Written By Sasha
During a water fast, the initial and final days are typically the most difficult. Your mind will attempt to persuade you to end your fast ahead of time or to indulge in excessive eating once the fast is over. This strong urge is particularly compelling in the beginning but tends to decrease gradually as your body and mind come into the habit of not eating until you reach the fast’s end.
There are several explanations as to why this happens, one of them is the activation of the animal part of our brain. When we are subjected to a mild stressor such as fasting our amygdala is flooded with blood triggering a response for us to eat. It tempts us by creating intense cravings for high-fat and sugary foods, in an attempt to restate its equilibrium. These cravings will subside the longer into the fast we go, but will reappear whenever the body loses fat or if electrolytes start to dwindle.
The amygdala activation can be suppressed by practicing fasting on a regular basis as well as learning how to deal with what our mind tells us during the fast. This natural and automated reaction occurring in our brain resembles the function of our ego mind. Many people, including myself, often struggle during the various stages of a water fast thanks to falling into the mind’s mental traps and believing all the stories our ego creates.
To successfully navigate this process it is vital to be well prepared and have a thought-out strategy to help you stay on track, maintain mental strength, and stick to your goals.
Prior to embarking on your quest to perfect health, spiritual growth, and self-discipline, here are some tools and tips that will help you stay alert and aware of the mind games you might encounter during the water fast.
Mind Games During a Water Fast
- Awareness
The first step is to become aware that your mind will play tricks on you during your fast. Practice fasting regularly and make it a habit to journal your experiences. What are your weaknesses? What kind of thoughts are arising? How does your body respond after each day of fasting? Take note of what happens in your body when your mind becomes fixated on food or experiences cravings, do you need more water? Electrolytes? Listen to your body and observe your mind. Try out different options that can solve your discomfort without breaking your fast. I previously wrote a blog post outlining psychological pitfalls that can make us fail on our fast. If you are interested, click the link below to read more about these challenges and gain further insight into fasting. A beginners guide to a prolonged water fast… (expandinspirit.com)
- Things you should avoid doing during your fast
The mind does not know the difference when it comes to instant gratification. Watching movies or social media is the same as eating pizza or candy for the brain and your willpower.
- Look up recipes on Pinterest or YouTube.
- Watching Netflix and other social media sites where you can see food.
- Avoid tasting or nibbling on food while cooking or at all.
Watching how people cook and eat or taste food while cooking only triggers your desire to eat. It may also trigger overeating when the fast is over.
- Firmly Decide
Prepare yourself mentally by making a firm decision that you are going on a water fast. Creating a plan determining the duration of the fast will help you to mentally prepare for the challenges ahead. If you choose to undertake a 5-day water fast, make a promise to yourself that you will see it through until the end, regardless of any obstacles.
Breaking the fast ahead of time, before the stated period of time, will ultimately weaken your willpower making it harder to follow through on future fasts. Therefore it is crucial to commit fully, following through the entire fast. Stay determined, no matter what.
- State your reasons
Know your WHY
- Why do you want to go on this fast?
- Is it for self-discipline?
- Mental clarity?
- Lose weight?
- Improve your health?
State why you want to go on the fast and all the benefits of it. Write down the positive experiences of previous fasts and feel the emotions of these experiences, like feeling the freedom of not needing food or the immense happiness that comes with it.
Write down at least 20 reasons why you want to go on a fast. Try to remind yourself every day of them during your fast. I usually write out reminders and put them up on my wall so I can see them every day.
- Write down what happens if you don’t follow through
Write down what will happen and how you will feel if you do not follow through on the promises that you have made to yourself. Of course, we can all slip and fail, it’s the natural process of growth.
To stay focused and not waiver from your goals, write a detailed list of what will happen, how you will feel, and what goals will not get accomplished if you break your fast ahead of time. You can do this with any goal you set up for yourself, it will keep you motivated and move forward towards feeling more accomplished.
- Be the adult
Practice saying NO to the nagging child within you. The more you say NO the easier it gets. This is a part of strengthening your willpower. You have to do it if you want to succeed at all with your fast or anything else in life.
Willpower is like a muscle that needs to be exercised. We can do this in many ways, one of them is through fasting.
With time saying no can get exhausting. A way to replenish and strengthen the willpower muscle is to meditate.
- Conduct proper research
Before embarking on a water fast conduct research or consult a doctor if necessary. Educate yourself about the subject at hand and gain an adamant amount of knowledge about your body and what happens to it when you deduct food.
Watch videos of people who have performed fasts, know the ailments you will suffer so you are fully prepared.
In the midst of the fast your mind will start playing tricks on you and you will start googling various disorders on why you should break your fast.
- Have a response
Respond to yourself and soothe your mind, when you get various ideas on why you should eat.
Here are some examples you can tell yourself
- We are following through with the fast, the discomfort will pass, persevere! Your emotional state, bodily ailments, and thoughts will pass. Impermanence.
- You have your entire life to eat any food that you want
- Our reward is so much greater if we wait to eat until our fast is done
- I promise you will get to eat the healthier version of that pizza after the fast
- Food is not so important, there are other things that are more fulfilling, like creating art.
When you soothe yourself and have a response you quiet your mind and put yourself at ease. Sometimes you need to repeat your responses so do not give up, have patience with yourself.
- Write down your goals
Write down your goals with the fast and what you want to achieve with it. This will keep you on track with your fast and the results you want to see with it. Remember not to make a big deal of your small wins, it can lead you to indulge in food. Pet yourself on the back and keep going.
- Surf the urge
- Surf the urge is a technique where you surf your craving like a wave. The craving will arise, hit its peak, and eventually it will subside. Usually, the craving lasts from 3 minutes up to 30 minutes, keep this in mind and persevere.
Last but not least STOP making excuses and accomplish what you have set out for!!!! You are strong!! You can DO THIS!!! Please leave a comment if you have any other suggestions! Thank you for reading this post! Much Love!
Ginger
For me, the raison d’être of a fast is very important, it’s a bit like the driving force that will keep you going. You’ve made some very good points, and some very good advice too. Thanks for sharing!
spirit.expanding
Thank you so much Ginger! Hope you found it interesting <3
Kristine
I have never heard of a water fast before. Thanks for the guide and info!
spirit.expanding
I am glad you enjoyed it <3
Claire
This is very helpful, thank you! Funnily enough, I felt some of these would be useful in self- control in other areas as well.
spirit.expanding
Cool… I am happy you liked it <3
Joi White
This was really helpful 🌻🌻
spirit.expanding
I am happy to hear that <3 Much love to you <3
Elizabeth
Some great advice here, especially for newbies, thanks!
spirit.expanding
Hope they help <3 Much Love <3
Lauren
This is a great article! Thanks for sharing! I’m intermittent fasting currently and I feel so much better!
spirit.expanding
I am glad you liked it Lauren <3 That is nice to hear, less food sparks more energy. Good luck on your wellness journey! Much Love <3
Stelios
I’ve never heard of water fasting before – your article was quite insightful. There’s a lot of great information here for newbies.
Spirit.expanding
Thank you Stelios! I am glad you enjoyed it ❤️
Kat Stano
I didn’t know a lot about water fasting and this was very helpful and interesting to hear how the mind works when it comes to food. I feel like you also inspired me with ideas on things like portion control and making better diet choices, in general. Thank you! Very nice post!