This past weekend I went through my first multi-day fast.

Up until now, the longest I’d gone without food was 24 hours. This time, I pushed for 72.

It was… an experience.

I did it for the health benefits:

• Autophagy

• Fat burning

• Cell regeneration

All the stuff you hear about but rarely test yourself.

All I had was water, black coffee and tea. No calories. No sugar.

I dropped 7 pounds in 3 days.

But the physical changes weren’t the most surprising part

1. Hunger is Mostly Habit

The first day was brutal.

Not because I was starting, but because I was conditioned to eat. Intermittent fasting made skipping breakfast easy, but by lunchtime, my body expected food. When it didn’t get any, it panicked.

Grover shopping that day was pure toture.

But by day 2, something shifted.

The hunger faded. The body adapted. The cravings weren’t physical anymore, they were mental.

Day 3 was hard again, but only because I knew food was coming soon.

My brain kept negotiating:

2. Life Revolves Around Food

I didn’t realize how much of my life is built around eating.

Not nutrition, eating.

I was used to planning my day around meals. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks. It gave my structure and it gave me pleasure.

When I took that away? I felt lost.

But then something interesting happened:

I stopped thinking about what I would eat next and started thinking about what I wanted to do next.

I wasn’t eating because I was hungry.

I was eating because I was bored.

3. Energy & Clarity

I didn’t work out during the fast. Pushing too hard made me feel lightheaded and drained.

But if I paced myself, I was fine.

Actually, more than fine. My energy was steady. My mind was sharp. My thoughts were clear and focused in a way I hadn’t felt in a while.

That clarity alone made the fast worth it.

Final Thoughts

The 3 day fast reminded me how soft modern life can be.

We eat for comfort. We play our lives around meals. We panic at the first sign of hunder.

But real hunger? it’s rare.

Pushing through it reminded me how much more I’m capable of when I strip things back to the basics.

Would I do it again?

Definitely.

But next time, I’ll skip the grocery store on Day 1.