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submitted 11 hours ago by hayyy@thelemmy.club to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml
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[-] BlueEther@no.lastname.nz 3 points 3 hours ago

on the day to day I regularly do 12h during the day without food (almost every work day)

I've done a few 2 and 3 day fasts for various reasons

I've done 3 or so day stints when sick with rotavirus and when I fucked up my shoulder and waiting for surgery

All in all going with out food for 3 days is not too hard

[-] Kongar@lemmy.dbzer0.com 17 points 9 hours ago

I’ve gone three weeks and change without a single calorie of food. Not by choice - medical thing. Lost about 30 lbs give or take. Was hard to start eating again once I did. Lost additional weight beyond the 30. Went from fat to skinny. Took years to eat properly again. Now I’m fat again :)

Was interesting for many reasons.

  1. it’s possible if you’re injured to not be hungry and starve to death without feeling any hunger whatsoever
  2. while I lost fat, I lost more muscle. Crazy how the body canibalizes itself.
  3. still need water, that you can’t go without. But you can go a long time without food. I could have easily gone weeks longer I think without food.
  4. Hug your family and always tell them you love them. I lived through my ordeal and gained perspective, but many young people die without saying and doing the things they should.
[-] hayyy@thelemmy.club 1 points 9 hours ago

How long do you think you could go without water as well as food?

[-] Kongar@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 8 hours ago

No idea. I didn’t drink for three weeks either but I had an IV feed of saline. I think you die of thirst in a few short days.

[-] Johnny_Arson@hexbear.net 1 points 8 hours ago

Yeah the general rule is about 3 weeks without food, roughly 3 days without water.

[-] n4ch1sm0@piefed.social 6 points 7 hours ago

I fasted about 48 hours to experience a semi ascetic acid trip. Was a good time; had some incredible break throughs. Dived into a pool, and it felt like I was diving into a kaleidoscope of colors. Can't recommend anyone experience it that way, nor would I say I'd do it that way again, but taking your mind and body through moderated extremes can be pretty profound; assuming you have people around you to make sure you're not doing anything particularly stupid to hurt yourself or others.

[-] sparkles@piefed.zip 29 points 11 hours ago

I’ve fasted for a couple days when depressed and it was fine.

What I can never compare anything to is suffering food insecurity. When I was a kid the union my father was a part of went on strike. My mom didn’t work. I was in kindergarten, and I was starving all the time. Some days it was just flintstone vitamins and juicy juice. Sometimes just a pack of snack crackers. I remember being so excited to get those. Once I was so hungry I climbed the cabinets and was gnawing on dried out brown sugar because it was the only thing I could find. That earned another flintstone. I received a few granola bars from my teachers.

For a long time I used to go into any new house and explore the kitchen and make sure there was food. Also, I end up feeding all my hungry kids now. Costco saves me there.

[-] content_educator_94@thelemmy.club 2 points 6 hours ago

Sorry you dealt with that level of food insecurity

You're a good person for making sure those hungry kids kids eat now that you're grown

✌️

[-] Kefla@hexbear.net 2 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

I've done just shy of 2 weeks without food. I've never gone more than like 10 hours without water though, at least not while awake.

Fasting is fine. "Hunger" is usually anticipation of food. Once you push past the initial feeling it simply goes away.

Not drinking water sucks. Everything feels awful after a day without water.

[-] anothermember@feddit.uk 10 points 10 hours ago

84 hours without food (that's 3 full days plus the extra night after). Didn't feel too bad since after 24 hours my body gave up asking for food so I felt kind of lethargic but not hungry. I did it as a kind of personal challenge, probably ill-advised, but it wasn't too bad for me. I still drank plenty of water throughout that time. I wasn't even that hungry when I broke the fast, I just had a light salad, then I felt really hungry in the hours afterwards..

[-] MarmiteLover123@hexbear.net 2 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

Around a day and a half without any source of food, limited water and building my own shelter in the middle of nowhere. Would not recommend on the thirst and hunger side, but it was quite peaceful. I ended up eating a little bit of my flavoured chapstick, I was quite hungry and thirsty. Thankfully weather was mild so no heat or cold related issues shelter wise. I've been camping in tents when it's gotten so cold that frost formed inside the tent, that's not fun either. Once I made it back to civilisation, I had a long shower, drank lots of water, and ate two full plates of food. Almost threw up afterwards from overeating.

[-] Hayduke@lemmy.world 11 points 10 hours ago

Had ulcerative colitis. Went about a month on Gatorade and clear vegetable broth. Another month or two on TPN after surgery with very little to no veggie broth.

Went from 175 to 115. 0/10 would not recommend.

[-] MrSelfDestruct25@fedinsfw.app 3 points 8 hours ago

I have UC too and was put in the hospital for 5 days on a broth diet. It was weird seeing how skinny my legs became.

[-] Hayduke@lemmy.world 3 points 8 hours ago

Ha, oh man. When I finally got unplugged from everything, about two weeks later, I sorta sprinted up a small flight of stairs and felt every muscle in my legs tearing. It was a very strange and uncomfortable feeling. It probably hurt a lot but they had me on some gnarly painkillers. I did feel it the next day though when I got home. That was about 13 years ago. I hope they have better treatments for it now than surgery. It seemed like a better option than Remicade at the time. Oh well, what’s done is done. Basically back to normal after all this time.

[-] hayyy@thelemmy.club 4 points 10 hours ago

Wow that’s amazing. I think I might have UC. Did it help your symptoms?

What’s TPN?

[-] Hayduke@lemmy.world 5 points 8 hours ago

I hope you don’t. In my case nothing helped so I had my lower intestine removed. The made a facsimile with a section of small intestine and re-plumbed me. It was during that recovery period that I went on TPN to effectively reduce the usage of my digestive system.

TPN is Total Parenteral Nutrition. Basically it’s a large bag of glucose, lipids, vitamins and minerals that is fed through a PICC line (in you upper arm) directly above your heart for thorough dilution and distribution through your bloodstream. An external peristaltic pump doses it into you throughout the day. It’s a trip, albeit cumbersome. Oh, and it does spikeTF out of your blood sugars so you have to take insulin during the process, which sucks.

[-] hayyy@thelemmy.club 1 points 4 hours ago
[-] Hayduke@lemmy.world 3 points 2 hours ago

The surgery did, but it was a long recovery period. I think it was three months with a temporary colostomy bag while my intestine healed and then at least a year for my body to get used to the new setup. After about 5 years I noticed that I was closer to normal, or as normal as you can be after getting a j-pouch. But it’s better than going through continued episodes. I don’t think I would have survived more than a couple additional bouts. Plus living with UC really increases your risk of colorectal cancer. Fun stuff

[-] MisterNeon@lemmy.world 12 points 11 hours ago

Went two days without food. It was pretty horrible and I slept more to cope.

[-] hayyy@thelemmy.club 8 points 11 hours ago

How come you went without for two days?

[-] MisterNeon@lemmy.world 13 points 10 hours ago

I was on vacation in a foreign country and my wallet and phone were pickpocketed.

[-] hayyy@thelemmy.club 7 points 10 hours ago
[-] Bell@lemmy.world 10 points 11 hours ago

I had terrible stomach cramps one night. I was so sore that I didn't eat after that for 4 days. It's actually way easier than I would have thought, no real consequences.

[-] hayyy@thelemmy.club 4 points 11 hours ago

Do you know what triggered the cramps?

[-] Ledivin@lemmy.world 6 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

Never really been without water, but I've avoided eating for ~3 days due to illness a couple times. It's kinda easy when there's a reason for it (nausea, mostly) - when you know the alternative is worse, short-term hunger is only mildly annoying.

[-] spittingimage@lemmy.world 5 points 10 hours ago

Five days without food. I had a bout of gastritus (damage to the stomach lining) and never once felt hungry during that time. I was going about my normal routine and felt completely normal otherwise. Kinda surprised by that.

[-] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 5 points 10 hours ago

There was a period where I would fast every thursday into friday, 24 hours, but I allowed myself water. No real issues. Less impactful than a single beer or smoking some pot.

That being said I have huge respect for those keeping Ramadan.

[-] Azzu@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 8 hours ago

Did a week as a challenge/experience. I read up a bit beforehand and just made sure I got enough water and electrolytes. Was getting hungry during the first day and more during the second, but then it just kinda stopped. I felt tired and weak a bit but apart from that everything fine.

[-] RebekahWSD@lemmy.world 3 points 9 hours ago

Two days without solid food because my stomach is stupid. I was hydrated the entire time though and drinking ginger ale occasionally.

[-] WalrusDragonOnABike@reddthat.com 2 points 10 hours ago

Without food, I think 2.5 days (somewhere around 2.5 days). Wasn't bad, although I sometimes get dizzy when standing and it exacerbated to the point I was worried I might actually pass out (but I didn't; just felt like a had a very low-grade fever for a couple minutes after?)

[-] hayyy@thelemmy.club 1 points 9 hours ago
[-] WalrusDragonOnABike@reddthat.com 3 points 9 hours ago

colonoscopy. I mistimed things I think and got home really late on the last day I was supposed to be able to eat and by that time it was too late. And I might not have eaten before work...

[-] monovergent@lemmy.ml 2 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

Without food, just shy of 24 hours. Slept around 12 hours after almost pulling an all-nighter, then never got hungry enough to get out of my room until late in the night. Was groggy all day, didn't feel hungry for several hours, then it nagged for another few hours until it gnawed at me and I couldn't do anything without thinking about food. So I ate, surprisingly only took a normal-sized meal to satisfy the hunger.

I've gone without water or food for about 9 hours at a time on several occasions. Mostly just makes me lethargic at the end. But the most memorable time was when I went on a trail with a couple friends for about 4 hours. It was the middle of summer in an arid climate and I realized I forgot to bring water about an hour in. Was very parched and heart racing by the end, but didn't bother me too much. Then chugged about 3x 500 mL bottles as soon as I got back in the car.

this post was submitted on 24 Feb 2026
54 points (98.2% liked)

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