ToxDoc, you’re an extremely impressive person!
This is only 2cents worth, but it’s based on having my own experience with “disaster pants” (as Dave Asprey so colorfully calls it). Give yourself an extra day to adapt before heading to your conference. Your entire digestive tract has to turn back on, and it’s an enormously complex machine. Like all machines, it may need to sputter and warm up before it runs right.
Better to have that extra time and not need it than need it and not have it.
Good morning! Down to 192 - my last day in life as “obese.” I would not be here without new programming from Diet Doctor, 2 Keto Dudes, and Jason Fung (and many others). So grateful to the community for sharing the code!
So does this make it day 25 today?
Congrats, by the way. This is one of the threads that inspired me to want to do an extended fast.
Congrats on getting to this major milestone in our weight loss journey.
KCKO
KCFO
Yes, this is Day 25. I have almost filled both freezers with food with cooking frenzy. Still feeling bored but with speedy adrenaline energy. I have a keep an eye on the boredom. It reminds me of when I quit smoking and would find myself absent mindedly driving to the store to get cigarettes.
Thanks! I feel like every day is a milestone. I don’t think about the end much. On my long hike (the A.T. In 2006), people would talk about Katahdin so much. Things like, “when do you think you’ll finish? I can’t wait. This is so hard. It’s so far off.” Well, a lot of those people didn’t finish. The long game is played in the head 
Day 27, down 28 pounds to 190. It’s nice to be able to fit in the next size down, but I am having a bit of a bra emergency. There is a special place in hell for whoever invented the underwire. 
Day 28. Up 1/2 lb to 190.5. No matter.
Thinking about portion sizes today. When I first started this fast, images of eating large platters of food popped into my head. No really fantasizing, but just weird imagery. I thought maybe it was my body protesting. Lately, the images have been of merely very large portions. A part of me wants to interfere and say, “No, brain. Here is an image of portion sizes I should be having.” But a part of me wants to just let the program run. Maybe it’s an indicator of my fasting insulin levels.
Today has been a little more difficult than previous days. I have felt cold all evening. The temperature has been colder here, so I am not sure how much is me and how much is just the weather. The big difference is that I have felt hungry all day - even in the morning, which is unusual for me. I don’t want to break the fast early, but I don’t want to be unreasonable either. I am going to sleep on it and see what tomorrow brings.
Day 30
Holding at 188.5 lb
Definitely doing better today. The crazy hunger from yesterday is gone. I can only assume it was hormonal (I am about 26 days from the beginning of my cycle).
I am thinking about ending on Day 35 instead of Day 37 so my husband and I can go out to dinner on Saturday.
Does that mean breaking at a going-out dinner? I broke mine last time on the Friday so I would be ok going out on the Saturday. I didn’t want any nasty surprises. 
I decided to end the fast early! Looking back at my last few posts, I probably could have predicted that. I was spinning along happily, and then my intentions started to wobble on their axis. Here are some answers to questions you might have.
Why did I decide to stop early on Day 30?
For the last 4 days of the fast, I was feeling cold and hungry. I mean really cold, like I couldn’t get my feet to warm up by rubbing them together and wearing thick wool socks, so I just went to sleep with ice blocks. Lots of extra clothes and sweaters indoors. I was also feeling more hungry and preoccupied with food from Day 26 to 30, particularly later in the day. It was taking more to distract me. My skin became very dry and itchy, again, moreso with each passing day. I also had a rash on my face that wouldn’t heal and various scrapes and bug bites that wouldn’t heal. This part was a little odd, because I thought autophagy would clear things up. I got the sense that my skin wasn’t doing so well because my gut wasn’t doing so well. Next time, I think I will do something to help my critters be happy, like take a probiotic or kimchi or apple cider vinegar, instead of starving them to death.
What did I eat?
I remember reading about a fur trapper in the 1800s who got shot in the stomach, leaving an open wound for many years. His physician would tie food to a string, drop it in the hole, and record how long it would take to digest and how completely it digested. Meat worked best of all. He remarked on how even tough, gristly cuts of meat would dissolve completely away, while cooked vegetables would not get digested all the way. So, I decided on meat. I had Thai chicken larb (hot!), and it was delicious. Later, I had some keto bread made with cheddar and jalapeno. Because, hey, who doesn’t like spicy x 10 when they’re about to have tummy problems?
What happened with my symptoms after the fast?
Obviously, my hunger went away. I immediately warmed up - a lot. I am wearing a t-shirt ad shorts today, and I’m burning up. My facial rash seems like it is waxing and waning. I can’t really explain what I mean by that. It’s kind of flushing and looks like pimples (like rosacea), but then at other points in the day it looks almost normal. My skin is still dry, but that may take a few days.
How about digestion?
Let’s just say, I am glad I have a job working from home. Then again, my toilets were designed to accept only blue ribbon award-winning Bristol stool champions (not something akin to peanut butter). If I were in the office, I could be making that someone else’s problem 
Prediction: Normal by the end of the day tomorrow. All in all, definitely worth the sacrifice.
How much weight did I lose?
Started at 218, ended at 188.5 for a loss of 29.5 lb in 30 days. I went from a size 18 (plus size) to a large size 14 (normal sizes = normal stores, yay!). The smaller 14s still don’t fit me. I am not sure how much will stay off.
I have planned fasts for the next few months to lose the rest of the weight, assuming keto and skipping breakfast (which I do anyway) will not be enough. Goal weight should land around April 1.
Thank you all for your support - it meant a lot! If you have any questions about doing a 30-day fast, please let me know, and I will do my best to answer them.
“Early” at 30 days. That’s funny! Good to listen to your body, sounds like it was time.
Shout out to Dr Beaumont and Alexis StMartin! Glad Mr StMartin’s injury ended up helping you out! Really thought, weird situation that helped doctors understand digestion much better.
Ok, that was a fantastic run. My longest was just short of 5 days.
Now remember, it is best to refeed half the time you fasted, so no fasting for 15 day, skipping breakfast is ok but make sure you are really eating normally for the 15 days. Also don’t freak out when the scales goes upwards, you should be able to hang on to about half of that loss.
This is from IDM’s Megan Ramos’ comments. She knows a thing or two about fasting 
I always jump back into spicy foods after fasting. I was never a sugar addict, but a spice addict. Luckily our WOE, supports that kind of an addiction.
Interesting story about the trapper and his dr.s’ experiment. Thanks for posting it.
