Every year again: the feeling of guilt after the Christmas days. There’s lots of tasty food, too much of it. And then there’s your grandparent/parent/spouse pushing you into having even more. A year of hard work getting to an end and with your new year’s resolution about to come soon anyway, this usually crushes your willpower. Right?

Food-wise, I’ve easily had the best Christmas this year. I elegantly managed to eat reasonable quantities of great food, enjoy it more than ever, and end up with 10 pounds (4.5 kg) less compared to the pre-christmas time.

To achieve that, I basically did a digestion reset beforehand — a water fast.

It started on Sunday, a week before Christmas. I always love self-experimenting and this fasting idea had been following me already a couple of months. It blew my mind when I first heard that the human body can survive weeks, even months, without starvation by completely restricting to 0 calories. Fascinating right? Add to that plenty of positive long-term effects attributed to fasting. One of the more interesting health benefits for me was ramping up a strong immune system for the upcoming winter. But really, I just like to be spontaneous and wanted another cool experience to check off in 2017.

My week before Christmas

The timing to start a water-fast seemed good. Monday was a company milestone, but the rest of the week would be calm. I was time-pressured to start right-away, for Christmas would come in 7 days. I quickly did some research whether I had the right basis to start. Easy. I exclusively ate fresh unprocessed stuff that day, my stomach felt already light. Then I stopped eating for 5 days.

I had a productive week, that did not require me to limit any of my activities. I also lost around 12 pounds (5.5 kg) in that time.

But let’s be honest: Tuesday (Day 2) was a terrible day. A strong hunger that had already kicked in the previous evening clouded my mind the whole day. Other than that, I must say that the whole fasting experience was very pleasant and rather easy: I had a clear mind, strong focus, no hunger, and a general feeling of ease. Let alone the side effect of how great and unique it is to plan your day without needing to think about eating times. No lunch times. I headed from the office straight to my evening plans without any worries about grabbing food in between whatsoever. That felt pretty mighty! Just one time it felt awkward, when I met two college friends for dinner at one of the very few good burrito places in Munich. Even though it was on Thursday (Day 4, so I was not hungry), I still had a very strong attraction to the burrito. More generally I need to admit, Thursday and Friday when I was planning my build up days, I was already getting really excited (even philosophical) about food, but on a rather abstract level. Still no hunger.

Breaking the fast — carefully and full of pleasure

What a highlight to start eating again! Friday afternoon I broke the fast with a particularly tasty apple and five delicious almonds (first time I can name the quantity of nuts that I ate). Later when I was getting some appetite, I had a light potato & veggies soup — easily the tastiest one I’ve ever had. Saturday, the last day before Christmas, was my crucial build-up day, where I tried to eat very aligned with my gut health goals to maximize the positive impact of the fast. Meaning, a lot of fresh and a lot of fermented stuff.

Really, you cannot imagine how delicious the food tastes. Even without any spices, vegetables will amaze you with texture, taste, and smell. Interestingly, I was naturally craving healthier and less processed foods, as well as I was filled more quickly and stayed full longer.

Another funny effect: I had different potato dishes on Friday and Saturday and, even though I never liked potatoes, I constantly feel like having potatoes now. I rewired my gut’s food cravings!

On Christmas day, I had my first meal (a light salad) with my first hunger 4–5h after waking up. In the afternoon I took a train to visit my grandma, who on arrival greeted me with a “Are you hungry?”, as expected. From then on, I delegated the choice of dishes I would eat (to my lovely grandma and aunts that had already everything planned out), but continued steering my food consumption unknowingly.

Over the Christmas holidays, I had small portions of food, I enjoyed them to the max, and I was feeling great. Even though I over-ate, it was still 30–40% less than what I would normally eat during the holidays, but with a natural help: I really was not able to eat any more than that. For once on Christmas, a “No, thanks”, stayed a “No, thanks”.

What I learned in a nutshell

I experienced a few days after the fast

Less hunger and lower food capacity

Natural desire for healthier food options

Intense joy while eating (interrelated with slower eating and mindfulness)

A weight rebound of 2 lbs (1 kg), that is, 17%

I was feeling light and healthy

If you want to fast, you really need to

Do your research first (much of it) and plan your fast through

Have time to sleep during the fast (I was sleeping almost 20% longer)

Carefully plan your 2–3 post-fast days (include probiotic and fresh foods)

In particular, if you want to use a fast for a similar feast-preventive effect, make sure that you never start with uncontrolled eating within one day after the fast. This would cut back on a lot of benefits of the fast, that you then earned.

A neat tactic, if you fear upcoming feasting

Obviously, you don’t need to wait until Christmas to fast. You can do it any time. But I really think it was a neat tactic (while initially unintended), for counterbalancing the Christmas feast. However, check up with a doctor if you want to fast, it might not be healthy for you.

Please note: I can imagine that there are voices against this “abuse” of a fast. While I certainly had spiritual moments during the fast, I still enjoyed it as a tool to eat more mindful during Christmas. I look forward to any type of discussion.