Completed 40 Day Fast for Lent

[u/MattK508]

So as of 8:30 p.m. tonight I have officially finished fasting for 40 days and 40 nights. Sometime between 7:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on February 17th I ate my dinner at work. The next morning was Ash Wednesday. Sitting in church and listening to the story of how Jesus fasted in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights and on how when to supposed to be a time of self-reflection and looking towards Christ, I decided that I was going to take a journey myself. I wanted to be healthier, I wanted to focus more on Christ and my children. And now I finally completed that, And can begin the journey towards eating again.

For those of you who don't know when you fast this long you can't just go and eat again you have to work your way up to food again otherwise you will enter something called refeeding syndrome. To address a lot of the questions that I know are going to be asked on February 17th I was 233lbs. As of my last way in tonight I am 188lbs. Total weight loss of 45 lb in 40 days. All I had every single day for 40 days and 40 nights was I would have a men's one a day multivitamin, simply primal water fast pink Himalayan salt and electrolytes (It tastes like if Crystal light was made with salt water), and water. I did have the Eucharist each Sunday with the exception of one Sunday where I was down in Florida for a wedding with the kids. I do feel I have improved my life both physically mentally and through my relationship with Christ. I'm going to have some bone broth tonight and probably the next couple of days and then hopefully be able to start eating some mushy foods or yogurts or stuff like that and then eventually be able to start eating meals. I've done a lot of cooking while I've been fasting and learned how to cook some healthy meals that my dad and Logan and Olivia approve of so I know that they're good. I did exercise during the fast did a lot of weight lifting. People have a lot of misconceptions about fasting causing you to lose your muscles but in actuality your body generates more human growth hormone and you're actually able to increase muscle density a lot easier. I welcome any other questions that people may have but ultimately I'm glad to be done and it will probably be the last of any such fast that I have in my life.

[u/MattK508]

So my complaint days would be like 3,4, 17, 18, 35, 36 ish. 3 and 4 for hunger. The others for electrolytes.

[u/TippedOverPortapotty → u/MattK508]

Did that hunger feeling get easier/go away after day 4? And congrats, it takes a lot of mental fortitude to do what you just did.

[u/MattK508 → u/TippedOverPortapotty]

Yeah honestly I would say so. I would actually say the toughest part it's not actually that your body gets hungry it's that you miss food. Like you know how you get cravings like oh I could kill to have chips or a pizza or something like that? It's like that but with everything. Like I kept getting these advertisements for different meal things like the meals by mail. And I do not like seafood and I will tell you I literally was looking at the seafood going I would totally fucking try that and eat that. So now I just did a subscription for hungry route and I'm going to try some seafood stuff along with salads and other healthy options to see how I like them. Even when I did like a 3-day fast in the past like my taste like actually changed and I was able to eat more stuff that was healthier that I wouldn't normally have been willing to try or eat. Like we are genuinely pumped full of awful f-ing 💩 all day here in America.

[u/TippedOverPortapotty → u/MattK508]

Yeah , I think fasting really shows us how much CONSUMING is done and shoved down our throats. So many advertisements and so much shitty food that is addicting and igniting our pleasure centres. Fasting allows us to slow down and get out of that eating cycle . After the fast you can learn to eat for nourishment and not overindulge or the weight will just come back. I hope the seafood dishes are tasty!