Fasting high - feelings & observations

#1

So I had a generally weird week last week and needed a reset. I am starting my 11th week keto and have been wanting to try an extended fast. I jumped in Monday evening and am curreny 61 hrs in. I am planning to stop this evening or tomorrow at lunchtime.

This whole keto thing has really opened my eyes to a lot of things, but fasting is eye opening in a new way. Nothing earth-shattering shattering here, but I thought I’d make a list of observations and realizations and that maybe others could relate or would like to do the same. Or maybe I am just in a state of fasting-induced euphoria. :grin:

  1. The 18th hour (and close to it) really is the most challenging. I should have planned better so that I wasn’t making dinner for my kids then. But I did it!

  2. Electrolyte balance and supplementing is something I have to be much better about. I was able to use this time to nail down my particular symptoms and find a solution that works for me.

  3. Exercising fasted? Wow. I got home from a walk and wasn’t winded, and didn’t raid the pantry afterwards. Not drenched in sweat. Granted, I have lost 25lbs since mid-June, but it just felt different fasted, in a Disney movie / rainbows and puppies kind of way.

  4. I had kind of lost that rush/edge I’d felt when first becoming fat adapted. I don’t know if that’s because the newness had worn off or what. But getting past the 24 hour mark brought it rushing back. I feel like a machine, have even more mental clarity than before, and I am just plain old happy. That bear holding a big machine gun riding a shark on a massive wave image? Yeah, that’s what I am feeling like again. But even more so than before.

  5. I eat a lot when I am bored. Or procrastinating. Or trying to numb out and avoid. Keto itself was like walking into a lit room and finding a box of issues in the corner, but fasting is like sitting at a detective’s interrogation desk with the spotlight in your eyes, being drilled about said box. Whoa. I thought I was over it. Wrong. I could acknowledge it, and work through it without problems. Major win.

  6. I have better cemented a food as energy mindset. This fast has definitely helped me separate different aspects of my relationship with food and I realize that I can be better about maximizing nutritent density and such. And that I actually want to.

  7. I don’t think I will ever get to the point where I don’t truly enjoy food. I love cooking for others. But it doesn’t own me–I don’t need it to numb out, and I realize now that I can enjoy it without gorging myself or just being mindless about it. Life has forced me to continue to grocery shop while fasting (what?!?) and I even caught myself watching The Great British Bake Off and The Chef’s Table (about pastry!) without heading out for a treat or fighting a binge afterwards. And @carl is spot on–there is something very powerful about cooking for others while fasting. Don’t tell the fasting police, but I did lick the back of a spoon to taste the butter chicken I made for my family last night (it was a new to me recipe and I had to check it for heat).

  8. Keto has given me a new confidence, but fasting has blown the lid off. I can do hard things (although it has been surprisingly easy
    after that 18-20 hr mark, this time at least) and I can make good choices, even at two baseball games with box seats and full food service and alcohol. I felt like a boring grown-up, but who cares!

  9. I am still not confident enough to mention that I am fasting to anyone. :see_no_evil: Not good, I know. I just don’t have the patience for the discussion and debate side of things at this point in my life. Maybe it’s not that I lack the confidence to engage, but I am confident enough in what I am doing and how I feel to choose not to. hmmm.

  10. Fasting is a tool in the toolbox. For overall physical and mental health. I couldn’t fathom that before. I now understand why fasting is an important part of some religious traditions, and not just a thing of atonement or punishment.

We always hear about “unplugging” Things like “everything works better after being unplugged for a while, even YOU” Cutting back on electronics/social media, taking a hike in the woods, a weekend alone, etc. I never saw food/eating as something to take a break from. I never saw it as a possibility, but removed from.it a bit, I have a different perspective, just as I would/do with the other types of unplugging. Mind blown.

(Eric - The patient needs to be patient!) #2

@trudieb Thanks for the details and observations. I’m easing into fasting with 18/6 IF. I started with one at a time and quickly got to a week where I realized I did 5 in a row. I tend to do 3 to 5 in a row when I do them.

I look forward to it. Not sure why yet. Maybe it is just that I have control over the eating. It has also helped me get to where I feel satiated when I eat enough fat. I also try hard to not snack between what I would call a regular meal. So called time restricted feeding (TRF) if you combine both.

The fasting movie is what helped me get going on TRF/IF. http://fastingmovie.com/

I’m reading the Guide to Fasting as well by Dr. Fung. In September I see my doctor for blood work. After that, I will embark on EF. Again thanks for the observations. Very helpful.

(Katie the Quiche Scoffing Stick Ninja ) #3

Im on Hour 48 and can definitely agree to everything that you have mentioned.
I love fasting, it makes me realise I have so much more willpower than I give myself credit for.
I’ll agree the 18 hour mark is difficult, but as soon as I surpass 24 hours it goes away.

(carl) #4

What a great thread! I love to eat, as you know, but I also love to fast. I, too, find it hard to get past hour 18. Taking a little pure fat, like a shot of coconut oil, is a good way to get through it.

Thinking about writing a 2KetoDudes fasting companion app, where @richard and I offer inspirational messages at critical times and guide you through your fast. Do you think people would find that helpful?

(Eric - The patient needs to be patient!) #5

Yes very much.

#6

@daddyoh I think control and knowing it is definitely a plus! I need to watch the fasting movie. it’s funny you mention the guide to fasting. I just added it to my Amazon cart the other day!!

I think the app is a great idea, @carl I only discovered the 2ketodudes podcast at the end of June–I love yours and @richard’s approach. I used to have to read the same 60 blurbs of surface info to get one deeper level nugget I would have to research and research to make sense of. Not any more! I think the fasting app could be very useful, esp since I find that fasting is even more difficult for others to understand than keto. (Thus my not talking about it) Having an app for time appropriate info and support would be FANTASTIC! And I know you both would do it justice.

(Katie) #7

I think that’s a GREAT idea. Honestly, I spend the most time on this forum when I am fasting. I use the forum to help guide me and keep me inspired so I can keep fasting.

(charlie3) #8

When I was a kid, growing up, living at home, I’d constantly hear from all directions, no eating between meals. What ever happened to that?

You read like the wide eyed beginner, which I was not so many months ago. At first merely skipping breakfast was an incitement to panicky thoughts driven by nothing more than hunger signals. Once I settled down and found it wasn’t so hard hunger went away in the morning. That didn’t last. I think a bit of adrenalin, excitement over this new power, suppressed hunger for a while. Lately a few hours of mild hunger in the morning is routine but no bother because it’s routine. Then I eat nothing one day a week and feel little or no hunger. I can’t prove it but I believe eating less often (12 instead of 35 times a week) is healthy and making it routine makes it easier. I won’t be getting any more agressive than the above because I’m lean enough for now.

Feeling hungry is feeling powerful. It took me a while to get to that. I’m sure there’s more to come.

#9

We never snacked a lot growing up, either! As an adult I always skipped meals and ravenously overate way late in the day. It wasnt the same as a true fast.

I understand what you mean about eating less often and having a routine. I definitely want to keep that up. After keto, I naturally fell close to a 16/8 IF schedule. It’s all fascinating to me and I love hearing people’s perspectives and experiences!