I was wondering if this is normal or if it has ever happened to any of you. I was fasting on and off for about 3 weeks and I broke my last four days fast three days ago. The day that I broke it, I became very bloated like if as though as I had my period. My veins on both my feet and hands are very protuberant, but right now I can't see any--I have baby hands. I fasted for another day hoping that it would go away, but it didn't (I actually gained half a pound on my fasting day). I waited another day to see if it would go away, but I'm still like a little puffer fish. Is this a normal thing to happen after a fast, specially such a short one? Is there anything that I can do to help it go away?
PS:I did not eat anything that contains a lot of sodium.
you werent fasting..you were starving and then eating..then starving then eating. you body is not made for this. fasting is great but it should be done for a set period of time and then broken properly and then healthy eating. you are probably upsetting your intestinal system so much...i advise you to read up. fasting is not an on and off process..what you are describing sounds like an eating disorder covered up by the term "fast".
Before you can say anything you do not know for how long I fasted and at what frequency. How can you just go randomly saying that someone has an eating disorder from one very vague sentence. I have "read up" (probably much more than you) and I wish I was able to do a longer fast. I want to do a longer fast, but I never seem to be able to get up to a week. Therefore, I decided to work my way up from fasting for 1, then 2, then 3, then 4, then 6 days. As I did not enjoy going for 6 days, I decided to do a three day fast for a week. I know I will not get the same benefits of a longer fast, but it is a start. You do not have the right to judge me and just make assumptions about me like that. If you see my older posts you are going to realize that all of my short fasts were actually failed attempts to do a longer one, which I finally decided to give up until I can make the time to go to a fasting retreat.
I came to this board to ask for real advice from people who are knowledgeable about fasting and actually can give advice. I did not post here to have a bunch of people who don't have anything better to do than to label other people comment on my post.
The past five months you have attempted to fast.
That is a very long time to be trying fast.
Maybe you should hold off for a few months eating whole foods? You will still detox while eating but at a more comfortable pace.
Please look over your past posts. Maybe try writing down on a calendar every fast and failed attempt. Ask yourself if that seems okay. Do you notice a pattern?
Be honest and talk to a holistic doctor about your attempts. Would someone of alternative medicine still agree with you?
Actually, I disagree with you. I think fasting is like a muscle, like many people and doctors have said. At any rate I did exactly what you suggested. I tried fasting for a while, I couldn't. Gave it two months (waited for the summer when I would be more free), tried again and keep on failing. I did a calendar of my past month, and I realize that my failures always due to my inability to be in complete rest. I always fail around day four, which is the day that I feel the weakest. That is why I decided to stop until I can actually go to a retreat and be complete cut-off from the outside world, and more importantly I do not have any obligations. Maybe in one year I will have saved up the money, and I will be able to make the time to do that.
Anyway, thank you for you advice, but this topic is not whether I should keep on trying to fast, but why am I bloated. So do you have any suggestions or comments about that?
You were not harsh. I agree with most of what you said. Who got me worked up was that scorpion guy. He just seems to want to be negative and rude on every comment he posts.
I am currently traveling in China, so my diet has not been the best specially because I do not have kitchen at my hotel. Anyway, for the past few days I broke my fast with nonfat milk (I can't eat fruit and most vegetables, long story), then I ate some cottage cheese. Later that day I had plain pasta for dinner. I did not try to follow any of the refeeding procedures since my fast was very short. Today I had cottage cheese for breakfast , a spinach salad for lunch, and turkey sandwich for dinner (only bread and turkey).
I broke several mini-fasts this way and this has never happened before. I read in some books that you can water-log your tissues, and I am afraid I did that.
I agree that fasting is a muscle and you can learn to build it up, but you also have to give your body a rest from fasting too.
The only thing that I would add is that maybe you bloated from the dairy or possibly the pasta. You may not always have a reaction to these things every time you eat them, but you may have some sensitivity.
I found out I have a gluten intolerance and then I also found out I have an allergy to dairy, and these two things have caused me to bloat in the past.
I don't know... I have never had problems with either of these things in the past even after fasting. But maybe. Perhaps the pasta here in China has some weird chemicals.
The dairy is the problem. I can answer that from my own unfortunate experience. I found the body has a hard time breaking down lactose after a fast. Even after a proper refeeding procedure your body might reject diary.
The pasta and bread can contribute to constipation. Any processed foods are pretty hard on the body after fasting. Even a very short fast.
I try to consume as much whole foods as possible. You do not have to be hard core but try to keep consumption of processed very low. What I mean of low is one or two bites.
I would if I could, but as I said I am in China. Just finding some food that is not soaked in fat and soy sauce is quite an ordeal. But, I will definitely do that if I decide to fast in the future. About the milk though, I always break my fast with dairy and it was never a problem before.
ive been on this site for over 5 years...and 99% of my messages are promoting love and light...but yes sometimes i am harsh...but only to people who live in a false reality made up of excuses and blame..bottom line is that your disorder is hurting your body and bloating is an outward response the the damage you are doing internally.
Just out of curiosity why can't you eat fruits and most vegetables? I was allergic to anything raw when I was younger and it made me quite ill. I think my immune system was weakened due to weekly allergy shots (which were subsequently banned - yikes). Just wondering what your reason is.
I have hereditary intolerance to fructose. Basically, I don't have an enzyme that digests fructose. I explained that in more details in some of my older posts. You can also goggle it, but it is pretty rare, so I don't think you will find very useful information about it online.
I became bloated as well, from eating too much after breaking the fast.
Even if you think you ate 'a little' it could still be 'too much'.
If you're always failing, it could be that your willpower isn't stronger than your body's instincts, which are forcing you to eat. You may be lacking in some nutrition. If I can offer any advice, it's to look into reason why you are fasting.
I've given up on it for while. It was humbling, but for the sake of my digestive system I feel like I have no choice.
I don't think this is anything to be very concerned about. If it does not go away by itself in a week, I will do something about it. I posted this post not because of alarm, but out of curiosity. Perhaps, it doesn't have anything to do with fasting. It could just be some kind of allergy, or a reaction to the pollution in China...I don't know. I was just curious to know if this has happened to anyone after their first day of eating after a fast.