View Full Version : Longest without Food?
Supposedly you can go along time without food, but I don't think I have ever gone a day without eating something. It is certainly not something I would want to do, especially when needing to hike and/or stay warm. Curious though, how long anyone has gone without food, except maybe bark tea or something like that, and how it effected their ability to cover distance and stay warm.
bikerscars
02-18-2009, 11:32
3 days...sick
only kept water down
exhausted
but i think it was the germs as much as the lack of food that wore me out
Supposedly you can go along time without food, but I don't think I have ever gone a day without eating something.......You must have never been in the military. :eek::D For me it was a few days or so after a very bad car accident, and even then it was just feeding going down a tube from my nose to my stomach.
periodically i fast for 24 hours for religious/spiritual reasons. i drink water and fruit juices during that time. as a rule i try to limit my physical activity during fasting. the first few times it can get difficult, but it got easier as time went on. i've never tried it on a hike.
fifo
hah, after 4 hours of hiking I feel like my stomach could digest a battery.
fiddlehead
02-18-2009, 11:55
Ever hear of a breatharian? I've known 32 of them in my life so far and both
One of them had no food for 90 days and said she could've gone longer.
she said: It was no big deal.
bikerscars
02-18-2009, 12:01
Ever hear of a breatharian? I've known 32 of them in my life so far and both
One of them had no food for 90 days and said she could've gone longer.
she said: It was no big deal.
wow...i hadda google to see if you were serious...now i've seen everything
then again hyoh
Blissful
02-18-2009, 12:14
well, 12 hrs throwing up at Lakes of the Clouds - and had to do the presidential range to Osgood the next day but was able to keep some stuff down thankfully. You can really do more than you think.
The Solemates
02-18-2009, 12:14
periodically i fast for 24 hours for religious/spiritual reasons. i drink water and fruit juices during that time. as a rule i try to limit my physical activity during fasting. the first few times it can get difficult, but it got easier as time went on. i've never tried it on a hike.
fifo
i have done this several times before as well. i also limit physical activity but only drink water.
i have skipped meals on a hike for this same reasoning, but have never gone 24 hrs. i think i would like to try to see if I could walk out the door for a weekend hike without any food and be ok.
I ran out of food once. I walked 19 miles that day, up and over 4 ridges. When I got home I weighed myself. I had lost 10 lbs.
Then I ate a whole pizza. :D
I have never been one of those "Oh wow...I forgot to eat for 3 days" type of person. I love food...what can I say :p
As for being sick and not eating - that is a whole different game. I have had vertigo migrianes (google it, it is one of the nastiest forms you can have. I won't get graphic in a food forum....) 3 times and lets be blunt - I don't eat for a couple days after one. I cannot eat - even the smell of food makes me sick again.
Lynn Setzer tried it as an experiment during a hike. He lasted a few days but got dangerously weak and confused. You can probably Google it to find out more. I watched he do a talk once about it.
catfishrivers
02-18-2009, 13:03
I did a 2 week long fast once, as well as numerous fasts for lesser durations.
berninbush
02-18-2009, 13:09
I've fasted for maybe 48 hours or so, but I wasn't hiking.
The Bible reports Jesus wandered in the desert for 40 days without eating. If I recall correctly, Moses did something similar on a mountaintop. Medical science says this is possible.
neighbor dave
02-18-2009, 13:22
Ever hear of a breatharian? I've known 32 of them in my life so far and both
One of them had no food for 90 days and said she could've gone longer.
she said: It was no big deal.
:-? i ran into some breatharians on kalapana beach on the big island back in "87". i was a breatharian then too, cept i was inhalelin the local version of fresh air!!
gotta love the "butter":sun
Wow you guys are pretty tough. I could never go without food for more than a few hours on a hike.
I've tried fasting at home (well, once) and I got a blinding headache and I felt like my stomach was turned inside out. I gave up at 8 pm and made a pot of macaroni and cheese and felt instantly better. I don't think I could willingly do it.
I love to watch Surviorman. I especially love, at the end of the week that Les Stroud is out, he says casually, "Well, I haven't eaten in 5 days and I'm getting a little hungry, a little weak."
catfishrivers
02-18-2009, 13:35
Survivorman makes me hungry for bugs :p
Jayboflavin04
02-18-2009, 14:02
I usually eat just 1 meal a day sometimes 2. I also dump massive amounts of caffine and sugar in my system. MOUNTAIN DEW it is like gasoline for this machine.
Survivorman makes me hungry for bugs :p
Esp. w/a side of cattail roots. Delicious. And larvae for dessert.
At Bible College, a couple friends and I fasted for two days. I took multivitamins and drank juice. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I didn't have to do any physical labor, either. When my blood sugar level gets low, I tend to get grumpy.
I don't think I would try this (purposely) on a hike.
bikerscars
02-18-2009, 14:15
Esp. w/a side of cattail roots. Delicious. And larvae for dessert.
yumm...
witchetty grubs
:p
neighbor dave
02-18-2009, 14:28
I usually eat just 1 meal a day sometimes 2. I also dump massive amounts of caffine and sugar in my system. MOUNTAIN DEW it is like gasoline for this machine.
:-?iffin ya keeps on drinkin that there mtn dew you'll be eatin soft foods and you'll have as many teeth in yer head as this guy:eek:
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=6863173&page=1
Tipi Walter
02-18-2009, 14:56
I was on a 9 day fast when I went backpacking down into the Slickrock Creek basin for 3 days. On the last day of my trip I was into my 9th day of fasting and had a 2000 foot climb to do and I barely made it out. My pack was about 60 pounds and it was rough. I do not recommend fasting while backpacking unless you decide to set up a basecamp and stay put for several days. In that case, I would get camp arranged and start fasting and rig a little sapling hooch for a sweatlodge and heat up some rocks in the firepit and do a nightly sweat. Twould make the fast much easier. On the last day eat a bit and move out.
hootyhoo
02-18-2009, 21:25
3 days as part military training. Was not easy. Took a little time for things to recover. Apparently it was not uncommon for Native Americans to go long periods without food from some books I have read. But I have always thought modern folks are not accustomed to missing a meal and it is difficult to go without.
Interesting replies as always. Thanks.
I've tried fasting but I've proven to be a total wimp in that respect. I've gone 2.5 days without sleep a couple of times, but never move that 1 without food that I can remember. I've tried fasting from sunup to sunrise for Ramadan or Lent a few times but never made it. Funny because I often eat only once a day, but when I decide I needs to eat, I can't seem to say no. I ran out of food on a winter hike once, but it was the last day, otherwise it might have gotten interesting.
I should do a controlled experiment sometime, but it would take some will power as I would still have some food with me if I did something like that. From what I understand you need to slow down so as to burn mostly fat, so you don't use up all your glycogen, and so you don't have to convert too much muscle to glycogen. Your brain can't burn fat and needs 400 kcal a day regardless of activity level. I've slept in winter without a full meal and it is colder, so there is that aspect also. I think your body produces 25% less heat when sleeping on an empty stomach, so you would need 33% more loft. The big risk is that you are much closer to hypothermia, and much more apt to make serious mistakes, when you let your glycogen level get depleted.
Here is something I've always wondered about.
When people fast, but take fruit juices, is that really fasting?
Fruit juice has alot of calories doesn't it???
Not criticizing, as I'm not sure I could do it, but is it really fasting?
There are such things as Juice Fasts. If you intend to do one, it is a type of recognized fast.
My opinion is that it is not truly fasting. Some fruit juices (and vegetable juices) are quite tasty and satisfying - not the kind of thing you would say was denying yourself much of anything.
I've gone without food for 2 days twice, but not hiking. Longest hiking was 1/2 day - no breakfast, out to town at about 2:00pm. Nothing, really.
I understand when Ghandi did his hunger strike, he still took water, with some fruit juices in it, but I don't think it was alot of fruit juice. Never know though. He was a great guy and all, but he was also a lawyer, and they can be be crafty. ;)
Seriously though, depending on the purpose of the fast, I think a little fruit juice in the water is the way to go, as long as its not too much. Like perhaps the equivalent of a half a small lemon or lime each day, but not like 12 oranges and 12 pineapples each day.
FYOF ;)
Jim Adams
02-20-2009, 00:21
being a little old fat man really messes with my hiking / eating habits. I love food and eat way too much normally (hence the LOFM) but when I start any hike, I pack food for each day that I think that I'll need but the hiking actually makes my body burn fat while walking and I am never hungry in camp for the first few weeks to a month. I carry all this food but I have to force myself to eat almost anything. On the PCT in the Sierras I carried 8 days of food at one point but after 10 days, I still had 7 days of food left. I went about 55 hours with only consuming a slim jim. I came down out of the mountains and checked in with a doctor as this was already 2 1/2 months up the trail. The doctor told me it is very common with overweight people due to the altitude. No illness but no energy either.
...once the fat is gone, lookout...I can't carry enough food!
geek
I went for an extra long ski last saturday, and I've been going a couple of times a week, but since last saturday I've noticed my metabolism running a little hotter than usual. Of course it could be the weather has been milder so the house is a little warmer. The suns alot stronger also. Anyhow, I'm curious about fasting but for weight loss I think the main thing is to get as many hours as possible in hiking and stuff, and you don't want to skmip to much on the kindling if you want to get the fat burning. I think I might still experiment a little though, but always carry enough.
fiddlehead
02-20-2009, 02:29
Ever hear of a breatharian? I've known 32 of them in my life so far and both
One of them had no food for 90 days and said she could've gone longer.
she said: It was no big deal.
I'm sorry folks. I didn't proof read this (above) post.
I have known 2 (TWO) breahtarians in my life. NOT 32!
Anyway, i too have a hard time fasting. It takes a special knack and confidence i believe. I know many people who do though every once in a while.
Funny story, i was on my CDT hike in '98 when we hit way too much snow in CO to get through. So, we decided to go up to NM and head south for a while.
But all my boxes were ready to be mailed with the correct (NOBO) maps in a timely order. So, i called my friend who was helping &mailing them out for me. People who answered the phone said she was on a 30 day vow of silence.
So, i asked them to open every box, take out the maps, and mail them all to a certain mail drop for me.
When my friend got out of her vow of silence, she was very worried that someone broke into my boxes and took things. It all worked out of course but was another one of those unforseen things that can go wrong. ( another blowdown on the trail)
Vow of silence. I would find that extremely difficult. lol