Anyone doing extended fasting during #stayathome-time?

(KCKO, KCFO) #21

I did a lot of 36-48 hr. fasting during March. Part was due to social distancing, but some because I had an awful bout of sinus infection and really couldn’t think about food much.

I’m just ding IFing so far in April. I will also be doing at least a 48 hr. fast next week before doing the April Zonefast.

Our governor has asked everyone to please wear masks anytime you are out in public. He also mentioned this is not vacation time, so don’t travel. He said to think of the stimulus check as payment for staying in your home and protection you and your loved ones from this disease.

Local parks are open but signs are up about not using playground equipment because it isn’t being cleaned regularly. The state has a stay at home except for essentials policy. No curfew or anything like marshall law rules, just asking everyone to please help stop the spread of the virus through simple, easy to apply principles. Which are wash your hands, don’t touch your face, wear masks in public, use your phone or the internet to stay connected to your friends, keep 6 ft between you and anyone you encounter out in public.

#22

Plastic up to 72 hours I believe.

(Susan) #23

Oh wow that is quite a long time, eek.

(Patty W) #24

Yep. I’m currently 122 hours in right now, planning to stop tomorrow late morning (5.5 days). I’m feeling good enough that I could probably go on for another couple days, but I put a slow cooker full of pork shoulder (with garlic & bacon) that will be done about the same time, so pretty sure I’ll have that for brunch :slight_smile: Since 3/1, this is my 3rd 3-5 day fast. Mostly I’m doing it for symptom management reasons. Had issues re: leg swelling due to large hematoma; & then last week got a mild sinusitis. First couple days I was a little nervous, wondering if my cough/sore throat was Covid, but no fever, & I think the fasting helped my sinusitis clear up faster. It’s very reinforcing to see how fasting redirects the body’s energies for healing. Another side benefit is being down 27 lbs. I’m actually being more serious about tracking my macros/portions this past month & that has helped me not rebound back up much post-fast. Normally I’m not as obsessed about the weight loss part of keto, but I’m morbidly obese, & anything I can do to improve my odds if I get Covid, all the better. If I get sick enough that I need a ventilator, I’m done. (Not trying to be a downer, but I’m a palliative & hospice RN, I understand the outcome risks). Plus, as a nice side benefit, makes the food supplies last a little longer…less shopping; & giving me more time to focus on some other projects around home without chores of cooking/dishes. I certainly understand this may not be a fit for everyone.

(ben) #25

just reached 96 hours of water fasting. so it’s a personal record.
Can’t say i’m feeling great. fluctuating energy. but no stomach problems.

I’m now switching to bone broth fast for two days to get into water fast again for 96 hours. also had some extra electrolytes (took out the powder from capsule).
idea is to load up on minerals again (and do some gut healing) before we go back to water fast.

(Susan) #26

Congratulations on this Ben! Well done =).

(Susan) #27

Congratulations on your 122 hours so far, Patty, that is fantastic, best wishes for the rest to your goal, well done =).

(ben) #28

Since I’m getting messages from everywhere (including a lot of youtube video’s) advising not to do longterm fastings during these time and I’ve read more into it, I’ve decided to break the fast today and get into OMAD again.

At least my keto and glucose range has been normalized again with 84,6GC and 2.5K this morning.

I’ve done dirty keto before this and actually gained 5kg* then. This has been normalized by losing 4kg in this fast. Which probably will bounce back, but clean keto will take it from here.

(*I actually wanted to see what an abundance of calories would mean with keto. So I had 3 portions of mascarpone daily for a month, which total to 7500 calories)

(aka Darius) #29

I’m thinking of doing 48h starting today. I work out a lot and do resistance training so I’m kinda unsure if its a good idea to fast :thinking:
I don’t want to lose on gains

(aka Darius) #30

What really? It’s not advised to fast? How come?

(ben) #31

Apparently fasting is good for bacterial infections/immunity, but not as good for viral.
Not trying to expain it, there are a bunch of videos which do it better:

This video is from 3 years ago:

And the keto/fasting celebs warns against it too:

(aka Darius) #32

Damn I didn’t know that. Well I guess it’s back to cutting then. Is there anything on Protein over Fat and COVID? Is one better than the other in this situation or doesn’t matter?

(ben) #33

You can still do OMADs with keto. Watch the videos for an explanation on how to boost your immunity system.

(Patty W) #34

Thanks for sharing those videos. Some good info there, especially like some of Dr. Mel’s vids. Good tips for immunity boosting right now. Stay healthy!

(Bob M) #35

From the (always preliminary) data/studies I’ve seen, your chances of getting covid-19 outside are very small. Even with social distancing, we plan on having people over in our pool in the summer. We’ll keep apart, but kids will be swimming in chlorinated pool water, and our pool is in the sun. It’s brutally hot if you don’t have shoes on, so if we close the umbrellas, the surfaces will heat hot enough to kill anything.

Another option is we let people come over but we don’t go outside. That’s going to be tough, as my kids will want to go.

(Bob M) #36

Used my IR thermometer to run some tests. The air temp was cold, around 50F. The decking in the sun was over 90F, and one of the chairs we had was 111F. This was early in the morning, about 9am. When it gets to be 70F+ and after noon, the decking is too hot for bare feet, as is the pool concrete. It’s not possible for viruses or bacteria to live on these surfaces for any significant time.

Well, I really want to try a 4.5 day fast, but my wife thinks it’s dangerous because of the effect on the immune system. I’m not so sure.

#37

I agree with your wife. My first year on keto I kept getting colds (I posted somewhere about it) and it was a monthly. Then I started supplementing with Vitamin C but the truth is I stopped fasting as much. Not surprised when I read the the warnings

(Bob M) #38

I think it’s different. I’ve been low carb/keto for 6.5 years, and I didn’t start fasting until at least 1.5 years into low carb. I’ve done tons of 3.5-4.5 day fasts.

I haven’t been doing any long fasts since the covid-19 outbreak, though.

(Elmo) #39

All my fasts have been from 1 to 5 days in length. For the past two weeks I’ve gone for 3 days, Monday - Wednesday, eating Thursday - Sunday. It’s been very easy - I know what to expect around 18 - 24 hours, the body rebelling a little as it realizes things are “empty.” I still don’t know how much of this is physical, versus mental.

I’ve had no regular fasting routine, and started a few years back. It was more difficult in the beginning, and the psychological aspects were bigger. Now I can just roll my eyes at them. “Look, we’ve been here before and this is not really bad at all.”

By 36 hours, things have smoothed out, and it’s really “fasting mode.” This is a good time, as if the body gets a little more energy from stored fat, like it quits worrying about other food. “Okay, okay, so we’re just burning fat now. So let’s go with that.”

When I eat on the 4th day, there’s some “uncertain” feeling, like the body is saying, “Oh crap, now here’s another change…” It takes an hour or two to get past this. I’m used to eating extremely low carbohydrate, but I wonder if I’m still not “front-running” things by secreting more insulin than necessary (or what should be necessary with better metabolic health), somewhat like the effects of reactive hypoglycemia. (?)

Later on the 4th day - the first day of eating again - I get a really good, energetic feeling, and there’s a sense of euphoria. A very few times in my life, just a handful, really, I think I’ve had the “fasting high.” This refeeding feeling is similar. I’ve seen the refeeding period described as one of profoundly good work and healing done by the body. I hope so - it does feel that way.

closed #40