I started a 96-hr fast after lunch today, so starting a Dec fasting chat thread for support.
Haven’t done one this long in several years, so will see how it goes.
Hubby joining me tomorrow for a 48- hr fast and the 2 days he isn’t fasting and I am he won’t cook anything that smells really good. I really appreciate that!
This is the motivation I needed to do a 48 hr. fast. I have only been doing 2MAD lately. Time to up my fasting game.
Great! I’ve just started an extended fast too. I was hoping to find some buddies to do it with. I’m in.
It’s been a couple years since I’ve done more than a few days. I usually start a fast and see how it goes. This time I plan on going for at least five days. It’s time for a hard reset.
Me, too on the hard reset.
I lost my only sibling - my brother - unexpectedly at the end of Sept and did some comfort eating but now time to get focused and drop the inevitable water weight it brought with it.
Flying out to Las Vegas next week to celebrate my Dad’s 90th birthday. He went low carb 4 years ago and it has really improved his health. I was planning on flying my brother out there from N Carolina but sadly he didn’t make it.
I don’t care if my jeans are a bit snug but I hate it when my wedding ring is tight. And that is totally from water weight gain from too many carbs.
But I know how to fix that and it isn’t hard or difficult. I enjoy my low carb lifestyle so easy to slip back into it after a brief interlude.
I still can’t do EF but I pretty much decided on not eating before sunset for the unforeseeable future… (If I could keep it up for long, I probably could do EF too… But sunset is so early now that it’s just a very tiny and badly needed push.) Of course, if I get hungry or something, I eat. Today I needed my medicine food, I hate being sick even if it’s just a sore throat. It disturbs even my sleep… But it’s just for today. Yesterday I got strongly hungry so ate lunch. But my stupid late eating stopped for now, of course I focus on not eating after 6pm too, I just have very little control over it, it’s easier to prolong my fast a bit.
Considering it’s December and I have an unusually strong baking urge too, a tiny eating window is very much needed due to the carbs. And very easy due to the carbs too. That I try to minimize but it still will be more than usual.
@Janie: My condolences… My aunt died more than a year ago but it’s still so close to me… My family is so tiny… But you have your Dad, it’s great, I don’t have my parents since very long and often think about people who still have one or both… And in good enough shape as one of my relatives got severe dementia and anything but that 
Same! I can’t even stay on higher-carb but I still go off a lot for reasons, I just come back pretty quickly. As long as my off days aren’t way too wild, don’t happen often and my on days are good too, it’s fine. I tend to overeat fat on and off alike (protein too but not to the same extent), that is a problem so I need some focus (or accept the consequences) on carnivore too. A tiny eating window would solve this problem, it’s just not trivial for me to have without a lot of carbs or some serious focus and planning. But I do put effort into it this month.
I wish success for all of us, whatever is the goal, fat-loss, maintenance, autophagy, showing everyone what we can do etc.!
Sorry to hear about the loss of your brother.
Glad to hear you do have something to celebrate, your Dad’s birthday, 90 is a major milestone.
@Lisanne_Nolen It has been a while since I have done a longer extended fast. I hope all goes well with this 48hr. one, to motivate me to do one even longer. Oddly, I always have had good success with winter fasting, it is always easier than summer fasting. But I guess we have some deep DNA trained to go without food longer in the wintertime, since food was in short supply before agriculture happened.
Thanks to you and Shinita for the condolences. My family is very small now - just my Dad and my 2 sons and 2 grandsons. My husband only has his brother - both parents are gone and neither boys had kids. Of course we have each other but I was thinking of our own families.
Almost 30 hours in and been easy so far. Last fast was a bit harder - I never know what to expect.
Will try to make it to Friday at lunch. Hopefully I can, but if not I’ll take whatever I can manage.
Stupid throat keeps annoying me… And I had some medicinal plant-y food yesterday, almost first thing after I woke up as I had enough and it typically helps. Maybe it did a bit but not enough. And I got hungry after midnight too so I had the biggest eating window I can have…
But today I had no food until sunset (well it’s 30 minutes past that and I don’t go to eat yet. no appetite either but I am hungry so I will eat). If we doesn’t count the tiny cream in my coffees… I will work on that but I don’t even try anything while a bit sick. I didn’t eat because I didn’t feel any urge to do it (but I consciously wanted that, was willing to push a bit but can’t do much in this miserable state. it’s almost nothing but just like my pain tolerance is extremely low, my sickness tolerance is similar just even lower… and it’s on top of my other, bigger problems). I drank liters of warm liquids.
I want sunshine already… And health. What I don’t want is food but I feel even worse without it. And maybe I can push fasting on Monday. A bit extra effort.
I have stopped tracking several days ago and it’s so great, less focus on food. I just have no idea about my macros this way. I mean it, I can’t tell apart a 1300 and 2500 kcal day even after many years of tracking, I don’t have that skill. I will try to have more of my basic carnivore days and then I will have some vague idea about my carb and protein intake, fat still will be a mystery but it’s that even with tracking…
I’ve had good luck with colloidal silver spray for a sore throat.
Almost 48 hours in and coasting along with that quiet, empty feeling of your digestive tract on idle.
About the time it gets easy is when I’ve been breaking my fast because 48 hrs is the max my husband can do.
But this time I decided to not feel bad about him eating alone and doubling my fast to 96 hrs. I might start doing this every other fast, depending on how often we fast. If just once a month then I will do the longer fast. We never fast back-to-back weeks but sometimes do every other week. Or sometimes take several months off - just depends on what we have going on.
Janie! You can do it! Fill your mind with other things. Creative outlets and walking are great for me. I try not to watch too much TV too. Too much food on there.
Collaroygal, it is easier for me to fast in the winter too. I bet it does have to do with historical scarcity of food during winter.
I’m somewhere around 35 hours in and I’m producing ketones. So far, it’s been easy. Day 2 and 3 are usually more difficult for me. But so far so good. I make some food for my daughter that’s in a short term liquid—y diet. I’m making mashed potatoes. I usually add salt to taste to mashed potatoes. I need a taster!
I am very used to cook without tasting 
Salt is easy, if it’s a normal food, I salt lightly (our salt need varies anyway) and it’s easy to add if it’s too little, if it’s baked stuff, I measure everything anyway.
Thanks 
The only time I broke a fast within a few hours of starting was when I was in a hotel room and turned on the TV. The food ads did me in!
We rarely have the TV on except to watch football so not a problem at home. I can look at pictures of food on the keto food thread and it doesn’t bother me at all. Maybe the animation on TV was the difference? 
I am working from home these days and had lots of meetings so that made the day go by fast. I keep myself busy with knitting when not working.
Yesterday I spent spent several hours online perusing seed catalogues, planning my spring/summer garden and ordering lots of seeds. So much fun for me. Last year I had room in my greenhouse for 216 seedlings and it wasn’t enough. I added a third shelf, which is all I have room for, so now I can sprout 324 seedlings. Yes, I have a large vegetable garden and lots of room for flowers around the house and garden.
Like you say, keep busy and you won’t think about food. The first 36 hours I have to ignore hunger but after that it gets easier.
Good luck with your fast also!
72 hours in and coasting along with no hunger. Unless I start feeling bad I will make it to 96 tomorrow at lunch. I never push myself if I don’t feel well. I can always start another fast another week.
I made it to my 48 hrs. plus another 1.1/2 hrs. So thanks for the motivation.
I really had fallen into a 2MAD routine, ending around sundown, but I can do better and I just did. So I will continue doing a longer fast a few times a month.
Some of the best fasting advice out there.
We will to fast another day.
I forgot to post yesterday I broke my fast at 96 hrs as planned with no issues.
I am happy I can still do the longer fasts - wasn’t sure since it has been a few years. Will try another one week after next before the holiday season.
edited to add: my wedding ring fits comfortably again which is more important to me than my jeans.
My artist hubby designed our rings and had them custom made. I never cared for diamonds so mine has a tanzanite jewel in it. His has some diamonds from my grandmother’s wedding ring. All good.
Congrats to all! Nice job. I’m still going. I think I will break on Monday for a complete six days, but, as always I wait to see how I feel.
Janie- it’s so cool that your husband designed your rings. And I’m a sucker for Tanzanite. Love that dark purple-blue color.
