What I Learned from Fasting for 3 Days

Disclaimer: This blog post outlines a 3-day fast I completed, and what I’ve learned from the experience. I am neither a health expert nor a medical professional, and what follows is neither counsel nor medical advice. Rather, it’s my opinion and reflection on an experience. If you’re thinking about completing a fast or looking for counsel on health-related matters, you should contact a health professional. You know, like a medical doctor. 

For those of you who follow Krista or me on Instagram, you may have noticed that I started the new year with a 3 day fast. As someone who’s known to suffer from the occasional bout of hangriness, Krista wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea. 

I’ve talked to quite a few people since then who have expressed interest in the experience, so I thought others might be interested in hearing about it, too.

The inspiration for the fast came from Tim Ferriss’s new book Tools of Titans, and more specifically the interview with Dr. Dominic D’Agostino. Dr. D’Agostino researches and tests metabolic therapies including ketogenic diets, which is a high fat, low carb diet. The general idea is that by eating few carbs your body begins using fat-derived ketones for energy instead of glucose provided by carbohydrates. The fast is used as a way to “kickstart” the ketosis.

Our 3-Day Fast

I had never fasted for more than a day before this experience. As someone who can seriously house some food, I was bit nervous. The reason we ultimately chose a 3-day fast is because Tim Ferriss laid one out in the book. I completed the fast with a buddy who owns the Crossfit box I attend. And I’m glad I did because it definitely provided motivation to get through it, and it was fun comparing notes.

We started the fast after dinner on a Monday night, and broke the fast at dinner on Thursday evening. The only things I consumed during the fast was black coffee with clarified butter, water, and a bcaa supplement.

Since it was the middle of the workweek, I kept to my normal routines for the most part. The only difference was going to the gym at noon instead of 6 a.m. so I could sleep a bit longer. Rather than working out, I focused on mobility, stretching, and other “active-recovery” exercises.

The most difficult part of fasting was battling through hunger around dinner time. This is usually my biggest meal and the one that contains the most carbohydrates. I didn’t feel as hungry during the morning—probably because of the coffee with clarified butter. I was careful not to have more coffee than I would usually drink in the morning because I didn’t want the extra caffeine.

I was surprised at how alert and focused I was throughout the fast. I slept fine the first night and second night (Monday/Tuesday), but had trouble falling asleep on the third night (Wednesday). The only time I felt really distracted and unproductive was Thursday afternoon, but I think it was due to the anticipation of eating again.

Krista and I went to one of our favorite taco places to break the fast. I’ll spare you the details of how my body processed food after not eating for three days. You’re welcome.

3 Things I Learned From Fasting for 3 Days

1. Do I need it now? Probably not.

I was surprised at how good I felt during and after the fast. Don’t get me wrong, I was hungry. But I managed to have a productive week even while fasting. It caused me to think—what are some things in my life that place demands on me that I really don’t need?

Do I need to respond to emails as they land in my inbox? Do I need to see every social media post in my newsfeed? We come across thousands of marketing messages a day, and most of them have some sense of urgency. We’re encouraged to “take advantage of this deal today,” “act now,” and “don’t wait.” There’s an often fallacious pressure to do things quickly or take advantage of things now because it may never happen again.

The truth is that most opportunities aren’t once-in-a-lifetime, and acting quickly isn’t the same as acting well. One of my favorite examples is Wendell Berry, a prolific agrarian writer, who refused to buy a computer for writing because he didn’t believe, among other reasons, that a computer would make him a better writer. Another great example is Chip Gaines’ recent response to a controversial Buzzfeed article. This response came over a month after the article was released. How tempting might it have been to jump on Twitter to respond immediately? Instead, a thoughtful response was posted more than a month later. (The blog post from Chip Gaines never mentioned the Buzzfeed article, so it is possible that it wasn’t a response—but many assume it is.)

So, do I need it now? Probably not.

2. There’s freedom in discipline.

I think most people don’t have any issue realizing what they should do whether it be exercise, eating well, etc. The difficult part is actually doing it. I feel better when I eat well. I have more energy, a better attitude, and more productive days. Even though I’m aware of this, it’s difficult to cut sugar out my diet.

As a lacrosse coach, I’m constantly reminding my players to consistently work on developing the fundamental skills so they can make the plays they need to in a game. The more fundamentally sound a player, the “slower” the game becomes. In other words, the quick pace of the game is easier to process for the player who consistently works on the fundamentals. Another benefit of being fundamentally sound is that it allows the player to make the crazy, miraculous, un-fundamental play that occasionally needs to be made.

Is life much different?

Wouldn’t it be a serious life advantage if you could “slow down” the game? The ability to slow things down gives one time to be proactive rather than reactive. I think occasionally fasting, whether it’s going without eating, social media, TV, etc. , for a given amount of time exercises that “slow down” muscle. When you think you need something, it places a demand on you—maybe it’s your time or energy or disposition. Fasting provides an opportunity to remove that demand, and it’s a freeing experience. And I think it starts to weaken the future power of that demand, too.

3. Woah, I can do that.

The fast was a good exercise in mental toughness. While building new habits (dietary or otherwise) is often a slower, more methodical process, the three day fast helped create stronger resolve to stick with a new diet. Since fasting, I’m much less likely to break down and eat my body weight in chocolate covered pretzels or Watermelon Sour Patch Kids. When I want to snack and shouldn’t, I remind myself that I didn’t eat for three days, and I can survive another 30 minutes until dinner.

I think the fast was a good reminder to intentionally do things that push your limits. Regardless of what it is, those things tend ripple into other areas of your life. 

On to the next one…

I went into the fast simply wanting to experiment with something new, but it ended up being a much more impactful experience than I anticipated. Perhaps as a Christian I shouldn’t have been as surprised, even though I did start the fast for “merely” health reasons. But, I suppose, that reflection is for another post.

This is definitely something that I want to do on a more consistent basis, and I’m thinking about completing a longer fast the next time around. This project has also got me thinking about cutting out caffeine because I don’t like the fact that I “need” it in the morning. But to me that’s a more daunting task than fasting for 10 days.