I love the 7-day fasts so much!
For me, not eating is very liberating, especially if my day-to-day eating involves lots of carbs. Usually, I try to follow a keto/Paleo/carnivore diet, and if I do, the transition into fasting gets much smoother and easier.
I generally lose a pound per day in weight, not including water weight (which I try to avoid by drinking a glass or two of water with salt and apple cider vinegar). If I'm not under any great stress, I don't get hungry after the first 16-18 hours of not eating and its smooth sailing for the whole week.
Days 5-7 of the fast are usually a high point, I get almost euphoric, especially if I'm consistently meditating. And the biggest payoff is the clarity I feel. I have lots of energy, I tend to get a lot of writing done and I get an urge to go running or play basketball or do something physical.
And the meal that breaks my fast is pure joy:-)
It really is freedom from something that generally takes up so much of our time (cooking and eating). I've heard that going keto for a week before or so will make the transition much easier, makes sense since there won't be any carbs to burn during the actual fast.
Curious, you only have a glass or two of water per day during the fast?!
A lot of people talk about the mental clarity benefits, I'm surprised that your energy levels spike that late in, though it makes sense since your body is just running on pure fat at that point, just like how we evolved.
Do you have a go-to procedure for breaking? I start with bone broth, then wait a bit, then have a pretty light meal with some fish and nuts. Crazy how much the stomach can shrink.
to clarify, I normally drink 3-5 liters of water per day, but when I fast I also add apple cider vinegar and salt to a few glasses of water. Salt helps retain minerals in the body and apple cider vinegar helps autophagy.
At first I worried about what foods to eat when breaking a fast, but I quickly figured out that I could eat a normal keto/paleo meal (meat and vegetables), even after a 7-day fast. Not too much, but still a decent-sized meal. Not everyone can do that, but thankfully I can have a steak as my first post-fast meal without worrying about digestion.