Have questions about starting extended fasting for those with experience in it


#1

I want to try an extended fast but am not sure how to go about it. Do I just jump in or do I need to try to get more food in me the day before to get me through? Should I try OMAD first? What did some of you do and how did it work out for you when you first started fasting?

I started Keto three months ago. I knew I was fat adapted at the six week mark and started IF at that point, eating my two meals between 12pm and 8pm. It’s hard for me to eat a lot at once so I would occasionally have a small snack within my window. My hunger has gone way down the past two weeks and I have a snack for lunch (some cheese, dill pickles and peanuts) and a normal, but still on the smallish size, dinner. I know I’m not eating enough but I just don’t get that hungry.

About me in case it’s important: I’m 43, 5’1” and in perimenopause. My pre-Keto weight fluctuated between 145-155 (currently at 147). I started Keto more for energy but I would like to be down to 130 before I begin full blown menopause. I’ve jogged and hiked for years but added strength training the week after I started Keto. I work out six days per week, alternating strength and cardio days with a long hike on the weekend. I’ve taken a Vitamin B Complex, a probiotic, magnesium and potassium for a few years and that’s all the medication I’m on. I don’t have any known health problems. My goal is to prevent things from happening as I used to be a 225 pound pack-a-day smoker (got down to 155 in 2009 and quit smoking in 2016).

I know there are podcasts out there but I don’t like listening to people talk. (I’m the person you see at Kroger or Walmart with headphones on listening to music.) I lurked on this site for months doing research before I started and a lot of you have been a great help to me as I’ve navigated this new woe.


(Bob M) #2

What I started doing was skipping breakfast 1, 2, 3 days a week. Then, I’d have a coffee with fat in it and skip lunch 1, 2, 3 days a week. Then I skipped bfast and lunch 1-3 days a week. Then I started with a 3.5 day fast (ate Sunday night, ate again Wednesday). I then added some 4.5-5. day fasts. I’ve done many 3.5 and 4.5-5.5 day fasts. My longest is 5.5 days, when I got dizzy while standing (might be salt/potassium/Mg issues, that was a while ago).

You can try breaking into it, with the bfast, bfast+lunch idea, then try to make it 36 hours. See what happens.


#3

You’re keto adapted . . . just dive in. Get extra salt and plenty of water. How long do you want to fast for? It’s as much about self discipline as anything else. It’s hard to not eat for 24-48 hrs.


(Cancer Fighting Ketovore :)) #4

While you could dive right in, you could ease into it. You could start by narrowing your eating windown down to 4 hours (or just one meal) and see how you feel.

I’d suggest setting an amount of time for the fast, maybe staart with 36-48 hours, with the self-agreement that you’ll bail on the fast if you start to feel bad. Its also important to eat well before and after the fast (before starting the next one).


#5

That needs a little defining. You can eat a huge steak before the fast but I would ease out of the fast gently . . . not ease into it. I would not work out or go on any HIKES while fasting


(Cancer Fighting Ketovore :)) #6

True. It seems to be more important to ease out of the fast the longer the fast is.
I’ve personally had little trouble going back to eating after 48-hour and 72-hour fasts. But I think anything longer than that should definitely have food gently re-introduced. :slight_smile:


(Bob M) #7

I don’t usually do that. After a 4.5 day fast, I just eat. I used to try to eat a tiny amount, then eat more later, and sometimes I do that. But nothing seems to stop what’s coming next (multiple trips to the bathroom).

Plus, assume Grok finally runs down the Wildebeest after 4-5 days. Do you think Grok drinks bone broth or eats a small amount of kale before cutting into the Wildebeest? I doubt it.

I used to be able to workout, multiple times, while fasting 4.5+ days. Now, I do not attempt much at all while fasting.


#8

I definitely won’t try to hike during a fast. Bears are preparing for hibernation where I live and I don’t want to be passed out on a mountain waiting for them. :slight_smile:

I have a 21 mile hike planned for Saturday and will try a fast on Monday. I appreciate everyone’s suggestions and am going to try them out before then. Thanks!


(Failed) #9

@ctviggen

I know this is common, so I wonder what evolutionary advantage, if any, there is to this response to eating after a fast. Any ideas?


(Eric - The patient needs to be patient!) #10

I work out fasted. My work hardest days are fed days but I do volumetric resistance training Monday and Tuesday and I fast M,T,W. When I do resistance to failure when fasting I sometimes get an appetite that can’t be ignored. So I moved my schedule around. On my Wednesday fasted I do weighted squats (44lbs added) and ab crunches. I also do 10 to 20 minutes of rowing on Wednesdays.

Your Mileage May Vary


(Charlotte) #11

Fasting takes practice. I agree with the suggestions of slowly build up to where you want to be. I do three 42 hour fasts a week currently. When I do a fast of more than 72 hours I eat normally the day before and drink lots of water and salt during the fast and when I’m ready to break it I drink a cup of bone broth with a tbsp of butter and wait an hour or two and if I have zero problems I’ll eat a normal meal.


#12

Well actually I do some fasted exercise but not more than 20 hrs fasted. I go hiking for 3 hrs when when 16 hrs fasted sometimes. I haven’t done a 24 hr fast in ages.


(traci simpson) #13

What is the reason that you want to fast? maybe lessen your eating window first? or do the OMAD first and see how you feel.


(Bob M) #14

For me, I drink only water, coffee, green tea during a fast. I have nothing in my system but water. And my system is strange, in that I don’t go #2 basically as soon as I start fasting. So, if I fast 4.5 days, I might go to the bathroom the first day, but not again. That has seemed to get slightly better with time, sometimes I’ll go once.

Anyway, when I restart eating, even if I try to “ease” into eating, at some point, my digestion restarts, and I have nothing but liquid in me. And my body seems to want to get rid of it quickly.

This has gotten better, in that now it’s only the first day usually. It used to be multiple days.

I assume if I fasted longer than 4.5-5.5 days, I’d go to the bathroom more, but I find it difficult to fast over the weekend. I have yet to do so.


(Bob M) #15

Hmm…am I the only one who can’t do OMAD? I do this maybe once per week, if I’m lucky. For me, it’s too much food to eat in one meal. And I eat at night, too close to bed. So, I’d rather eat two meals and get fewer calories at dinner.


#16

I want to try it to see if there are any health benefits to it for me personally. I think I’m going to work up to it following the way @ctviggen did his. I haven’t eaten breakfast in six weeks so I already have a head start on that.

I usually have a solid 18 hours of no food in me when I work out on the weekend so I’ll continue exercising during fasting as much as I can (excluding hiking as I do that alone and would be too worried about something happening).


#17

I’ve done OMAD accidentally a few times. I worked out last Saturday from 1-2:30. I had eaten a regular dinner the night before but nothing since. I ate a BLT chaffle after I got home around 3 and then nothing else until a snack lunch on Sunday. I didn’t plan it. I just wasn’t hungry so I didn’t eat.


(traci simpson) #18

I do it on Saturdays and I eat before 5pm and I don’t eat a bunch of food, I just eat until I’m full.


(Bunny) #19

When I first started placing my body in ketosis and considered the methods I planned on using?

I asked myself what are you doing now or how am I eating now?

Why was I fat?

I looked at what I was eating, how much of it I was eating and when I was eating including snacking compared to how much physical exertion I was getting (laying in bed all day?) and how much muscle volume I have?

If maintaining a stable weight I would then cut my portion size in half or to a quarter (even with junk food) and attempt to go for longer durations between meal windows but NOT to where I feel starved (that’s the point where eating more fat is a good idea?), that’s when I started to lose weight or actual adipose tissue weight while gaining muscle volume with believe it or not ridiculously small portion sizes except for unlimited fat (esp. in the case of pumping iron or running) but that would make no sense exoterically? But I have to be consistent with it and have a real schedule and really do what I plan on doing by making it happen through discipline, as soon as I deviate from my plans then nothing would happen…


(Carpe salata!) #20

I did four 5-day fasts last year with just water (and some salt). I decided to do 7 days which I just finished and went right back to eating a normal dinner, plus some extras because I was hungry :man_shrugging:

This time I had some bone broth in the fast because I thought I might need it for the extra time but in hindsight probably would have been OK without it. I just continued on with my normal work week as usual and it was pretty good after the first 2 days. Its interesting just drinking water with nothing in the digestive tract. I think that’s where some of the ‘water weight’ goes.

Anyway one day you will just start, and then you will go back to eating. Trust yourself :slight_smile: