How and Why I Extended My Weekly 44 Hour Food-free Period To One-hundred and Sixty-eight Hours: What Happened During the Second 24 Hours
How and Why I Extended
My Weekly 44 Hour Food-free Period
To One-hundred and Sixty-eight Hours
by
James Stephen Du Bois
What Happened During the Second 24 Hour Period
I remain food-free for extended periods of time to give my digestive system a rest and the rest of my body a chance to do a little housekeeping, attend to some overdue maintenance, and begin work on some highly anticipated remodeling.
While humans evolved up to the point of civilization without eating three meals every day or even once every day, many modern Homo sapiens, especially in rich countries, never leave a fed-state, even if they can get themselves to stop snacking until their next full-blown meal. Let me explain what I mean by a fed-state.
It takes from 6 to 8 hours for food to be processed through our stomach and small intestine. That is only the beginning. It can take up to 5 days, according to the Mayo Clinic website, for the last remains of a meal to travel all the way through your colon’s exit.
Most peoples’ bodies are working, and I mean laboring, on multiple meals at the same time. That is a lot of pressure being put on a digestive system. This process saps the body of its energy and blocks any possibility of reaping the benefits of autophagy, let alone turning HGH on or producing any stem cells for rejuvenation.
I am interested in food-free periods for a variety of reasons, but they all fall into three categories As time goes on throughout my extended food-free period I will try to note where I am in relation to them. Remember, none of this can happen unless one eschews food for at least a couple of days at a time. Dr. Fung wonders why anyone would even bother, if they weren’t going to fast for at least five days; the benefits increase that dramatically the longer we are food-free during that time.
On the second day of my extended food-free period I am interested in my body’s ability to clean its individual cells and recycle their old, broken bits, turning that material into new building blocks while, simultaneously, creating a couple of rarely used high-grade fuel sources.
Here are the three amazing transformations I am most looking forward to taking place in my body, simply by remaining food-free for an extended period of time:
Recycling at my cellular level, (autophagy)
The tapping into my body’s alternative fuel sources: glucose from non-carbohydrate––primarily protein––material, (gluconeogenesis) and ketones from my fat stores, (ketogenesis).
Rejuvenation at my cellular level.
RECYCLING AT THE CELLULAR LEVEL
Starting Day Two
24 Hours Food-free:
Tuesday, Dec. 14th, 7:30 pm:
“I Worked in my studio until 7 pm when my back asked for a break and I had had enough of working for one day. No ghrelin nagging. I am too tired mentally and physically to write much now.”
Following are my edited notes of the day and source material written when I had a fresh start.
It has been 24 hours since my last bite, at least eighteen since my stomach has been empty. I’m running on empty, so it would appear, at least to my stomach. But so much is going on inside of me; even at the end of the work day, even with my apparent fatigue.
According to Dr. Jamnadas, for six hours, or so now, my norepinephrine (NOR) levels, adrenaline (A) levels, cortisol (C) levels and metabolic rate have gone up in an evolutionary response to me not eating. I’m supposed to be out looking for food. The increasing levels of these chemicals in my blood are why extended food-free periods have ruined my chances of having a successful afternoon nap.
You may or may not, find an afternoon nap for a 70 year old man rather self-indulgent, but working two shifts a day (4 am ’til noon and 4 pm ’til 7, or 8 pm has required me to take a 90 minute snooze of an afternoon for twenty years, that is, until the energy of Intermittent Fasting introduced me to bolstered energy mid-day; so much that I can’t lose consciousness and sleep. However, my nights are deeply slept. Another bonus of not overloading my body with food I don’t need. As Dr. Jamnadas reminds us:
“Eating is dangerous.”
These autonomic (involuntary) changes in my metabolism, again, according to the good doctor, have been preparing me for a hunt, i.e. the means by which we obtained our food for over two-hundred and fifty million years. You don’t want to be sleepy on a hunt.
In addition to being stimulated by the increased steroid levels in my blood, now is when autophagy, the self-cleaning mechanism of the body’s cells, really kicks in. That is after it gets the signal to show up for duty.
According to Dr. Jamnadas, the body senses that there is no food is coming in and:
“mTOR levels get really low.” (J)
What is mTOR (“a protein kinase in the body” (J)) and when does it signal autophagy to begin, and why care?
“Extensive research over the past two decades has established a central role for mTOR in regulating many fundamental cell processes, from protein synthesis to autophagy…
“Changes in available energy sources following fasting or feeding require alterations in whole body metabolism to maintain homeostasis [the body’ equilibrium]…
“When blood glucose levels drop, the liver activates a compensatory response involving the induction of autophagy, gluconeogenesis, and the release of alternative energy sources in the form of ketone bodies. (NIH)
Dr. Jamnadas puts it simply,
“mTOR levels are low when you are fasting. That turns on autophagy. What turns off autophagy? When mTOR levels are high. [By] eating proteins.” (J)
Sugar will also turn off autophagy by turning on insulin, but that doesn’t concern me now. I divorced Sugar long ago. Carbohydrate in any form in one’s diet, and what it does to insulin levels and how that can destroy someone’s body, is a huge issue, but it’s not the one I am addressing with this extended food-free period.
Dr. Jamnadas also states that after about 18 hours into a food-free period the cell cleaning of autophagy gradually increases until it reaches its peak at about 36 hours. He also claims there are incredible benefits that occur after 7 days of autophagy. Let’s delve a little deeper into what is actually happening during this process, when we stop eating and the mTOR levels drop enough that self-cleaning (autophagy) can begin.
“…the body says, ‘I need energy. Recycle!’ It breaks down intracellular organelles that are used up. It packages them into the lysosome [enzymes that have the ability to break down almost all types of biomolecules] and digests it; breaks it down into its pieces, cytoplasmic intracellular organelles, exports it out of the cell into the blood stream.” (J)
“The blood stream says, ‘I’ve got some new building blocks. And the body utilizes that. You are recycling your cells. The cell doesn’t die. It goes through recycling. You recycle your mitochondria as well.” (J)
“The cell is depleted of its old used parts so when you do eat, all the organelles that were cleaned up are fixed first. You rejuvenate your cells.” (J)
“With autophagy your cells are functioning better, they are younger and they are going to last longer and be resilient to disease.” (J)
“If you are constantly eating, you are not rejuvenating your cells.” (J)
When asked, “Is there a time over which you should fast to maximize autophagy?” Dr. Fung replies,
”I can guess, but we don’t know. When it comes to fasting, we know that you mostly use glycogen during the initial 24 hours. It lasts roughly 24 hours. Then there is that period of gluconeogenisis (protein, into sugar, to burn) from 24 to 36 hours. So that’s, the timely guess is, that there is going to be the most autophagy because you are breaking down the proteins at that point for gluconeogenesis.” (F)
TAPPING INTO MY BODY’S ALTERNATIVE FUEL SOURCES
Now what is gluconeogenesis? During a food-free period, after using up all of the sugars in its system (Day 1), the human body knows how to make more from the protein it’s been fed. Gluconeogenesis is the process our bodies use to create (genesis) new (neo) sugar (gluco) by turning our excess proteinaceous and miscellaneous material into fuel that can be burned for energy.
And now at 24 hours, I’ve reached a milestone. I’ve reached one of the most exciting points of my extended food-free period. Even though I’m not looking to lose excess weight, I am very excited because now,
“…the fat stores open up.” (J)
When the body is done with what protein is available, ketogenesis transforms the fat we have stored into more highly refined fuels to burn that are made up of ketones.
Holy cow! What are ketones?
“Through the hormonal action of hormone-sensitive lipase and the action of LPL (lipoprotein lipase), [STAY WITH ME] what happens is the fat stores open up because your insulin levels are low [insulin reacts to sugar, I burned mine up and didn’t add any more], so the fats start to be devoured. The fat gets converted to triglycerides and fatty acids. The fatty acids flood the bloodstream.
“You can’t utilize fatty acids, so they go to your liver, and in the liver your fatty acids get converted into ketones.” (J)
“Around eighteen hours there is a slow build in keytones, so by 24 hours 10 to 15% of your entire energy is provided by ketones: betahydroxybutric acid, asuto acetic acid, and they continue to go up over time.” (J)
“Ketones can be used by every cell of your body, including your brain. You were told that the brain was an obligate glucose utilizer, that it can only utilize glucose. Absolutely wrong. A study in Britain found that after a 7 day fast, up to 70 % of energy used by the brain is fueled by ketones. The brain likes it. It burns more cleanly.” (J)
That is my favorite and I think, the most extraordinary and exciting thing about opening up the fat stores. Ketones allow an individual to think more clearly. Socrates was asked why he fasted. Dr. Jamnadas says that his reply was,
“For mental clarity.”
The “father of western philosophy” was burning ketones for brainpower! Inspired “starving artists” are burning ketones. Spiritualists, food-free in the desert for days and weeks, are burning ketones to arrive at the insights they receive, and sometimes share with the world. I’m excited at the prospect of meditating while my brain is fueled primarily on ketones. That is going to take a few days longer. I do like how my mind is functioning at this point, so many hours after my last bite.
To test yourself on how clear and focused your thinking really is, try counting one-hundred of your breaths without your mind wandering and losing your place in your count. I’ll wait.
Good luck. You can use this little gauge of clarity and focus anytime.
25.5 Hours Food-free:
Tuesday, Dec. 14th, 9:00 pm:
“Time for bed after a full day.”
So, 10 to 15% of my energy is being derived from my fat stores thanks to ketogenesis. I must say I don’t have much fat to access after being on an effectively carb-free regime for eleven years. We’ll see how much weight I lose, but I’m in it for the deep cleansing and the healing that follows, not to mention the Socrates-ical thinking that betahydroxybutric acid and asuto acetic acid are said to provide.
So as I turn in for the night my mTOR and insulin levels are low from not eating, allowing for the amazing transformations going on inside my body now. Autophagy is in full career cleaning up the place and distributing the waste for recycling. Gluconeogenesis is turning my excess proteins into sugar and burning that for fuel. And, Hallelujah! my fat stores have opened up and I am starting to access ketones for fuel too.
That’s a lot. I should sleep deeply. That is, if my brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) doesn’t keep me awake MAKING NEW BRAIN CELLS! These fantastic discoveries just don’t stop.
From Dr. Jamnadas:
“You actually make new brain cells! Your brain wants you to learn from your mistakes, so you can hunt better next time. The brain says, ‘Go out and get another kill, learn from your past mistakes with your new brain cells.’”
And,
“Fasting makes your brain better.” (J)
Good night…
36 Hours (one and a half days) Food-free:
Wednesday, Dec. 15th, 7:30 am:
36 hours after my last bite and 28 to 32 hours since my stomach has been empty.
I just recorded my lowest weight in my adult life at 125.4 pounds. I’m down to “bare bones” in the most literal sense. “Intermittent Fasting” for 16 to 20 hours a day for the last 6 months slimmed away any excess I may have been carrying. Dr. Fung says that, just like house remodeling, you need to tear away whatever is not solid. I don’t want to build upon an unstable foundation. I am going to create a solid base upon which to build my future body.
“At 35 hours, now the ketones go even higher and higher and higher. 36 hours is a magic number. “(J)
“If you’ve been on a low-carb diet you’ll enter ketogenesis earlier…” (J)
At this point my fuel source has changed. It’s now a mix of sugar from gluconeogenesis and more and more ketones from ketogenesis.
At thirty-six hours Dr. Nicole says,
“Autophagy goes up by 33%. Major cleaning mode. Total body clean up.” (N)
So, not only have I upgraded my fuel supply, I am in the process of a deep spring cleaning. And I’m not doing anything, BUT NOT EATING! And drinking a lot of fresh-squeezed-lemon water.
37.5 hours Food-free:
Wednesday, Dec. 15th, 8:45 am:
Ketone strip @ 8:45 am read: 16, the highest reading available on the strip. My body is turning more and more of what is left of my fat into ketones! Back to work. I have all of the energy I need to work today. Back to hydrating, no ghrelin to drown at the moment.
REJUVENATION AT THE CELLULAR LEVEL
There are even more benefits to leaving food in the fridge for a few hours more. What do we look to in order to replace all of the dead, broken and worn out bits and pieces of our cells that autophagy packaged up and took off to recycle? What will keep us younger and our muscles stronger?
Here comes Human Growth Hormone to the rescue! Again Dr. Jamnadas (you really should watch his video), speaks of a study that shows a 2,000% increase in HGH in men and a 1,300% in HGH in women after remaining food-free for just two days. Why do we want HGH coursing through our bloodstream? Athletes pay thousands for a little bit and as our guide (doctor is greek for “teacher”) points out,
“We can make it ourselves. HGH keeps us young. It makes soft skin. It replaces the dead parts better. It makes muscles grow better, with HGH you’ll gain more muscle for each ten reps you do.” (J)
“And it doesn’t work exogenously [from outside]…” (J)
To get the full benefit of human growth hormone Dr. J. recommends a 24 to forty-eight hour food-free state. I should be entering the sweet spot about now. I need to learn when the best time is to exercise in relation to HGH levels in the blood. Dr. Nicole and Dr. Jamnadas both claim Human Growth Hormone starts to increase now through forty-eight hours.
Thoughts of extending my food-free period have begun to percolate from a source deep inside. Or is that my stomach growling? Earlier today during a wrestle with ghrelin, I felt as if the front and rear walls of my stomach came together. My imagination can be a help or a hinderance while I’m trying to remain food-free. I chose to change that image into one of toxins being ground up and neutralized.
I am happy to say that I am not hungry right now. I’m employing several of my own tips for beating hunger at this moment: staying very busy, researching the benefits of time spent food-free, writing about those benefits and drinking a lot of water. So, I think I could go another day or so. I still have time to decide. As far as tips for beating ghrelin, here’s another I’m considering. Maybe, later this afternoon, instead of feeding, I’ll take a soak in a tub of dissolved epsom salts and imagine what it looks like for autophagy to be cleaning up in my estimated thirty to thirty-seven trillion cells. Estimates vary; my favorite was published by Smithsonian Magazine in 2013, “37.2 trillion.” (SM)
40 hours Food-free:
Wednesday, Dec. 15th, 11:30 am:
40 hours after my last bite and 32 to 36 hours since my stomach has been empty.
Instead of waiting until Christmas week, I’m thinking, “Why not use my current gains as a foundation for my scheduled seven-day extended-food-free period. I’m this far into it. Why start all over again? I’m so close to big-time autophagy and ketogenesis.
I felt exactly this way on my last 44 hour fast; here at about 40 hours into it. That was just over two weeks ago. I convinced myself that I had too much work to do between then and the 25th to experiment with such a long food-free period. My point was that with the work load lightened in my studio after that date, I could lighten the load on my digestive system too, allowing my body do its maintenance, while reaping the manifold benefits of going hours and days between feedings.
The argument not to start yet was convincing on the 29th of November, but not so convincing now with shipping deadlines for the holidays having passed. The pressure I am feeling is considerably less regarding my responsibilities. They are currently satisfied. I can use the period I had been going to be food-free to recover if I get too weak, or start to hallucinate, or suffer any of the imagined horrors many people associate with fasting. They scare themselves from skipping even one meal. I’m not scheduled to eat for 4.5 hours. I still have time to decide whether to proceed or not. What might happen between then and now to sway my decision, if anything?
While I internalize the questions regarding my feeding for the next few hours, I wanted to explain why I call fasting being food-free; my choice comes at the issue 180 degrees from the words fast and fasting.
Fasting is associated with deprivation while being in a food-free state suggests being independent, relying on your body to use its many operations to use up its stored energy and even do a spring cleaning.
When an individual is food-free a good amount of the time, they also have more time away from the gathering, preparing, working to pay for, eating and cleaning up after their food. They save time, grocery money and healthcare costs. They are healthier and feel better for having gone through the experience. I’ve experienced every one of the benefits I just listed.
Fasting brings to mind hunger pangs and a longing for an individual’s next bite. “What can I eat while I’m fasting,” is a question often asked of the fast-advocating doctors? “Can I have just a little bite?” The ridiculous questions we ask when we struggle with fasting! Fasting means not eating. And any one that tells you you can eat anything is not practicing fasting. They are practicing limited eating. Whether what you consume spikes your insulin or mTOR levels or not doesn’t matter. It still has to pass through and be processed by your digestive system. I think that counts. And, I think that it has a less than positive effect on optimizing your food-free period.
When we experience ghrelin’s hunger pangs with a food-free attitude, questions occur like, “What is my body doing now? Has my body used up all of its glucose yet? Is my liver done processing all of my glycogen? Has my body started gluconeogenesis?” “If so, is it turning the protein in my wrinkles into new glucose for my body to burn, YET?” Imagine that! We can actually burn our old-age and fat-loss wrinkles for fuel by remaining food-free for long enough. Remember gluconeogenesis, turning protein into sugar to burn? Those wrinkles are made of protein!
But I digress. When its unpleasant sensations appear, and for the ten to twenty minutes it takes for ghrelin to rise and subside someone with a food-free attitude asks, “How much is autophagy working in my cells at this moment? They wonder, “How much gluconeogenesis am I achieving now?” They are curious about, “what percentage of my energy is coming from ketones now?”
With a food-free attitude we drown the sensations we associate with ghrelin with a glass of water whenever we sense its onset and practice patience. The water does nothing to the hormone as far as I’ve uncovered, but drinking enough of it does give a feeling of fullness and keeps us hydrated. And EVERYBODY recommends it. Time silences ghrelin better than anything and Dr. Fung relates that ghrelin rises and falls in a cycle, and that the heights it rises to become less and less over time. (F).
My mind feels very alert as I write while burning more ketones and less glycogen.
I’m drowning ghrelin now. We’ll see how I deal with the anticipation-of-the-meal-to-come Pavlovian response that arrives in a couple of hours just before my scheduled food-free in time.
Back to my studio and my work.
.
42.5 Hours Food-free:
Wednesday, Dec. 15th, 2:00 pm:
It’s forty-two and a half hours after my last bite and thirty-four to thirty-eight hours since my stomach has been empty.
I am approaching my point of decision. Do I end my weekly 44 hour food-free period with a well-deserved meal, or extend the time, and thus, the benefits of autophagy, gluconeogenesis, ketogenesis and human growth hormone for another twelve to 24 hours?
If I feed now all of those processes will reduce greatly, if not stop altogether. Deconstruction will have been incomplete and the signal to my STEM CELLS to start building up again will not have been sent.
This is what The National Institute of Health has to say about stem cells
“Throughout the life of the organism, populations of adult stem cells serve as an internal repair system that generates replacements for cells that are lost through normal wear and tear, injury, or disease. Adult stem cells have been identified in many organs and tissues and are generally associated with specific anatomical locations.” (S)
Dr. Jamnadas adds:
“Because you’ve had autophagy a signal goes from the cell to the bone marrow to say, I’ve used up my intracellular organelles, when you get a new supply send them to me.’ Bone marrow, when you eat, makes stem cells. Fasting is the fastest way to increase your stem cells. There is a whole rejuvenation process that goes on. You are a younger, better, more resilient person than before you fasted.” (J)
“For bone marrow to give up stem cells you have to really fast. Three days is a minimum for real good autophagy.” (J)
As if on cue, I had a ghrelin hit, yet it left as quickly as it had arrived. By “ghrelin hit,” I mean a gut cramp. There’s another one. I just tell myself, “Water, Will and Patience.”
I am scheduled to eat in two hours, but for the logic explained above, I would. Yet I’ve convinced myself not to. I’m going to extend my food-free period for another day and experience the consequences of all of the activity going on inside of me.
Time to get too busy to think about eating. And have a few big swallows of water.
Forty-eight Hours Food-free:
Wednesday, Dec. 15th, 7:30 pm:
DAY 2: ENDING
I have traveled 48 hours into the future from my last bite and it’s been forty to 44 hours hours since my stomach finished processing its contents. In spite of the temporary chagrin of my ghrelin-driven appetite, I did not eat at 4 pm. I worked in my studio right through my normally scheduled feeding time, three and a half hours ago.
Ketone strip reading down to 8.0.
Blood Pressure: 83 over 58: Is this just my normal lower-than-normal BP, or is my being food-free lowering it even further? A bundle of questions and associated thoughts repeat themselves in my mind. Insulin holds water and not eating lowers insulin. Less water retention is associated with less blood pressure. Hmmm.
Pulse: 70. Nothing wrong with that.
I’ll go to bed tonight without my daily meal. Instead of digesting it, I’ll be burning up ketones musing about the benefits I’ve gained for my body by having left dinner in the refrigerator. I’ll be anticipating the progress to come; not the least of which being:
“[at 48 hours] Autophagy will go up even more, 30% more.” (N)
Dr. Jamnadas says that most people have the most trouble getting through day two and that it gets easier after that. Dr. Fung says day three gives people the most trouble. Everyone is different. I’ll see.
If this is as hard as it gets, I ought to be fine. Will, Water, Patience.
BEGINNING DAY 3:
Forty-nine Hours Food-free
Wednesday, Dec. 15th, 8:30 pm:
Almost bedtime. I understand that it can be confusing talking about starting a day by going to bed, (well, since the extravagances of my dependancies and my youth, anyway) however, since my last bite was at 7:30 pm, that’s where, on the clock, for the purposes of this food-free period, my days begin and end.
Why am I extending my food-free period longer and even considering a full 7 day period ? In short, it is getting late, these are just the first reasons that come to mind:
“And by three days [ketones] are beginning to get higher and higher…” (J)
“By the 5th day you’ll have a lot of ketones. You can buy a dipstick for your urine to measure your ketones.”(J)
In his lecture, Dr. J. speaks of the study that intrigued me the most and made me want to investigate extended food-free periods immediately.
“Autophagy for 7 days and you reduce your chance of dying of cancer by 70%.”
“The cancer cells are the first to die…” (J)
The clock says, “9 pm.” Time to wind down for a few sleep cycles. (SC)
As I fall asleep I wonder, “Where is my body finding the protein for gluconeogenesis? Hopefully, not my muscles Why has my ketone level decreased since this morning when I was almost exclusively burning ketones? More research to do and food-freeness to experience.
I’ve calculated that I’m less than 30% of the way to 168 hours. I can only take one step at a time.
However, I do choose to take the next step, which should lead to further autophagy, gluconeogenesis, ketogenesis, human growth hormone and stem cell production for my body’s maintenance and rejuvenation. And maybe some more new brain cells. I’ll continue the adventure using ketone-rich fuel from my fat stores. Onward!, passed my blown-through 44 hour food-free period. And beyond!
My next installment will take at least a week to deliver. Maybe you’ll give up carbs in the meantime. Please imagine a Smiley Face emoji here.
SOURCES AND REFERENCES
A =
“Adrenaline, also known as epinephrine, is a hormone and medication which is involved in regulating visceral functions (e.g., respiration). Adrenaline is normally produced both by the adrenal glands and by a small number of neurons in the medulla oblongata.It plays an important role in the fight-or-flight response…”
More here: \https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Adrenaline
C =
“Cortisol is one of the steroid hormones and is made in the adrenal glands. Most cells within the body have cortisol receptors. Secretion of the hormone is controlled by the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland, and the adrenal gland, a combination glands often referred to as the HPA axis.”
More here: https://www.hormone.org › your-health-and-hormones › glands-and-hormones-a-to-z › hormones › cortisol
HGH =
“Human growth hormone consists of a single chain of 191 amino acids. It is made in the brain but secreted in the bloodstream.
“Its production is controlled by a complex set of hormones, mainly growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) produced in the hypothalamus, somatostatin that is produced in various tissues throughout the body, and ghrelin, which is produced in the gastrointestinal tract.
“The pituitary puts out HGH in pulsatile bursts that vary hourly. Higher daily hGH levels are seen after exercise, trauma, and sleep. Peak highest levels are reached at night. In general, HGH levels are increased in childhood, spike to their highest levels during puberty, and subsequently decrease as one ages.”
More here: https://www.verywellhealth.com/what-is-hgh-5078922
J =
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=dr+pradip+jamnadas+fasting+for+survival&t=newext&atb=v266-1&ia=web
N =
https://drnicole.com/what-happens-to-your-body-while-fasting-hour-by-hour-benefits-of-fasting/
NIH =
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5394987/
NOR =
“Norepinephrine, substance that is released predominantly from the ends of sympathetic nerve fibers and that acts to increase the force of skeletal muscle contraction and the rate and force of contraction of the heart. The actions of norepinephrine are vital to the fight-or-flight response.” More here: https://www.britannica.com › science › norepinephrine
S =
https://stemcells.nih.gov › info › basics › stc-basics
SC =
Successive hour and a half to two hour periods of sleep where you submerge into deeper and deeper sleep and then return to lighter levels of unconsciousness. In the parts of this pattern when you experience lighter levels of unconsciousness you sometimes become aware of pressure in your bladder, then, either get up and relieve yourself, or simply roll over and return to the deep. More here:
https://www.sleepfoundation.org/stages-of-sleep
SM = https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/there-are-372-trillion-cells-in-your-body-4941473/