As part of my ‘body and health experimentation’, I decided to try a 24 hour fast for the first time. We were in Fröhden and Mateusz, Artur and Tad all decided to take part in it as well.

We chose the ‘easier’ version, where the fast starts after dinner. I had read that you are allowed tea and black coffee, but as I’m not a fan of either of those, I stuck to drinking only water.

It was 38 degrees on the day of our fast. We went to the local swimming pool and upon entering, we could smell hot chips. Fasting was more a mental than physical challenge.

Hunger came and went, but it didn’t increase as time went on. We didn’t feel any hungrier in the afternoon than we did in the morning. I craved eating an orange, I think I wanted the sugar from fruit. When it was time to break our fast and eat dinner, we ate slowly and appreciated our meal more than we normally would.

One week on and I still feel like my stomach ‘shrunk’. I need less food to feel satisfied and I have the discipline to stop eating when I feel I have eaten enough, not when I have stuffed myself that I feel too full to move.

I’m going to try this fast again but double it for two days. I’m curious to see how my body reacts and whether it becomes easier after time to control the thoughts of hunger that my mind produces.