This might be grossly miscalculated, but IIRC you lose 1~2 pounds per day of fasting. At 2 pounds per day, he fasted for 35 days to lose 70 pounds. If he was al

This might be grossly miscalculated, but IIRC you lose 1~2 pounds per day of fasting. At 2 pounds per day, he fasted for 35 days to lose 70 pounds. If he was alone all that time, he had to get up and drink liquids periodically, or he would have died way before 35 days. It seems like he decided to go ascetically, sokushinbutsu style. The medication found in his stomach reinforces this speculation. He was missing for 90 days, but his body was in better shape than the humid summer would suggest, maybe he fasted for most of those 90 days, as sitting immobile would have saved calories and water. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokushinbutsu https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokushinbutsu