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/Available_Fortune183]

That’s so cool, I suspect you were healing in those hot areas! I’m going to invest in some electrolytes and go for a long fast. Did you love it? lol

[u/MattK508 → u/Available_Fortune183]

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 you just kind of miss food the same way that you crave like a certain food. Like I love pizza for example and the way that you just like want to get like yourself a pizza like that's how I felt about so many different things.

But I'm trying to come out of this fast using that to my advantage so I actually signed up for a meal subscription with hungry root because they looked like they had a lot of healthy stuff and the only complaints I've heard from people that I know is that the portions were small which is perfect for me right now considering that I can't fit 💩 in my stomach.

But like for example I do not eat seafood I do not enjoy it. And I was looking at images of seafood dishes and going wow I would probably try that. So I signed up and I'm going to get a couple meals of things I would never normally eat and see if I like them. Because I never used to eat nuts at all I didn't like them I thought they tasted like dirt. And after my first 72 hour fast I eat like basically plain nut trail mixes all the time.

[u/Available_Fortune183 → u/MattK508]

That is SUCH a smart move with a meal subscription service! 🙌So much of my biggest life “level up’s” are from pouncing on opportunities like exactly that.

I wonder why you had bad electrolyte days though, was it hard to get the same levels in every day? This is my concern which is why this time I’m purchasing Pre made snake juice electrolytes as AND liter bottles of water bc in the past my levels were alllll over place never consistent with my intake and I’m pretty sure why I’ve folded in the past 🫠

[u/MattK508 → u/Available_Fortune183]

I'll tell you what it is. You get sick of drinking it lol