Today was rough. I had no energy and just wanted to sleep. I ended up canceling the morning workout with my trainer. My gas tank was on empty. That was probably a good decision.  Why?

Right on time, they Day 2 hunger pangs started at noon and seemed to never let up.

When I do extended fasts, Day 2 is always the hardest. I assume it’s because my body is basically crossing The Rubicon — switching from glucose to fat burning. I attempted 7-day fasts before and it’s always Day 2 that made me cry uncle (and eat a steak).  Which is why I like to stay super busy.

For Day 2 I planned to paint the trim in my living room as a way to take my mind off the fact I’m not eating. However, that fickle finger of fate stepped in.

Instead I checked on mom and to be there for her first in-home physical therapy session. Mom’s recover is way more important than home decorating and stomach rumbling. Still, other than sitting in a chair and asking a couple of questions, I wasn’t terribly busy.

Which means my body did it’s best to break me.

I didn’t give in. Despite feeling exhausted, ravenous…and cranky.

Exhausted because I didn’t get a good nights sleep. Again, I’m assuming that’s because my body is burning up the last bits of glucose.

Ravenous because, well that’s obvious. I’m fasting.

The crankiness surprised me.  When I’m hungry, apparently I get ticked off easily.  It didn’t help the drive home was horrible. A 10 minute drive took well over 40 minutes. Now I hate sitting in traffic. Today I was apoplectic.

To make things worse, the angrier I got, my hunger increased proportionately. No amount of water could satisfy my stomach.  I suspect that cortisol may have been raging. So I was just making myself hungrier.

Once I realized I was sabotaging my own fast, I started calming down. Sure enough, the hunger became more manageable.

I’m hoping that Day 3 will go a lot smoother than today.

As you know, I’m a big believer in the healing power of fasting to kick cancer’s sorry ass. Well it’s that time of the year where I do another week-long fast to help shed any pre-cancerous cells.

I’m wrapping up day 1 of my 7-day fast. Although I started the day with a ton of energy, it’s nearly 9:00 pm and I’m exhausted. That’s how I like it.

Normally I’m much more prepared going into a fast. But my mother’s hospitalization saw that I went into the fast by the seat of my pants.

All you can do is roll with it.

This morning, no bone broth. No bullet coffee. No water (UGH!). I just left for mom’s  place. Clearly I forgot about the fast.  So I just sucked it up, picked up black coffee from Dunkin’ Donuts, and headed over to mom’s to help her out.

Now before you fasting purist out there say anything, I’m not doing a water fast. I’m following Dr. Jason Fung’s guides on extended fasting. However, my fall fast will be water only.

The good news was I stayed busy all day. Meaning not a lot of time to think about the food I wasn’t eating. If you want to fast successfully, keeping busy is the key. Time just flies by. Oh sure the occasional stomach growling wave hits. But when you are busy it’s easy to ride that wave. Besides, it only lasts 10 minutes at a time.

The bad news was I was so busy I forgot to drink enough water.  Thankfully it didn’t lead to a headache. However, the hunger pangs hit when I got the bright idea to make her some chili for the week.

Yep. I cooked on day 1 of my extended fast.

Not too bright. But I didn’t eat one bite…not even to see if it needed seasoning.

All in all, that is pretty awesome.

I’m so ready for Day 2.