I’ve posted in a few places about athletic performance and extended fasting. I got a few replies but figured I would just try it, no harm. Back story - long term ketoer, daily 23-24 IF, often 36 hours depending on work schedule. I started the fast Monday night, 100 hours later I broke it Friday night. Water and herbal tea, sodium when I felt I needed it via salt on the tongue, magnesium at night. No caffeine.
Appetite/hunger - zilch, nada. I had to force dinner (“breakfast”) last night and couldn’t finish it. This isn’t unusual for me and I find the longer I don’t eat the less I want to eat which has actually been problematic for me.
Exercise - I train 6-8 hours a day, powerlifting, standard cardio and extended walking. Lifts were fine all week. Kettlebells felt like a grind right before ending the fast. Endurance didn’t suffer at all, in fact I did longer workouts all week.
Weight - I don’t weigh myself regularly and fluctuate a lot. I was 3 lbs up at the end of this week vs last week which is typical for me with low intake and high activity. I’m peeing like a race horse this morning which is also the usual pattern. Retain when I restrict then release when I eat. I imagine I’ll be down 4-5 lbs by Sunday.
Digestion - OK all week until after breaking the fast. I didn’t have much but it isn’t sitting well and have had diarrhea all night.
Sleep - no issues, except post breaking the fast, couldn’t sleep at all which finds me at the gym at 2am.
Refeeding - This something Fung addressed on a recent podcast but I tend to get minor refeeding electrolyte issues manifested as hand and foot cramping within an hour of eating. This can be quite dangerous so just worth mentioning. He said it’s not common in his patient population but mostly a risk for lean individuals who might be malnourished. I’m not malnourished but quite lean and at my tolerable low weight. My doctor is aware of this issue and recommended magnesium and phosphorus and potassium before eating which seems to help.
Overall, very few issues, not challenging for me to fast. I was mostly interested in the effects of exercise. I don’t think it’ll be a regular thing for me as I could tell my output for lifts was about drop and I’m trying to gain weight but nice to test out and now don’t have to buy groceries for next week. Time to feast!
Sunday dinner…
