solved by just keeping water in your mouth and in your stomach incessantly.

The other is the itching. This may be peculiar to me, but I itch all over quite a lot. It's possible this is ibuprofen stored in my body that is working itself out of my system or something, but whatever it is it's irritating, LoL. Oh, and day #11 was rather unpleasant. I think I went through caffeine withdrawals that day because I was not in a good mood.

But other than that I feel great. I little dizzy on occasion if I stand up too fast, but never enough that it knocks me down. And It feels wonderful being so light! I walk completely different, like I'm fit for the first time in a long time. Very surprised at how I can still function at everything I want to do at this point. I had expected to need to hire a substitute for my work by now, but I think I'll just finish the fast out without needing to.
 
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Hidden In Him

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Finally getting a chance to update this thread.

Update #1: The following are some tips I've picked up from going on my first long fast. I not only wanted to get them down for my own sake but for those who attempt to do the same in the future.

1. Make sure your motivation is correct.

Don't attempt it just to impress yourself, or God, or anyone else with how religious or "spiritual" you are. You won't last three days, LoL. I say that mostly to get it out of the way, but also because I have learned some things that, although they fly in the face of my original notion of needing to eat absolutely nothing are in my opinion vital to completing a really long fast especially.

But setting aside precautions, here are the following principles I learned and will be applying from here on out every time I do a long fast:

2. Pray in advance of it.

Without considerable prayer for weeks and months leading up to a long fast, you will likely not have the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to complete what you set out to do. Plain and simple.

3. Begin when the Spirit leads you to.

I had originally planned on starting in September. At the time I was even wondering if I could pull off a 40 day fast because I had never gone so long before. But then one day in early July (July 4th, after celebrating and having a good meal with friends), I suddenly felt God calling me that it was time to start. I did and the empowerment was there from the start. Even my wife, who usually gets no witness about me trying to fast even for five days, suddenly had total peace about it as well.

4. Drink a lot of water.

You need to stay hydrated, plus it keeps something in your stomach to take up space and help curb the feelings of becoming empty.

5. Switch to lemon water when the taste in your mouth becomes unbearable.

This is possibly the toughest obstacle for me. I can't stand the awful taste that comes with fasting. But squeezing a half a lemon into a tall glass of water with ice has a way of changing things a great deal. Lemon is also a natural body cleanser, so it is healthier than drinking plain water. Plus, after a while (25th day or so), you start to detest the taste of plain water anyway, no matter where it comes from. Wash your mouth with plain water sometimes to avoid too much acidity on your teeth.

6. Rinse with salt water.

This is the other lifesaver where bad taste in your mouth is concerned. Rinse with salt water when drinking lemon water doesn't seem to completely do it.

7. Take Vitamin C Packets!

One of the biggest keys for me. Belching became a terrible problem for me by Day #7 or so. Every hour or so I'd go on the belching barrage to clear my stomach. I was living on 4-5 Tums per day to keep the heartburn at bay, but it wasn't good. Plus, eventually the Tums made my tongue taste even worse. But around Day #25, my wife gave me a Vitamin C packet to try, one with 1,200 mg of C, plus electrolytes and B12 and a lot of other things included. This did WONDERS! Both the heartburn and belching went away and stayed away for 3 1/2 days. Then I found out why. The Vitamin B12 acts as a strong preventative against acid indigestion. She then went and bought a box of Emergen-C 1,000 mg Vitamin C powders for me, and I've been talking one every three days since. No more belching. No more heartburn. This particular brand is less sweet, but still tastes good to put down in two gulps.

___________

Update #2: The following are tips I've learned in coming off a long fast.

1. Prepare for a few potential "accidents" in the first few days or so after going back to eating, LoL. I managed to keep from having a tragedy, but they come on you almost without warning, LoL. If there were days to take off, I would say make it the first few days after you end a long fast, not during it. If not near a restroom at all times, you may be in trouble, LoL.

2. Not sure why, but sweets will leave this terrible aftertaste in your mouth, and I'm the type who loves sweets. But it's strange. It's now more bearable than it was at first, but still there. Hard to describe, but like you've been eating some sort of bad artificial sweetener, even when what you ate contained 100% real sugar. Salty foods, on the other hand, are what you crave.

3. Expect it to take 9-10 days for you to get back to full strength physically.

4. Once your constitution starts to shore up, expect to eat for a good 4-5 days before your plumbing actually needs to start working. You empty out so thoroughly that it takes that long for your stomach and intestines to fill up with material that the body isn't actually using.

I suppose there were other things, but these were the highlights. Oh, also expect to put back about 20 lbs. in a hurry. But since you drop over 50, I'm you're still 30 to the good. But I need to get to work on an exercise program soon, LoL, or everything I lost is going to slowly get put back over time.

Feeling good again, however, and looking much better.

Should anyone have questions, please feel free to ask. I wrote out this thread as a help to others, since there is not a great deal of information out there on engaging in 40 day fasts.

Blessings in Christ,
Hidden In Him
 
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JackRT

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Best of luck my friend. You can do it! Although 40 days existing on water alone seems a bit... extreme. I didn't even know it was possible to do that kind of thing! Hope everything is going well with you and may the Lord bless you as you endeavor closer to your ministry.

For quite a number of people such a fast would be life threatening.
 
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Mayflower1

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Finally getting a chance to update this thread.

Update #1: The following are some tips I've picked up from going on my first long fast. I not only wanted to get them down for my own sake but for those who attempt to do the same in the future.

1. Make sure your motivation is correct.

Don't attempt it just to impress yourself, or God, or anyone else with how religious or "spiritual" you are. You won't last three days, LoL. I say that mostly to get it out of the way, but also because I have learned some things that, although they fly in the face of my original notion of needing to eat absolutely nothing are in my opinion vital to completing a really long fast especially.

But setting aside precautions, here are the following principles I learned and will be applying from here on out every time I do a long fast:

2. Pray in advance of it.

Without considerable prayer for weeks and months leading up to a long fast, you will likely not have the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to complete what you set out to do. Plain and simple.

3. Begin when the Spirit leads you to.

I had originally planned on starting in September. At the time I was even wondering if I could pull off a 40 day fast because I had never gone so long before. But then one day in early July (July 4th, after celebrating and having a good meal with friends), I suddenly felt God calling me that it was time to start. I did and the empowerment was there from the start. Even my wife, who usually gets no witness about me trying to fast even for five days, suddenly had total peace about it as well.

4. Drink a lot of water.

You need to stay hydrated, plus it keeps something in your stomach to take up space and help curb the feelings of becoming empty.

5. Switch to lemon water when the taste in your mouth becomes unbearable.

This is possibly the toughest obstacle for me. I can't stand the awful taste that comes with fasting. But squeezing a half a lemon into a tall glass of water with ice has a way of changing things a great deal. Lemon is also a natural body cleanser, so it is healthier than drinking plain water. Plus, after a while (25th day or so), you start to detest the taste of plain water anyway, no matter where it comes from. Wash your mouth with plain water sometimes to avoid too much acidity on your teeth.

6. Rinse with salt water.

This is the other lifesaver where bad taste in your mouth is concerned. Rinse with salt water when drinking lemon water doesn't seem to completely do it.

7. Take Vitamin C Packets!

One of the biggest keys for me. Belching became a terrible problem for me by Day #7 or so. Every hour or so I'd go on the belching barrage to clear my stomach. I was living on 4-5 Tums per day to keep the heartburn at bay, but it wasn't good. Plus, eventually the Tums made my tongue taste even worse. But around Day #25, my wife gave me a Vitamin C packet to try, one with 1,200 mg of C, plus electrolytes and B12 and a lot of other things included. This did WONDERS! Both the heartburn and belching went away and stayed away for 3 1/2 days. Then I found out why. The Vitamin B12 acts as a strong preventative against acid indigestion. She then went and bought a box of Emergen-C 1,000 mg Vitamin C powders for me, and I've been talking one every three days since. No more belching. No more heartburn. This particular brand is less sweet, but still tastes good to put down in two gulps.

___________

Update #2: The following are tips I've learned in coming off a long fast.

1. Prepare for a few potential "accidents" in the first few days or so after going back to eating, LoL. I managed to keep from having a tragedy, but they come on you almost without warning, LoL. If there were days to take off, I would say make it the first few days after you end a long fast, not during it. If not near a restroom at all times, you may be in trouble, LoL.

2. Not sure why, but sweets will leave this terrible aftertaste in your mouth, and I'm the type who loves sweets. But it's strange. It's now more bearable than it was at first, but still there. Hard to describe, but like you've been eating some sort of bad artificial sweetener, even when what you ate contained 100% real sugar. Salty foods, on the other hand, are what you crave.

3. Expect it to take 9-10 days for you to get back to full strength physically.

4. Once your constitution starts to shore up, expect to eat for a good 4-5 days before your plumbing actually needs to start working. You empty out so thoroughly that it takes that long for your stomach and intestines to fill up with material that the body isn't actually using.

I suppose there were other things, but these were the highlights. Oh, also expect to put back about 20 lbs. in a hurry. But since you drop over 50, I'm you're still 30 to the good. But I need to get to work on an exercise program soon, LoL, or everything I lost is going to slowly get put back over time.

Feeling good again, however, and looking much better.

Should anyone have questions, please feel free to ask. I wrote out this thread as a help to others, since there is not a great deal of information out there on engaging in 40 day fasts.

Blessings in Christ,
Hidden In Him

It is pretty cool to know someone who has actually done a 40 day fast. It sounded like an amazing experience and I am glad that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you were able to finish it. You were in my prayers!!!!
 
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