This piece is part of my 2016–2026 archive migration. Some original formatting, content, and external links may be missing, changed, or not be optimized.
Benefits, Process, & Tips
Why You Should Do A Water Fast
I’m still unsure why I randomly decided to do a 21-day water fast, but I did it, and it turned out to be one of the best life experiences.
Water fasting is one of the best things you can do for your body. Your body is constantly at work and leveraging energy to provide you the best physical experience.
It works around the clock 24/7 for us.
On top of this, it has to work extra hard to digest, process, filter, and distribute all of the foods we consume.
Imagine how grateful your body could be to have less work to do for a short period of time. I know mine was happy. I experienced some of the most peaceful mental, physical, and emotional states during my water fast.
The benefits of water fasting are countless:
Give your digestive a break from processing food and time to heal, optimize, and rest.
Clarify your mind and improve your mental health.
Increases longevity; eating less frequently is extremely healthy for the body.
Improve and detox your skin.
Practice, enforce, and instill a deeper level of self-discipline.
Decrease the inflammation that develops from our diets.
Allow your body to rest from food. We can go for quite a while without food in our bodies, and it’s one of the best things we can do for ourselves.
Bonus: If you need to lose weight, water fasting is will naturally lead to a decline in your weight.
The Phases of Water Fasting
Phase 1
The body burns all of your glycogen stores. This usually takes place within days 1–7 depending on how much glycogen you have stored in your body.
Phase 2
The body starts burning fat to utilize as energy to keep you going. Your body will go through ketosis after your glycogen stores are fully emptied.
You might even experience the pungent smell of your body burning fat; it’s not the end of the world, which means your body is now utilizing fat to produce energy for you.
Phase 3
The body tries to reserve as much energy as possible, so you will a bit weaker and potentially less energetic than usual because your body is conserving energy.
Once I reached phase 3, I spent a lot of time not doing anything except things that required minimum physical exertion. I had less energy, and my body primarily desired to rest.
Other Symptoms
Your tongue will likely go white; this is a clear sign that your body is detoxing.
What I Will Do Different For The Next Fast
The only thing I would do differently is detox for 3–7 days before I commence my water fast. Since I didn’t detox before my water fast, I did experience major detox effects such as skin rashes.
Detoxing Vs. Fasting – Fasting involves no food. Detoxing does involve food.
I know if I had done a bit of detoxing (i.e., vegetable juicing), the detox effects would have been less severe since my body would have been in a healthier state.
This content is for informational purposes only — not professional advice. Consult a qualified professional before making any major decisions.