Michelle, I am all man although my wife says I’m a geek (act like a machine?)! Thank you for following my journey and all of your comments.
I found that documenting what I am doing helps me keep on track and strengthens my resolve to continue on the the end of this!
Do you track the calories from heavy cream, bone broth or chicken broth ? I’m wondering because your weight doesn’t change steadily, is fat replaced by water ?
I have been wondering the same thing, I don’t know if I should stop the heavy cream, 200 calories a pop, or wait to see if the water retention from the increased salt settles down. I don’t to stop the cream when the salt and water was the issue. I am still the same weight today, as I will post later, so I may give it a few more days at the increased salt level to see if the weight moves again.
@Bill_Cube I am doing 2 tsp or 4000mg per day as a minimum. I am feeling much better as well!
Day 17 and 400 hours fasted on water, coffee, bone broth, electrolytes, and occasional heavy cream. It is amazing to me that I still have no hunger, the body is an amazing machine! Here are my numbers for today:
I mentioned on Wednesday that I was chilled and I was taking extra salt to work with that. The result is that I increased my salt intake to 2 teaspoons: 4,000mg (4g) of sodium and the chills went away! Yesterday was one of the coldest mornings we have had here in Florida and I felt fine. My fingers are a bit cold, my office stays about 69 degrees all day long, but I am not feeling the chills any longer. I will keep my salt intake up around the 4-4.5g level to keep feeling great.
Remember, when you eat carbs and store glycogen, for each molecule of glycogen there are 4 molecule of water stored with it. Having stored the extra your body also stores sodium in the kidneys to help you in the processing of that water. When you deplete, or just lower, the stored glycogen you release water as well as the sodium from your kidneys. While fasting, I am not eating anything that contains sodium so I must supplement myself with extra salt. I actually add ¼ teaspoon to a 16oz (.5 liter) glass of water or even put it in my coffee. My broth gets ¾ teaspoon as I like it a bit salty.
A few people mentioned that my weight had stalled and someone asked about my salt intake. As I mentioned above I have increased my salt and that may be helping me to retain a bit of water and it should even out in the next few days so the weight loss will continue. Another thing is having heavy cream which is 50 calories per tablespoon and using that a couple of times a day can add up. I have been using the heavy cream every day of the fast and it may not have affected my weight so I will wait a few days to let the salt issue even out and then, if there is no progress on the weight, I may try cutting out the cream. One thing at a time!
I started using MyFittnessPal.com again to record everything I drink to keep track and make sure I am not over doing anything and also that I hit my sodium goals each day. I add in everything from the black coffee to the Jigsaw Health Electrolytes Supreme, the individual kinds of salt, and the heavy cream. It is a useful tool for monitoring my progress.
I left off talking about insulin resistance by explaining what it is and how it is believed to be a major cause of heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, Type 2 diabetes, and a number of other modern ailments. The way to fight insulin resistance is by changing your diet to keep insulin as low as possible.
To change your diet you need to understand that there are 3 macronutrients: carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. All carbohydrates cause your body to release insulin as all carbs digest into sugar. Excess protein will cause a rise in insulin as well. A good diet to lower insulin is one in which you limit carbohydrates to < 20g per day, use moderate protein, and fill up on fat. The percentages of carbs/proteins/fats should be 5% / 15-20% / 75-80%. This is a ketogenic or Low Carb High Fat (LCHF) diet.
Good data. I’ve been wondering though (and maybe you mentioned it somewhere and I missed it) but how much Heavy Cream and broth are you consuming?
Heavy Whipping Cream is obviously a source of a good amount of fat (and small amounts of carb and protein), and Bone Broth is a source of protein (which makes ‘broth fasts’ a bit of a tricky terminology subject at times, though many bone broths are still pretty low on the protein), so it’s possible to have those two thinks and essentially have a normal intake of fat, protein and calories a day (even a bit of carbs), depending on the amount.
For instance, about 1 1/4 cup of HWC a day would be over 1,000 calories on it’s own (that’s about 20 tbsp). That’s a severe calorie restriction, but it’s certainly different from a “10 calories an hour max” diet or anything. I’m assuming you aren’t doing that much, but curious what you actually are getting at this point.
@djindy I typically use about 1/4 cup of heavy cream in my coffee, about the same as a Starbuck’s venti with heavy cream, and I limit it to 1 or 2 a day. The total calories would be 200-400 depending on how many I have.
Beef and Chicken broth, according to MyFitnessPal, is about 10 calories per cup and I will have 1 or 2 cups per day. All total, I am having less than 500 calories each and some days less than 250.
Day 18 and 416 hours fasted on water, coffee, bone broth, electrolytes, and occasional heavy cream. It is still super simple to fast at this point and I am feeling great: still not sure why my weight has not dropped in about a week! Here are my numbers for today:
Just a quick update today as I have a long day with a retreat and working at bingo in the evening, may not make it home until almost 11:00PM.
Weight loss is not one of my primary goals in this 46-day fast I am working on, getting healthier is. I am still wondering when looking at my numbers why the scale hasn’t moved much since I returned from my trip to California last weekend. I don’t think the travel had anything to do with it, I have been eating the same stuff every day before, during, and after the trip, and the scale hasn’t moved. I have noticed an NSV (non-scale victory): I have lost 1.5 inches from my waist in the last week so I am not too worried, I am progressing.
My glucose/ketone index (GKI) is still <=1 so I am very happy to be in the therapeutic range.
As I said above: I feel great, have lots of energy and am not nearly as chilled as I was since I increased my salt intake to 2-2.5 tsp per day.
Have a good fast!
Day 19 and 452 hours fasted on water, coffee, bone broth, electrolytes, and occasional heavy cream. The earth moved and my weight dropped for the first time in almost a week! Here are my numbers for today:
I can explain my weight loss in one word—evacuation! I had been feeling some pressure building for a couple of days but having not eaten anything for over 2 weeks peristalsis had stopped so movement was slow. Well that has been taken care of in one visit, now to see when the next event will happen: 2 maybe 3 weeks?
Still not hungry but my mind is teasing me with “Oh, let’s have a steak or a bun less cheeseburger!” Sounds good but I am building my determination to hold this Lenten fast as long as I am healthy enough to do it! Mind games, gotta love them.
Had a really busy day yesterday and was gone from 7:30 AM until after 10:30 PM and was really wound up when I got home so I decided to do some bible reading before bed to settle me down and it worked wonders. I slept like a baby and even woke about 5:40 and decided to stay up for early mass. Have felt really good and we went for some light browsing for flooring and hit a few parks to soak in some sunshine.
Glucose and ketone levels are holding steady and are in very safe ranges so all is well. Day 23, Thursday, will be my half-way point on this fast and I can coast from there. The challenge is with the mental game and staying fully committed to fasting the entire time. These updates help me to mentally prepare and stay the course. Thanks for reading and all the likes and comments!
@ZackF: Yes, just about every day! I limit myself to 1/2 cup per day maximum.
I like the Starbuck’s as they steam the cream and it keeps the coffee nice and hot. Since I don’t have a steamer at home I nuke the heavy for 20 seconds to heat it up and then add it to my coffee. My favorite coffee is the Green Mountain (Keurig) Dark Roast Decaf, makes a perfect cup.
I never put anything in my coffee until about 3 months ago as a lot of people mentioned the heavy cream and how good it tastes. I tried it and it is good but I still drink a majority of cups just black–I probably have 4-6 cups a day, all decaf, I only use cream in 1 or 2.
Day 20 and 468 hours fasted on water, coffee, bone broth, electrolytes, and occasional heavy cream. I had a great weekend and continue to feel energetic and upbeat and my results are showing it! Here are my numbers for today:
There have been some people that like to ‘dive bomb’ comments and questions like “Are you trying to kill yourself? What do you do for protein? Don’t you know you have to have carbohydrates for your brain?” I mean ‘dive bomb’ in the sense that they walk up to me, throw their comments/questions, and then walk away not wanting to hear my response.
So for the benefit of those people, I have been researching fasting for over a year, tested it out on myself to really understand it. I am working with my doctor as I go through the process. I am being very careful as I want to improve my health with this fast and not ruin it!
People have fasted for thousands of years whether because of a scarcity of food or for religious reasons. Yes, all major religions, Christians, Jews, Hindus, Moslems, and Buddhists all fast. Is fasting prescribed because the leaders are trying to kill off their followers? No, they do it because there are profound benefits that are received from fasting! All of the great religious leaders promote fasting for mental and spiritual clarity as well as physical healing.
Fasting is only difficult when you are addicted to sugar and the carbs you eat which all turn into sugar. Eliminate the carbohydrates from you diet and fasting will become a normal part of your life. Many of the food messages we here on the television and print media, that tell us to eat 5 or 6 times a day, are sponsored by the food companies to sell their products. Do you think they are really interested in our health?
For anyone that would like more information I suggest reading Dr. Jason Fung’s blog on fasting at his Intensive Dietary Management web site.
I’ve also had a few comments that I tend to get too technical sometimes, well, I am in the computer software business and do a lot of programming for analysis of data so Yes, I am a bit of a geek! I like the numbers I post to help me keep track of my progress: most people can understand the weight loss but some of the other values may be a bit much for them and I understand that. I include the graphs to help digest the numbers and I will take some time in the next few posts to try and explain some of the other numbers.
Firstly, I want to mention that I am displaying the data using multiple units like pounds (lb), kilograms (kg), milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl), and millimoles per liter (mmol/l). I have included all of these as some people who view and follow my posts are international and the way things are measured are different in a lot of other countries. For example, weight is typically measured in kg outside the US but they have an idea of what that may represent in pounds. In the US, glucose is typically measured in mg/dl but outside the US it is in mmol/l so I included all of the conversions.
Emphasis from @ron-coleman’s previous post added by me.
I’ve been silently following this thread, but this quote above x1,000 for anyone reading this thread!
Ron has done a lot research and prior self-experimentation to get to the point that he’s ready to execute a fast of this length and ready to adapt mentally and physically to known and unknown events.
You’re doing an excellent job Ron and you’ve been an inspiration to me, especially as a fellow Floridian! 
I am in Jacksonville, maybe we should try to organize a meat up for Northeast Florida! Preferably after Easter when I am finished!
Sounds good, I’m outside of Gainesville, so not much more than about an hour’s drive away.
i call that a “drive-by” like a drive-by gang shooting but i did grow up in southern california where 90% of the gang movies are set LOL
i don’t know why i am shocked that ppl have anything to say at all and complain about the data? ugh
your fast, your thread, your body…your awesomeness 
I know what you mean about concerned folks. I am 6’2" and was over 270 lbs. It’s as if I had nothing to live on. Since my very worried mother found out I was fasting I texted her right after I had eaten the other night. She replied “Great! Better for your heart and kidneys.”
Good job getting both of those “fives” to show up. 59 mg BG and 5.2 mmol ketones!
