How long can I last with just drinking water and no food?

Question

I'm 5'2 and I weigh 140 pounds. 
So I am overweight and would like to slim down a lot. 
How long can I survive off just water?

redeyemindtricks · Accepted Answer

A water-only fast WITHOUT PHYSICAL EXERTION is fine for up to 72 hours without any adverse effects. If yr exercising as much as you say? Forget it.

This isn't the right way to construct a rapid fat loss plan, by the way. I saw the foods you listed in the MHO thread above, and, nope. Bread? Fruit? Ain't gna cut it.

The tried-and-true way to do this is to get as close as possible to a pure-protein diet. Most importantly, zero carbohydrates, or pretty darn close. Yep -- 0 carbs. At most, mb 10-15 grams of cruciferous vegetables, to help with fiber, digestion, and vitamins.
You should also take in as little fat as possible, too, although realistically very few people will stick to this kind of diet for long with close to 0 fat.

If you are a super duper champion, you can pretty much go indefinitely on 800-900 cal/day that consists of 200g protein, ≈0 carbohydrate, and 0-10 grams of fat. IF you are a super duper amazing champion of awesome grit and determination.

This is a well-researched diet that has been tested exhaustively in the medical and athletic communities. It's known as the protein-sparing modified fast (PSMF). There's tons and tons online about it, although you'll have to wade through a lot of heavy medical presentation to get most of the info out of it.

If you go this route, YOU SHOULD NOT ALSO DO CARDIO. Nope. Don't do ANY cardio. That's just all kinds of bad news.
If you eat a PSMF or reasonably close, the only workouts you need are heavy-ish weights, sets of 6-8 reps to failure x 2-3 sets per body part, 2-3 times a week.

Repeat, NO cardio. I train fitness models who get down to almost inhumanly low percentages of bodyfat, and they don't do ANY cardio to get there. At most, they toss in a weekly session or two of high intensity interval training (HIIT) once they hit a plateau.

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

3 weeks.

But if you want to lose weight that's not the best way to go about it... Because as soon as you start eating again you'll just gain all of your weight back.

If you want to lose weight drink LOTS of water and eat 6 times a day (3 meals and 3 snacks) and don't eat before 6am or after 8pm. If you want me to explain this just ask but I won't if you're not going to read it.
Also only drink water, no pop. And try and stay away from alcohol.

And try and exercise, even just going for a jog each day will help. If you want to lose weight go jogging before eating, that way you'll burn fat instead of your breakfast.

This is my advice, you don't have to take it but please don't starve yourself it's not good for you...

meowcow · Accepted Answer

You can survive for several weeks.

However, the dieting route you are considering is not recommended. You are almost certain to gain more weight and end up heavier than you currently are. The reason is that fat cells are good at dividing when you consume more calories than you burn, but they are not good at dying when you starve yourself.

When you stop eating, the body will begin to breakdown the fats stored in your fat cells. Over time, your fat cells begin to shrink, but the total number of fat cells remains the same. The human body and pretty much all animal species did not evolve a mechanism to kill a fat cell because it's extremely rare in nature that an animal needs to slim down from having too much to eat. As you starve yourself, your body is trying to get as much nutrient out of any food as possible, so it increases the amount of digestive enzymes in your stomach. When you eat nothing, the body will resort to your stored fat. But once you start eating again, your body will be much more efficient at breaking down your food because it is producing a lot more digestive enzymes.

The result is that once you stop dieting, your food will be absorbed much more efficiently and your body will stuff that excess back into your shrunken fat cells. The cells will expand and multiply... and once they multiply, remember... they don't die.

End result is short term slimming in exchange for long-term fattening.

thorthorley · Accepted Answer

A week maybe. It can be very damaging if you starve yourself and could lead to death. There are starvation diets which is like taking soup and minimal solids which provide essential nutrients. Try taking a smarter approach by intaking low calories and also exercising to burn fat. Avoid sugary foods as they convert into glucose faster and often a modern western diet has loads of sugar in all the food. Try more organic foods like vegetables and keep your carbs to a minimum. You can read nutrition labels on food to see how much carbohydrate sugars it has.

1Analyst · Answer

According to 99% of modern research, dieting especially like that DOES NOT WORK. In fact it is counter productive and will only make you gain even MORE weight. When you starve your body, it will try it's level best to conserve EVERYTHING. And when you finally do eat, the body will try it's level best to store up for another possible starvation.
The best way to lose weight is to get off your ass and start working it , woman ! Eat as much as you want but count the calories. I remember reading a case where a man lost weight by eating only junk food , but he carefully counted the calories !
Here is the link :
www.delish.com/.../

Curious1322 · Answer

That's crazy unhealthy, and you will more than likely gain back all the weight plus some. When your body goes into starvation mode it holds more fat, which will defeat your whole purpose. Exercise and a HEALTHY diet is the way to go, try logging calories on my fitness pal, it helps keep you accountable.

Tuts333 · Answer

Not a smart decision.
Drink MORE water, try warm water too! Warm water helps to rid the body of fat cells and aids digestion. Drink lots of water, and drink before you eat. That way you will feel "full". Still consume normal amounts of food.

Exercise, and eat protein. Protein takes longer to digest and you can work it off. Limit carbs, unless you plan on burning it off.

joeb73 · Answer

there is a slight problem with it. the natural reprocess from you body when you dont eat is to slow down your metabolism. so you have to eat something to trick your body into thinking you are eating. that why some people eat tastless rice cakes or eat a lot of cabbage soup because it gives you gas and makes you feel full.

JjWatt9999 · Answer

I am the exact same way I'm 5'2 and weigh 140lbs. But instead of starving do what I do when I want to loose weight for wrestling, put on a longsleeve shirt and a sweat shirt over, a pair of legging and sweatpants, 2 pairs of socks, running shoes and put your hood up. Then every other day go for a half mile run and you will sweat off weight. Hope I helped

Hollywood-Glam · Answer

I don't recommend starving yourself. Stick to the healthiest foods such as salades, brown pasta and lean meats. For drinks I suggest green smoothies, and detox drinks like lemon juice and green tea. Also, cardio work out three times a week will help a lot.

Krista7 · Answer

First you're not overweight... And that's the worst way to lose weight. You will actually make you gain more when you start eating again due to inactivity with your metabolism. Just eat normal and healthy and workout to lose weight. I think it's about 3 weeks without food though

ichot · Answer

"I jog for 30 mins, I do 50 squats, 75 push-ups, 100 sit-ups and usually I go for another walk. I do this everyday " What is your mile time btw?

ItsMrs · Answer

Talk to your doctor about losing weight. I believe 40 days without food, but it's not healthy. You're gonna end up putting whatever weight on from the food you do end up eating because your metabolism will slow down.

letsnot · Answer

Don't do that!

Try juicing. Eat cucumber and celery those things fill you up and donte fatten you up.

Don't stop eating meat

Do stop eating fatty unhealthy foods like chips, burgers, pizza, ice cream. Basically anything delicious lol jk

abzence · Answer

Around a month or so. But you will end up in a worse state than you began with. Starvation is the worst way to lose weight if your goal is to actually look more fit and healthy.

notenough · Answer

OHHH HUN POST A PIC SO I CAN SEE THE FATNESS I WANNA SEE IT

Dandeus · Answer

You'll lose the wrong kind of weight, make yourself sick... probably cause some long term problems as well. And then once you start eating, you'll gain it all back.

BuchitaBuchys · Answer

This is very unhealthy and not worth it. I'm 4'11 and about 130ish lbs. You're not overweight.

snowangle · Answer

Starving won't get you results. Starving will make you sick and eventually die.

jman46241 · Answer

2 to 3 weeks, but you should eat every day. There's no use losing weight if you're just going to end up sick.

summerloving1996 · Answer

go to the gym, and watch what you eat, drinking just water or anything under 1000 calories a day will put your body in starvation mode, you will lose muscle but keep fat! which you don't want since muscle burns more calories a day.

hifromkai · Answer

Some people have lasted up to 200 days but it's extremely unhealthy

APRU5 · Answer

you're not overweight.

apple24 · Answer

hmm hardly that much!

How long can I last with just drinking water and no food?

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