Am I ready for a water fast?

[Monurse]

I’ve been doing keto for 7 weeks. I’ve had an itch lately to try a water fast. I feel like I need to give my body a break from food. I’ve been getting very bloated lately when I eat cruciferous vegetables. I never did before so it’s very annoying to say the least. My hunger has just gone away. Any tips would be appreciated

[grinch734]

Sure, skip breakfast first, then lunch too, then if you feel up for it a whole day. Make sure to drink electrolytes to make it more tolerable.

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[Peter]

I just finished day 2 of 5. I’d say just do it. Eat up big the day before so you don’t feel like eating much when you start. Just water means you can have a cup of hot water too - think of it as weak tea

Also if you feel grumpy, try some salt on your tongue to suck on. Drink lots of water. Have you done some IF already? That is, intermittent fasting aka skipping meals. Having one meal per day is a good start. You get used to not eating every few hours.

Good luck!

[Monurse]

So far I’ve done BPC in the mornings, first meal around 2pm, second meal around 7pm. Sometimes I skip dinner if I’m not hungry. Thanks for the advice!

[Monurse]

The only thing I’m worried about missing is my morning coffee! Maybe I’ll try OMAD first

[KemaV]

I’m on week 4 and I just completed my first water fast (33 hrs). I was doing 16/8 IF for a week before I tried the fast. I didn’t experience any issues. I’d say give it a try. Eat if it becomes too much.

[grinch734]

I’m worried about missing is my morning coffee!

Black coffee is fine and helps suppress your appetite. I think any fat in it technically breaks the fast though.

[Monurse]

Glad I asked! I didn’t know coffee was aloud during a water fast😊 makes it sound doable now!

[andy71]

break yourself of the mind set of what is “allowed” - that implies that some authority is setting the rules. The only rule is finding out what works for you and will allow you to reach your goal. Some people water fast with only water, some people fast with black coffee and tea (i’m in that camp), and some people fat fast with keto coffee. If your goal is fasting for weightloss that black coffee or tea are totally fine. If you are fasting for autophagy then theres conflicting evidence about whether coffee or tea are ok - it might be or might not - but plain water is a safer bet for that goal.

[Monurse]

I like the sound of that… I’m trying to figure out what is causing this bloat I’ve been experiencing. A fat fast sounds good to me as well.

[Gaff]

break yourself of the mind set of what is “allowed” - that implies that some authority is setting the rules. The only rule is finding out what works for you and will allow you to reach your goal

Great advice!

There’s a ton of “n=1” type experimenting to do because at the end of the day all our bodies are different - composition, metabolism, allergies, likes, dislikes, tolerances. Keto is a solid framework for getting things moving in the right direction and then you can see what choices you want to make on top of that.

If fasting doesn’t work for you, no problem, see where you’re at in your keto WOE and if there’s any variables you can play with to potentially make the fast go better (such as a large feast beforehand). If a water fast doesn’t work, try adding some bone broth, or even see if a fat fast works better for you. There’s no rule, no “if you do this, it will work 100% of the time and you just need to get on board”. There’s also no one-way doors, so if you try something and it doesn’t work well you can always just stop and try again another way until you find what works for you. It might even be that longer-term whatever you’ve tried would work well but you need some time to adjust. For example a lot of people feel bad at least in the first day when starting a fast but once they’re into it, they can go a few days feeling on top of the world and wondering if they should probably eat again at some point.

[Madeleine]

Glad I asked! I didn’t know coffee was aloud during a water fast😊 makes it sound doable now!

In case this helps: I’m working my way up to water fasts (or, rather back to since I had done them before) by keep BPC for now and even a bit of fat now and then in EFs. I’m assuming that at some point I won’t need those as a crutch, but in the meantime I’m getting some nice insulin effects, probably a bit more autophagy than usual, and mostly the practice in regular fasting. I just want it to feel normal and easy before I move to water (and electrolytes) only. It’s working! I just wrapped up an 84 hour fast - my 5th monthly one of that length - and loved it. Many folks use bone broth the same way - as a help to get used to the first few fasts.

Check out the monthly fasting thread if you want to see what different people are doing throughout the month. Here’s the one for September.

[Monurse]

Wow 84 hours! That’s impressive… thanks for the link. A few questions: did you drink the BPC only during those 84 hours, and was it only during a eating window or just whenever you needed it?

[Madeleine]

One BPC each morning, sometimes a spoonful of other fat (coconut butter, or butter in my tea) later in the day. This is technically a fat fast, and is probably less effective in various ways than a water fast. But I don’t like getting cold during fasting, I want to continue my workouts, and mostly I want them be easy before I try water fasting again. Each month I block out five days that fits my family and work schedule, and while in the fast I just monitor how I’m feeling and break if anything feels off.

[Monurse]

Thanks! Time to go read your link