It’s 6am on a Friday morning. It’s been 36 hours since I’ve eaten any food and I feel great. Funny enough, I’m not starving, I’m not craving anything really. I’m mildly hungry, maybe a 6 out of 10, but I’m feeling pretty good.

I’ll be eating soon enough I tell myself, there is no reason to panic.

The Power of Fasting 

A little backstory — I decided to do a 24-hour fast to support an online coaching client who was doing the same thing as part of his daily lesson. You see, I use this incredible habit-based coaching software that transforms lives. It’s called ProCoach and it was created by Precision Nutrition.

It essentially takes people from “knowing” to “doing”. It gives them the skills to actually execute good food choices on a more consistent basis. This is all done through daily practice of simple habits.

One of the foundational skills that we work on early in the coaching is the skill of awareness, especially with our own body. When we can actually tune into our own body and feel the natural sensations it gives us, we make better choices.

It’s like having a superpower.

The trouble is, we’re so bombarded by busyness, stress, and other “noises” that we can’t always tune in and hear the actual signal. There’s just too much freakin’ noise!

And here’s where the power of fasting comes in. It’s one of the best ways to develop this superpower of awareness.

The science is there to support fasting, if you want to dive down rabbit hole, you can check out this definitive guide on fasting- https://www.precisionnutrition.com/intermittent-fasting –  written by my mentor John Berardi, one of the most respected people in the nutrition industry today. As he sums it up here:

“New research suggests that a short, periodic fast might actually rev up your fat-burning machinery while helping you control glucose and insulin. Important hormonal changes mean that fasting might even help your muscles grow when the next exercise session (and meal) comes. You might lose more fat and gain more muscle, all by skipping a few meals. But even if you don’t lose extra fat by fasting, I promise you will lose something important: that ridiculous, unarticulated fear of not eating every few hours. And damn it, that’s liberating.”

So the research is there to back up fasting and it develops the superpower of awareness like nothing else I’ve seen. To me, it was a no-brainer to give it a shot.

I share all the details below, but here are the 3 big lessons from my 36-hr fast:

1) Teaches You That Hunger Is Not An Emergency

You will be OK. You don’t need to freak out if you haven’t eaten in 4-5 hours. Hunger actually comes in waves, it’s pulsatile in nature.

If you can ride out a hunger wave, you’ll be just fine.

2) Understand The Difference Between True Hunger VS Head Hunger

When you start really paying attention to your body during a fast, you realize there’s a difference between psychological hunger — I want to eat, give me some mouth pleasure —  VS true physiological hunger — my body needs to eat. These are 2 different things that many of us get mixed up. Doing the fast allowed me to notice the feeling of what true physiological hunger feels like. I can now tap into the knowledge next time I’m hungry.

Is is true hunger? Or do I just want to eat?

3) Embracing Discomfort Will Build Resilience

Nobody said that fasting is fun. But doing it, embracing the discomfort, and doing what you set to do no matter what, that builds resilience. It teaches you that you’re in control. Not your hunger.

I used to think if I skipped a meal I was wrecking my metabolism or I was burning all this hard earned muscle. Not the case at all. If you think back to our evolution, we were designed to go days without food. A healthy human body knows what to do without food for a couple days.

As my mentors over at PN say,

“Taking the risk of purposely being hungry teaches people a lot about themselves and what they’re capable of. It’s an incredible feeling (and often a great relief) when you learn that you can feel hungry — truly hungry — and survive.”

I connected with my body in a whole new way.

And I now have a new perspective on food. I’m really fucking lucky. I’m privileged. There are many out there who go hungry — not voluntarily – every day. This is not something to take lightly. 

The 36-HR Fast Details

I had my last bit of food Wednesday night, around 8:30pm.

THURSDAY

6am Thursday. Black coffee and water, hunger was at a 7 out of 10.

8am – hunger crept up to a 9 or so. This was tough. I was freakin’ hungry.  But by 8:30 it backed down. It pulsed and then subsided.

10am – another hunger pulse, 8 out of 10 but 15 minutes later it’s gone. 

1pm – I was mildly hungry but nothing over a 7 out of 10. 

3pm workout and felt pretty good. It wasn’t my best workout but I did a pretty intense 20-minute routine that involved KB squats, push-ups, KB deadlifts, and rows.

4pm –  I was feeling good. I drank some BCAAs plus some greens powder. Hunger not even an issue. Maybe 5 out of 10.

7pm – Hunger back in full force. 9 out of 10. But then it backs off a few minutes later.

8pm – Again, another pulse. 9 out of 10, but it backs down 10 minutes later. I made it to 24 hours, this was by far the hardest part of the day.

10pm – Bed time. Hunger is still around 8 out of 10. Stomach growling a bit and really starting to think about what I want to eat. Fell asleep with a mildly uncomfortable growling in my stomach.

FRIDAY

6am – morning water and black coffee. Hunger in check. 7 out of 10. Hop on the scale – down 4 lbs. Julie tells me I look skinny. Not sure how to take that one.

8am – Go to train a client on the beach. Feel great. Hunger in check.

9am – Just over 36 hours. It’s time to eat. I grab one of my favorite protein bars, a Bhu Fit bar and savored every bite. Mission accomplished.

Some Insights From The 36 HR Fast:

The 12 and 24-hour mark were the most challenging for me.

Sleep was somewhat affected. Getting to 24 hours was no problem but falling asleep with a growling stomach was a little uncomfortable.

Also, there was an interesting note on performance. 

I give a talk to a group of surfers every week at a local surf camp. It’s a 60-min seminar where I teach surf fitness. It’s just me, a deck of slides and 20 or so people in a small room. The seminar can be a little intense. I lecture for about 20-30 minutes and then I take people through various assessments. I normally grab a few people to the front of the room and I try to correct imbalances in their body right there on the spot.

It’s fun as hell, I love it, but the point is, I need to be on. I need to be focused, present, and have all systems firing.

And yesterday I was around 22 hours into the fast when I gave the presentation. It was the best one I ever gave. I owned the space. People were engaged. Normally there are a couple people who stay after and ask some follow-up questions. This one there was half the room waiting to ask questions..people were into it.

Coincidence or not? Not sure. Need to test it again, but it’s interesting nonetheless.

To Fast or Not – Should You Try a Fast?

To me, I think everyone would get huge benefits from a 24-hr fast. Just for the sheer fact of dealing with hunger and a little bit of discomfort. By tapping into the awareness of the body and it’s signals, you’ll set yourself up for success. I think the benefits of fasting are vast and legit.

Of course this goes without saying but do make sure to consult your doctor if you have any health concerns or are taking medications.

Fasting is one tool that I use with my online coaching clients to help them transform their lives. If you want to learn more about this world-class coaching system that I use, you can learn more here.