7 day fast with daily numerical posts & 1 week post fast update

[avocadosrule]

Day 3 - end of day wrap up

Had slight stomach upset in the morning, maybe for 45 minutes, and a loose stool. Another loose stool in afternoon. I don’t remember having loose stools during my 4 day fast. Well, over time there will not be much in the pipeline, so to speak!

Yes, I am thinking about food but less then yesterday or day before. I like the idea of food but not feeling a physical sense or need for it. Pure psychology at work. The anticipation! I drove by a food stand today four times that advertised for lobster and sausages and French fries! Arrrghhh Last year I had some fish and chips from that place and I remember it not being very good and very fatty in a not good way. I have been thinking about sous vide. But the strength of thoughts is much less so than day 1 & 2. It’s more about what I will have some time in the future, not feeling like I am going to fall off the wagon.

Clothes reorganizing

Over the past 4 months, since starting Keto I have dropped several clothes sizes. Over the years of struggling with weight I have kept several sizes handy. Always a batch of lower sizes (“Just in case”) and sizes that fit me, and the larger ones. Well, as the weight was coming off I started to move clothes that would not fit me anymore into a “to be sorted” pile. Today I decided I make some decisions about getting rid entirely off the largest size that almost did not fit me any longer when I started Keto. Boom! Gone. I agonized a bit about whether I should keep the larger size “Just in case” but decided against it. Keto does feel different with a variety of strategies available in the toolbox. There is a slight nagging feeling that this is wishful thinking, but then I think, no this IS different!

I am curious, whether anyone has other strategies to deal with (re)organizing clothes sizes as you’re dropping sizes over time?

[avocadosrule]

Great - how is it going? Day 9 now?

[avocadosrule]

Day 4

Nothing consumed but coffee (and 6 TBSP of HWC to go into them), water, some mio, salt.

Here are the morning stats:

and

Ketones shot up and Glucose down. I learned from @ron-coleman that my Glucose/Ketone index is now in the optimal range <1

I won’t repeat what the GKI is about as Ron mentioned it here:

A really extended fast: going for 46-days!

Day 9 and 206 hours of fasting on water, decaf coffee, electrolytes, and occasional heavy cream. Feeling great with tons of energy! I am travelling and I want to use my own scale for weight, to be consistent, so I will carry my previous weight forward for a few days. Here are my numbers for today: [image] [image] [image] The mental challenge is getting easier! One of my goals with this long fast is breaking my snacking habit; I work from home and could literally snack for most of the day—and…

I am going to be doing some thinking today about supplements and my challenge about physically and psychologically taking them. Ugh. Salt. Yuck!

[Trish_Luza]

Yes. Thank you for asking. Day 10 began at 7 pm last night. 226 hours now. How nice to awake to a sweet message. Really didn’t know I needed that bit of support…

[ron-coleman]

My numbers still look very good! Someone mentioned that my glucose/ketone index (GKI) was less than one (3.9/4.5 = 0.87 yesterday). This is actually the therapeutic level that doctors use to treat cancer patients. Yes, the Low Carb High Fat (LCHF) diet is used to kill cancer cells! As I said in an earlier post 99% of the cells can burn either glucose (sugar) or ketones (fat.) Cancer cells can only burn glucose so lowering the GKI to less than 1 is very beneficial for cancer treatments: thousands have killed their cancers with diet alone.

About the effect on cancer: I just finished reading “Periodic Fasting: Repair your DNA, Grow Younger, and Learn to Appreciate your Food” by Cristian Vlad Zot and he was making a point about fasting and cancer as the evidence for killing the cancer cells is anecdotal–no studies proving it.

However, there have been many studies showing that fasting for 48+ hour before and during chemotherapy actually strengthens your body and protects your healthy from the poisons of the chemotherapy. So people undergoing chemotherapy who fast don’t have nearly the problems of of the majority of cancer patients. Very interesting!

[OldDoug]

[quote=“avocados (do indeed) rule, post:21, topic:14527”]
I am curious, whether anyone has other strategies to deal with (re)organizing clothes sizes as you’re dropping sizes over time?[/quote]

For now, my strategy is hoping and praying I have that problem.

Getting rid of the larger sizes - that scares me a little, due to the potential for waste if they’d ever be needed again. However, “no going back” is a good commitment.

[carolT]

I am curious, whether anyone has other strategies to deal with (re)organizing clothes sizes as you’re dropping sizes over time?

Large ziploc storage bags to keep some marginal clothes around, especially seasonal items.
Thrift stores to find and/or donate old clothes.
A belt to make that favorite pair of jeans last a little while longer.

[avocadosrule]

Thanks Doug - After reading your reply I rescued one pair of pants in the largest size from the trunk of the car “just in case” - then drove off to the thrift store to donate the rest. AR

[avocadosrule]

Thanks Carol - all good ideas - I brought excess clothes to Value Village and am now on to my next bag where “in between” clothes go. It will take some time for the next load! AR

[avocadosrule]

Day 5
2 Coffees (and 7 TBSP of HWC), 1 piece of gum, water, some mio, salt, and I added Knorr Homestyle Home Bouillon to deal with my salt supplementation. To be discussed! Also, got my period. But first here are the morning stats:

and

and

The biggest change in behaviour was adding the Knorr Boullion. Here are the ingredients for it:

I took a little cup of the Knorr (4 per package) and boiled it briefly in boiling water - at the end it gives about 3.5 cups. I drank it all yesterday late afternoon and around ‘dinner’ time with some of my own chopped up herbs (basil, cilantro and parsley). I had come home mid-afternoon and again forgotten to have my second coffee of the day! Wasn’t sure whether I was feeling so-so due to lack of coffee or salt. I suspect both. I couldn’t stomach the idea of slushing back more salt with liquids so I reached for the Knorr. Drinking those 3.5 cups provides 2640 MG of sodium (6x440). That’s a pretty hefty dose. @ron-coleman suggest about 4000 mgs - 4500 mgs minimum a day.

Yesterday morning I spread out 3 tsp of salt on a plate, just to get a visual. Yikes - that did not make me happy!

My understanding is that 1 tsp = 2400 mgs of sodium. So 2 tsps should suffice. The 3 o’clock and 6 O’clock are 1 tsp each of Atlantic Ocean salt boiled down by my friend (we live by the ocean). The 11 o’clock 1 tsp is called Half Salt, the equivalent of the Morton lite salt, part sodium, part potassium. By the time I got home I finished 1 tsp of the home made ocean salt. I was gagging it pretty badly. It does not make my day to have to do this all day long. Resistance is strong! With some mild thoughts of prematurely quitting the fast, I reached for the Knorr.

Now I am reasonably practical and at some level do not think this will badly interrupt the fast (but who knows) but I know some feel that there is a more ‘pure’ way to go about it. In order for me to continue I know I will have to reach for the Knorr. I am home for the long weekend and will experiment with @Brenda ketoaide (tried it once and couldn’t make it work with my taste buds and resistance! Argh) and will see if I can play with it and make it more doable. Does anyone else have suggestions for dealing with salt?

Otherwise I am feeling fine, sleeping fine, fewer thoughts on food, no hunger. It’s all psychology and salt! Thanks for checking in - I do appreciate it!

[Brenda]

Nice charts.

How did you make them?

Not sure why the Knorr broth would be considered an unpure fast. Looks like trace protein and zero carb. It shouldn’t raise insulin or interrupt autophagy. I think it’s a good choice!

[avocadosrule]

Thanks @Brenda - you made my day! I am just going to fast on! AR p.s more later on charts!

[avocadosrule]

Day 6
2 Coffees (and 6 TBSP of HWC), water, some mio, and Knorr Homestyle Home Bouillon to deal with my salt supplementation - about 4000 mgs. Here are the stats:

and

and

As far as I can tell, the stats are looking ok? Does anyone have any other thoughts. I thought the ketones might go higher?

Adding more salt to my non-diet made me feel quite a bit better during the day. So up your salt!

I have definitely thoughts of food but nothing that was painful (unlike he first few days). I even decided to do quite a bit of research on sous vide and am looking forward to pulling the trigger on the purchase! This will be interesting and delicious!

[avocadosrule]

@Brenda - They are excel sheets. They are based on data that I already had and then I also asked @ron-coleman for his excel sheet. He kindly obliged.That helped with the glucose/ketones and the Index. In excel you can putter around with different designs of the charts so I spend 15 minutes looking for charts with visuals I liked. Then I snap the charts and post them.

[Madeleine]

Just out of curiosity I looked up the Knorr that broth has a lot of ingredients. You’ve vetted them all? You seem to be doing great so far but it just seems a pity if there’s a weird sneaky ingredient in the broth that you later regret. I know that the carbs listed on the label are fine but there are ingredients used for intense flavorings that can have surprising effects on insulin.

I’m enjoying seeing your updates!

[ron-coleman]

Adding more salt to my non-diet made me feel quite a bit better during the day. So up your salt!

It doesn’t always seem to make sense but it definitely works! I’m glad you got past your problems with salt and are now successful and feeling great!

[avocadosrule]

Just out of curiosity I looked up the Knorr that broth has a lot of ingredients. You’ve vetted them all? You seem to be doing great so far but it just seems a pity if there’s a weird sneaky ingredient in the broth that you later regret. I know that the carbs listed on the label are fine but there are ingredients used for intense flavorings that can have surprising effects on insulin.

Thanks Madeleine, Excellent question and it’s a reason I was hesitant to use it in the first place. However I was struggling with taking salt any other way (resistance!) so either I was facing to break the fast or go for something like this that provides lots of salt/sodium. This product possibly clouds my ketones results. We may never know since I’m unlikely to drop it. One good thing is that the glucose/ketone index is still below <1. I’m not particularly enjoying it (feels forced like the salt) so we’ll see. Also not feeling that great today despite upping my salt.

I’ll post the ingredients here and see what anyone else has to say, especially the ‘oldies’.

Some thoughts I am having are: 1. this is an experiment so data is data (rational self approach) 2. OMFG what am I doing putting this crap in me!

[Madeleine]

We may never know since I’m unlikely to drop it. ]

Something I find that’s been really helpful as I tweak health/eating habits: I try to make any changes as EASY as possible. The first time I did a 40 hour fast I had a very buttery BPC, then another one, then cream in my tea all day long. It was so ridiculously indulgent that it never occurred to me to feel deprived. I kept doing the 40hour fasts, and some point - honestly I don’t really remember deciding it -I shifted to water and salt only. Now I feel like a goddess when I do hot yoga during a water-only fast, but if I had started out that way I’m pretty sure something in me would have rebelled pretty hard and I would have decided that fasting just wasn’t for me.

All of which is to say: an 18-day fast is amazing and I think it’s probably wise to do it in whatever way works best for you.

[collaroygal]

Well I have gotten rid of almost everything that is baggy or ill fitting, either tossed if well worn or donated to the charity boxes. This includes shoes btw.

Currently I have only this season clothes that fit me in my closet. Off season items are stored in the basement area.

I too feel this time IS different. I can eat this way forever. CICO not so much. If I should put back on enough weight to need new clothes, I will get some stuff from the thrift shops to get by until I get back on plan. But I am pretty sure my DH will be alerting me if I start to slip up. He is loving our new way of eating, and he loves having his petite bride back again after all these years.

[avocadosrule]

Day 7 - and finished my fast. Total one week, 7 full days!

I wasn’t feeling good yesterday despite my upping salt even more with the Knorr homestyle stock bouillon. About 5000 mgs of sodium during the day. Last night a crushing headache which wouldn’t go away and then still not good waking up this morning. So, I listened to the signs and call it a week! Here are the stats, more reflection to come later:

and

and

I do suspect that there are ingredients in that Knorr product that are effecting the levels significantly. Maybe next time I can make my own broth and add sodium in there. That way I can do another experiment. Though, feasting is on my mind now. I broke the fast with some olives, waited an hour and then made some eggs and smoked salmon. All good. More later.