Attempting My First Intentional Fast

(Fiddlestix H. McWhiskers) #1

Hello, all. I’m a tiny bit nervous because I’m attempting my first intentional fast. I say intentional because I used to accidentally fast when I was younger and would just forget to eat sometimes, but that was a long time ago.

Anyway, I have no Idea how long I’m going to go for. I waited until I’d eaten all of the prepared food in the fridge so I wouldn’t have anything going bad if I end up going for who knows how long… I really have no idea. I’ve heard about people drinking electrolytes, but is it really necessary? I’ve heard that some people just drink water and put some salt on their tongue occasionally; is that enough? Would drinking mineral waters like Topo Chico suffice?

I’ve looked it up a bit online, but it’s so frustrating to try to discern between the people who are just selling things and the people who just want to do “all the things” related to a certain subject and the people who don’t know what they’re talking about. I find that there is a good amount of people here that seem to be trustworthy, so I thought I’d query you guys about it.

There’s an equally large mountain of confusing info about breaking a fast. Some people seem to think that our bodies are so fragile that eating one wrong thing too quickly may send you to the hospital, and then there are others who just go back to eating normally with no concern whatsoever. I was thinking of going with some bone broth and then a few fillets of tilapia to come off mine when I’m done. What say you?

(KM) #2

This is what I do. If I am not doing a bare bones water only fast, I continue to have a morning coffee with a tiny bit of heavy cream, and I will sip broth during the day. Not bone broth, too much protein, just ordinary bullion or beef or chicken broth. Tea is okay too, but I can’t do tea on an empty stomach.

Whether to be super cautious when refeeding depends in part on how long your fast lasts. If it’s a couple of days, you can refeed with anything, just introduce it slowly. Stuff that is easy to digest and doesn’t have a whole lot of fat - or carbs - may be your best bet, bone broth and then tilapia sounds reasonable. Keep the portions small and monitor how you feel before eating more. Nausea and diarrhea are the two most likely ill effects of refeeding.

Honestly I’ve barreled ahead and just gone back to my regular coffee drink on waking in the morning, as if I’d never been fasting, then a light lunch and been fine. But my last fast I did experience nausea by starting with cheese, I got a very acid stomach and nausea from it, and one other time if I recall, with homemade egg drop soup. YMMV. Take it slow.

If you wind up fasting longer than say 6 days, more caution may be required. “Refeeding syndrome is a metabolic complication that can occur when nutrition is reintroduced to a severely malnourished individual. The sudden influx of glucose triggers the release of insulin. This insulin causes a rapid shift of electrolytes from the bloodstream into the cells which can lead to dangerous electrolyte imbalances, cardiac irregularities, and other serious health issues.”

It is highly unlikely that you would be a “severely malnourished individual” after a short fast unless you started out that way. Even then, a slow introduction of low carb, easier to digest foods would be the way to go.

The authority I have found most reliable on fasting is Jason Fung.

Good luck!

#3

That sounds perfect to me especially that it’s your first. I never try to decide on the length as how on earth could I possibly know when I will need food? :smiley: If I get really hungry or if I really need food, of course I immediately stop…

It seems very individual. I had absolutely nothing but water and plain tea for 5 days, well that was a bit too long without sodium for me (it was fun though, cheapest drunkenness ever but I don’t play with my poor body so next time I will have some salt when I feel strange) - but I have heard about people who can go longer. And mostly about people who can’t last for days or even less than a day and consume sodium even outside of meals on IF… Obviously it matters what we do, I mean, running around in hot temperature and sweating a lot would lead to sodium loss so supplementing it is needed earlier.
I only would use salt, maybe others need other things.

Eating after a fast… It depends on the person and the length of the fast. I only did 5 days once and 2 days a few times, it’s way too short for me to care about it. I just eat a bigger meal, usually, a normal first meal. But after 5 days I felt zero desire for more than a few bites (and felt quite disconnected from eating, no appetite whatsoever only the need for food) so I ate accordingly. So I just follow my body but I am pretty healthy and know it’s fine.

Sounds very, very safe to me. Pleasant as well. (I would add a lot of fat, of course, in my own place but for someone else, this is safer).

Good luck! I would love to hear about your experiences!
Now I feel an extra urge to try an EF again but even skipping lunch is a big challenge lately…

(Fiddlestix H. McWhiskers) #4

It sounds like you really know the ropes, but I’m doing a bare bones, water only fast. I’m also 100% carnivore; no dairy, tea, coffee or spices, I only use salt. I’ve looked up store bought bone broth and they either have undesirable ingredients or they’re too expensive for my liking. I may skip the broth and just ease back in with fish or eggs.

I’m going to do my best to push past hunger. I’ve heard that it disappears relatively quickly.

16 & 1/2 hours so far and still going strong! :joy:

#5

I wrote REALLY hungry :wink: I can stand some nice lovely little hunger but when it gets really serious and annoying and I lose focus, yeah, I must eat then.
But yes, it can go away… It happened to me many times especially since fat adaptation. Not always but yeah. If I manage the first skipped meal and especially first skipped normal eating window, things may get better. Or not, see all my 45-48 hour fasts where lunchtime came and I got hungry again. On my 5 day fast, I wasn’t hungry on day 2, 3 or 4 (and day 1 was easy as I did high-carb and carby meals are wonderful for my longer term satiation). Especially not mentally, I mean, eating quickly became an abstract concept and my appetite completely disappeared (it’s so surreal, eating is extremely important for me and I think - and do things - about food a lot)… It was very interesting, maybe I should get curious and do it again… But I rarely manage to wait until hunger to begin with.

Well yeah I tend to do that every day, no matter my number of meals so I am not impressed yet :wink:
In my own case, I get impressed if I skip a whole day. 26 hours still mean I eat every day so that’s no big deal, I accidentally had that once on OMAD. But if I skip a day, that’s at least 40 hours (I don’t like to eat in the morning, not natural to me. even if I do an EF, I don’t wake up hungry. unless I go to bed hungry but I did that once, never again), it’s something.
Maybe I try to push for it next week. It would be nice. Just TRY.

(Fiddlestix H. McWhiskers) #6

Interesting phraseology. :rofl:

Me neither; I was making fun of myself :wink:

#7

Just the fact, it was odd to me too but fat adaptation brought this weird new thing! Now I even LIKE my fat adapted baby hunger, it’s not the bad old one, it’s not an attention seeker, not annoying. It doesn’t get worse when it’s already bad, it goes away after a while and it’s quite nice even when it’s present. I can do anything, it doesn’t yell into my mind unlike my old bad hunger, it doesn’t kill my focus, nothing like that. It doesn’t gnaw on my insides. It’s just a tiny lovely warning bell or maybe not even that. Frankly, I have no idea what its for as it definitely doesn’t make me wanting to eat food more. But it is a hunger, it feels like hunger, just subtle. Even my proper normal hunger doesn’t make me want to drop everything and run to eat. THAT was my old occasional “feed me NOW” hunger, I hated that. I don’t think it’s still around. Good riddance.

I know but it doesn’t mean I could resist.

(Fiddlestix H. McWhiskers) #8

What a perfect description of what you were trying to convey. I haven’t experienced any of those things yet, but I can imagine them very clearly now. Well done.

(KM) #9

I’ll be interested to see how it goes. For me the second day is hardest and gets easier after that, but sometimes I get a very painful lower back, still haven’t figured that out.

I once did a 72 hour dry fast. I feel like that was my most extreme even tho I’ve gone longer with water and salt. It was the only time it ever occurred to me that people die in not too much time - from dehydration. Contemplating how much life I might potentially have left in hours rather than decades … a little scary. It was an interesting experiment / discipline but I wouldn’t do it again.

(Fiddlestix H. McWhiskers) #10

24 hours on da nosey and I feel fine. Not much of anything to speak of. I’ve felt a tiny bit peckish a few times, but that’s about it.

That’s what I’ve been assuming will be the case for me. I’m optimistic, but still a wee bit nervous about what’s to come. :slightly_smiling_face:

#11

I tend to find day 1 quite often is hard, day 2 is easier, we’re all different! And it depends on how busy you are too. I get leg & foot cramps very quickly though so I take supplements. I’ve never done a water fast though, I do have a bit of cream in my coffee & almond milk (zero carb) in tea. I don’t think I could face a water fast, I admire those who do!
Good luck :crossed_fingers:

(Bob M) #12

I usually found day 3 was the best, and it usually got easier from there.

I started easing into eating. If I ate a normal or near normal meal, I’d have more trouble than if I ate something small (like an egg), wait a while, eat something larger, wait a while.

(Fiddlestix H. McWhiskers) #13

By “a while,” do you mean an hour or so?

(Bob M) #14

That could work. That’s about what I did.

This didn’t prevent going to the bathroom a lot (so reentry to food should be done near the morning), but it limited it quite a bit.

Yeah, if you look online, you’ll see some guidance where you won’t be eating a normal meal for … days. That doesn’t make a lot of sense, unless you fasted a long time (eg, a month).

I should say that I drank coffee and tea, both “black”, meaning only coffee or tea. That and water.

#15

I am mixed. Not surprisingly, it’s hardest when my body realizes I have skipped a meal. So it’s around 24 hours (as my natural eating window and smallish and I usually can handle some delay), may be in the first 24 hours, may be in the second. If we consider days normally, it’s my first fasting day.

But wait, it depends. If I am very determined and ate right for my last meal, the first fasting day may be easy enough. I had multiple times when the next day was impossible to do, I remember one where we did a serious food shopping at hour 40-45. In my natural eating window. That was the end and it wasn’t pleasant in the last hours. Still, the first fasting day is naturally challenging as that is when I don’t eat like normal as I don’t eat at all. It is a change, I break what I virtually always do. It can be challenging both physically and mentally. And being easy BOTH physically and mentally, well that is unlikely. That’s why I am getting ready mentally too, determination is super helpful. If my body knows I am serious, it rarely pesters me. But if I am my normal “I just do it until it’s easy and natural” self, I am already pretty much doomed. So I am getting ready mentally for days before my EF attempts.

I never would add calories on a fast, it’s not proper fast that way, after all but I probably wouldn’t see the point to avoid plain tea. That’s a bit more than just water so it would help me a tiny bit mentally… And I have nothing against it. Coffee is different as I want to quit and dislike black coffee.

(Fiddlestix H. McWhiskers) #16

I’m not sure what the deal is with me. I’m 40 hours and about 25 minutes into my first EF and the entire thing has been effortless, so far. I think my stomach growled twice last night, but that’s about it. I only occasionally even think of having something to eat, but it just out of just wanting a taste of something, not from hunger. I don’t really understand this. I’m not complaining, I was just expecting it to already be very difficult for me. Now watch, as soon as I hit “reply,” I’ll get super hungry.

#17

Stomach growling is fine as long as I am satiated… It’s a different story with hunger but even then, it’s about the type of hunger. The growling (stomach or guts) has not much impact on anything, really, in my case.

Oh it happens (usually not to me but I did have some automatic fasting days in my distant past). If you were well-fed previously, the first 40 hours may be surprisingly easy (or not). Your relationship with food is better than mine too and carnivore helps as well, even I feel that on carnivore… I still love eating but I am more of a proper person and less of a gremlin who was fed after midnight :stuck_out_tongue: Though I am much better than in the past.

It’s exciting to see how well it goes for you! I am getting more and more tempted to follow your example - even though temptation, curiosity, stubbornness and some desire for fasting isn’t enough… I try to build some mental fortitude or whatnot that helps me out!

(Fiddlestix H. McWhiskers) #18

48 hours on da nosey… and still goin’ strong.
Since it still feels so effortless, it feels almost as though it’s a gift being given to me. I’m going to keep going. Thank you for the feedback and support.

(Fiddlestix H. McWhiskers) #19

Right before my fast, I had a big piece of fatty pork shoulder, but I also had a bowl of Neopolitan ice cream, three ice cream bars and 4 Hershey’s nuggets. It was kind of my way of saying goodbye to the sweets forever; I was getting rid of the remainder of it.
(See this post for why it was a final goodbye: “Methods for Fighting Cravings”)

Three hours left to go and I finally made it back into full ketosis (“moderate” on the chart is about the highest I’ve ever gotten). I’ve been testing (urine strips) about 4 times a day, just out of curiosity, and have shown “negative” on the chart. But it’s interesting that I tested at 66.5 hours and I was barely showing any trace ketones and then, when I tested two hours later, I was in full ketosis.

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So there is one anecdotal offering that it takes just under three days of water fasting for a 5’9, 190lb, 52 year old bald man to go from zero to full ketosis after a slight binge of sugar. And it seems to have happened all of a sudden in under two hours.

What that means, I have no idea. :nerd_face:

(Fiddlestix H. McWhiskers) #20

72 hours on da nosey! I still feel fine, but I’ve decided to stop, since this is my first fast and I don’t really know what I’m doing enough to feel comfortable continuing.

Now I’m goin’ downstairs to make a few poached eggs and a bit of tilapia. :crazy_face:

I still can’t believe how effortless it was. It was so easy that it seems like I must have done something wrong.:thinking: