Accidental Fast - Observations, pressures and dietary conformity

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(Carolus Holman) #1

So I have not really ate anything since December 25, and today is December 28th, so at 5 pm I will be at 72 hours (not sure if I will stick it out), I have been drinking mainly coffee with some cream, and Keto-Aide. I am not hungry. I did a 2 day fast before and dropped about 4 pounds which came right back. Now I am down about 5.5 pounds, I will most likely gain that back too.

Question is how much weight can you really keep off after a 48-72 hour fast? I know it most likely depends on the person, but realistically can I expect to lose 1 or 2 pounds out of 6?

People notice when you don’t eat, my wife notices and when she hears the grehlims growling in my stomach, YOU ARE STARVING! and the whole conversation goes south.

People at work notice that I am a machine who takes no breaks, no lunch, and it makes them uncomfortable, they can’t believe I don’t need to eat every 15 minutes. :slight_smile: I should take breaks, but I feel no need I can keep going for hours and hours.

I sleep a good 8 hours and I am UP, I mean really awake. I find myself eating less and less, food just sits in the refrigerator, I have to freeze it or it will go bad, I can’t eat it fast enough.

Fasting is uncomfortable, not because I am hungry, because of the societal pressure to “fit in” no matter how fat you are! (Pun Intended) Family pressure gives me pause, “Is she right? I am hurting myself”, “I am only reading the articles which support my hypotheses.” Can fasting 3 days do real damage? From reading on here and all the people that fast for weeks at a time, I doubt it. But that doesn’t change the immense feeling of sociability, likability, harmony and getting along. These too are needed for good-health, mental health.

I have considered lying about eating, telling people I had a big lunch, or dinner was huge, or late breakfast. Is this what happens? Thoughts? How have you dealt with the pressures of dietary conformity?

#2

Dr. Fung states in his book, The Complete Guide to Fasting, his clients average half a pound of fat loss per day while fasting. That has been my experience as well. So in a 4 day fast, expect to sustain 2 lbs of fat loss.

I typically eat about one meal a week, on average. I sip on bullion during meal times in order to be social.

(Carolus Holman) #3

That’s hardcore. I am calling it at 70 hours. I can push it, but the food dreams and thoughs are killing me!

(Ken) #4

Ah, food dreams. I remember them vividly from over three decades ago when I went through eight weeks of semi-starvation during Airborne Ranger School. Everyone had their own dreams, intensified because we were all experiencing severe sleep deprivation as well. It was very stressfull, as we were being fed a Carb based diet when we ate. Many could not handle it and quit. My recurring dream was my Grandmother’s Apple Crisp, I’d wake up salivating. I took some leave after the school and spent some time back home, she had a huge pan of it waiting for me.

I ended up losing around 30 lbs. During the school. Massive muscle loss, it hurt to sit on a bench since my gluteus maximus muscles had wasted away.

It’s too bad I didn’t know the science back then, I’d never have gained any fat back if I had.

If we’d been fed meat and fat during the school, things would have been much better.