My 10-Day Water Fast: Daily Diary, Struggles, and Surprises
I recently finished a 10-day water fast, and this time I kept a running diary. No sugarcoating (literally) — just the daily notes, weird realizations, cramps, and a surprisingly smooth refeed.
New Ideas for This Fast
I don’t have much extra weight, so my focus was on the general health benefits of fasting and solidifying my habits.
I picked warm summer days — and wow, fasting in the heat turned out to be a great idea (except for one brutally stressful day 7).
I tried to keep my daily routine as normal as possible instead of lying around. The goal: accomplish as much as possible while fasting.
New trick: I tried to make fasting not the main event. I distracted myself with bigger goals so I wasn’t obsessing over food all the time.
Preparation: Days -2 and -1
Day -2: Hosted a BBQ with friends. I intentionally overate to “build hate” toward food. Odd strategy, but it worked surprisingly well.
Day -1: Played soccer and kept meals light.
Day 1 – Monday
Slept great — I was super excited to start.
Coffee with heavy cream at 7 am, and my fast officially began.
Did a DEXA scan right after starting; those results are always a huge motivator.
It was also my 18th wedding anniversary. My wife wasn’t exactly thrilled to celebrate with just water, but hey, love is about compromise.
To speed up ketosis (and avoid the dreaded day 3 crash), I went all-in at the gym: cycling (11 mins, level 12), running (35 mins at 7 mph), steam room — burned ~720 calories.
My staples: Ultima electrolytes (2–3 packets/day), hot water with pink salt, and San Pellegrino (one 750 ml bottle).
Day 2 – Tuesday
First calf cramps — gone after electrolytes.
Gym: cycling (10 mins), strength training (40 mins at ~60% load), steam room.
Kept reminding myself: this fast isn’t about “surviving.” It’s about using 10 days to actually get stuff done.
Day 3 – Wednesday
Slept unbelievably deep — so deep it was hard to wake up. Probably from cutting coffee (black coffee tastes awful to me).
Realization: fasting in summer is way nicer than winter, even in California.
Gym: cycling (11 mins), running (35 mins at 6 mph), steam room.
Eyes started feeling tired quickly; slight vision deterioration.
Day 4 – Thursday
More calf cramps.
Gym: cycling (11 mins), strength training (35 mins), steam room.
First tiny bowel movement since starting the fast.
Day 5 – Friday
Resting heart rate dropped to 41.
Big realization: poor sleep during my previous fasts wasn’t from physical stress, but mental stress about fasting itself. This time, I felt relaxed, slept well, and that made fasting much easier.
Gym: cycling (11 mins), running (20 mins at 5.4 mph), steam room.
Day 6 – Saturday
Night heart rate: 42. Another great night of sleep.
No workouts — spent the day at my son’s soccer tournament in 95°F heat. Brutal.
Eyes irritated from the dry air, even with glasses. Felt drained all day.
Day 7 – Sunday
Morning calf cramps again — fixed with electrolytes.
The hardest day: another full day at my son’s tournament in 95°F. My glucose dropped to 41 (quickly rebounded to 60). Ketones hit 7.4, my all-time high.
Just to stress me out further, I read a Reddit post about someone ending up in the ER with gallbladder issues during fasting. Exactly what I didn’t need to read.
Eyes still irritated.
Pool time with my family saved the day — cooling down helped a lot.
Day 8 – Monday
Morning cramps again; electrolytes did their job.
Eyes still itchy, but eye drops helped.
Gym: cycling (11 mins), running (15 mins at 5.2 mph). Energy was definitely low.
Another tiny bowel movement.
Ultima electrolytes officially became disgusting — every flavor.
Day 9 – Tuesday
Morning cramps again, this time not fully gone with electrolytes.
Took it easy — my ketones were still at 7.9 in the morning.
Day 10 – Wednesday
Same morning cramps.
Gym: cycling (11 mins), running (20 mins at 5.2 mph), steam room.
Refeed: Day 1 – Thursday
Morning cramps again. Electrolytes, again.
Did a DEXA scan, full blood panel, and epigenetic clock. Then I was ready to break my longest fast so far.
Broke the fast with boiled broccoli and bone broth. Oh, those wild broccolli-and-bone-broth post-fast parties!
Actually, I was a bit nervous about starting to eat again — it felt unusual at first, but the feeling passed quickly.
Later: coffee with heavy cream (finally!) and more broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and a little cheese. Felt amazing.
Refeed: Day 2 – Friday
Cramps still hanging around.
First real bowel movement — volume, timing, everything felt back to normal.
Eyes improved noticeably.
Eating almost normally but chewing every bite very carefully.
Refeed: Day 3 – Saturday
Eating close to normal.
In the evening, went to a party. Sampled a bit of everything (classic Eastern European potluck where everyone brings enough food for 50 people) and even had a little beer. Felt great.
Refeed: Day 4 – Sunday
Back to regular food intake. Zero sugar cravings, which is always a win.
First strength workout post-fast — kept it light to avoid injuries.
Refeed: Day 5 – Monday
Regular cardio: cycling (10 mins, level 12), running (30 mins up to 8 mph), steam room.
Officially done with “careful monitoring.” Back to normal eating and training.
Summary & Takeaways
Easiest fast I’ve ever done — mentally and physically.
Most efficient refeed I’ve had — the transition back to food was smooth.
Lost 15.5 lbs total, including about 5.5 lbs of fat.
Next focus: finish refeed strong and start building muscle again.
👉 Overall, this fast didn’t just challenge me — it also taught me how much mental framing (and a good summer day) can change the whole experience.