20 day fast, AKA WTF was I thinking?


(Tim W) #62

Not a bad day today. I didn’t sleep well due to calf cramps but hit the yard early and got a few hours of work in before the rain moved in.

Had a strong bought of hunger this evening, a real 10/10 hunger situation, that was strange, I know my sodium was good, I’ve taken all supplements but not in the same order as yesterday (when I felt GREAT!).

A nice big bowl of broth and the hunger seems to have resolved. I was planning on the broth anyway but don’t like to eat in response to hunger, this was probably the most hungry I’ve ever been on a fast which leads me to believe I may have to add HWC or butter to coffee tomorrow. I thought about adding butter to the broth but I decided to wait and see what tomorrow brings. I might be pushing my limit of ability to fast/work in the yard/exercise and not consume ANY fats. I’d guess I’m at around 9% body fat at this point, paying attention to the body signals.

On to day 12!


(KCKO, KCFO) #63

Try some Calcium Citrate for those cramping calves. Works for most people.

Enjoying your comments on the extended fasting. Well done.


(Tim W) #64

Will do! I’m still having them at various intervals, often the day after a hard workout or long day of working outside. I think I have some cal citrate here as a matter of fact.


(Linda Culbreth) #65

9% body fat? Is that a little low to do an extended fast?


(Tim W) #66

If my goal for weight loss, then yes, I’d say it’s low to be fasting but I’m doing this for other reasons.


(Tim W) #67

Day 12 went well.

I was surprised since things got tough last night (super low energy with more hunger than I’ve experienced in a long time).

Woke up tired this morning, felt like keytone level was down, not as clear headed or as energetic as I’ve been. I felt better after a 2.5 mile run/walk and a full body circuit style lift, light weights, low weight.

Went shopping with spouse for a few hours, we actually went into several grocery stores without issue, I got some chicken feet and beef bones for bone broth, they are in the slow cooker now.

Energy levels fr the 2nd half of the day have been good, hunger has been low, made kiddo dinner and it wasn’t too bad. I skipped the bone broth since I don’t want to have it daily (don’t want to put a stop to autophagy, not sure if it will but not using it if I’m feeling ok).

Good night ketoverse!


(Tim W) #68

Had a horrible night’s sleep last night, got maybe 4 hours on the couch. I was tossing and turning so much I let the wife have the rack to herself so at least she could get some zzzs.

I spent most of the day relaxing, reading, making more bone broth but still didn’t have any today, it was tough to ignore it when swapping out the container but huger level has been low enough to ignore. Wife and I walked the 2 miles to the library and back and browsed the halloween stuff at a few stores (always have more patience for shopping when fasting) and then we went to the local park to watch the sunset and I had a diet coke (no ace-k like coke zero) just to break the monotony. Just a note, diet coke is nasty…

Another day down, working outside all day tomorrow, looking forward to it.

Good night ketonians!


(Tim W) #69

It’s been a busy couple of days (always a good thing when fasting).

We enjoyed a five mile hike on Monday, probably got a bit too much sun but we’ll survive.

I had a serving of bone broth Monday night to prepare me for the following week. From what I can tell, having the bone broth gives me 2-3 days of pep, even while otherwise fasting. It also seems to take a few days to work through the digestive tract. I find that, keeping as many other variables as similar as I can (sodium intake, supplements consumed etc) I’ll have need of a restroom 2-3 days post bone broth consumption, a few trips to empty the bowels and then it’s back to “normal” (urine only for a few days).

Tuesday was spent outside most of the day followed by a two mile run and a light session of weights, low weight, 6-8 reps, 5 sets, felt great afterwards.

Today I took a long walk and enjoyed a large starbucks coffee, it was supposed to rain so I geared up to do some admin stuff but not it’s lovely outside and that’s where I’m heading!

I’ve now exceeded my last “long fast” of 15 days, I’m still on the fence if I’ll stop at 20 or not, we’ll see how the rest of this week fares. I know that when I do “fully” break fast (some of the fasting police would say I’ve already done so since I’ve had bone broth…) I will look back on this time and think “that wasn’t so bad…” we have such short memories of “pain” and I guess that’s a good thing. It’s great to be a human with the ability to rationalize! So, we’ll play anything over 20 days by ear and see if that “true hunger” ever does hit.


#70

Have you had any headaches? That’s the biggest problem I experience with fasting. My head feels like it’s constricting and I find it difficult to concentrate. Details are difficult to focus on. Day 1 isn’t so bad, but day 2 and 3 are horrible. I’ve never made it past day 3.


(Tim W) #71

No headaches, sodium intake seems to take care of that for me and the spouse.

We’ve been doing long term fasts for 6-8 months now so we’ve learned a few tricks, the first days got easier when we started the fast from a keto diet. I’ve had those days (usually day 2 or 3) when I couldn’t think about anything other than “I can’t do this…”. I think Fung and others are right, it’s like a muscle and you gradually develop an ability to cope a little better.


#72

@infromsea That’s encouraging. I need to try a 4-day fast, just buckle down and do it. I really want to get over that 3-day hump because I keep reading that the first three days are the hardest.


(Tim W) #73

They can be.

We’ve found that staying busy and trying to keep the mind pre-occupied works very well. That’s a good time to get deep into a book or some clerical work, light yard work, put a puzzle together, whatever keeps your mind off food/eating/etc. It’s mostly a psychological struggle, yes, there are some physical aspects BUT, it’s mostly in the brain…

Good luck!


#74

@infromsea I’m going to give it another try. I’ll put more time into drum practice, sewing, reading, etc. I’ll take my salt and potassium and magnesium too.


(Carpe salata!) #75

Sometimes it takes another person’s perspective to see the process…

drum practice / headaches … hmmm

/jk :smiley:

Keep Calm and Keep Drumming!


(Tim W) #76

We stopped doing 3 day fasts since we often paid the “cost” of making it through 3 days and then missed the benefits of days 4 plus. Benefits like sky high ketones, mental clarity, high energy, lots of free time for projects etc. So, we shifted to 4-5 days mostly. Since we have been eating keto the three day price isn’t as high though.


(What The Fast?!) #77

I’m currently 70 hours in and RAVENOUS. I’ve had salt under the tongue a few times today. I’m supplementing a little bit with coconut oil in my coffee in the morning, and I had a tbsp of cream in my tea this afternoon. I’m traveling this week, so no access to bone broth, but if I can make it another day, I’m going to make some tomorrow when I get home.

I’m insanely impressed that you are continuing your workouts while fasting, I have extremely low energy and my legs feel very heavy. Maybe I’ll jump on my bike tonight just for a spin around town.


(Tim W) #78

I’ve been there. What’s amazing is how you can go a few days with zero hunger, then have a day where you’d eat a live bear, I have a hypothesis that it takes longer to metabolize fat stores, hence the large swings, hunger gets very high, then dampens down for a day or two. Maybe it just takes a while to break the fat down, then, once it’s “feeding us” hunger goes away for a day or two (since a pound of fat is supposed to provide 3,500 calories and our BMR might be 1,800 cals or so, the math “works”).

As for exercising fasted, I think it’s good support of the “caveman theory” that we don’t lie down and die at 72 hours of not eating, the muscles will almost always maintain some glycogen for “running away from predators” mode, and, once we start moving, it will make more energy via fat stores.

Best of luck to you, enjoy the bike ride. I find that I can have zero energy but start walking/moving/lifting and I perk up quickly and enjoy higher energy for hours.


(Tim W) #79

Day 17 almost over!

It was a rough day at times, started out low energy and a little “keto flu” feeling (very surprising). I spent the day reading (if you have never read Sagan’s “Cosmos” damn what a good book, I re-read it every few years to keep myself grounded, highly recommend!), working on admin items before going out in the afternoon to move some rock and dirt for the paver patio, I also did a very light compound move with some dumbbells, limited it to 5 sets of 8.

At times my hunger climbed to 8/10 and I’ve had a dull “ache” in my lower intestine, almost if I need to pass something but I’m not quite there. I promised the wife that If I’m still low energy and feeling the stomach (it’s been growling a lot today) then I’ll do bone broth again tomorrow. We’ll see what the day brings.

Good night ketoverse!


(What The Fast?!) #80

Have you seen Richard’s article about how to calculate how much fat is available for energy on a daily basis, based on your lbs of body fat?


#81

There is organic commercial bone broth that is sold in supermarkets on the coasts