Okay so this was not planned. At all.
It was a Tuesday. I had a massive design deadline on Wednesday and I was stressed out of my mind. I started my fast Monday night at 9 PM as usual — 18:6 protocol, so I was planning to eat Tuesday at 3 PM.
Tuesday morning, I was deep in the work zone. You know that flow state where you forget to eat? I get that sometimes when I'm designing. It's like my brain shuts off the hunger signals. I had black coffee at 8 AM, another at 11 AM, and by 2 PM I was still in the zone.
3 PM came and went. I looked at the clock and thought "eh, I'll eat at 4." Then 4 became 5. Then 6. Then it was 8 PM and I was like... wait, I'm not even hungry?
By 9 PM, I had officially hit 24 hours. I remember texting my friend: "I think I accidentally did a full day fast." She replied with like twelve question marks. I was honestly more confused than proud.
Here's what I noticed. Around hour 20, I got this weird mental clarity. Like everything was sharper. Colors seemed brighter? That sounds insane but it's what happened. I designed for 4 more hours and the work was actually some of my best that month.
Hour 28, I started getting a headache. Not terrible, but there. I drank a ton of water and it helped. Hour 32, I was genuinely hungry for the first time. Not "I could eat" hungry. Like "my stomach is making actual noises" hungry.
I broke the fast at 9 AM Wednesday with avocado toast and eggs. And I ate slowly, which is not like me at all — I'm usually a fast eater. My body was like "okay, we're going to take our time with this."
The interesting part: I weighed myself Thursday morning and I was down 1.2 kg from Monday. That's way more than my normal rate. But I also felt kinda drained the next day. Not bad, just... flat. Like my battery was at 70%.
Would I do it again? Maybe, but on purpose next time. With better planning. I definitely wouldn't recommend accidentally fasting for 36 hours while working a deadline. But it taught me something: my body can handle way more than I thought. The hunger comes in waves, not as a constant. And the mental clarity at hour 20-24 is real — at least for me.
Anyway. Back to my normal 18:6. But now I know what's possible. And honestly? That's kind of empowering.