Re: i want to lose 10 lbs

Not to knock the idea of Water Fasting for weight loss, but to make your fast much more bearable and much easier, I would recommend that you instead focus your attention to the detox and cleansing aspects of fasting, for a few reasons:

1) It's invigorating and comforting to know that your body will be able to take a rest from digesting, to be able to heal and clean itself from all of the junk it's had tossed into it over the years.

2) Realizing, contemplating, and thinking about #1, makes breaking your fast a non-option if you're craving food (junk food and healthy food alike). Why? Well first of all it can be very dangerous to improperly break a fast, and secondly why would you want to interfere with the detoxing process? If you've never gone on a cleanse before and eat a SAD diet, chances are that a fast would do you plenty of good. Ending that prematurely may not be such a good idea.

3) In my opinion, fasting is all mental. Having the right attitude towards fasting is imperative. In addition to #1 and 2, making your fast about cleansing can really help you to battle the emotional ties you have to food, making cravings way more manageable, or, as in my case, non-existent. If you emotionally eat, eat out of boredom, or have strong emotional ties to food, then you need to face those head on. You can do it! It's no easy task, but you'll feel like a changed person when you do. You need to be honest with yourself and truly open to the idea of "food as fuel". Food can be enjoyable, but putting healthy foods (in healthy quantities) into your body as much as you can, should be your main concern. The only way I've been able to do this, was to face my relationship with food. Don't hide it or abhor having to smell food on your fast. You need to deal with it, and I believe that being on a fast is the best time to do that. :-) I actually find it fun to rationalize my food addictions, rendering them powerless over me. It's like having several "Eureka!" moments. Very empowering.

4) In my experience, fasting with the determination to lose weight only made things so much worse for me. Not that I'm saying you'll do the things I did or think all the ways I thought, but fasting for weight loss can easily become an obsession. I paid no attention to the health benefits of fasting, although I knew they existed. I would start and stop, start and stop, and did so in a very unhealthy manner, but like you, I was determined to lose weight with water fasting! In addition, all my fasting "failures' took a serious toll on my self-esteem. All I cared about were the numbers on the scale, so you can imagine how bad I felt when I would gain back some water weight right after I began eating again--which is basically inevitable.

All in all, I'm not saying that fast for weight loss doesn't work. It's your attitude and knowledge about fasting that can seriously help determine the level of your success. It's also majorly about how you intend to break your fast, and how you intend to live after your fast. If done improperly, you can expect to regain those 10 lbs and then some. Your metabolism will be slower and your digestive system will be a lot cleaner (this also depends on how long you fast), so your body will actually need less food. You will likely not need to eat the quantities of foods that you did before.

Also, please know what state of health you're in, prior to fasting. Fasting can be recommended for most people, however there are people with certain health conditions where fasting would not be a good idea. Doing a lot of research about the health benefits of fasting is super beneficial, and may teach you about what signs of detox to expect. I find that knowing what to expect makes fasting a lot more bearable, and kind of exciting, because it's nice to know that your body is doing right by you. I also agree with others who recommend to start with smaller fasts (3-4 days, etc), and slowly work your way up to bigger fasts. That definitely can help you.

Lastly, there is a sense of freedom from focusing on Water Fasting for health, rather than weight loss. You don't need to weigh yourself, because of course you'll lose weight on a water fast. Duh! (Lol, that was not sarcasm, don't worry, just my attempt at being humourous) But seriously, weight loss is only a by-product of my endeavour to get healthier and detox my body. I've got to lose about 10 times the amount of weight you want to lose, but I don't even think about that, or sweat it. It'll disappear, in time.

Health has and always will be my focus on this fast of mine. I will be facing some serious repercussions if I don't live a healthy lifestyle. Using up these fat reserves, and slimming down is only a perk. ;-)

Anyway, I hope this helps! If you have any other questions, I'd also recommend asking chrisb1. <-- Therein lies a wealth of knowledge on the topic of water fasting. :-)

Peace,

estugrrl