Transcription
Chris, good to see you, man.
Hey Jimmy, how are you?
Happy to be here. I gotta say, dude, as soon as I heard about what you had done, uh, I was like, "Okay, I have to have him on the podcast." I'm so intrigued. Um, who would ever do this to themselves? But we will get into all that. Man, you, uh, you just finished four weeks ago a 40-day water-only fast.
Yeah, yeah. 40 days?
Yep. Nothing, not a single morsel of food for 40 days.
Did you do electrolytes and things like that, or just water?
No, I did not. I flavored water or just normal water?
Straight-up water. Yeah. So I, I had done a few other fasts, shorter fasts, and I would, I would, uh, add some salt for electrolytes. But this one, the salt doesn't taste good, right? And so this one, I was like, I can't do that for 40 days. So I just purchased Essentia water, you know, you get it at the grocery store. What I just, I like the taste, and it did have like 15 milligrams of salt, but most electrolyte packets have like 1,000 milligrams.
Okay, so some people were like, "Well, you did have electrolytes." So I'm like, "Not really."
No, I think you did.
Yeah. So tell me, let's back into this, dude. Why, why did you do this?
Yeah, so there's, which you have probably heard of, um, but the Misogi, the Japanese one-day that you make it as hard as possible so that every other day that year is easy in comparison. Yeah, yeah. And there's kind of like different modes of thinking with it, but it's all kind of the same. It's, it's essentially just doing something extremely hard. And I originally learned about it from Jesse Itzler. I follow him, and I just love, I, I just love his life. He's just a positive, outgoing guy. And I heard about it from him and then did a deep dive onto what it was and what it meant. And this was a few years ago now, and I just adhered to that principle. And I like doing something extremely hard every year. And so I just, this year, I was like, "What's going to be my extremely hard thing?" And I had done, I've been, I've been doing long-term water fasts for probably three years, you know, three, four-ish years, you know, three days, five days, seven days. And I just, I just thought I could do 40. And I just, I, I thought about it for about four months and just mentally like digested it and went over it and read about it. And and then I just said, "Yeah, I'm going to do it."
So what did you, I mean, to go back to the beginning, like you'd already done three-day, five-day, so you kind of were familiar with what that was going to do and when atrophy sets in and all that kind of stuff, right?
Autophagy. Yeah. I know I was going to say it wrong. But, um, so what, so what was your first day that you started?
So I started and I planned it out because I, you know, I did a little ChatGPT because I was like, "Oh, it'd be kind of cool to go like the entire month of September, you know, and not eat anything." So I think it was August like 24th or something along those lines. And but I timed it so that I could end on the last day of...
Was it harder than you thought it was going to be, or was it easier than you thought it was going to be?
It was legitimately one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. I would assume so. Very difficult. But it didn't go how I thought it would.
Yeah, tell me about it.
So I thought, you know, I just assumed that it would be a linear progression of difficulty. But ironically, week one was harder than week two. And weeks two, three, and four, they were hard, but it was kind of the same difficulty. Um, and to give a little background on that, as I've thought through it, I think it's because, you know, when I did my three, five, and seven-day fasts, you know, and just different stuff I'd read and people I'd talked to and things I'd watched, people talked about, "Hey, your hunger disappears." And in in those previous fasts, I was like, "I don't know, like, I'm, I'm definitely still hungry. I'm just like pushing it to the side." But on this 40-day fast, on day eight, my hunger genuinely disappeared. And so that's why. So week one was harder because I was, I was still hungry and I was like pushing it to the side and kind of battling the hunger pains. But then it disappeared, and I was just kind of in for the ride.
So the hunger goes away after about a week. Um, what I noticed, 'cause I did a four-day fast, and day three was much harder than, or excuse me, was much easier than days two and one. Yeah. Um, but, you know, I can't really even compare this. But one thing I noticed was that I wasn't hungry, but I still had my desire to eat because of the dopamine hit that food gives you. So did that go away, or did that still kind of...?
It did a little bit. The, the funny thing was is, um, when I was doing the, you know, because right now I'm kind of, you know, I'm decompressing for my business, and so I've got a little bit of free time right now in my life. And I realized I was like, "Man, we spend a lot of time revolved around food." Of course. And so I already have a decent amount of free time, and then I just freed up an additional three to four hours every day. And I was like, "I got a lot of time on my hands right now." But, yeah, the dopamine hits, yeah, that, that I would say that went away too. You know, and the way I explained it was like, you know, it's basically was between like lunch and dinner, right? Like you had a good lunch, it's not quite dinner time, but if somebody put a plate of food in front of you that was appetizing, like you, you would partake and you would say, "Oh, this is good," but you're not super hungry. That's exactly how I felt. Was like, wasn't really hungry, wasn't really desiring it, but sure.
Well, you sold your company, AnySlingshots, so you've had the time to kind of just do this and not have to worry how it would affect your, you know, performance and things like that, right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so are you essentially retired now, or where you at with your business?
One, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I've got my wheels are turning because I believe in the principle of work. And actually, to be totally honest, you're actually an inspiration to mine. To be really, yeah, yeah. Just, I, I, you know, we've been friends for years. And, you know, I heard Mike Miller say one time, he's just like, "Nobody grinds harder than Jimmy." And I, you know, I myself a very hard worker. And I'm like, "Yeah, nobody grinds harder than Jimmy." And so I, I would assume you're at a place where you could kind of ease off the gas pedal if you wanted to, but you just keep grinding. And I'm like, "I, I believe in the principle of work." And I watch you and just other people in life that just kind of keep their foot on the gas pedal. And it's, I like it. You know, I did need a little time to to decompress. But...
Well, yeah, no. Well, it's for me, it was, you know, I had a dad that grew up on a ranch and taught us hard work. But then also, honestly, my Mormon Mission, dude, just, I wanted to be really good at it. I wanted to have success. And so you have to learn to grind. And then when I got into real estate, I wanted to be number one. I wanted to be the best. And, um, it is nice now, you know, I'm in a place where I still work probably as many hours as ever because I do a lot of these weekend retreats and things like that. But it's just a whole different type of work. Like this technically is work, but I'm just having a conversation with my buddy, you know what I mean? And so it's just a whole different kind of grind. Um, which is nice. You get to that spot. You know, I take my mornings to myself now. Every morning from 7:00 to 10:00, I kind of do my own thing. Get, yeah, it's where I do a lot of my studying, read, go for a walk, like do yoga, meditation, all that kind of stuff. And so, um, but so as you're doing this, so what did you, like, did the boredom kick in a lot? Did you have a, like, were you being social and going out, or no?
So, yeah, I wasn't. Well, no, I was being social with just, you know, kind of my neighbors and just people around. But like, the things that I cut out was I wasn't going to the gym and I wasn't doing sauna. 'Cause I, I'm, I like the sauna. You can't, you can't, you just can't use that extra energy. Yeah, yeah. I needed it. But I was doing a whole lot more than you would have assumed. You know, like, I was still doing projects around my house, like I was still running errands, like I was still for the most part living my normal life, other than the gym. And then just the deeper into the fast I got, I was just a little slower. And, you know, if something was upstairs in my house, it'd be like, "Okay, that's really far." You know.
Was your energy levels pretty low?
Uh, they were pretty high. But it's just when I would do something that would exert energy, I felt the dip faster, if that makes sense. Yeah. I, I climbed out Kilimanjaro. And when you're on the peak, okay, when you're up above, you know, this, then like, it's just anything you do, like normally, if you run hard or you exert yourself, you know, you have to catch your breath. It takes you a second. It just doesn't, your breath doesn't come back. Like you're just out of energy, you're out of breath. And so it kind of like, it takes literally what would take 20 seconds, takes 10 minutes. Yeah, to get your heart rate back down and stuff. I, I don't know if that compares.
It a little bit. It does. You know, and, yep, exactly. It's like I would just need to take a few more little breaks, you know, I just need to do things a little bit slower. But I was still getting it done, you know.
So how much weight did you lose?
Um, yeah, so this was an interesting. I got, this was probably the most, uh, asked question. And I actually specifically delayed the answer because I just didn't want people to focus on that number because, oh, and I want to get into all the benefits of it. We're going to get into all that. But yeah, but so I actually, you know, I was telling people I was compiling the data, which I was, but it took me like 45 minutes to compile the data. And I delayed three days. But I lost almost 50 pounds. So I lost 47.8 pounds, I think. But as of like last week, I've gained back almost 40.
I was going to say, you don't look. I saw your photo you posted on Instagram, and you, a little bit, uh, looked like you'd been in a concentration camp or something.
Yeah, it was. I was skinny. But yeah, 'cause it just comes back so fast, you know. So what happens? Your body starts eating itself, obviously. Did you lose a lot of muscle?
Was obviously lose all your fat. Yeah, a lot of fat. Yeah. So I was, I had, you know, I, I documented everything and was like, baselined everything and then was documenting everything throughout. And I had, um, ketosis strips, you know, that I was using every morning. And so I was in ketosis the entire time. Um, so yeah, my energy source was mainly ketosis. Um, the, the muscle loss will be a little bit ambiguous. Basically, I won't know the final answer. Pro, I'll have a rough idea because I did do a DEXA scan before. Okay. I did it on day 20. I did it on day 40. And then I've got another one, I think, in like two weeks. So. But the guy that owns the DEXA scan place there in Tempe, he was, you know, I was telling him about the fast. And he was doing like the metabolic rate numbers. And he was, 'cause on paper, it said I lost like 30 pounds of muscle, like 34 pounds of muscle. But he was like, "That is not accurate at all because muscle is mostly water." And that's all I was drinking.
Makes sense.
And so doing the metabolic rate, he's like, "I anticipate you'll probably lose about four to six pounds of muscle."
How many pounds does a human have of muscle? Do you know?
Um, I don't. I mean, my muscle that I had, my, my lean muscle mass, I think was like 150 or something when I started. And then between like fat and everything else, you know, 'cause I was, I was 201.1 when I started, and I was 154 point, you know, point whatever when I ended. And I, like, I haven't been that weight since middle school. But that's what it was on the scale.
Did you have clothes? Like, was your clothes fitting?
Oh, they were falling off. Yeah. My gym shorts were falling. You have to buy some new stuff or no?
'Cause I knew it was all coming back. So I was just like, "Well, I'm just going to cinch the belt up, you know." So it was pretty funny. Yeah.
So, all right, get into a little bit of the benefits of fasting for people that aren't as familiar. Like, what kind of stuff can, you know, you expect when you do a fast like this?
Yeah, yeah. So it, I mean, there's a lot of reasons people fast. Like, I mean, spiritual reasons, health reasons, mental reasons. And and I knew of all those benefits and I wanted to capitalize on all of them. But the reason I did it was kind of the Misogi principle. Like I just wanted to do something hard. But I also wanted to capitalize on everything else. So the benefits, physical benefits is like we talked about, um, at the beginning, is what's called autophagy or autophagy. And that happens, it starts around 48 hours, you know, 72 hours. And that's where essentially your digestive track gets a break. You know, what most people don't realize is the majority of your calories that you burn every day go to digestion. People think it's moving around, but it's digestion. And I tell people like, "No, if you were in a coma, you would burn 1,800 calories." Like, if you're just laying in a hospital bed, totally conscious, you would still burn 1,800 calories, burn, you know, digesting the liquid food that the hospital is giving you. But when you totally devoid your body of that, your body can say, "Oh, we don't need these calories to digest it, anything because there's nothing there. So let's go within the body and let's basically clean house." Like, so that you start getting rid of the dead, the mutated, the cancerous cells that are throughout your body. And then it, and then, you know, it cleans you out. So that's like the physical benefits. Um, from the body, mentally, that was probably, probably the second or third most common, probably the third most common question I got was like, "How was your mental state?" And mental state was A+. Like, top-notch. Most clear mind I've ever had in my life for 40 days straight. Like my body was, you know, I was a little slow and a little weak, but my mind was just as clear as could be. Like I could think very clearly. There was zero brain fog. And I don't have a lot of brain fog to begin with, but I just had clarity. Just a level of clarity I'd never experienced before. And so that was a huge, huge benefit of that, um, of the fast. And then, you know, spiritually, it's like, I, I was just like basking in the spirit for 40 days, you know.
Well, yeah, anytime you put yourself through something that's that much, um, you know, discipline, that much sacrifice, and things, there's so much to benefit from that. I mean, most people can't do a 24-hour fast, you know, and so to be able to do it for that many days, I mean, it really is. I mean, I think Jesus did 40 days, right? That was, that's like the big miracle in the Bible.
Did you consider going 41 days just to say you went a little bit past Jesus?
Had a few jokes that said I should. I did not consider that at all during the fast. Didn't even cross my mind. And then I had a few buddies that made some comments. I was like, "It's pretty funny."
But did you, uh, did you almost quit at any point?
Yeah, yes. Yes. What was the hardest moment?
So, yeah, so like I said, week one was harder than week two. And once I got to day 30, it was hard. Like it was hard getting to day 30, but going from 30 to 40 was exponentially harder. Really? It was like five times harder than the previous 30 days. I'm not sure exactly why, but it just, yeah, 30 to 40 was just extremely difficult.
Do I mean, are there other people that have done this that are talking about this experience? I mean, 40 days, I've heard of, you know, two weeks or a week. But I mean, it starts getting pretty dangerous even after about two weeks, doesn't it? Like if you don't really watch what you're doing?
Not really. Especially in America, really? Yeah. We all have enough body fat to get through it. Like, 'cause you're just in autophagy the whole time, unless you have like a heart condition or just some other medical conditions. No, like the, the human body, especially probably most Americans, it's like they could probably go 50 to 60 days without food and be fine. The world record, granted, this guy was morbidly obese, it was back in like 1930. The world record is like 383 days, went over a year without food. Wow. And he lost like 250 pounds. And he kept it off for, you know, it's quite shocking how much food we think we need versus how much we actually need. I mean, we're really the only civilization these last, call it 100 years, 150 years, that just had not even that long, you know, food at our disposal at all times. I mean, you would just go days without eating. They got very used to having a big feast when you killed an animal and then not eating much for long periods of time. And as long as you have access to water, it's like, and that's, that's actually, in my opinion, it's a very healthy way to eat. Because again, most your calories go towards digestion. And I, it was very interesting watching my heart rate through the fast because my, my, um, resting heart rate, just typically around like high 40s, you know, maybe I'll get into like 50, 51. And then just to put that into perspective for listeners, it's like Lance Armstrong's resting heart rate was like 36, and that's like anomaly, like, like that's outrageously. Yeah. And so mine was around 40. I think the average American's like sitting in like the low 60s, you know, and a lot of that's because you're just constantly digesting food because we eat so much. But as I was in the fast, it, it got almost a little scary where almost every single day, my average resting heart rate was dropping by a beat or two per day for like a week. And I was like, "Can that get to a place where it's too low?" It could. Yeah. And I, you know, I was like, "Once I start getting into the 30s, that's where I'm like, uh, should I stop?" But it actually settled right around 40. I think there was like two or three days where my resting heart rate was 39. And I just was just kind of was like, "Okay, as long as it stays in there." And I did, um, I bought a blood pressure monitor and I would do that once or twice a day to check my blood pressure and just make sure my heart was good. And then I was getting blood work done and and just checking all that stuff. But to finish that thought, once I broke the fast, my, my resting heart rate skyrocketed to like in the 60s, which it's never been there. Okay. And just as my body was like, "It's going back into overdrive of like digesting food." And now it's, it's coming back down, you know, like I'm in the, I'm in the 50s now.
And so how do you break a 40-day fast? You have to be pretty careful, I'm guessing, on how you come out of it.
Yeah, yeah. That's, so that is actually the most risky part is is the refeeding process. If you're doing like a three to five, you know, seven-day fast, like, yeah, be a little careful. But even when I did my four-day, I, I did a protocol. I had like some beef broth and, um, I think it was like pickle juice or something. And you kind of slowly start mixing a few other things in for the first couple hours. And then then I finally took down like a Cafe Rio burrito bowl, you know. Yeah. When I broke my seven-day fast, 'cause I'd done a five and three before, I was like, "I'm just going to eat a steak." And I just ate a steak and it was totally fine. Yeah. But the, uh, the 40-day fast, you know, that one was a little more. I, I just wanted to be careful. 'Cause what the risky part is, is when you're, when your main energy source versus body fat, ketosis, and then you go back to using glucose, the shift of going back to glucose, that's the risky part. Because that shift back to glucose can disrupt the electrolytes and cause like, cause like heart palpitations and like just heart stuff. So, like when World War II finally ended, and then, and the American soldiers were given food to the Jews out of the concentration camps, a lot of them died actually.
Oh, for real?
'Cause they just gave them so much food. They're like, "My goodness, they're starving." Can you imagine? You survived the concentration camp and then you die from eating some bread?
Yeah. Yeah, they would just have heart attacks. And not, not tons and tons of people, but yeah. But enough. But enough where like, this is a real thing.
Oh my gosh. So yeah, I did, I did bone broth to break it. And then I, I did bone broth for, I think, a day or two. And then I introduced like watermelon. And I was doing just fruit for a little bit. And then it was like, you know, yogurts. And then it was just, you know, just easing back into it. And I, I took my time. And I still think there was a few foods that I was like, "Oh, maybe that was a little too soon." You know, just because of the heart rate that I was mentioning earlier.
Smart that you were tracking that so carefully to just pay attention to that, you know, keeping an eye on it.
Yeah, yeah. I knew it was a little more risky. So I was like, "I, I enjoy risk in my life. I always have." And I, I feel like it's benefited me in my life to be a little more risky. But I also like being alive. So I was like, "I want to do it as safely as..."
So funny you say that, 'cause like, I do a lot of stuff that has the appearance of danger, but I'm very calculated with it, right? Like jumping off cliffs and swimming with sharks and doing these different things. It's like, I want to live. So like, I have a goal to go to every country. And people are, "Are you going to go to North Korea?" I'm like, "No, not unless something changes because I like my life." Like, I don't want to be stuck in a North Korean prison doing a 40-day fast against my will, you know? Like, I like to be able to live. But I also like to live with a lot of risk. They say that a person's risk tolerance, um, will determine higher than almost any other trait, how interesting of a life they'll have.
Really?
Yeah, because I mean, if you're just willing to kind of send it on whatever, right? Like, you're just going to take more chances. And a lot of them work, a lot of them don't. I mean, my life's a perfect example of that. I've had so many things fail, but I've had so many things work. Yeah, it just kind of creates an interesting life, you know. And it's funny, I had a, I was meeting with my brother at lunch with my brother the other day, and I was just talking about it. It kind of like, I'm like, "Dude, it's not lost on me. Like, you have this weird brother that just has all these random things in his life. And it's just, it's like, most people don't have deal with that, you know what I mean? Where you just like have this wild card, this question mark person in your life that's always doing something crazy. And you're always just hearing about these crazy things that he's up to or whatever." And for me, I really enjoy living that way too. I mean, for me, doing a four-day fast, water only fast, was, I, that was a real sin. That was one of the hardest things I've ever done for four days. You know, I really was. I tried to do another one, was it earlier this year or last year, anyway, since that one, and about two and a half days in, yeah, I was going to do a four-day again for, you know, the, just for like, I think that it's a good way to help your body not create cancer cells. That's kind of the main, from my own understanding and studying of this, that's why I want to do it. But about two and a half days in, I was just miserable, dude. I was being a jerk. And I'm like, "You know what? Like, I don't think I'm committed to this other day and a half." And so I stopped. And, you know, I was okay with that. But, you know, two and a half days is a full sin, too. It is.
Yeah, that's, I mean, it's more than a lot of people ever do. And what was the closest you came to quitting?
Oh, yeah, yeah. We, we were talking about it earlier. So, yeah, 'cause getting to day 30 was difficult, but 30 to 40 was exponentially harder. So I, I had five very difficult days. And all five days, um, so I was sleeping incredible. Oh, I bet. Yeah, 'cause your body's not digesting food all night. I was just deep, restful. Like I'd wake up. I wasn't sleeping very long.
Were you purposely sleeping for longer?
Or no? I, I, I was sleeping until I woke up. But it would be seven, eight hours, you know, but it was just deep and restful, like very quality sleep. But of the five days that were very difficult during the fast, they all of them were preceded by, I would say, either a bad night or a not great night of sleep. 'Cause that was my main energy source, other than the fat I had on my body. And so it was on day, I want to say like day 31 or 32 was extremely difficult. And that was like, like, I almost quit. Like, I almost threw in the towel. It was just, I wasn't feeling good. My head hurt, my stomach hurt. And I, I literally, and I was sitting on the couch, I literally sat up on my couch, I scooted to the edge, and I just sat there. And I, I went deep into my soul that day. Like, I went deep. And for two and a half hours, and I'm not exaggerating, for two and a half hours, I went just into my soul and into my mind. And I just visualized everything. I, I had made out this little, you know, this little cardboard calendar, you know, I was marking off every day. And I just looked in my mind's eye, I just looked at the days I had left. And I imagined every single day I was going to finish. And like what I was going to do that day. And I just told myself like, "Chris, like, you wanted this. Like, you sought this out. And you wanted difficulty. And you got it. So figure it out." You know? And I, and I just said, "Okay, you've gone through two and a half hours. You visualized. Go to bed. Figure it out in the morning." And I said a very meaningful prayer that night. And I just said, you know, I said, "Hey, God, if I need to, if I need to quit because this is dangerous, I will. I was like, but if I can get through this, if you can help me sleep, like I know I can get through this." And I slept so good that night to the point where like, I woke up and had like shed a few tears because I was so grateful for how well I slept that night. So that was the first day that I almost quit. The other days were very difficult, but I knew I wasn't going to quit. And then I actually almost quit on day 37. Oh, wow. Yeah. So I was going to break it on a Monday. And it was a Friday. Just want to go. And it just, it was, it was hard. And it was, um, again, I hadn't slept great the night before. And so that Friday, I felt every single minute of that day. Like every minute was an hour. And I just sat there and I just, I just told myself, I'm like, "You're too close." And I was like, "Even if I'm causing a little bit." I was checking my heart rate, you know, and I was doing, I was checking my heart rate on my watch, my blood pressure, and doing that stuff. So I was like, "Hey, you're good. Like, you just got your blood work done. Like, you're good metrics-wise. It's just in your mind." And so I said, "Even if I do a little bit of damage, I'm like, I'm sticking it out." And I did.
Yeah. What did you learn about yourself doing that?
I learned what I'm capable of. And that is that is the number one reason why I did it. You know, it's like, there was health benefits, spiritual benefits, I wanted all those. But I just wanted to see what I was made of. You know?
Yeah. I mean, that ability to push past the carnal desires, you know? Yeah. Um, wow. How did they change your relationship to food?
Oh, great question. Not very many people have asked that one, but that's a very good question. Relationship with food is just kind of like we were talking about earlier, like we just eat too much food. Like we do not need three meals a day. We just don't need it. And so like, I travel a lot, like you do. And in the past, if I had like a four or five-hour flight to the East Coast, you know, and I was hungry, I, I used to say like, "Well, like, I should probably eat something, you know, 'cause I'm going to die, you know, if I don't." And so I'd be looking around the airport like, "Well, I guess McDonald's is better than, better than." And now I'm like, "No, nothing is better than McDonald's." Like going with nothing is actually better for my body than eating. 'Cause I used to think, "Well, I should get a little protein or, you know, maybe it's like some nuts, but it's got sugar in it, but it's got a little bit of protein, so it's good for me." And I'm like, "No, no, it's not." Why? My buddy Stefanos, he, we were in down in Cancun at a retreat. And it was just the food was just kind of sloppy at this place we were at. And, and I learned a lesson from him. He's shredded, you know. And he's like, "Ah, I'll just make today a fast day. I'm not going to eat this crappy food." And I remember like just thinking like, "Man, that's discipline." You know, I'm over here like, "Let's just get the fajitas." You know, like, "I can justify a fajita." And he just, the way they were cooking the food, and he just was like, "No, today's a fast day." And it was just like, it was no big deal. You know? And I was like, "Oh, yeah, you don't have to eat all the time." Yeah. I think we as people, we've convinced ourselves that we just, the second you start feeling that, and it's not even hunger, which is funny, it's the dopamine hit. It's dopamine.
Yeah. It's dopamine. That was what I learned. That was my biggest takeaway of my 40 fast. I'm like, "Oh my gosh." 'Cause I must have gone to my pantry in my fridge 20 times on days where I knew I was going to eat. It was just like, like part of me just wanted that freaking. And you kind of get like, it's, you're breaking routines. Your body kind of rebelling a little bit. It's just all these things of like, "What are we doing? Since when did we just not eat?" You know? Yeah. But it was interesting. It was a total mental game. Um, that I, you know, I think you said that very well, though, is we just, we way overeat. We do. We do. And and even on my other fasts, like the three, five, seven, like I was playing pickleball, I was like rock climbing. And sure, there would be like lulls in energy, but I would just drink water. And I had, you know, I'd put a little bit of salt to my water on the other fasts, and it would pick me right back up. Like I would drink that and like within probably two minutes, I'd be like, "Okay, I'm, I'm like ready to go again." And my body would just figure it out. And so, yeah, learning to listen to my body was a good, you know, lesson that I learned of like, "No, your body's way stronger than you think." It's like, people miss a meal and go five hours without eating, and they're just like, "I'm gonna die." Like, you're fine.
What do you do to, because here's what I noticed is if you get past, it's about 12 to 15 minutes of the hunger pains, like your stomach just starts kind of hurting and growling a little bit, you know? But if you can push past that, you forget that you haven't eaten. Yeah. So like, for you, like how often in this 40 days are you getting the hunger pains, and how did you keep pushing past those?
This is more so for the people that that want to lose weight, 'cause it really is. I mean, losing weight, like you can study a million different ways to do it, but the bottom line is is you burn more calories than you take in, you're going to lose weight. That's really the whole thing. And so you're legitimately literally made of whatever you eat. And if you look at how often you go to the bathroom, that's the parts that didn't stick with you. Other than that, it's part of you now. It's in your, that your body is made up of whatever you put in it. Yeah. Yeah. I would say, yeah, on those when when I would get the hunger like pains, drink water. Like drink water. And we've all heard that before, right? Like, think you're hungry, you're actually probably thirsty. And it did actually work. Especially when, so I learned this from Huberman. I'm a big Huberman, you know, listener. I've been for a while. And I just love the science. And I learned on his podcast that, um, if you add a little bit of salt, your body utilizes like four times as much of that water. Otherwise, it just goes right through. So once I started doing that and getting a little electrolytes, I was like, "Oh yeah, I'm, I can drink way more water in the day. My body utilizes it. It gives me energy." Because before, when everyone was doing 75 Hard and like the gallon, I was trying to do a gallon. I was like, "I can't even do that. I'm just, I'm just peeing all the time." Like, it's like every five minutes. But once I started adding a little salt and electrolytes, I could do a gallon, gallon and a half, easy. Yeah, it made a big difference for me.
I'm doing, I'm actually on day 70 of 75 Hard right now.
Good job.
Yeah, man. So I'm down 20 pounds. And you know what's made a big difference is is drinking electrolyte water. I've been taking that LMNT water. But I just drink one of those a day. And, you know, there's YouTube videos right now saying they have stuff in it you shouldn't be drinking. But whatever. At the end of the day, it's like, pick your poison. But ultimately, those electrolytes, I think have made a huge difference in how my body is keeping the water. And, you know, and then because I've, this has been my most successful 75 Hard as far as the weight loss goes. And this is the first one you've done with electrolytes?
Yeah, the first one I've done with like consciously taking electrolytes. Yeah, you know, so I'll mix things that have like some sodium in it and stuff like that. But like, yeah, 'cause the sodium, it, it just allows the water to get into your cells. And then your cells can then use the H2O, store it, and go throughout the body. So.
So do you have any other of these extreme challenges on the docket or radar that you've been considering?
Yeah, so, um, kind of. I haven't decided yet. I'm going to get to the end of the year. 'Cause actually right now, I'm actually mentally considering, I'm kind of still in the fasting mode. Not that I'm not eating food, but I've parlayed because everything sounds amazing, right? And so I've always envisioned myself being a really healthy eater. But I don't have, I eat okay, you know. And so the next three months or until the end of the year, I've said I'm going to eat super healthy.
I was going to ask, have you, are there some foods that you're just never going to reintroduce to your body?
Yeah, probably like McDonald's and just like that type of stuff. Just about like candy, sugar stuff like that. I'm going to try. So for the next three months, 'cause I know what this end of the spectrum feels like, 'cause it's been my whole life, you know, and I, I'm like a relatively healthy guy, but I want to know what this end of the spectrum feels like, just the extreme end that I probably won't maintain. And I actually don't want to maintain. There's a level of like, just enjoying your life.
Yeah, exactly.
I want to enjoy life. I want to be social. I want. But I want to know what this end of the spectrum feels like. So the next three months, um, I am just eating. So I'm doing, uh, Casey Means, if you know her book, Good Energy. She came out. I'm, I've just been loving that book. And it's, I'm cutting out all refined sugars, all refined grains, and all refined seed oils for the next three months. And I've, to other than this weekend, because I was in Idaho for a baby blessing, which is why we could do this because I was kind of up in the neighborhood. Other than that, this weekend, I have had no refined sugars. And there was a little bit mixed in with the family foods and I just couldn't avoid. And I want to live my life. But yeah, so I'm doing that, uh, up until the end of this year. And then to answer your question, next year, some stuff I have on on on kind of the forefront of my mind is maybe just going full send and doing an Iron Man. You know, just going full Iron Man. Or, yeah, I don't know.
Have you ever looked at, like, I, so me and my buddy Jeremy, we were going to do the the Darkness Retreat. Have you ever looked at that one? Heard of that one?
Yeah. So it, you know, you can do anywhere from two to seven days. Basically, you're, it's pitch black where you do that. It's a place in Oregon. Okay. So they like bring you your food. And they...
Is it the caves in, 'cause I know there's a lot of caves in Oregon?
You're not in a cave. No, it's in a house. You're like in a basement. But they have it. I mean, it's pitch black. And then they keep it when they come in, they have the, um, glasses on that only they can see, night vision. They give you your food. And so you are in pitch black for me and him booked it. But it was funny. It was last June. We were going to do. And we both were like, as it was approaching, like, "Dude, why are we doing this in June? Like, it's so nice in Utah in June. Let's do it in January when it's miserable in Utah." You know, it's like, so we kind of postponed it. And I've yet to feel the urge to still go do it. I've prepaid it. And it was, it wasn't like $1,000 or whatever. But, um, I've thought about that one. The silent retreats, I've looked into those as well. I've thought about doing that, like a seven-day silence retreat. Yeah. I don't know. I just, I think it's anything you can do to, you know, reset that hedonic meter of your dopamine, um, is really healthy.
I'm guessing for you, um, maybe things that were temptations before just probably have very little weight or bearing on you now.
Yeah. Yeah. There's, there's a number of things where where it's, I would look at it before and be like, "Oh yeah, I'm just going to do this, whatever." But now I'm like, "No." You know, and actually this morning was a good example. I, I came down earlier than I had thought from Idaho to Utah. And I was going to hit the old Bosa, you know, the old Provo Bosa 'cause they had. And I was like, "Why are you didn't do this?" Because I kind of, I hadn't eaten the best this weekend, California burrito. And I was like, "Gonna go." And I was like, "No, Chris, you, you like, you don't need this." And so I turned around. And then I had some Greek yogurt with some chia seeds, you know. And I was like, "Yeah, was a better choice this day." And it, and it wasn't. It just wasn't hard. It wasn't hard. Whereas before, it would be a little hard. Burrito, you know? Like, I think like, I don't know if it's a survival technique or mechanism of our brain or whatever, but like things are familiar or easier to do, right? And so like, I know like for me, I used to always go to the Delta lounge and they have free drinks, free cocktails, right? And so it's like, "Oh, I'm going to have a drink or two before my flight." Then you always end up feeling like [ __ ] when you like land there the next morning. It's like, I've, I've gone several months now without alcohol. And yeah, and it's still funny, though, 'cause every time I go to the Delta lounge, there's like this pull to the stupid, "Go get a cocktail." And I'm like, "What in the hell is this?" You know? And it's like, "Wait, I actually don't want a drink. I'm just like, it's just this like routine that you're into." Yeah. And so doing things like that, like what you just did, I just think it's such a cool way to break a lot of those, you know, just habits we have around food. And how much culture there is. And, you know, one of the number one things I teach the guys in my program if they want to lose weight, and I says like, "You got to be very clear about where your diet falls apart. What are the rituals? What are the rituals that you have with your family? What are those routines? What are the things that just like, you go to Grandma's?" Like, we went to a family party last night. We had our Halloween party, right? And I know going into the Halloween party that it's just going to be a lot of food that's not healthy. That's just how my Grandma, she's just entertaining the nieces and nephews, right? My mom and, I mean, there was, dude, they had like a buffet of candy with popcorn and all the, my favorites, Oreos, Skittles. And I barely touched any of it because I made sure I filled up before I went. And then we had, you know, great. Yes. And then we had turkey chili. So I'm like, "Okay, fill up on turkey chili."
While I'm there too, and then all of a sudden, I was able to essentially, you know, I took a couple little bites here and there, but I didn't fill up on candy. And it's just kind of knowing going in, cuz like, I know that if I go to my mom's hungry, she's just going to have a bunch of great food, and she's just being Grandma, right? And I'm not going to tell my family not to have the food there, but I also know in my own house, I don't have any junk food. None. Like, I have protein bars and I don't know if you ever had those like Smart Snacks. Um, they're like two grams of sugar per. It's like, you pay like five bucks for a bag of eight Swedish Fish, basically. They're they taste unbelievable, but they're just really expensive, you know? And so, um, I think it's those to me, I'll keep around because they're essentially sugarless candy, um, and they don't have sugar alcohols either. It's like, gives you the all that stuff.
Yeah, see, but that's that's a great like point that you just made, because I've realized too, it's like sometimes when you recognize your weaknesses and you can truly acknowledge them, you can recognize them, look at them for what they are, but then you can parlay those into better habits. So for me, for example, I knew coming out of the fast, two things. I don't like cooking. I never have. Um, but then I started to really thinking about why I don't like it. And I don't like the prep. I don't like how much time it. I can have a bowl of cereal in 30 seconds, you know? But I was like, okay, well, it's the prep. So let me just get everything ready. And then the other thing is, I love snacking, you know? And so like what you're saying with the Swedish Fish, it's like, you know, you every once in a while, you probably like that just a little bit of something to get the dopamine. But it's like, I tell people that have problems overeating, it's like, hey, if you want a bowl of ice cream, just have a bowl of ice cream. Don't down the whole carton. Or have like a little snack. Hey, I always say, don't fill up on those things.
My mission president taught me a really good one. Also, put that mic a tiny bit closer there. My mission president taught me a good one. He said, uh, he would always whenever he had like brownies or a dessert, something he really enjoyed that was bad for you, he would leave the last two bites because it's kind of a way to like, cuz those last two bites for whatever freaking reason, always taste the best. And then one more. Yeah. And he said, just by leaving the last two bites, he was taking the discipline back. And so it was like his way to essentially say, okay, I'm going to eat this, but I'm going to make sure that I'm in control here. Yeah. And I always thought that was pretty brilliant.
That is really cool. Yeah. One thing I've done because, you know, I love snacking, you know, it's like so I've just, but I learned I'm like, but what about snacking? Do I like? You know? And I really did a deep dive and it's like, am I bored? Am I, you know, this that and the other? And I'm like, I just, I just like snacking. I enjoy food. So I went out and got rid of all my other old snacks that weren't great and I just found healthy snacks. Like I found some nuts. I found, you know, I do like Stevia if I need a little sweetener. It's like, and I've I've been learning. It's still an ongoing process of just like, hey, here's some snacks that'll leave you satiated and you're not down in 400 calories.
I do the same thing. It's like I've got my salt snack. So instead of eating a bag of chips, which are just terrible for you, right? I have pickles. Yeah, pickles. Pickles are great. It's about as good as you can eat. Pickles all day, you're never going to put on a pound. Um, or I'll put, uh, turkey with mustard. Just just turkey and mustard, you know? But I, it's things that I enjoy. Most people listen to like, you guys are crazy. But then it's like, if I need my sugar fix, um, you know, you just, it's, it's like sugar-free pudding can do it. Or again, these candies that I get that are the sugar-free candy. But, um, yeah, Smart Snacks and those kinds of things.
Yeah, I found, um, I found a for me, it was a random combo, but I just love it. Is dried mangoes, but not the not the sugar-covered ones from those ter legitimate organic. I know you're and almonds or sorry, not almonds, uh, walnuts. And I, I bite them together. And it's the sweet with the mango and kind of cuz Alm or, um, walnut are a little bit of a bitter. It's like the bitter with the sweet. And for some reason, that just like that hits my dopamine receptors and I'm like, that's way better than a sleeve of Oreos. Yeah. No, it's fair.
What, uh, what food did you crave the most when you were fasting? Ah, steak. I love steak and eggs. I always had my whole life. And so I was really looking forward to steak and and actually, I had heard because I was doing research on just healthy foods and stuff as I was doing it, and I didn't even know that spaghetti squash was a thing. Somebody told me about. Yeah, you can, you cut a, you cut a spaghetti squash, you cook it upside down, and then you peel it off and it comes out with the these noodles. Spaghetti, starchy. And I was like, that's like cauliflower rice. You had that unbelievable. A lot of cauliflower rice. Anytime I go to Aubergine, that's what I get. And it's like, cheat. Yeah. Yeah. I love that stuff. But yeah, so I had just heard of that during the fast and for some reason, I that sounded really good and it is really good. I like it.
Have you ever considered the carnivore diet? Um, yes. Um, I think it's more for me. And when you asked earlier about relationship with food, I think it's it's calories in, calories out. And it's more just organic natural food. So it's like, I found that a lot of what I'm doing. Stick to the sides of the grocery store. That's what I was told. Stay away from the middle. Yeah, that's good. Yeah, cuz I found like I'm kind of in this hybrid carnivore slash like keto is diet, but or whole whole 30 type diet. It's kind of a mix of all those and that's just kind of where I've settled out. So but yeah, I have. I started using my, uh, Fitness Pro. Um, I just track every calorie and that for me does it. I just know I have X amount of calories a day and if I go over by 400 one day, I don't beat myself up. I have to be under 400 the next day. Yeah. And that's been the best thing for me to because I want to do something that was sustainable, right? And I live a lifestyle where I'm always on the road, I'm always on the go, I'm traveling a lot, I go out a lot. And so you have to learn how to go out and eat. Yep. Don't just, number one, just avoid the appetizers. Yeah. And avoid the desserts period. It's off the table. Don't drink any calories. And then order protein for your meal and throw in a salad. Like you can get that almost anywhere. So it's just and I don't tell them like, only cook my salmon in this. It's like, whatever. If you cook the salmon in oil or but or whatever the hell they're going to, I'm fine with that. Like ultimately, if I'm eating salmon, I'll be fine, you know? And so for me, I've just had to learn how to make it sustainable. And, uh, and then you throw in these extremes, right? My buddy calls them like the sprints, right? Like a fast, like a even if it's 24-hour fast, like really healthy for you as a human being to just like deprive yourself of some of the free dopamine that's out there at all times. Yep.
Yeah. And even I've been learning because, you know, it's like calories in, calories out. But I've even learned like with like Stevia or monk fruit and those types of things. People are saying, hey, you still need to be a little careful with those because whereas you're not getting the calories, you're still getting the dopamine hit. It hits the same dopamine receptor. Like my diet soda is over here. Yeah. Yeah. It's the same dopamine receptor. So I try and just just eat a little bit more like fermented foods and, you know, Greek yogurts and stuff like that. And I'll still sweeten them. Cuz I do have a sweet tooth and I'm, you know, I'm lowering that with time. But, you know, I still have to be aware of it. Yeah.
So if anybody wants to do a a crazy fast like this, what would you recommend to them? Uh, you do not need to do 40 days. That is excessive. I always tell everyone, start with a three-day fast. Like, just start with a three-day fast. And then if, because so many people are like, well, I'm going to do 10 days. I'm like, have you ever done a fast? They're like, no. I'm like, I mean, good luck. I mean, four was brutal. It's very difficult. And so start with three and then see how that feels. Cuz I, I usually tell people, like, your first three-day fast, it's going to suck. Like, it's not going to be that enjoyable. Like, you're going to be hungry and it's going to be hard. You just question so many times like, why the hell am I doing this? Yeah. But then when you break the fast and you're like, ah, that wasn't it. Like, wasn't that bad, you know? And so then when you do it again, I was like, and then just a few months, you know, few weeks or few months later, like start with a three-day with the intention of maybe parlaying it into like a five-day, you know? So I'm going to go at least three, but if I feel good, I'm going to go to five. And then if you want to do longer, I think the sweet spot of where you're getting the most amount of benefit and just, you know, discipline and all that and bodywise and healthwise, I think is between seven to 14 days. Wow. Because I think that's where your body's going to cleanse itself out the most, you know? Cuz, um, and what I mean by that is just going to the bathroom, you know, you'll cleanse yourself out and you'll reach a point where you won't be going to the bathroom anymore. And I think that's when you're going to ask you, do you stop going? I mean, number two, I guess. But yeah. So it's really, it was very interesting. Every fast I've ever done for me, I'm sure it's a little different for everyone, but day two, I'm on the toilet, right? And I'm like, okay, that's all the food that I had in my system. Mhm. And then my three, five, and seven-day fasts were a little bit different. But on this fast, I hadn't, I just hadn't gone long enough. Cuz days 8, 9, and 10, I was on the toilet four to five times a day. Really? I had eaten food in eight days. Wow. And I was completely cleansing it out. Yep. And and then after that, like I didn't go to the bathroom, I didn't go number two for a month. Wow. Like I was just nothing there. Yeah. Just going number one. Yeah. There was nothing in there in my body, but I felt great mentally and like physically. Say I was like, that's the other reason why I wanted to eat healthy because I'm like, my body is pure as the day I came out of the womb. Yeah.
Well, it's motivating then too, right? It's like you want to keep it going, you know? You don't want to re. I always, I went to Tony Robbins, um, life mastery in Fiji, right before the COVID hit five years ago. Um, the biggest takeaway is like, look, you number one is to stop poisoning your body. Number two is you have to cleanse out the poisons you've been putting in your body, which is like what you did. And then number three is you got to put the good stuff in. And so that was the day I came off of energy drinks. I haven't had an energy drink in, you know, I I gave up Celsius in April. This show was my last kind of thing I would go to, but I haven't had any energy drinks because I know how bad it is for your body. I I saw it in real time when I I did a four-day cleanse at that event and by day three, like my sheets had like this almost like a silver like like yes, film, yeah, on them. And I'm like, oh my gosh, like my body was detoxing all these [ __ ] chemicals it had in it. And I had the I felt horrible for days two and three, but by day four, it was the best I'd slept in months, maybe years. And so I was like, okay, well, there's your sign, you know? And so I gave up my, uh, energy drinks five years ago. But yeah, that's cool.
Anyway, for people that want to get a hold of you, man, what's the best way to reach out? Uh, you can, uh, I mean, you can DM me on Instagram if you want, or I mean, my email, just Chris M Huntsman at gmail, or, uh, they can reach out to you and you can give my number. Like I don't, yeah, I'm open. You know, I just, I just decided to do it for me and I, it's been a lot more popular than I thought it was going to be. Bro, you just went 40 days without eating. Yeah, of course, it's popular. It's crazy. Second seot, our buddy Sean told me and I was like, wait, you're kidding me, right? I'm like, I'm calling him right now. I'm getting him on the podcast. Like I got to talk about this. It's pretty wild, man. It was it was a wild experience and at least now, you know, if you get stuck in the wilderness or on a raft or something, you can survive it, you know, you're good as long as you have a water source, you're good to go.
I got a buddy, my buddy David Vabor, he he was an NFL player and he went on this crazy reality show called The Raft. You probably never heard of it. Only had one season, but they would put two people on a raft, okay? And they had cameras and GoPros set up and everything. Um, on the raft and they had to be at sea for seven days. And they knew if they put him in this certain place, the currents would bring him to shore. So you're on the raft for seven days and you have to survive. And basically, you come up, they did have a water thing, a pump, so you could cleanse your water, you could filter water, so you could, yeah, they want to make sure they had water. Yeah. And that was, but you had a pump. It like crazy to get water. And, uh, so like stuff would like float by them. And, uh, there's two, I watched his episode and they have two different teams going at a time, right? And they put you with this random person. So he's with this random school teacher from Boston. He's this NFL football player from Dallas, right? And the other two people on theirs, like some garbage kind of came by and they got like half a banana and some coffee beans and some things. There was some stuff they got to eat. Yeah. And he tried catching some stuff, some fish, but didn't work. And he just fasted for seven days. Like they never ate. I'm like, he just didn't eat. He's like, no, we couldn't. We didn't have anything. We couldn't find anything. He just didn't eat. You're fine. Like people, yeah, you just think you're going to die and you're just not. Like you're just not. You'll be fine. And in fact, yeah, cuz a lot of it was really funny. My neighbor next to me, I'm really close with him. Then the neighbor next to them, she would walk. Cuz so I would try and walk one to two miles every day, okay? So I'd see her, but I wasn't like super close with her. But after about a week or, or I think I was in like week three or so, she finally goes to our middle neighbor and she's like, is is Chris dying of cancer? Like, is he okay? You looked ill in your photo, bro. I did look, but I, but in all reality, like I was probably healthier than everyone in my neighborhood at that point, just cuz it was just cleansed and clear-minded. And it was probably, I thought through it, I'm like, that's probably the single best thing I've ever done for my health. Oh, yeah. Like single best thing, like both mental and physical, honestly. Yeah. Yeah, probably emotional too. Yeah. Yeah, there was a lot of emotions in it as well, but it was all good. Yeah, I'm glad I pushed through. That's awesome, man. Well, congratulations. It's it's inspiring. So yeah, thanks. Good to see you, brother. Yeah, appreciate it, Jimmy. Thanks for having me on.