24 Hour Fast

UNICEF have a challenge on their website called Fast 24 where they challenge people to fast for 24 hours. In some ways this doesn’t seem terribly long to me. On the other hand, I know it’s going to feel like ages while I’m doing it. I really like food. I’ve been known to walk into a restaurant and order a meal for two. I am not someone who you would naturally expect to enjoy a 24 hour fast.

If going 24 hours without food wasn’t already a daft idea, I decided that I may as well wander around giving away some brownies to work colleagues while doing it. By that point I will have gone at least eleven hours without food, and by the time I get to kickboxing I’ll have gone eighteen. I think by that time I will not be having Fun Times™.

According to UNICEF, every 24 hours, over 5,500 children across the world die as a result of malnutrition. That’s just stupid. Just £23 will provide a severely malnourished child with a month’s supply of food – the same price as I’d maybe spend on a meal for two.

I’ll probably try tweeting about the experience. So you can follow my misery in real time.

Updates

Hour 1 – My chocolate brownies are finally cool enough to eat. I can’t eat them. Instead my house-mates came downstairs and made a cup of tea. I really want a cup of tea.

Hour 9 – I overslept. I really need caffeine. I was walking to work and passed a place where somebody had left their cup of tea on a wall while they gave someone directions. I was tempted to steal the cup of tea. I don’t think the brownies have turned out very well. I usually use darker chocolate and I think I had the oven set too high.

Hour 11 – First donation received – StupidWay is officially up and running. I also had a guinea pig for the chocolate brownies. Apparently they are fine.

Hour 12 – I went to IT group coffee, followed by Signal Processing Lab coffee and cake. I gave away a few more of my chocolate brownies. It would have been so easy to sneak a piece of cake.

Hour 13 – I’m now officially hungry, it’s coming up to lunchtime and I’d really like something to eat and a cup of tea. If you gave me a choice I’d probably settle for a cup of tea.

Hour 15 – Fasting for 24 hours is miserable. I’m sure my mind isn’t working as well as it was when I started this morning. We’ll see how solving crypic crosswords goes during the coffee break, where I’ll be drinking a rather exciting cup of hot water.

Hour 16 – I wasn’t very good at crosswords. I’m probably not very good at much right now. Unfortunately now is soon to include spending two hours coaching kickboxing (with a bit of sparring thrown in). What could possibly go wrong?

Hour 20 – Well that went better than expected. I’m not entirely sure what I was doing most of the lesson, but it wasn’t a complete disaster. As much as I hate Facebook, I’ve realised that this raising money lark is going to be a lot easier if I cease to be a Facebook refusenik. Ah well.

Hour 23 – I have a bit of a headache, not sure if that is relevant. Only an hour until I can have chocolate brownies and a cup of tea. I’ve just spent a bit of time watching old Joe Calzaghe and new Gennady Golovkin highlights, which was a nice distraction. Soon I’ll be able to start cooking dinner.

Hour 24 – Well, I’m glad that’s over. Veggie lasagne started cooking at 23:38. Kettle was boiled and cup prepared by 23:43. By 23:52 I was pacing up and down. at 23:55 I was randomly tweaking the website and being sociable with people online. Clearly I needed food and caffeine to return to my usual misanthropic self. But in the end it was done. 24 hours and 1 minute of fasting. I also decided that my next food-related challenge should be to eat 10,000 calories in one day. If I can do that I might need to attempt a 48 hour fast in order to balance things out! This could get out of hand. Anyway, I did it, I feel good. First challenge of the year completed. I’m not overly keen on doing it ever again, but if enough people donate and leave a comment in JustGiving saying they want me to attempt 48 hours, then I’ll give that a go.

Hour 24 – Well, by half past midnight I had eaten that veggie lasagne, 4 doughnuts and two large cookies. I also finally had that cup of tea. Tomorrow I have to go on a long run. I’m not entirely sure how it will go, but you can read more about my marathon training here.