Well, I just completed my first 60 hour fast. I had decided last week that my last meal would be no later than 8:00pm on Thursday and would go until 8:00am today (Sunday). I broke the fast this morning with a great breakfast with my son; Cheese Omelette and Bacon. What was interesting, is that I felt like I could continue fasting. I had no desire to eat, I only did because that’s the plan I had made. I’ve done fasting before, but never with such ease as this one.
During this fast, I did a four mile mountain hike, daily walks and walking/running. I had massive amounts of energy!
I’m curious, has others felt this way? Is it safe to continue fasting if I’m not hungry? It seems like it would be okay. Thoughts? Experiences?
I have so much feel good energy in spots when I fast that I often feel as if I should never eat again. Most people caution against extended fasts outside of medical supervision. I disagree, but I don’t believe in allopathic reductionism. At any rate, the symptoms that end my fast are cold, clammy hands. Weakness, or fatigue (which is rare when I fast) and persistent headache. Congrats on your fast! My second longest fast, I walked 43 miles that week which is the high point for 2017. It’s amazing how restorative NOT eating can be. I still marvel at this organism it seems I am only now at 45 getting to know. Ha! Before fasting, I would’ve told you in no uncertain terms that I knew my body very well. I did not. Another great by product of fasting IMO!
I rarely get headaches … but on Day 6 of my first (unplanned) fast I started to have quite a good headache and a bit blah. I persisted for another day just to make it to the nice round 1 week mark. The first six days were great, but I had to drag myself through the 7th.
I have this feeling of “I could do this forever” almost every time I fast, it usually starts for me around day 2 or 3.
I’d say that if you are feeling good and want to extend/continue to fast, press on! Your body will tell you when it’s had enough. I did a 20 day fast at 15% body fat and wife is on day 41 of an EF (she has more BF and weight to lose). She did the first 20 days with me and asked me my opinion on her extended it out, I told her to go for it. We’ve monitored her energy levels etc. and she’s been fine. I’m extremely proud of her.
The “maybe I should eat so I don’t break down protein” or other blah blah blah is all part of the miss-conception many people have about/around food and caloric intake etc, not to mention the marketing that goes on by food companies/grocery stores/restaurants etc. They LOVE the idea of folks buying into the “a calorie is a calorie” and “you have to eat six times a day or you’ll die/get diabetes/lower your metabolism” myths out there.
Bottom line, learn the difference between real hunger/pain etc and habit hunger (I can fast five days and still get hungry at the exact same time I normally eat on day 6 etc…). If you are overweight, unlocking that stored body fat is likely the thing that can have the most impact on your health.
Thanks everyone for the feedback. As I’ve gone through the day, I did a two mile walk with my dogs and was exhausted afterward…took a short nap and then my wife and I just did a three mile walk/run…walk 4 minutes, run 1 minute. I seem to have more energy now but I definitely felt better not eating food haha
Keto is awesome. I can’t believe I have no cravings for all crap food I used to eat. It really is amazing. Thanks for the encouragement!
Congrats on your first EF. I just did my first last week as well. 65 hours. I felt pretty good the whole time. For me the first day was actually easier than second. Most people on here seem to say the other way around. And, I too felt I could go longer but I ended because that was my plan. Upon re-feeding the days following, that was kind of awkward and tough and I actually would say I felt better on my fasting days than on my eating days last week. I’m hoping over time this will sort out and I’ll get more comfortable with the transition period. I’m planning to do this once a week so long as it feels right and just see what I learn and how I feel and respond as I go.
So…after I broke my fast…I still kept my carbs less than 10 grams per day. My fat calories are anywhere from 68%-80% with the remainder protein. During the fast, my weight went from 237lbs to 232lbs (Thursday night to Sunday morning). Since eating again (Sunday morning to Thursday morning), my weight has gone from 232lbs to 236lbs.
What’s going on? Too much protein? I have been lifting weights starting this week, but it seems like a large weight gain from only three days of weight training.
You’re not going to lose much weight on such a short fast. My rule of thumb estimation is 2kg per week, and that’s an optimistic estimation. You’re going to lose at a much higher rate during the fast, especially the first week or two, but most of it is going to be water and other temporary crap that you’re going to regain soon after you start to eat again.
Short term your weight is going to vary by a lot, especially when fasting and refeeding. Lots of stuff can affect it from day to day. Fat has a lot of energy so you’re not going to make a dent in just a few days. Every day counts though, and fasting days count more than others. Still from my own experiments I’ve found I can get about 70-80% of the weight loss of fasting worth on an ad litium ketogenic diet of highly nutritious whole foods.
Fasting has other benefits besides weight loss though, and I’m pretty certain there’s a secondary weight loss benefit that’s hard to pull out from a simple n=1 A-B study.
Congratulations on your EF and the body/mind awakening you experienced! It feels like such a victory doesn’t it? And, it is!
I’ll just echo what most here have said; I feel like perhaps I could fast forever after the first 2-3 days passes.
The energy and clarity from fasting are almost intoxicating. However, the “siren song” of sharing a meal begins to call to me after a time and I get a bit too food focused (but that’s another issue!).
I wonder, regarding you’re feelings of insatiability, perhaps you need more salt, potassium and a little extra magnesium. Your electrolytes may be a bit out of kilter.
My longest fast was for about 6 days, and I really didn’t have any significant weight loss. Of course, I’m a woman and so more hormonally challenged I suppose.
Both IF and EF, with some sort of weekly component or consistency, seem to work for most. It sounds like you have a great handle on the macros too, so you know…KCKO!
