Day 4 of my 7 day fast

#1

Hello,
My names John, I’m 6ft 302lbs (A few years ago I was able to get down to 210lbs and could just start seeing my abs, so my target weight goal is 200-210lbs) I’m from Maine and this is my first post here at Ketogenic.
So a couple of years ago a colleague who happened to be our medical director and a psychiatrist introduced me to Dr. Jason Fungs book The Complete Guide to Fasting. He probably noticed the 80lbs I had put on over the past 10 months. I quickly read it and felt empowered. I couldnt believe we could go so long without eating! I also couldnt remember the last time I missed a meal. My 1st try I was able to go 3 days but on the 4th day I made a bone broth that smelled incredible. I quickly drank all the broth and then attacked the fridge lol.

Fast forward to the present I’ve been suffering with depression and anxiety so much so that I’ve lost my job and home and currently live in transitional housing. My days consist of laying in bed 23 out of 24hrs, only getting up to goto the bathroom and cook. My diet has been ramen noodles, spaghetti, rice and when I can afford it junk food/fried foods/candy.

Last Thursday 1/10/19, I went to see the doctor. I told him I couldnt raise my right arm due to extreme pain, numbness in my left pinky. I get burning skin sensations after I eat. If I eat a box of cookies I pass out 20min later and wake up an hour or so later. He told me to stop eating candy and carbs and to take 2 alieve a day and ice my shoulder. I also asked him about my previous blood work where he said I was diabetic. He assured me I was diabetic but not so much that I needed medication and said if I lose 15lbs the burning sensations will go away. I thanked him and left.

I decided to start a 7 day fast the next day.
Day 1 - super easy no cravings no issues went to the onsite gym and did 20min on the elliptical lvl1.
Day 2 - hit the gym did abs, bench, biceps, 20m elliptical lvl2 - sense of smell was bionic. at night my mind kept dashing to images and thoughts of foods. My mood was much better. I feel calm instead of anxious. The depressions still there of course but I can keep it at bay by focusing my mind on positive thoughts.
Day 3 - woke up feeling lethargic and had what seemed like a sinus infection but made my way downstairs to the gym and did 20m on the elliptical lvl3. My nose wouldnt stop running. I sneezed about 20 times in a row which is a first. I drank about 1.5g of water and had a black tea. I also took an Animal Pak which is multiple vitamins. I noticed that I wasnt peeing as much as when I was eating junk food even though I was drinking 70% more water. And Im sleeping through the night. However I did have a touch of insomnia as I tried to goto sleep around 11:30 but couldnt until 2am!
Day 4 - Woke up around 8am, sinus were clear, hurray! Went to the gym and did abs, bench and 20m lvl3 on the ellip. When I got back to my room I was zonked, no energy. I managed to stay up until noon time then slept until 3pm. I went down to the common area and chatted with some folks telling them that Im on day 4 of fasting and they had nothing but negative responses. I quickly came back to my room and thankfully found this website. The one thing I wasnt doing was salt. So I just heated up some water and added salt and ACV.
I’ll start eating Friday morning making sure not to eat carbs and on Monday I’ll start another 7 day fast.

Thanks for reading and I welcome any advice/tips/pitfalls.

(Carl Keller) #2

Hello and welcome John.

The energy crashes you’ve experienced are likely from your metabolism slowing down and adjusting to the fact that no food is coming in to supply that energy. But it is possible to not suffer metabolically and still retain high energy not only so you can function, but also so you can even work out.

All of this begins with what you eat. Simply restrict your carbs to 20 net and eat lots of fat and moderate protein. After a few to several weeks, your homones start righting themselves, cravings and hunger go away and your energy levels increase while your bodily inflammation goes down. This is basically how keto works.

Once you become fat adapted (your body is proficient at burning fat for fuel) fasting can done without consequence as long as you keep your electrolytes up. The reason your body doesn’t suffer metabolically is because when there’s nothing in you belly to burn for fuel, your body knows how to use your body fat to keep things going. And best of all, you are not really hungry. At least not hungry in the sense that you used to know when you were a carb burner. Hunger is much more polite at this time and is often confused with simply wanting to eat because the clock says it’s dinner time.

My advice, in the ideal situation, is to get fat adapted first and then try EF. But your current circumstances might obviously make doing that very difficult. I just want to say that starving yourself, which is basically what you are doing, leads to lower metabolism and will likely lead you to dropping some weight… but when you start eating again, it will take even less calories than before you hit that point where more fat is being added back to your body. When you slow down the machinery, the machinery requires less fuel to run,. It’s exactly why most “Eat Less” diets fail.

Prayers and best wishes to you.

#3

Welcome!

You will find if you adopt the keto lifestyle and fast again, it will be MUCH different and even easier. When I was in college I did a 7 day fast and was miserable. It was the longest and worst week of my life. At the time I knew nothing of keto so my body was fighting itself, it seemed. Since then I’ve done 2 fasts and am currently doing a third and its SO much easier now that I am fat adapted. My body already knows and can easily burn fat for fuel.
Take care and welcome again!