I have been listening to Dr Fung and would love to try a 36-hour EF. I haven’t fasted in many years. 35 years ago I was doing it monthly for religious reasons, but gave that up with the religion.
I am really nervous about this because I have a lot of food anxiety and tend to respond to hungry periods with overeating… so this could be a bad idea… but listening to Dr. Fung makes me think this has to be a good idea!
What do you think? Is that too long a fast to start with?
I am 24hrs 14 min into my first EF since going Keto 3-4 mo ago…not that I’m counting every minute lol…I didn’t set an end point for my fast, I just felt like my body really wanted a break from food, etc and I am going to just ride it out as long as I can, right now I feel like I can definitely make it until tomorrow at least (kind of getting waves of blah but otherwise ok)
Try to look at this as you if you wanted to run a marathon. You can’t expect to go out and run 26 miles on the first attempt. Shoot for a mile, then two and so forth. Build up your endurance and confidence slowly.
There’s really no need to be nervous about it. If you fall short of your goal, regroup and try again and hopefully you will make it a little further every time you try.
I am going to be 56 this month.
I’ve been eating ketogenically since the middle of December 2018.
I had a meal the day before yesterday at 11 a.m., a slice of cheese at 6 p.m.
I didn’t eat anything yesterday and had breakfast at 1 p.m. today. You could “slap butter on my backside and call me a biscuit” because I absolutely thought all these people on this forum were pulling my leg about being able to go -however many hours that was- without eating and not suffer. Not like I didn’t know what I was doing and not like I didn’t think about it every 10 minutes, but it wasn’t suffering. Proud-like. I took in extra salt and water.
I put in a record number of fence posts this morning, unfed. I kinda forced myself to make eggs and bacon this afternoon to break the fast because I didn’t want to go crazy on my first one. I think I might have kept going.
But like I said, 6 months of fairly carnivore-ish eating. I am finally feeling like fasting is a possibility. 2 weeks ago I wouldn’t have.
It feels like a crazy fun thing to do that I might indulge in, now, instead of an insanity that I would avoid.
Like bungee jumping, or having children.
Not a champion, I binged after my last fast which I could just kick myself for. Gained a lot of water weight, but I’m starting another fast today; gonna try to go two weeks again.
@AuntJane A 36-hour fast is doable, but if you’re anxious about it then maybe you should start smaller, like 24 hours. Whatever you end up doing, be proud of however many hours you accomplish, don’t beat yourself up if you don’t reach x number of hours. If you read a lot of the fasting threads you’ll see many mentions of your “fasting muscle”. The more you use it, the easier it gets.
Right now I wouldn’t even put a number of hours on a fast, if I were you. Just start out fasting as long as you can and record the number. The next time you fast try to beat that number, even if it’s just by a little bit. And me personally, I find it harder to fast if I declare a certain time period of fasting. It puts pressure on me psychologically and I jinx myself. I like to start out saying “I’m gonna fast today, we’ll see what happens tomorrow”. And when I wake up the next day I’ll say “well I survived one day, let’s try to make it two days”. And so on. It takes the expectations and pressure out of it.
Last, don’t do what I did and binge afterwards. Prepare keto food ahead of time so that you’re not tempted by carby stuff. If prep cooking is going to cause you to break your fast early then stock up on keto convenience foods like olives, boiled eggs, pickles, etc. Even if you’re starving and stuff yourself with these foods after a fast, you can’t do too much damage. (I’m talking about the next day after you’ve gently broken your fast; you don’t want disaster pants!)
There are lots of people on here who have way more experience fasting than I do. I’m sure you’ll get lots of advice. The main thing is to not get stressed about it as that raises cortisol which will work against you.
Whatever you do, know that everybody here is cheering you on and will support you and answer any questions you have! 
Congratulations for jumping in the pool!
At dinner tonight I will have finished my first 36-hour fast. I’ve been living keto for almost 4 months but was afraid to try until now. It really wasn’t bad at all. I will def. do it more often but still love to eat my keto meals.
I have been working my way up to trying a 36 hour fast. I do 18/6 regularly and have done a handful of OMAD days with no problems. I imagine going 36 would not be that much longer to add on.
I’ve read a bit about what to eat when breaking these longer fasts - not to mix fats and carbs or proteins and carbs. My OMAD meals are a mix of whole foods that include carbs (veggies), fats, and proteins.
Any experience, advice, shares on what that first meal looks like after these longer fasts?
Since my last post, I have been doing 48 hours once a week. To me, it really wasn’t a stretch from 36. I do have the desire to eat at dinner time the first night, however, it’s more out of habit and boredom than true hunger. Once I get through that, the evening and all next day is a piece of cake until I eat at dinner time. I don’t eat anything special, just prepare a regular meal as I normally would on any other night. I haven’t had any problems with sick tummy or feeling weird physically. Good luck.
I would normally say start with 24 hours but since 36 hours is not that many more… why not? =) If you are really hungry and have to eat, then eat. Dr. Fung is certainly the expert on all this!
champion