January 14, 2025 • 30 mins
Why would anyone willingly go without food for 7 days? In this episode, I share why I kicked off 2025 with a water fast—and why it turned out to be less daunting than I expected.
Through this experience, I discovered that our bodies are capable of far more than we give them credit for—not just in fasting, but in so many areas of life. As Thomas Edison once said, “If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves.”
Tune in to explore the stages of fasting, its science-backed benefits, and my top transformative book recommendations for personal growth in 2024.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey friends, welcome to the Ones who Dared podcast,
where stories of courage areelevated.
I'm your host, vekka, and everyother week you'll hear
interviews from inspiring people.
My hope is that you will leaveencouraged.
I'm so glad you're here.
Welcome to the Ones who Daredpodcast and happy new year.
(00:29):
I'm your host, vekka, and ontoday's episode it's just going
to be me a solo episode, sharingwith you guys on why I decided
to start the year with aseven-day water fast, the
benefits of fasting, my processand what it was like for me
personally to experience thatfor the first time.
And also I'll be sharing withyou my top three books that I
(00:53):
read from 2024.
Now, as a disclosure, this isnot intended to substitute for
professional or medical advice.
I'm not a doctor and I doadvise that you seek medical and
professional expertise inregards to your health, to
fasting and seeing if you areeven eligible for fasting, as it
(01:16):
is something that requiresmedical attention.
So I'm simply here to share myexperience, my findings, and in
hopes that perhaps, if itinspires you, you can see if
this is something suitable foryou.
And yeah, so I'm just excitedto share the process with you
guys.
Also, if you guys have not quiton your goals and resolutions.
(01:39):
Congratulations, as we are pastthe national official Quitters
Day, which I believe was on the10th of January, and, for me
personally, I don't setresolutions in ways that I used
to years ago.
What I do is I essentially haveareas that I know I'm growing
(02:01):
towards, working towards andgoals that I have set, and what
I do is create environments thatare conducive to those goals
and create daily steps andactionable steps to move towards
those goals forward.
So and I also love to take theend of the year as a time to
reflect on what worked for me inthe previous year what are some
(02:24):
things that I want to dodifferently in the upcoming year
schedule?
Some trips, some challenges,some ways that I can continue to
grow and evolve into the personthat I am wanting to become.
And so, yeah, I have some greatintentions set up for the
beginning of the year, butessentially boil down to what do
(02:44):
you do on a daily basis thathelps you get there?
And if your goal is, forexample, to get in shape or lose
weight or anything along thoselines, what you want to do is
take daily steps to help you getthere, rather than just having
a goal of you know I want tolose 10 or 20 pounds by X date.
Having a goal of you know Iwant to lose 10 or 20 pounds by
(03:06):
X date, you want to.
Essentially, maybe you want toincorporate walking daily and
eating more protein and notbuying junk food in your pantry.
So, yeah, I think it's justevolved with learning about
productivity, mindsets and howthe environment that we create
helps us to grow and the stepsthat we take essentially is what
(03:28):
gets us there, rather than somebig, audacious goals.
And if you listen to my topthree books from last year,
atomic habits was a big, bigrecommendation.
It's a book that's been topselling for a really long time
and it's one that, if you'retrying to establish new habits
and new goals, I highlyrecommend you check that book
out Atomic Habits by James Clearbecause he really shifted the
(03:52):
way that I set my goals andintentions into really
achievable targets.
So okay.
So why on earth would I want tostart my year with starving
myself on nothing but water forthe first seven days of the year
?
Well, I don't know if you knowor not, but my mom passed away
(04:15):
from breast cancer shy a monthfrom her 61st birthday.
She had breast cancer threetimes.
In the third time it took herout.
Now there were other thingsthat played a role that I
believe in my mom having cancerto begin with.
But upon fasting in the previousyear, fasting in 2024, doing
(04:39):
several day fasts, I figuredthat I could probably pull off a
seven day fast and a seven daywater fast.
So from my research and again,please seek medical doctor for
this to fact, check this withyour doctor and if you're
(05:00):
fasting, do it under medicalsupervision.
Do what's best for you.
This is me sharing myexperience with you.
This is not me telling you whatyou should be doing.
Upon my research, I discoveredthat fasting is a way that helps
to clean out damaged cells.
It also helps to starve offsome of those cancer cells, and
there are some articles that Iread that even touch on the
(05:23):
percentage of decrease in cancerand diseases, which I won't
quote the exact percentages.
But essentially, it is a goodthing to do for you in order to
reset your body and for me,because I'm going to be turning
40 soon.
That's right.
Because I'm going to be turning40 soon, that's right.
(05:47):
I wanted to do a challengingreset for my body and really to
give my health a boost,rejuvenate some of that.
And so here's some things thatsome of the doctors say about
fasting.
Dr Jason Fung, who is anephrologist and an author of
the Complete Guide to Fasting,says fasting triggers a process
called orthopogy, where the bodycleans out damaged cells and
(06:09):
regenerates newer, healthy ones.
It's nature's way of detoxingand repairing.
Dr Walter Lange, who's abiochemist and researcher on
longevity, says that prolongedfasting forces the body to
switch from burning glucose tofat, and this metabolic switch
promotes stress resistance andcellular renewal.
(06:29):
Dr Alan Goldhammer, founder ofTrue North Health Center, says A
properly supervised water fastallows the body to reset
inflammation, improve metabolichealth and promote
detoxification, especially whendone with guidance.
And so fasting has been as longas the beginning of time.
(06:52):
People have fasted for indifferent cultures, different
religions, for spiritualpurposes as well as health
purposes.
I was curious to see if I wasgoing to be able to do a seven
day water fast.
Actually, I resolved that Iwould do a seven day water fast,
no matter what.
So I went into the seven daywater fast with the intention to
finish, no matter how hard itwas going to be for me, and it
(07:17):
was.
It was difficult because thefirst of the year my husband's
family has the best brunch ever.
My husband's family has thebest brunch ever and it's just
an amazing spread of all thefoods you'd want to eat if you
wanted to indulge.
And so I had to actually skipthat event and stay home and
start my day one of seven daywater fast.
(07:37):
So what happens on day one?
I'm going to kind of go throughday by day what's going on in
your body through the fasting aswell as my experience with it.
So on day one your body goesthrough transition of glucose
depletion.
So what's happening in yourbody is blood sugar levels drop
and the body begins to useglycogen so that store glucose
(08:00):
in the liver and muscles forenergy and at this point your
insulin levels also decrease,and so the benefits to that is
initial reduction ininflammation, lower insulin
levels, and this is somethingthat starts to pave the way for
fat burning.
The challenge of day one is youfeel really hungry.
You may have mild mentalfatigue as your body adapts to
(08:25):
you, essentially starvingyourself on nothing but water.
For me, what I found that helpsin doing water fasting is
drinking warm water.
That kind of relieves thehunger pains, and also I put
mineral salt in my water and italmost feels like a meal in a
sense, and that really justhelps to not feel as hungry.
(08:49):
And, of course, you want tostay extra hydrated during your
fast.
I also avoided sauna during thefast not to deplete my body too
much.
So day two, you transition tofat burning, which is going into
ketosis.
So what's happening is glycogenstores are being depleted, the
body transitions to burning fatfor energy and your ketones,
(09:12):
which are byproducts of fatmetabolism, begin to rise.
The benefits are increasedmental clarity, as ketones fuel
the brain, and cellularethopathy begins clearing
damaged cells.
The challenge is, though,especially if you have been
eating junk food during theholidays, is you may develop a
headache, have mental fatigue asyour body is switching into
(09:36):
this kind of state, andsometimes this is commonly
called as the keto flu, whichyou may begin to feel really
crappy.
I know the first day that I'vedone, the first time that I've
done, a three-day water fast,which was, I think, last year at
the beginning of the year, thatwas really rough because of all
the junk that I was eating, andjust kind of over the holidays.
(09:58):
This time around, I was reallyintentional about making sure I
wasn't overloading my body withtoxins and things that would be
really hard for me to recover,so it was easier for me.
I think it was also easier forme to do the seven day fast
because I was fasting throughoutthe year in 2024, a couple of
days in a row, so my body kindof got used to that rhythm and
(10:21):
this wasn't a total shock, as itwas the very first time I did
three day water fast, which Iwas.
I felt like I was going to befainting and I was not having
headaches and all the um yeah,so that was not fun, okay.
So day three it's also known asthe hardest day of fasting.
(10:41):
Whether you're doing a three dayfast or seven day fast, it is
the hardest day because it's theday that your hunger and energy
dips and so you feel so hungry,your energy levels are at the
lowest, and so what's happeningin your body at day three is
orthopogy is in full swing.
(11:01):
It peaks as the body scavengersand recycles damaged proteins
and cells and ketones become theprimary fuel source and the
benefits is you have enhancedcellular repair and
detoxification and decreasedinflammation markers in the body
.
And I've done research on dayseven fasts and they do say that
(11:24):
day three really is the hardestday and I experienced that
myself.
Now day four is hormonaloptimization and energy rebound.
What's happening in the body isgrowth, hormone production
increases, promoting fat burningand muscle preservation.
The body begins to stabilizeenergy levels.
In some research they say thatday four is when you peak focus
(11:45):
and energy.
I didn't experience that on dayfour.
I just kind of it was easierthan day three, but I didn't
have that burst of energy thatsome people experience in day
four.
I just kind of it was easierthan day three, but I didn't
have that burst of energy thatsome people experience in day
four.
So they say some benefits ishaving higher level of energy as
the body adjusted, burning fatand significant reduction in
hunger pains.
(12:06):
The challenges you may have milddizziness and coldness, and I
did experience.
The one thing that I would sayI experienced throughout my fast
is my body was really reallycold.
I had to wear like socks andextra sweaters and pants and it
was just like I just felt reallycold.
So I had to keep my body extra,extra warm, because you're not
(12:28):
getting that fuel and when weeat food it essentially provides
heat to our body as we burn ourfood, and so I had to really
bundle up during the fast.
I was surprised, though, that Istill continue to have energy.
It wasn't as bad as my initialthree day fast that I did, that
(12:48):
I was actually able to get tasksdone around the house, I was
able to continue to work and getsome things done, and it wasn't
a total laying bed.
And you know and again,everybody is going to experience
things differently anddepending on where you're at
with your health and if you'vedone fasting before.
Day five was my favorite day ofthe fast.
(13:09):
I woke up with complete clarity, energy, as if it was like I
woke up with new glasses and Icould see the world through a
whole different lens.
It was almost euphoric whereI've read about it and people
talk about how, day four or five, you experienced this like
burst of energy.
(13:29):
You experienced this elevatedclarity, and everything just
seems to make sense, and thatwas so true for me.
So what happens is, at this day, ketones are at their highest
and deep cellular repaircontinues, stem cell production
begins in some tissues and thebenefits is enhanced brain
(13:50):
function and mental claritydecrease oxidative stress and
improve insulin sensitivity.
So the challenge ispsychological craving for food
may linger.
I definitely.
Even on day five I was dreamingof food.
I was making up all theserecipes.
I couldn't wait to eat when I'mdone fasting.
But I was on day five.
(14:12):
I was full of energy.
I ended up completely cleaningout, reorganizing my pantry.
I did a full on intense workoutat home and it was unbelievable
that on the fifth day of noteating anything but water, you
experience such a burst ofenergy.
(14:33):
So it was very interesting tosee how our body works and I've
never experienced that before ofnot eating for five days and
having this surge of energy.
Now, day six, I stillexperienced clarity, not as
intense as day five, and I stillhad energy.
I think on that day I wasshoveling snow and still working
(14:55):
out lightly at home.
I was cleaning out my fridge,organizing things, just still
having a good source of energy.
So what's happening on day sixis fat stores continue to be the
primary energy source.
The immune system resets, withold, damaged immune cells being
replaced by new ones.
The benefit during this day isimproved immune function and
(15:18):
enhanced anti-aging effects fromcellular rejuvenation, and your
energy levels may dip due toprolonged fasting.
I think I felt pretty decent onday six.
And then the last day, day seven, guys, I couldn't wait to eat
food.
My friend sent me smoked salmonfrom Portland, oregon, like on
(15:41):
day three of the fast thatarrived.
I should have been here beforeNew Year's Eve but nonetheless I
had this delicious wild salmon,smoked salmon, tempting me in
the fridge and I just couldn'twait to eat it.
But knowing that you have tocome out of the fast safe and
proper, you don't want to eat afull meal on your first day of
fast, and so I just on day seven.
(16:03):
I couldn't wait to eat.
I was hungry, but I wasn't.
It was more mentally hungry.
Like you want to eat, you missfood, but it's not the same as
having this, the hunger painsthat you have on day three, at
least in my experience.
So what's happening on day sevenis your body's doing a full
body detox and renewal, which Iwas so excited about and I was
(16:26):
really excited to keep to finishit well.
And so the body completes thedeep detoxification and repair
process.
Metabolism resets to prioritizeefficiency.
The benefits of this day issignificant reduction in
inflammation, increased stemcell reproduction and tissue
repair.
And so the challenges,psychological challenges to
(16:48):
finish the fast.
I would say that I wasextremely surprised how much
energy I had throughout theseven days.
And again it's going to vary,because the very first time I
did a three day fast, I wasextremely depleted in energy and
felt like I can't make itthrough the three days.
But because this day I primedmy body to fast more frequently
(17:11):
in the past year that the sevendays was a lot easier than I
personally anticipated, and so,yeah, that was my experience At
the end of the day.
Seven day fast is a reallypowerful tool for physical,
mental renewal and it is backedby science, and so you know
(17:32):
there's also you can do researchregarding science-based data
for fasting and cancer links.
There is so many differentbenefits to fasting.
Now I will say that fasting isnot for everyone.
There are certain people whoshould never fast.
Certain medications there's youknow this is something that you
seek your doctor for andpregnant women shouldn't fast,
(17:56):
women who are nursing shouldn'tfast.
Women a week before themenstrual cycle shouldn't fast.
Those are some things that Ican tell you from my research,
but at the end of the day, eachperson's body is unique.
So I do recommend that you goand seek your medical doctor and
seeing if you're qualified todo a seven day fast or not.
(18:17):
Or, if you want to start withone, maybe you just want to do
intermittent fasting, whateverthat looks like for you.
There's just been kind of mixedreviews on fasting in general,
so I just recommend that you dothat.
But, however, it's essential toapproach fasting with proper
medical guidance, particularlyif you are undergoing cancer
(18:39):
treatments.
Okay, so that is my fastingprocess.
I hope that you're able to getsomething out of that.
All right, and now to the funpart my top three books of 2024.
This is always kind of hard forme, because I love reading so
(19:00):
much that I want to recommendbooks that will add value to you
within the year, and soselecting just three books is a
bit of a challenge for me, but Ithink I've narrowed down to
three books that can bring youthe most value and so that I
read in 2024.
The first book that I recommendis one that I suggested for the
(19:25):
mastermind that I facilitatedat the last quarter of the year,
and this book is called 10x iseasier than 2x, by Dan Sullivan
and Dr Benjamin Hardy, and thisbook talks about how world-class
entrepreneurs achieve more bydoing less.
Now, this book challenges thetraditional view of success and
argues that achieving tenfoldgrowth is much simpler than
(19:46):
doubling down your progress orworking harder is much simpler
than doubling down your progressor working harder.
Instead, you focus byexponential thinking,
eliminating distractions andprioritizing your unique ability
, and so the authors lay out aframework by transforming your
mindset and helping you achieveextraordinary results.
One of the things that I reallyloved about this book, which
(20:09):
isn't really new, is that youeliminate 80% of what's not
working for you and you focusand do more of the 20%.
That's going to help youincrease the most growth in your
goals and your identity andwhere you're trying to go in
life and in alignment with yourpurpose and your vision for your
life.
And so that, to me, wassomething that I had to really
(20:33):
reframe certain things andfigure out what are the areas
that need to let go of, what arethe areas that I'm keeping, and
10x also requires you a newidentity.
So radical transformationhappens when you align your
identity with your long-termvision and, essentially, this
book really helps you tosimplify, create a framework for
(20:55):
you.
This book really helps you tosimplify, create a framework for
you and help you to worktowards your goals and the
people in the mastermind reallyappreciated this book as well,
so it was well received by allthe members in the mastermind
and we really enjoyed this bookand I think it helped us to grow
in different areas.
That was personal to eachperson.
(21:17):
Now book number two.
I normally don't recommendbooks of people that come on the
podcast just because it feelslike I'm promoting my podcast,
but this book was so good and Ithink it's so timely and
everybody needs this message,and so I am making one
recommendation from a podcastguest that I had, and this book
(21:38):
is called Made for People byJustin Whitmiller Early.
Now I am a huge believer thatrelationships is the greatest
gift that we've been given onthis earth, that there is
nothing in the world likerelationships and doing
community and doing it well andsurrounding yourself with the
(22:00):
right people, adding value tothe right people in your circles
, and expanding and growing inyour relationships and
continuing to add value and alsoit just is to me is my heart.
I love people.
I love for people to helppeople around them.
(22:21):
So now this book explores howmodern life, isolation and
busyness are at odds with thedeep human need for meaningful
relationships.
We all long to belong, to haverelationships, but a lot of us
are stuck on how do we comeabout creating the community?
How do we foster therelationships we want?
(22:41):
How do we grow deeper in ourrelationships?
So Justin in this book offerspractical, incited roots.
Justin offers practicalinsights rooted in faith and
wisdom to help readersintentionally build and sustain
a life rich with community.
We are designed forrelationships.
(23:02):
Community and connection arefundamental to our human
flourishing, to our human needs,and we all get busy, and
busyness is the enemy ofconnection, and so I love the
point that he made and I'dreally.
If you don't have time to readthe book, I encourage you to go
and listen to the podcast on theum.
(23:24):
If you go to Justin Whitmullearly um podcast about how the
art of relationships andfriendships, you will find that
episode to be so helpful, and soI just recommend that you read
this book because there's somany great takeaways.
If not, listen to the podcastand I hope that you get great
(23:45):
value out of it.
Book number three was a veryinteresting read.
Chapter one started off with abizarre example of a study that
was done and but nonetheless itproved its point.
So book number three is calledDopamine Nation Finding Balance
in the Age of Indulgence, andI'm sure that you're aware that
(24:07):
we live in a high dopaminesociety, where we have everybody
has their own vice, so to speak, to feed their dopamine, and
whether it's social media, thenews, the, you know, for some
people it's video games,pornography, addictions, all of
those different things is a waythat we, as humans, give
(24:32):
ourselves a dopamine, and thatcan become a big problem.
So, essentially, this bookdives into the neurochemical
underpinnings of pleasure andpain, and so explores the
pursuit of instant gratificationthrough technology, substances
and habits that has led to anepidemic of addiction.
She talks about the dopamineseaside.
(24:53):
The pleasure and the pain aretwo sides of the same coin, and
indulging too much can tiptowards the balance of pain.
And essentially, in our modernworld, addiction is everywhere,
and from sugar tooverstimulating pathways, and so
she recommends doing a dopaminefast, which is you could take a
break from things that areperhaps overstimulating you and
(25:16):
addictive behaviors that you areengaging with, whether they are
detrimental to you or not.
It could be a fast from socialmedia, fast from your phone,
sugar, whatever it is, butessentially it's important for
us to embrace discomfort inorder to build resilience, and
then we can experience things ina way that is simple, but
(25:40):
simpler things can bring uspleasure and we can kind of even
out that dopamine imbalancethat we have in our world,
because it's very hard in ourmodern world, I find, stay more
focused to um, essentially,we're just in such a hamster
wheel of this dopamine cyclethat we don't even realize how
(26:06):
much we're affected by by thatuntil we stop and actually take
some intention and perhaps do adopamine fast to have some
clarity and figure out how youwant to move forward.
And so she also talks about howhealthy relationships and
meaningful engagements are theantidotes to overindulgence and
(26:26):
addiction.
So this book was reallyfascinating and it's got a lot
of science backed data in thereand I really enjoyed it.
And it's got a lot ofscience-backed data in there and
I really enjoyed it and itreally helped me to reevaluate
some of my daily life and someof my habits.
In the fourth book, which is abonus book I know I said book
three, but this is a book that Iwant to leave you with as well
(26:48):
it is a book that I read prior,several years ago, and I reread
in 2024.
I really think this is apowerful book.
It is more in the faithdepartment, so it's called the
Circle Maker by Mark Batterson,and Mark Batterson explores the
power of prayer through themetaphor of circling promises,
dreams and challenges inpersistent prayer.
(27:11):
So he draws on biblical storiesand personal experiences and
emphasizes on bold and specificprayers can lead to miraculous
results.
Now I personally witnessed therewards of what he talks about
in this book and prayers andspecific prayers that and so
(27:31):
2024 was a year that two really,really big things that I've
been contending for years havebeen answered, and I'm
continuing to dream big,continuing to pray hard,
continuing to circle specificthings in prayer and being
persistent in what it is that Ifeel like is in line with the
(27:52):
purposes and plans that God hasfor my life and for people in my
life.
And so I'm really excited toshare this book because if you
need your faith activated, ifyou want to understand how
prayer works, if you're someonewho maybe has never prayed
before, if you're curious aboutit, this is a great book to
(28:13):
start and it's a it has reallyinteresting stories and
metaphors and, again drawingfrom his personal experiences,
but it was very helpful to me tokind of re knew my knowledge
about it and be able to utilizeand continue to utilize the
steps For me.
(28:33):
I love writing down my dreamsand specific requests on index
cards, and the best part is whenthose things come true and I
get to cross them off in a big X.
And so I have some two big X'soff the list this year past year
and I'm excited to continue tocross off more because I'm
(28:53):
really believing for some thingsto come to pass.
That may seem impossible, but Ibelieve that with God, there's
a lot is possible, so I'm reallyexcited.
All right, well, guys, thankyou so much for hanging around
and if you made it this far onthe podcast, congratulations.
I hope you got some value outof that and I wish you a happy,
(29:17):
a fabulous, a healthy 2025.
I hope you challenge yourselfthis year, I hope you grow this
year and that you justexperience wonder, above all,
just the beauty and the wonderof the small and little things,
because and the wonder of thesmall and little things because
(29:39):
life is too short to not enjoylife and a bonus for you here if
you have confetti, pull it out,take moments to celebrate life
because, again, life is tooshort to hoard your confetti and
not pop it during celebrations,and so thank you so much for
listening.
Have a fabulous year and I'llsee you.
So much for listening, have afabulous year and I'll see you
in the next episode.
Thank you for listening to theOnce we Dare podcast.
(30:02):
It is an honor to share theseencouraging stories with you.
If you enjoy the show, I wouldlove for you to tell your
friends.
Leave us a reviewer rating andsubscribe to wherever you listen
to podcasts, because this helpsothers discover the show.
You can find me on my website,speckhopoffcom.
Hey friends, welcome to the Ones who Dared podcast,
where stories of courage areelevated.
I'm your host, vekka, and everyother week you'll hear
interviews from inspiring people.
My hope is that you will leaveencouraged.
I'm so glad you're here.
Welcome to the Ones who Daredpodcast and happy new year.
(00:29):
I'm your host, vekka, and ontoday's episode it's just going
to be me a solo episode, sharingwith you guys on why I decided
to start the year with aseven-day water fast, the
benefits of fasting, my processand what it was like for me
personally to experience thatfor the first time.
And also I'll be sharing withyou my top three books that I
(00:53):
read from 2024.
Now, as a disclosure, this isnot intended to substitute for
professional or medical advice.
I'm not a doctor and I doadvise that you seek medical and
professional expertise inregards to your health, to
fasting and seeing if you areeven eligible for fasting, as it
(01:16):
is something that requiresmedical attention.
So I'm simply here to share myexperience, my findings, and in
hopes that perhaps, if itinspires you, you can see if
this is something suitable foryou.
And yeah, so I'm just excitedto share the process with you
guys.
Also, if you guys have not quiton your goals and resolutions.
(01:39):
Congratulations, as we are pastthe national official Quitters
Day, which I believe was on the10th of January, and, for me
personally, I don't setresolutions in ways that I used
to years ago.
What I do is I essentially haveareas that I know I'm growing
(02:01):
towards, working towards andgoals that I have set, and what
I do is create environments thatare conducive to those goals
and create daily steps andactionable steps to move towards
those goals forward.
So and I also love to take theend of the year as a time to
reflect on what worked for me inthe previous year what are some
(02:24):
things that I want to dodifferently in the upcoming year
schedule?
Some trips, some challenges,some ways that I can continue to
grow and evolve into the personthat I am wanting to become.
And so, yeah, I have some greatintentions set up for the
beginning of the year, butessentially boil down to what do
(02:44):
you do on a daily basis thathelps you get there?
And if your goal is, forexample, to get in shape or lose
weight or anything along thoselines, what you want to do is
take daily steps to help you getthere, rather than just having
a goal of you know I want tolose 10 or 20 pounds by X date.
Having a goal of you know Iwant to lose 10 or 20 pounds by
(03:06):
X date, you want to.
Essentially, maybe you want toincorporate walking daily and
eating more protein and notbuying junk food in your pantry.
So, yeah, I think it's justevolved with learning about
productivity, mindsets and howthe environment that we create
helps us to grow and the stepsthat we take essentially is what
(03:28):
gets us there, rather than somebig, audacious goals.
And if you listen to my topthree books from last year,
atomic habits was a big, bigrecommendation.
It's a book that's been topselling for a really long time
and it's one that, if you'retrying to establish new habits
and new goals, I highlyrecommend you check that book
out Atomic Habits by James Clearbecause he really shifted the
(03:52):
way that I set my goals andintentions into really
achievable targets.
So okay.
So why on earth would I want tostart my year with starving
myself on nothing but water forthe first seven days of the year
?
Well, I don't know if you knowor not, but my mom passed away
(04:15):
from breast cancer shy a monthfrom her 61st birthday.
She had breast cancer threetimes.
In the third time it took herout.
Now there were other thingsthat played a role that I
believe in my mom having cancerto begin with.
But upon fasting in the previousyear, fasting in 2024, doing
(04:39):
several day fasts, I figuredthat I could probably pull off a
seven day fast and a seven daywater fast.
So from my research and again,please seek medical doctor for
this to fact, check this withyour doctor and if you're
(05:00):
fasting, do it under medicalsupervision.
Do what's best for you.
This is me sharing myexperience with you.
This is not me telling you whatyou should be doing.
Upon my research, I discoveredthat fasting is a way that helps
to clean out damaged cells.
It also helps to starve offsome of those cancer cells, and
there are some articles that Iread that even touch on the
(05:23):
percentage of decrease in cancerand diseases, which I won't
quote the exact percentages.
But essentially, it is a goodthing to do for you in order to
reset your body and for me,because I'm going to be turning
40 soon.
That's right.
Because I'm going to be turning40 soon, that's right.
(05:47):
I wanted to do a challengingreset for my body and really to
give my health a boost,rejuvenate some of that.
And so here's some things thatsome of the doctors say about
fasting.
Dr Jason Fung, who is anephrologist and an author of
the Complete Guide to Fasting,says fasting triggers a process
called orthopogy, where the bodycleans out damaged cells and
(06:09):
regenerates newer, healthy ones.
It's nature's way of detoxingand repairing.
Dr Walter Lange, who's abiochemist and researcher on
longevity, says that prolongedfasting forces the body to
switch from burning glucose tofat, and this metabolic switch
promotes stress resistance andcellular renewal.
(06:29):
Dr Alan Goldhammer, founder ofTrue North Health Center, says A
properly supervised water fastallows the body to reset
inflammation, improve metabolichealth and promote
detoxification, especially whendone with guidance.
And so fasting has been as longas the beginning of time.
(06:52):
People have fasted for indifferent cultures, different
religions, for spiritualpurposes as well as health
purposes.
I was curious to see if I wasgoing to be able to do a seven
day water fast.
Actually, I resolved that Iwould do a seven day water fast,
no matter what.
So I went into the seven daywater fast with the intention to
finish, no matter how hard itwas going to be for me, and it
(07:17):
was.
It was difficult because thefirst of the year my husband's
family has the best brunch ever.
My husband's family has thebest brunch ever and it's just
an amazing spread of all thefoods you'd want to eat if you
wanted to indulge.
And so I had to actually skipthat event and stay home and
start my day one of seven daywater fast.
(07:37):
So what happens on day one?
I'm going to kind of go throughday by day what's going on in
your body through the fasting aswell as my experience with it.
So on day one your body goesthrough transition of glucose
depletion.
So what's happening in yourbody is blood sugar levels drop
and the body begins to useglycogen so that store glucose
(08:00):
in the liver and muscles forenergy and at this point your
insulin levels also decrease,and so the benefits to that is
initial reduction ininflammation, lower insulin
levels, and this is somethingthat starts to pave the way for
fat burning.
The challenge of day one is youfeel really hungry.
You may have mild mentalfatigue as your body adapts to
(08:25):
you, essentially starvingyourself on nothing but water.
For me, what I found that helpsin doing water fasting is
drinking warm water.
That kind of relieves thehunger pains, and also I put
mineral salt in my water and italmost feels like a meal in a
sense, and that really justhelps to not feel as hungry.
(08:49):
And, of course, you want tostay extra hydrated during your
fast.
I also avoided sauna during thefast not to deplete my body too
much.
So day two, you transition tofat burning, which is going into
ketosis.
So what's happening is glycogenstores are being depleted, the
body transitions to burning fatfor energy and your ketones,
(09:12):
which are byproducts of fatmetabolism, begin to rise.
The benefits are increasedmental clarity, as ketones fuel
the brain, and cellularethopathy begins clearing
damaged cells.
The challenge is, though,especially if you have been
eating junk food during theholidays, is you may develop a
headache, have mental fatigue asyour body is switching into
(09:36):
this kind of state, andsometimes this is commonly
called as the keto flu, whichyou may begin to feel really
crappy.
I know the first day that I'vedone, the first time that I've
done, a three-day water fast,which was, I think, last year at
the beginning of the year, thatwas really rough because of all
the junk that I was eating, andjust kind of over the holidays.
(09:58):
This time around, I was reallyintentional about making sure I
wasn't overloading my body withtoxins and things that would be
really hard for me to recover,so it was easier for me.
I think it was also easier forme to do the seven day fast
because I was fasting throughoutthe year in 2024, a couple of
days in a row, so my body kindof got used to that rhythm and
(10:21):
this wasn't a total shock, as itwas the very first time I did
three day water fast, which Iwas.
I felt like I was going to befainting and I was not having
headaches and all the um yeah,so that was not fun, okay.
So day three it's also known asthe hardest day of fasting.
(10:41):
Whether you're doing a three dayfast or seven day fast, it is
the hardest day because it's theday that your hunger and energy
dips and so you feel so hungry,your energy levels are at the
lowest, and so what's happeningin your body at day three is
orthopogy is in full swing.
(11:01):
It peaks as the body scavengersand recycles damaged proteins
and cells and ketones become theprimary fuel source and the
benefits is you have enhancedcellular repair and
detoxification and decreasedinflammation markers in the body
.
And I've done research on dayseven fasts and they do say that
(11:24):
day three really is the hardestday and I experienced that
myself.
Now day four is hormonaloptimization and energy rebound.
What's happening in the body isgrowth, hormone production
increases, promoting fat burningand muscle preservation.
The body begins to stabilizeenergy levels.
In some research they say thatday four is when you peak focus
(11:45):
and energy.
I didn't experience that on dayfour.
I just kind of it was easierthan day three, but I didn't
have that burst of energy thatsome people experience in day
four.
I just kind of it was easierthan day three, but I didn't
have that burst of energy thatsome people experience in day
four.
So they say some benefits ishaving higher level of energy as
the body adjusted, burning fatand significant reduction in
hunger pains.
(12:06):
The challenges you may have milddizziness and coldness, and I
did experience.
The one thing that I would sayI experienced throughout my fast
is my body was really reallycold.
I had to wear like socks andextra sweaters and pants and it
was just like I just felt reallycold.
So I had to keep my body extra,extra warm, because you're not
(12:28):
getting that fuel and when weeat food it essentially provides
heat to our body as we burn ourfood, and so I had to really
bundle up during the fast.
I was surprised, though, that Istill continue to have energy.
It wasn't as bad as my initialthree day fast that I did, that
(12:48):
I was actually able to get tasksdone around the house, I was
able to continue to work and getsome things done, and it wasn't
a total laying bed.
And you know and again,everybody is going to experience
things differently anddepending on where you're at
with your health and if you'vedone fasting before.
Day five was my favorite day ofthe fast.
(13:09):
I woke up with complete clarity, energy, as if it was like I
woke up with new glasses and Icould see the world through a
whole different lens.
It was almost euphoric whereI've read about it and people
talk about how, day four or five, you experienced this like
burst of energy.
(13:29):
You experienced this elevatedclarity, and everything just
seems to make sense, and thatwas so true for me.
So what happens is, at this day, ketones are at their highest
and deep cellular repaircontinues, stem cell production
begins in some tissues and thebenefits is enhanced brain
(13:50):
function and mental claritydecrease oxidative stress and
improve insulin sensitivity.
So the challenge ispsychological craving for food
may linger.
I definitely.
Even on day five I was dreamingof food.
I was making up all theserecipes.
I couldn't wait to eat when I'mdone fasting.
But I was on day five.
(14:12):
I was full of energy.
I ended up completely cleaningout, reorganizing my pantry.
I did a full on intense workoutat home and it was unbelievable
that on the fifth day of noteating anything but water, you
experience such a burst ofenergy.
(14:33):
So it was very interesting tosee how our body works and I've
never experienced that before ofnot eating for five days and
having this surge of energy.
Now, day six, I stillexperienced clarity, not as
intense as day five, and I stillhad energy.
I think on that day I wasshoveling snow and still working
(14:55):
out lightly at home.
I was cleaning out my fridge,organizing things, just still
having a good source of energy.
So what's happening on day sixis fat stores continue to be the
primary energy source.
The immune system resets, withold, damaged immune cells being
replaced by new ones.
The benefit during this day isimproved immune function and
(15:18):
enhanced anti-aging effects fromcellular rejuvenation, and your
energy levels may dip due toprolonged fasting.
I think I felt pretty decent onday six.
And then the last day, day seven, guys, I couldn't wait to eat
food.
My friend sent me smoked salmonfrom Portland, oregon, like on
(15:41):
day three of the fast thatarrived.
I should have been here beforeNew Year's Eve but nonetheless I
had this delicious wild salmon,smoked salmon, tempting me in
the fridge and I just couldn'twait to eat it.
But knowing that you have tocome out of the fast safe and
proper, you don't want to eat afull meal on your first day of
fast, and so I just on day seven.
(16:03):
I couldn't wait to eat.
I was hungry, but I wasn't.
It was more mentally hungry.
Like you want to eat, you missfood, but it's not the same as
having this, the hunger painsthat you have on day three, at
least in my experience.
So what's happening on day sevenis your body's doing a full
body detox and renewal, which Iwas so excited about and I was
(16:26):
really excited to keep to finishit well.
And so the body completes thedeep detoxification and repair
process.
Metabolism resets to prioritizeefficiency.
The benefits of this day issignificant reduction in
inflammation, increased stemcell reproduction and tissue
repair.
And so the challenges,psychological challenges to
(16:48):
finish the fast.
I would say that I wasextremely surprised how much
energy I had throughout theseven days.
And again it's going to vary,because the very first time I
did a three day fast, I wasextremely depleted in energy and
felt like I can't make itthrough the three days.
But because this day I primedmy body to fast more frequently
(17:11):
in the past year that the sevendays was a lot easier than I
personally anticipated, and so,yeah, that was my experience At
the end of the day.
Seven day fast is a reallypowerful tool for physical,
mental renewal and it is backedby science, and so you know
(17:32):
there's also you can do researchregarding science-based data
for fasting and cancer links.
There is so many differentbenefits to fasting.
Now I will say that fasting isnot for everyone.
There are certain people whoshould never fast.
Certain medications there's youknow this is something that you
seek your doctor for andpregnant women shouldn't fast,
(17:56):
women who are nursing shouldn'tfast.
Women a week before themenstrual cycle shouldn't fast.
Those are some things that Ican tell you from my research,
but at the end of the day, eachperson's body is unique.
So I do recommend that you goand seek your medical doctor and
seeing if you're qualified todo a seven day fast or not.
(18:17):
Or, if you want to start withone, maybe you just want to do
intermittent fasting, whateverthat looks like for you.
There's just been kind of mixedreviews on fasting in general,
so I just recommend that you dothat.
But, however, it's essential toapproach fasting with proper
medical guidance, particularlyif you are undergoing cancer
(18:39):
treatments.
Okay, so that is my fastingprocess.
I hope that you're able to getsomething out of that.
All right, and now to the funpart my top three books of 2024.
This is always kind of hard forme, because I love reading so
(19:00):
much that I want to recommendbooks that will add value to you
within the year, and soselecting just three books is a
bit of a challenge for me, but Ithink I've narrowed down to
three books that can bring youthe most value and so that I
read in 2024.
The first book that I recommendis one that I suggested for the
(19:25):
mastermind that I facilitatedat the last quarter of the year,
and this book is called 10x iseasier than 2x, by Dan Sullivan
and Dr Benjamin Hardy, and thisbook talks about how world-class
entrepreneurs achieve more bydoing less.
Now, this book challenges thetraditional view of success and
argues that achieving tenfoldgrowth is much simpler than
(19:46):
doubling down your progress orworking harder is much simpler
than doubling down your progressor working harder.
Instead, you focus byexponential thinking,
eliminating distractions andprioritizing your unique ability
, and so the authors lay out aframework by transforming your
mindset and helping you achieveextraordinary results.
One of the things that I reallyloved about this book, which
(20:09):
isn't really new, is that youeliminate 80% of what's not
working for you and you focusand do more of the 20%.
That's going to help youincrease the most growth in your
goals and your identity andwhere you're trying to go in
life and in alignment with yourpurpose and your vision for your
life.
And so that, to me, wassomething that I had to really
(20:33):
reframe certain things andfigure out what are the areas
that need to let go of, what arethe areas that I'm keeping, and
10x also requires you a newidentity.
So radical transformationhappens when you align your
identity with your long-termvision and, essentially, this
book really helps you tosimplify, create a framework for
(20:55):
you.
This book really helps you tosimplify, create a framework for
you and help you to worktowards your goals and the
people in the mastermind reallyappreciated this book as well,
so it was well received by allthe members in the mastermind
and we really enjoyed this bookand I think it helped us to grow
in different areas.
That was personal to eachperson.
(21:17):
Now book number two.
I normally don't recommendbooks of people that come on the
podcast just because it feelslike I'm promoting my podcast,
but this book was so good and Ithink it's so timely and
everybody needs this message,and so I am making one
recommendation from a podcastguest that I had, and this book
(21:38):
is called Made for People byJustin Whitmiller Early.
Now I am a huge believer thatrelationships is the greatest
gift that we've been given onthis earth, that there is
nothing in the world likerelationships and doing
community and doing it well andsurrounding yourself with the
(22:00):
right people, adding value tothe right people in your circles
, and expanding and growing inyour relationships and
continuing to add value and alsoit just is to me is my heart.
I love people.
I love for people to helppeople around them.
(22:21):
So now this book explores howmodern life, isolation and
busyness are at odds with thedeep human need for meaningful
relationships.
We all long to belong, to haverelationships, but a lot of us
are stuck on how do we comeabout creating the community?
How do we foster therelationships we want?
(22:41):
How do we grow deeper in ourrelationships?
So Justin in this book offerspractical, incited roots.
Justin offers practicalinsights rooted in faith and
wisdom to help readersintentionally build and sustain
a life rich with community.
We are designed forrelationships.
(23:02):
Community and connection arefundamental to our human
flourishing, to our human needs,and we all get busy, and
busyness is the enemy ofconnection, and so I love the
point that he made and I'dreally.
If you don't have time to readthe book, I encourage you to go
and listen to the podcast on theum.
(23:24):
If you go to Justin Whitmullearly um podcast about how the
art of relationships andfriendships, you will find that
episode to be so helpful, and soI just recommend that you read
this book because there's somany great takeaways.
If not, listen to the podcastand I hope that you get great
(23:45):
value out of it.
Book number three was a veryinteresting read.
Chapter one started off with abizarre example of a study that
was done and but nonetheless itproved its point.
So book number three is calledDopamine Nation Finding Balance
in the Age of Indulgence, andI'm sure that you're aware that
(24:07):
we live in a high dopaminesociety, where we have everybody
has their own vice, so to speak, to feed their dopamine, and
whether it's social media, thenews, the, you know, for some
people it's video games,pornography, addictions, all of
those different things is a waythat we, as humans, give
(24:32):
ourselves a dopamine, and thatcan become a big problem.
So, essentially, this bookdives into the neurochemical
underpinnings of pleasure andpain, and so explores the
pursuit of instant gratificationthrough technology, substances
and habits that has led to anepidemic of addiction.
She talks about the dopamineseaside.
(24:53):
The pleasure and the pain aretwo sides of the same coin, and
indulging too much can tiptowards the balance of pain.
And essentially, in our modernworld, addiction is everywhere,
and from sugar tooverstimulating pathways, and so
she recommends doing a dopaminefast, which is you could take a
break from things that areperhaps overstimulating you and
(25:16):
addictive behaviors that you areengaging with, whether they are
detrimental to you or not.
It could be a fast from socialmedia, fast from your phone,
sugar, whatever it is, butessentially it's important for
us to embrace discomfort inorder to build resilience, and
then we can experience things ina way that is simple, but
(25:40):
simpler things can bring uspleasure and we can kind of even
out that dopamine imbalancethat we have in our world,
because it's very hard in ourmodern world, I find, stay more
focused to um, essentially,we're just in such a hamster
wheel of this dopamine cyclethat we don't even realize how
(26:06):
much we're affected by by thatuntil we stop and actually take
some intention and perhaps do adopamine fast to have some
clarity and figure out how youwant to move forward.
And so she also talks about howhealthy relationships and
meaningful engagements are theantidotes to overindulgence and
(26:26):
addiction.
So this book was reallyfascinating and it's got a lot
of science backed data in thereand I really enjoyed it.
And it's got a lot ofscience-backed data in there and
I really enjoyed it and itreally helped me to reevaluate
some of my daily life and someof my habits.
In the fourth book, which is abonus book I know I said book
three, but this is a book that Iwant to leave you with as well
(26:48):
it is a book that I read prior,several years ago, and I reread
in 2024.
I really think this is apowerful book.
It is more in the faithdepartment, so it's called the
Circle Maker by Mark Batterson,and Mark Batterson explores the
power of prayer through themetaphor of circling promises,
dreams and challenges inpersistent prayer.
(27:11):
So he draws on biblical storiesand personal experiences and
emphasizes on bold and specificprayers can lead to miraculous
results.
Now I personally witnessed therewards of what he talks about
in this book and prayers andspecific prayers that and so
(27:31):
2024 was a year that two really,really big things that I've
been contending for years havebeen answered, and I'm
continuing to dream big,continuing to pray hard,
continuing to circle specificthings in prayer and being
persistent in what it is that Ifeel like is in line with the
(27:52):
purposes and plans that God hasfor my life and for people in my
life.
And so I'm really excited toshare this book because if you
need your faith activated, ifyou want to understand how
prayer works, if you're someonewho maybe has never prayed
before, if you're curious aboutit, this is a great book to
(28:13):
start and it's a it has reallyinteresting stories and
metaphors and, again drawingfrom his personal experiences,
but it was very helpful to me tokind of re knew my knowledge
about it and be able to utilizeand continue to utilize the
steps For me.
(28:33):
I love writing down my dreamsand specific requests on index
cards, and the best part is whenthose things come true and I
get to cross them off in a big X.
And so I have some two big X'soff the list this year past year
and I'm excited to continue tocross off more because I'm
(28:53):
really believing for some thingsto come to pass.
That may seem impossible, but Ibelieve that with God, there's
a lot is possible, so I'm reallyexcited.
All right, well, guys, thankyou so much for hanging around
and if you made it this far onthe podcast, congratulations.
I hope you got some value outof that and I wish you a happy,
(29:17):
a fabulous, a healthy 2025.
I hope you challenge yourselfthis year, I hope you grow this
year and that you justexperience wonder, above all,
just the beauty and the wonderof the small and little things,
because and the wonder of thesmall and little things because
(29:39):
life is too short to not enjoylife and a bonus for you here if
you have confetti, pull it out,take moments to celebrate life
because, again, life is tooshort to hoard your confetti and
not pop it during celebrations,and so thank you so much for
listening.
Have a fabulous year and I'llsee you.
So much for listening, have afabulous year and I'll see you
in the next episode.
Thank you for listening to theOnce we Dare podcast.
(30:02):
It is an honor to share theseencouraging stories with you.
If you enjoy the show, I wouldlove for you to tell your
friends.
Leave us a reviewer rating andsubscribe to wherever you listen
to podcasts, because this helpsothers discover the show.
You can find me on my website,speckhopoffcom.
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