Hey everyone! I’m new to the forum, been a listener for a few months now, and an on/off ketoer for the past 7 years. Fasting was the last piece of the puzzle that has finally freed me from my bodyfat prison. Well, I have fashioned a hook to reach for the key to my cell, but the door is not fully open yet.
Disclaimer: Not a doctor, not a health professional, also fairly unprofessional. If you ask me for advice I’ll try to answer, but I’m not responsible if you hurt yourself, I can’t advise anyone to do what I’m doing, because this is very new territory for a lot of folks and it’s not something to take lightly at all. If you have any reservations about fasting, don’t do it.
I have been tracking my progress on Reddit from week to week, but to honest the feedback there is mixed. I have people telling me to break my fast with fruit juice or Soylent or other crap, important information is downvoted, and the sole moderator is a complete absentee and a vegan to boot (no offense buddy).
My recent history, progress, etc. in a nutshell: Met my wife 9 years ago and my wonderful stepson. I was skinny, small amount of muscle, and aged 25. From then to 2011 I was on a slow train to fatness, being so content with the fantastic company I now keep. During this time I began training powerlifting in an effort to gain muscle and strength, and went on a bulk from 180 to 200, eating everything in sight. I got up to 200 and decided…to cut…maybe later though. In 2011, my wife and I became pregnant with my daughter. Together we feasted on Chef Boyardee and ginger ale for 9 months. 100 lb wife gained 20lbs, and so did daddy-to-be. I had stopped going to the gym and given in.
During the next 6 years I held a few gym memberships in our different housing locations, but the diet was always lazy. Despite my knowledge of how keto worked something wasn’t clicking. I let myself get off the wagon and stayed off for a couple years.
To now. I had been listening to Joe Rogan’s podcast and, I think it as Robb Wolf who was being interviewed, but they had mentioned fasting. I immediately started looking for fasting podcasts, which was where I found Fasting Talk, 2 Keto Dudes, and a few others.
I was 235 last year, and over about 3 months of fasting and OMAD (but not watching what I ate), I dropped down to 195 and kept it there. This was before reading about extended fasting, when all I knew about was IF or leangains from previous reading.
My coworkers complained I wasn’t eating enough and starting feeding me (f@#$%@#$k). I went along with it to shut them up. So then after Christmas 2016, I decided to try OMAD / keto again. Every day at work I ate 6 or 7 sausage links, a pile of cheddar, and a giant kale shake with celery, cucumbers, garlic, ginger, and blueberries. It was gross, tasted like grass. I lost another 25 pounds though in about 4 weeks. It was now time to try out extended fasting, and I went a whole 48 hours. It’s been about 10 weeks since that first fast, and each week I’ve done 3-5 days during the week and feasted on the weekend.
To date now, I’ve gone from 235 to 150 in total, and I feel like a new man. My wife is incredibly supportive of my choices and her reactions to my body going through this change have been incredibly positive.
Some things I’ve noted: resting HR, working HR and BP have all dramatically dropped. I’ve lost a great amount of body fat from my extremities, most of the stubborn fat is in my trunk (gut, love handles). My hair looks better, my facial hair looks more even, I have more of a libido, and more energy overall. I don’t hurt. Not that I was hurting much before, but losing all that fat has just made me feel great.
Now, I have cut all plants from my diet and follow strict zero carb on my eating days, consisting primarily of steaks and burgers, extremely rare, with sides of egg, cheese, butter, or bacon.
PURPOSE OF THIS THREAD - now that we’re caught up on history, why am I here, writing this spammy-@ss thread? I would like to track my individual fasts in one spot, in one thread. Each day or when I feel like it (often, promises), I’ll pop in and update. This can include feasting days as well, or workouts, or what have you. I’d like it for my own personal accountability, but also I think it’d be good for others to see someone doing short extended fasts weekly and though I’m not a doctor or any kind of expert, maybe I can help someone else with a question or help them hold themselves accountable.
SO, HOW DO YOU FAST, DREAD?
Water, primarily. I do tend to do black coffee, between 1 and 4 cups daily. I’m trying to cut down but it’s one of the last of my vices and it’s a bit of a comfort.
I carry a pink salt grinder and 2-3 liters of water in nalgene bottles with me. I also have a handful of potassium tablets in case I am not feeling well and increasing salt has not worked.
Now, I’m not being monitored by a doctor, so I have to play all this by ear, if I really start feeling bad, I’ll eat. No fast is more important than my health.
As far as physical training, I do bodyweight stuff right now, keeping it simple. I have shown interest in kettlebells though, so I might actually grab one or two and see how I like it.
Every morning before I take a shower or do anything, I strip down and get on the scale. I do this not because I care so much about my weight, but I wanted to see what it does throughout the week under the same circumstances each day. Right now I’m pretty much stuck around 150 so my uneducated guess is that this is close to my “natural” weight.
My coworkers know I fast, only because I can’t shut up about it, I’m like a vegan. Don’t worry I’ll tell you. So far they haven’t gotten in the way.
I try to plan any chores or anything active (even video games) for when I’m fasting, but there’s a possibility I can maintain fasted energy while feasting zero carb. It seems like I have completely fat-adapted as I can eat a cupcake and a few hours later I’m tasting acetone again. Yesterday was the first full fast day after starting zero carb, and I had no problem at all vs. strict keto with vegetables (fiber).
Anyway, I’m at work so I want to truncate this early. I’ll reserve the next few posts in case I need something at the top, and from them on the format will just be me adding a reply every time I check in. I am going for daily at the minimum, which I’m good at sticking with. Some updates may be from the night before as I am a night owl, so sometimes I’ll have multiple replies in a day.
PLEASE - feel free to comment and ask questions. This is somewhat new territory for me but I love talking about it and helping others.