A really extended fast: going for 46-days!


(I am a Dog (Dog's eat until they burst!)) #242

@djindy: Thanks for the clarification and more detail. As far as Sundays, Easter Sunday is the highest day in the church calendar followed by all other Sundays. This is why the Sundays are technically a day of Lent as they are above the Lenten period. Just like the Solemnity of the Annunciation a couple weeks ago was a higher day and superseded the usual practice of not singing the Gloria during mass. Lots of rules!

I chose to break my fast on Easter Sunday as I participate in the vigil mass on Saturday evening and did not want any issues coming up from recent feeding!


(G. Andrew Duthie) #243

Yup.

As with much catechesis over the last few decades, this has not been particularly well communicated. EWTN has a good reference here:

On the Fridays outside of Lent the U.S. bishops conference obtained the permission of the Holy See for Catholics in the US to substitute a penitential, or even a charitable, practice of their own choosing. They must do some penitential/charitable practice on these Fridays. For most people the easiest practice to consistently fulfill will be the traditional one, to abstain from meat on all Fridays of the year. During Lent abstinence from meat on Fridays is obligatory in the United States as elsewhere.

Hopefully, the non-Catholics will indulge us a little here (pun intended), and perhaps the discussion may even help folks understand some of the unusual stuff we practice. :slight_smile:

Myself, I agree with the statement that abstaining from meat on Fridays is the easiest to consistently fulfill, so itā€™s what our family tends to observe.


#244

Well, sorta. Sundays of Lent are still Lent, though they apparently rank above ordinary Sundays it seems (this is a bit Iā€™m just now reading on, based on an older document of the hierarchy of days. Iā€™ve been looking for a particular source so I could find the wording right which I thought said the Paschal Triduum [Holy Thursday -Easter Sunday, more or less] is the height and has pre-eminence over all else, with every Sunday after that, but canā€™t find that precisely. A friend of mine who works closer with these matters is sending over a resource tomorrow). But yea, thereā€™s a hierarchy of things and various rules to go with it.
Thereā€™s also an odd bit about how, even though Lent has technically ended on Holy Thursday, whatever sacrifice/fast is being made is encouraged to continue until at least the Easter Vigil is celebrated, so makes sense to me that you might continue through that point.

@devhammer Aye, I find thatā€™s the easiest way to observe as well, so thatā€™s usually how we go (once in a while we opt for the alternative outside of Lent for particular reasons). It also becomes a good occasion to get in a serving of marine DHA many tout so much (all works out).


(Becky Searls) #245

Good tips. Question: is rigorous exercise during an extended fast ok if I feel good during and after? I imagine so but it seems like most people donā€™t exercise or do so more lightly than usual while fasting. I have done a pretty intense HIIT boxing class, yoga class, and cycling class the past 3 days during my now-5-day fast. I continue to feel good during and after each workout and have been really careful to supplement with salt and that jigsaw electrolyte packet given my tendency to faint with low blood pressureā€¦but I sometimes worry Iā€™ll just not realize Iā€™ve pushed too far and then go down mid workout or something? Is this a valid fear or should I just keep listening to my body, @DaveKeto ?


(I am a Dog (Dog's eat until they burst!)) #246

I know @richard also likes to do long rides during his longer fasts. The rule is always to listen to your body.

I would say that if you still feel 100% when preparing for your workout then go for it and listen carefully. You may also want to judge how you feel when you finish to determine if you feel excessively depleted and keep that in mind for your next workout.

That said, I have seen many people mention that they do about 80% effort on their workouts as that is their comfort zone. Listen to your body!


(Guardian of the bacon) #247

Great thread and a great project. Iā€™ve enjoyed reading all the way through.


(KetoMarine) #248

Mr. Coleman; you have motivated me to fast the week of Easter. Iā€™ve done a 72 fast and Iā€™m ready for more!


#249

Me too, all this fasting talk is very inspiring, I just finished a 66 hour fast. Second time only and this time was much easier than the first. Decided to end it before the 72 hours with a light snack of nuts and cheese this afternoon, so I could go out for dinner with family this evening. I hope to be able to do 72 hour fasts at least a couple of times a month. Great support & information all through this forum - thanks to all the regular and experienced contributors who are helping guide us NewbiesšŸ˜ƒ


(Becky Searls) #250

Like the family time idea Ron! A recent episode of the fasting talk podcast with jimmy moore and Megan Ramos suggested having bone broth in a bowl with a spoonā€¦maybe even adding some parsley on top to make it look like soup if your family seem so overly worried. I did this one night just to have quality time with my husband during ā€œdinnerā€ and it was great!!


(I am a Dog (Dog's eat until they burst!)) #251

For those catholics and others that are interested: here is the link to the church document ā€œGeneral Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendarā€ that explains the hierarchy of days, seasons, and other celebrations for the liturgical year. http://www.liturgyoffice.org.uk/Resources/GIRM/Documents/GNLY.pdf


(I am a Dog (Dog's eat until they burst!)) #252

Day 35 and 832 hours fasted on water, coffee, bone broth, electrolytes, and occasional heavy cream. Getting back to my normal sleep routine and it feels great! Here are my numbers for today:




I really didnā€™t sleep well the first night home as I woke about 2:00 to urinate and then felt like I tossed and turned the rest of the night. Last night was amazing as I got almost 10 hour of good sleep and didnā€™t have to get up at all. I feel fully recharged because of it!

On the 35th day of the fast and it has become such a habit that I donā€™t even think about eating. I do drink quite a bit of water and coffee along with the additions of salt, Jigsaw Health Electrolyte Supreme, and heavy cream for the micronutrients I need. I donā€™t see any problem with going back to eating on Easter day but I am thinking that I could continue this fast right through and past Easter with absolutely no regrets!

I am resolving to end on Easter day as there may be some family issues if I donā€™t; my wife indulges my fast as well as my LCHF lifestyle but is not completely on board and watches me like a hawk for any signs of my getting sick. It is nice that she watches closely as she sees little things that I may miss. She mentioned that I looked emaciated on the trip home from Tennessee. I increased my fluid and electrolyte intake the next day and I donā€™t have the sunken eyes any longer!

When I go back to eating what kind of foods will I eat? Will I follow the Standard American Diet (SAD, got to love that acronym!) or will I go with the Low Carbohydrate High/Healthy Fat (LCHF) way of eating (WOE)? Well letā€™s compare how each of these diets affect our health by using some of the 89 medical studies that have been done since the 1960s to compare the value of the low fat high carbohydrate (SAD) diet over the LCHF diet: take a guess at how many studies favored the SAD?

Are you ready? Ok, there were zero studies that were statistically significant in support of the SAD over the LCHF but there was 1 of the 89 that leaned toward the SAD but again, it was not significant. Of the remaining studies, 67 were statistically significant in favor of the LCHF WOE! Why have we not been told this?

Part of the reason is that scientists and doctors have been trained in the mentality that fat is bad and grains are good. In fact, in the conclusion of one of the above studies that ended up favoring LCHF the authors wrote ā€œWe donā€™t understand why this study failed as we know that reducing fats and increasing carbohydrates is healthy.ā€ Even with the evidence shown through their study they are willing to throw away a couple of years of work to stick with what they were told is truth!

One of the more recent and informative studies was done by Christopher Gardner, PhD, from Stanford University. Gardner is a vegetarian and has been for over 30 years. He undertook this study, partially, to prove, once and for all, that the Atkins (LCHF) diet was wrong. The paper is titled ā€œComparison of the Atkins, Zone, Ornish, and LEARN Diets for Change in Weight and Related Risk Factors Among Overweight Premenopausal Women-The A TO Z Weight Loss Study: A Randomized Trialā€ and can be Googled if you want to view it.

I will include 2 graphs, one from the study itself and another that shows the data from Table 3 of the study. The first graph shows the weight loss of the women over the 12-month duration of the trial and definitely favors the Atkins diet.

In a YouTube video, Professor Gardner talks about this study and admits that his bias against the Atkins was damaged by the weight loss in the Atkins diet but was really shattered when he looked at the data from Table 3. This table showed what affect the diets had on blood and lipid values that are critical measures of health. For virtually all of the markers from HDL, triglycerides, glucose, and inflammation markers things were dramatically improved by the Atkins protocol as opposed to any of the other diets compared!


In other words, given this evidence, I will be going back to the LCHF WOE and will avoid most carbohydrates! Keep Calm and Keto On!


(I am a Dog (Dog's eat until they burst!)) #253

Day 36 and 856 hours fasted on water, coffee, bone broth, electrolytes, and occasional heavy cream. Cruising along and am really not hungry! Here are my numbers for today:




No hunger at all! In fact I woke this morning and didnā€™t want any heavy cream in my coffee as I was still feeling full after 2 cups with cream (1/4 cup cream in each) yesterday. I still do my salt and electrolytes as I know they are important and am moving right along.

My wife had some sautĆ©ed shrimp and steamed green beans for lunch that looked and smelled great but I felt no hunger pangs or even urges to just grab some. The worse I felt was this morning while running errands a thought passed by like ā€œOh, I can stop there and pick up some peanuts!ā€ Peanuts were my downfall earlier this year as I snacked on them viciously and did manage to gain some weight. Right after the thought passed, it disappeared just as quickly.

As I said previously, one of my goals is better control over my eating and I am getting there, very slowly. It is like when I first gave up carbs, well: sugar, flour, breads, grains, starchy vegetables, and the like (I still eat whole foods like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and most green vegetables) back in July 2015. I had withdrawal pains as sugar is very addictive and all of those carbs listed above turn into sugar very quickly through digestion. It took about a week for me to go through what is called the ā€˜Keto Fluā€™ where you can feel light-headed, nauseated, weak, and possibly feverish from the withdrawal. This is easily overcome by adding water and salt to your diet, by the way.

After the first week without processed carbs, it became much easier to pass them up. I would still have an urge to grab a piece of bread from the bread bowl or a chip from the bowl in a Mexican restaurant and it was much easier to manage. I heard that the urges go away in about 5 weeks but the thoughts take about 5 years to disappear. I can verify the urges really do go away as I can walk into a bakery and smell the baking bread and not want to even try a slice!

I do sometimes think about how that slice of bread would taste and these are the thoughts that may or may not go away in the future. Like all other temptations it is all about whether or not we act on them. I am able to choose to not act very easily during this fast and I am hoping this strength will carry forward to when I am eating again.

Since these posts, should I make it a blog (?), help to keep me accountable during this fast I am considering continuing the posts for a few weeks after the fast with continued daily readings and the addition of what Iā€™ve eaten each day. Again, accountability may help me to learn to control my cravings for some foods and teach myself to eat only when I am hungry.

I will incorporate intermittent fasting (IF) as well where I limit my eating window each day so I may skip breakfast each day. I then get a longer period of overnight fasting while still eating lots of healthy food that is satisfying and satiating. That is the beauty of the low carb healthy fat WOE; there are tons of options for meals and they are all of the good stuff just without all the processed carbage!

I love bacon and eggs so skipping breakfast when travelling might impact having them each day although more and more restaurants are offering all-day breakfasts so that wouldnā€™t be an issue. At home I can easily make eggs for lunch or dinner. I could always have breakfast and then skip lunch with similar benefits except my fasting window would be more like 12 hours instead of 16-17 hours. Decisions that will need to be made in the future.

You never know, I may do like I did last fall and just fast for all of my business trips! I did feel like I was missing out as eating steaks on an expense account helps them to taste better but then again eating out means I donā€™t have as much control over all of the ingredients that are used in the preparation of the meals. Again, decisions to be made in the future!


(A ham loving ham! - VA6KD) #254

Ron, thank you for reporting on this in such rich details. Iā€™m finding it fascinating to watch whatā€™s happening as you fast.

If you donā€™t mind however, can I ask whatā€™s going on at the output side of your body? Is it fairly normal if not a bit less regular for example? Is your urine unusually dark?..etc. Have you noticed any other changes in body odor, nail/hair/skin condition, fine motor control? Youā€™re consciously keeping up with some nutrients, but Iā€™m curious if everything else (body function wise) is status quo during your fast.

Apologies in advance if this is too much information to supply and I totally understand if youā€™d rather not share it.

Thanks.


(I am a Dog (Dog's eat until they burst!)) #255

@keehan: With only liquids going in most of what is going out is liquid. With the amount of water and coffee I use my urine is normally light yellow to almost clear depending on my volume. As far as the solid side of things, I had mentioned on day 19 that I had a successful bowel movement, it was a bit sludgy with a little solids but was once and done. No big issue.

I didnā€™t comment that on day 32 when I did have a small BM as well that was a bit more watery with some well formed. Again once and done, no issues.

In general, because of my fasting the stools would represent the detoxification my body is going through to create these waste products. It doesnā€™t happen very often but that was what I expected in my research on very long fasts, I think the average for most people was 26 days between bowel movements.

I hope this helps.


#256

What a fantastic thread!! And such an accomplishment. Iā€™m new to Keto (1 month) I have done very short fasts in the past-24 hours-and always enjoyed them. Thanks for sharing your journey!


(A ham loving ham! - VA6KD) #257

Thanks for that. Yeah, I remember the day 19 de-slugification incident, but was wondering whatā€™s been going on since. It helps a lotā€¦thanks againā€¦Iā€™m trying to reconcile in my head, the inputs and outputs in your fasting condition. Iā€™m a bit of a numbers nerd and I work with industrial control systems for a living and to me, I try to picture the human body as just a complex biological control system.


(Michelle) #258

Ron - I am very curious about your journey atter the fast too. If you can keep us all informed after breaking the fast, that would be fantastic.


#259

The blog is a nice idea, but a fair amount of work I am guessing. I agree though, a regular record does keep us accountable, and is also good for personal reference purposes. I do hope you decide to continue to post daily though, whether it be here or elsewhere, as the information is very interesting, both to long time ketonians/fasters and to Newbies. The fact that you continue uninterrupted with a busy work/travel schedule and family time etc is a testament to the fact that this WOE (or not eating as the case may be) can be worked into most schedules with enough practice and planning. We are all in awe of your perseverence!:+1:t2:


(eat more) #260

i also vote for post 46th day updates :blush:


(Becky Searls) #261

Agree with this and others who have expressed the same! Maybe even for up to 20 or more days?? Itā€™s so fascinating! [quote=ā€œMKChitown, post:258, topic:8415ā€]
I am very curious about your journey atter the fast too. If you can keep us all informed after breaking the fast, that would be fantastic.
[/quote]

I just ended a 6 day fast last night and am now trying a zero carb stint! I am absolutely floored that in the time Iā€™ve returned from Spain and done both a 4 and a 6 day fast, with a feasting period in between for about a week, youā€™ve just been fasting right along through it all! Canā€™t wait to keep working my fasting muscle as Jimmy Moore and Megan Ramos say and try a 7 day fast next. I actually almost kept going this time except I was taking dinner to a friend who has been going through a rough patch and shr invited me to stay and eat with her and catch up. Since it was exactly when I had planned to end my fast anyway, I decided to go with the plan and have that time with her.