Feast the day before?

#1

Hi! So, I have a question about feasting before a fast.

My stats: 172cm, 69kg, and I do 23:1 most days of the week.

I want to join the Zorn fast this month and as a preparation I decided to start fasting yesterday (thursday) night, up until as Long as I can (Minimum saturday night is my Goal, or sunday if I can.)

I dont have that much fat to lose anymore, so it might be harder for me. Ive done 36 hours before successfully.

I think I remember Carl mentioning he feasts the day before and the day after his multiple day fasts. Question is: Should I? and how much of a fest?

So, my normal caloric intake is 1000 to 1200 cals, and I do cycle the caloric intake sometimes (one day eating less and the other more). What I did yesterday was, I didnt do my usual 23:1 IF schedule, ate breakfast which triggered my hunger and then had lunch, and then a very big dinner, which in total ended up in 2500 to 3000 calories, double my normal daily Protein intake and a lot of good fats. My theory is this would help Speed up my metabolism right before fasting. And it would also help me fast longer . Will it though? Is this right or Counter productive? I would then break my fast with a regular 1200 calorie day, since my feast already gave me enough calories to go the fasting days with a 1200/day average. Meaning I wouldnt Need a Surplus AFTER the fast.

But would it be better to feast only after the fast?

(KCKO, KCFO 🥥) #2

If you are at goal weight or very near it please check out this calculator for the amount of fat you might have to provide during fasting.

I find that if I eat my normal meals with an emphasis on the fats, not necessarily upping the total caloric count, both before and after, I do the best with fasts. I tried loading up on lots fats afterwards and was not happy with the results. I eat plenty of saturated fats, along with olive oil, avocados, olives.

These days I do some fasting and just carry on as normal. I am a short, older woman just slightly below my goal weight. I think of it as being at my Phinney weight. I love what I eat, and I think I can maintain this going forwards. I reached goal end of April and maintained slightly below it since then.

(Mark Rhodes) #3

That calculator is so much nicer than my spreadsheet! YAY! Even better is the knowledge that my spreadsheet aligns with the experience of our forum. Double Yay! I do not add the extra fat preferring to total fast with exception of black coffee, water, salt and magnesium at about 36 hours ( I cramp up otherwise).

(Bob M) #5

I’ve wondered about this myself. Dr. Jason Fung, who helped popularize fasting, says that we need to feast after (not sure about before) fasting. But he doesn’t really go into detail what this means.

I wonder too if feasting keto before a fast is different from feasting higher carb before a fast? I’d guess that feasting higher carb before a fast could delay how quickly you get into deep ketosis and also maybe delay some of the benefits of longer-term fasting.

I’ve found that fasting multiple days is tough no matter when it’s done. I’m on my second day of what I hope to be a 3.5 day fast, and, for me, it’s never easy. I have to steel myself from eating. It goes through phases, but it can be tough sometimes when everyone else is eating.

#6

No matter my diet, I need a big meal before a fast or else I will get hungry too soon. It’s easier with carbs but I can do it on carnivore too, I love fat and it doesn’t particularly satiate me.
So yep, feast before fast for me but it can be vastly different for someone else.
I eat the way my body tells me after a fast (if I can. if I can’t, I just eat whatever I fancy but hopefully the two won’t be too far from each other).

Me too. But if I eat a big meal before my fast, the first 24-26 hours are easy, at least :smiley: As I am satiated or at least not hungry. And later I get momentum and became a bit disconnected from eating. But the second day is still not easy. Too early to be comfortable, too late not to get hungry… And I may miss food on a mental level too. So strange to skip a day. 24 hour fasts are normal, I still eat every day but a whole fast day? Even if I happen to be not hungry (unlikely but possible), it’s a bit weird and may wear me down. I think a good feast may nurture my foodie-hedonism longer too :slight_smile: It’s important. If I am properly hungry OR tempted, I will eat. I need to avoid both. That’s why I need a really good, satiating and satisfying big dinner first.

(Bob M) #7

Well, I’m in another 3.5 day fast, and this is day 3. I just need to get home, go to bed, wake up, and then I’ll be at 3.5 days.

It’s tough though, and doesn’t get easier.

I do eat probably slightly more before a fast. But I don’t plan anything.

Coming out of the fast is weird. Sometimes, I’m not that hungry. Sometimes, I am. Even for OMAD, sometimes I’m not that hungry. Now, I do have a problem that once I eat, I get hungry. But sometimes OMAD tempers even that.

#8

OMAD tends to diminish my mealsize :frowning: That’s one reason I can’t do it for long. It was so weird when I first did OMAD days… My meals very quickly went below the size of my more substantial first meals. 2 meals was overeating, 1 meal became undereating and my body doesn’t do undereating so I stopped doing OMAD in 2-3 days. It was annoying. I can do better now and I am sure I don’t need much focus to keep my OMAD meals big enough. The problem was that I brought my usual approach to meals, I needed a very different one on OMAD!

It’s very normal in my family. But we need to be hungry for OMAD, don’t we? To be able to eat enough in one sitting. That’s part of the reason I do dinner OMAD. I am not hungry enough when it’s early (my normal 3pm lunch) - but the bedtime is only 6-8 hours away when I sit down to dinner so a substantial meal will keep me satiated until then (and it keeps me satiated when I wake up and many hours pass… OMAD sized meals are great for me).

I should power through lunchtime somehow… It’s so baffling I can’t fast nowadays. it can’t be THAT difficult… At least physically not (well, not always, some days are just not for fasting), my mental chaos is another thing.