hey everyone. i am on an unplanned 21 hour fast, and still not feeling hungry. i started keto at the end of august of this year and believe i may be fat adapted at this point. i’ve been doing intermittent fasting since i started, allowing myself to eat 3 meals over the course of 8 hours each day. but today, instead of eating right after my morning workout like i normally do, i actually listened to my body, and realized i wasn’t hungry. i haven’t eaten anything since last night, and although i’m feeling a bit tired after running, weight lifting, and going for an hour walk today, i’m still not hungry. i feel pretty damn good, honestly. but my question is: if i’m still not feeling too hungry by tonight, should i just go ahead and go to sleep without eating? i always see people on this forum talking about how hitting your daily protein macro is super important, so should i make myself eat 80-90gs of protein tonight anyway to hit my daily macro, even if i’m not hungry? and also, should i be dumping salt under my tongue or drinking pickle juice or something to get some sodium in for the day, since i haven’t had any salt at all? or is that not super important when fasting? also, pickle juice wouldn’t break a fast, right? all i’ve had in the past 21 hours is black coffee and water, and while im feeling good and do want to continue my fast, i just want to make sure im being safe about it regarding electrolytes and protein intake, since i’ve never done a fast before. thanks in advance for any helpful responses 
Fasting help please
The time you’re at, and will be at after sleeping, is 100% safe. Taking some salt before going to bed is a good idea. Supplementing some salt is always a good idea, fasting or not.
Stick by the rule of eat when your hungry and fast when your not.
I agree with the added salt. I get terrible leg cramps if I don’t take enough.
thanks to both of you. any recommendations of good ways to implement salt? i’m thinking about just drinking some pickle juice or dumping some in my water to supplement it. and how much salt should i aim for? getting my normal 3000 to 5000mg seems like a near impossible task without eating food lol. also, it won’t be a huge issue if i miss my protein for today?
I never eat in the evening anymore if I’m not hungry. It’s the worst time to eat anyway. Take some salt (I have a 1/2 tsp of salt every night in about 8 oz of water, and then, depending on how much I sweated during my run, etc, maybe more in the morning, maybe not - I am VERY liberal with salt on my food), and have a great sleep. I find I sleep really ,really well when I’m fasted.
It is such a freeing thing - NEVER feel like you HAVE to eat. You don’t. If you don’t feel hungry, don’t eat. Period. You are fine.
To answer your question, no you don’t need the protein. When your fasting, and you’re fat adapted, your body is plenty happy to burn itself. Salt is good, but I’ve also found not 100% necessary on a short fast. Also personally I get nauseous when drinking pickle juice on an empty stomach, but ymmv.
No. Fasting is good. Keeps your body guessing. Extended calorie restriction is what’s bad. If I want a quick dose of salt, I’ll take 1/4 tsp on the tongue and chase it with a glass of water. I don’t see the need to premix.
UNLESS you experience true hunger. I’ve seen it suggested to wait 20 minutes when you get hungry during a fast. If that feeling of hunger goes away, you weren’t really hungry.
i have one more question: once i do break my fast… how much should i eat with my first meal back? just a meal following my normal macro schedule, or should i up the fat or protein intake? thanks!
How long are you planning to fast? Breaking tomorrow around 30 hours? I’d say that’s not so long you can’t have a regular meal. Going for longer (48 or more)? Break it with something light. Handful of macadamia nuts are often suggested. Then if you feel good after an hour try a portion of protein.
thanks for that advice! i’m not sure how long i’ll fast for… i guess it’ll depend on how hungry i’m feeling tomorrow, if at all! i’m on day 47 of keto currently, and today was the first day i actually didn’t make myself eat at breakfast like normal… and realized that i must be fat-adapted. and i’m not sure how long it’s been like that for, since i was making myself eat 3 meals a day up until today. so maybe i’m well adapted and won’t even need to eat tomorrow either! but if i’m hungry, then of course, i will. i was starting to feel slightly light-headed after a physically exhausting day, but i just consumed a tbsp of apple cider vinegar as well as 1/2 tsp of salt with some water, and i’m feeling better already! 
and thank you to everyone for informing a keto newbie on what the deal is with fasting!! i love this community, you guys make it extremely easy to stick with this lifestyle and make me feel like i’m not in it all alone. appreciate you all!
Amazing what a little salt can do. A guy at work told me he had a headache. Told him to take some salt. 15 minutes later his headache was gone. Tons of things caused by electrolyte imbalance. Your body NEEDS electrolytes, it doesn’t need a Tylenol.
yeah i take a multi-vitamin and a 500mg magnesium pill daily, so i’m hoping just keeping up with my salt intake should keep me well-balanced regarding electrolytes while i’m fasting now / if i end up doing it again down the road
[quote=“hedleylo, post:11, topic:61558, full:true”]
Handful of macadamia nuts are often suggested. [/quote]
And they shouldn’t be. Nuts are very hard to digest especially on a fasted digestive system. Dr Fung recanted his endorsement and said they should have been on the “not” list.
I personally wouldn’t worry about the multi while fasting. It prob has ingredients in it that would break your fast.
Thanks for that about nuts. I always found that recommendation very odd. Nuts are hard to digest! After a longer fast, I start with soft foods, mostly fat, some protein.
Stopped taking my multi when I noticed the ingredients list was twice as long as just the vitamins listed.