3 Day Water Fast

3 Day Water Fast... sjoekels, this was a bit rough - much harder than I thought but 100% worth the experience...

I am literally 2 hours away from finishing a 72 hour (3 day) water only fast. I might just summersault into a tub of steaks, braaibroodjies and aartappelslaai. This was one epic challenge.

Day 1: Not easy. This was a tough day. Basically me trying to spear tackle Siya Kolisi... Feels impossible but you keep on trying for some reason. I didn’t prepare well and had a big dinner the Sunday evening. Not a good idea. I became extremely quiet and I must admit, definitely a bit “hangry”.

Day 2: Mind battle day. I just wanted to sleep and get it over with. I didn’t have any energy. I felt weak and tired. Got some work done but I had to take a powernap.

Day 3: I had a clear mind. I felt better and mentally fresh. I also slept well, 8hours! But had a dip in energy around lunchtime. And here I am 2 hours away from tasting that meal...

Why do it? I have this strange but fun obsession with health & fitness. Not like the, “I can bench press like 160kg bru” fitness but just being fit in general. I did some research on how to reset your body by doing a type of cleanse and then came across the autophagy benefit.

Watse goed?? Autophagy: basically a vacuum cleaner for damaged, old and dangerous cells in your body. So that new and healthy cells can thrive.

This helps the body reboot it’s system for optimal health. I would love to live with optimum health until I really, really have to go. When it comes to autophagy, Dr. Rhonda Patrick puts it this way: “autophagy serves as a trigger for immunosurveillance, the process by which immune cells seek out and identify foreign pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, and precancerous or cancerous cells in the body.”

That’s why I did it. To get rid of any unwanted cells roaming around my body thinking about doing some damage... Tsjek jy!! Ek wil nog lank lewe!

What I experienced? I did not expect the mental breakthroughs and discoveries. For some reason you start to think about reasons we eat, how this affects your daily life. I realized that food is just magical. I had NO energy and almost felt sad not being able to eat. Food makes us happy, it brings us together and it always has stories behind it. This train of thought led me to an encounter with an amazing Indian lady at a market. I love Indian food, making a curry and buying stoute spices (don’t even know how to pronounce the names or with what food they go with). Food has culture and philosophy behind it. It felt uplifting and inspiring after talking to the lady at a market giving us tasters on her culture’s food and passion. Anyway, food has got way more meaning behind it than just stuffing it in our mouths.

We become so routine-like and forget about things we can be truly grateful for. I now will try and be wayyy more mindful about my eating routines and experiences; how it tastes like, being aware and grateful for the people having a meal with me and making sure I am really enjoying my meals. Sometimes it takes effort to cook up something delicious and healthy. But it’s worth it.

I am almost done and I am not giving any medical advice but if you are someone that likes a challenge, wants to cleanse your body and feel mentally strong and grateful - then do your research, read up about fasting; the dangers and benefits and give your body a boost and live longer. Jip, it promotes longevity as well.

How will I break the fast? I am literally smiling as I’m typing this 😏 Maryna - I’m belaglik excited!!!..... I am thinking a 500kg steak, braaibroodjie, aartappelslaai and 17 date balls for desert... but... I read you should ease your digestive system back into digesting 🤦🏻‍♂️ aiiii my doner... so, I will be doing a smoothie then - I know, but any food at this point sounds amazing to me. I did bake a almond bread for later 🤤

Once a year I will be doing this but for now, I will just be much more grateful and mindful about food and who I spend my time with around the breakfast, lunch and dinner table.

Check out @rhondapatrick and find some epic health tips.

photo by Victor Sguassero