How-to: Three-Day Water Fast

I do this four times per year at each solstice for the purpose of bodily detoxification. Although it seems to work well for me, I have been told and have read that this can be a dangerous thing to do for a person who any excess bodily fat and/or problems with blood sugar.

Ingredients:

• excellent source of water (e.g. mountain spring)
• support of your loved ones
• some way to measure heart rate, and preferably blood sugar
  

Steps:

1. Stop consuming anything other than water and herbal tea (e.g. green tea) the morning of the first day of your fast
   
2. Resume eating the morning of the fourth day (eat lightly at first -- e.g. raw fruit & veggies)
3. During the fast, refrain from exercise that would have you break out in even a light sweat (for me, this means I can stlll go on walks and do house work, but not, e.g., hike hills with my daughter on my back or chop wood or shovel dirt for an hour)
4. During the fast, engage in peacefulness practices like Chi Gong, Yoga, and Meditation
5. During the fast, monitor your heart rate, and, if you have the tools, monitor blood pressure and blood sugar as well
   
6. Stop the fast if your blood sugar "crashes" before the three days is up (for me, crashing means a blood sugar level in the 40s -- at that level my body feels sluggish and so does my mind)
7. Stop the fast if, after the morning of the second day, your mind keeps thinking about food (ie. continue the fast only if by that point, food is no bigger part of your thoughts than anything else)
8. Realize that what I write here is what I do and have done since the winter solstice of 2005. It seems to work well for me. But I am me and you are you. So proceed with caution.