The Water Fast Ended on Day 45. Here Is What Happens Now

This is the post we hoped we would not write until October 29. The water fast is over. It ended on day 45.

Here is exactly what happened, in order, so nobody has to piece it together from three videos.

The timeline

September 14, day 45, afternoon. John had just filmed the halfway video that morning, 50 pounds gone, feeling good. That afternoon a wave of nausea hit him out of nowhere and turned into vomiting. It ran through the afternoon and into the evening. In his words there was nothing he could do to stop it. No amount of rest or water was going to stop it.

September 14, 10 PM. He made the call. He ate. A small amount of homemade beef broth, just enough to get something into his system. It settled things almost right away.

September 15, day 46. He weighed in at 178.4, a 0.1 pound gain, the first plus sign of the run. Then he stood in his usual spot and said it on camera. As of today, my 90 day water fast is officially over. That video and the full story are on the day 46 page.

September 16, day 47. Two days of broth, stomach calm, feeling much better. The ketone strip still read 16. He started diluted cranberry juice. Day 47 is here.

The honest numbers

45 days of water, August 1 to September 14. Start weight 228.6. Weight on the morning of day 46, after the broth, 178.4. That is 50.2 pounds in 45 days of water only, verified on camera every morning with the scale photo on every page.

Not 46 days. Day 46 was the first morning after food. Not 90 days. The plan was 90. The body said 45.

Why the site still counts to 90

The 90 day calendar was never the promise. It was the project. The about page has said from the first week that 90 days was the goal and not a promise, that the doctor held unconditional authority to stop it and that the bloodwork decides. This time the body decided first.

So the count keeps running. Day 1 was August 1 and day 90 is October 29. Days 1 to 45 were the water fast. Days 46 to 90 are the refeed and recovery, under the same doctor with the same monthly bloodwork, filmed and weighed every morning the same way.

What changed today is the labeling. Every day badge on the site now shows which phase you are looking at. The progress strip turns from gold to blue at day 45. The notice at the top of every page points here. Every video from day 46 on carries a refeed label in the corner so a clip cannot travel around the internet pretending to be day 60 of a water fast.

If you ever catch a page or a video on this site implying John water fasted past day 45, that is a mistake. Say so in the comments and it gets fixed.

Why he stopped

Because vomiting on a water fast is not a rough patch. Water is the entire supply line and vomiting empties it faster than drinking can refill it. MedlinePlus lists vomiting that will not stop as a reason to get a doctor involved. John did the practical thing. When rest and water changed nothing he ate. When he ate he accepted the fast was over.

His own summary is the one that matters. Most important thing here, I suppose, is listen to your body. When your body says for you to do something else, you gotta pivot and you gotta do it.

What happens now

Refeeding, slowly. Cleveland Clinic describes refeeding syndrome as a serious risk when food comes back too quickly after a long stretch without it, which is why the first week is broth and not a plate. Beef broth first. Diluted unsweetened cranberry juice. More as the weeks go on, at the pace his doctor sets.

The interesting part of a long fast was always going to be what comes after. Three years ago John fasted 83 days, felt incredible, went back to old habits and regained everything. Nobody filmed that part. This time the camera stays on. The refeed, the scale, the bloodwork, the ketone strips as they finally fade, all of it, every day to day 90.

Thank you for following. The fast is over. The journal is not.