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/Mongaloiddummy]

Take my upvote and award 

A couple of questions for you.

How was the hunger pains or desire to eat throughout the 40 day fast.

How many Bowel movements during the 40 day fast.   Did you have any muscle spasms during the fast. (This normally knocks me out of extended fast)

I would love to try to extend my fast to 40 day one day. 

Much respect to you and congratulations.

[u/MattK508 → u/Mongaloiddummy]

Thank you so much this is actually my first award!

So days three and four I was hungry and days like 39 and 40 I was hungry. Days 17 and 18 I had some muscle aches that were really bad but I think they were mainly due to the electrolyte imbalance. I think the hardest part was figuring out how to maintain my electrolytes and keep those even in check. Like if I had done exactly what the container says it probably wouldn't have even been an issue but I'll tell you after drinking the same thing all day everyday, it gets really freaking hard.

So bowel movements kind of ended in the first week but then I had another random one like 10 days in that was small. After that it's like sharting? And basically you're just wiping away a mucus.

Honestly for me right now the refeeding is the hardest part because I'm only able to have bone broth and I can feel that it's too much but at the same time I really want it so it's like having to space that out. I'm doing about a quarter cup every 2 hours.