There are a lot of other questions. How long have you been keto? What are your goals with fasting? What are your plans after fasting? Have you ever fasted before? If so, how long? Do you exercise? What flavor of Emergen C and what is your reason for that product? Do you use any other electrolyte supplementation?
I’m finding the Emergen C Replenish flavor specifically to not be very useful for electrolytes. You’d have to intake multiple packs for a significant carb load.
I am mainly doing this for weight loss. I have fasted before. I was on Keto/intermittent fasting for a month before starting this fast. I used emergen-c because of the b vitamins, c , and magnesium and potassium. Last time I fasted I drank poweraid zero, but I don’t want any artificial sweeteners. I am about to start walking to increase my calorie expenditure. I do take a magnesium/potassium supplement also. After the fast, I plan on remaining Keto for life.
Here are my concerns based on your answers.
You’ve only been keto for a month? Was that at 20g of net carbs or less strictly? You’re very early in to be fat adapted which is where a longer fast is really achievable in a safe, healthy, comfortable way. Also, you went from level 2 with IF to level 100 with this fast and it’s a big leap without the prep.
How do you feel right now at day 10? And, be honest with yourself and us. Even little things matter. Gnawing hunger? Headaches? Lightness? Dizziness? Itchy pinky toe? (That last one is a point that even the little things matter.)
I’m all for walking but, we’re not trying to starve in fasts by the idea of burning off excess calories. So, don’t put a lot of stock into that being a thing. Especially if you aren’t actually fat adapted yet, you might retain or surprisingly gain weight as your body struggles to not starve.
The Emergen C is pretty carb heavy and, Powerade zero is nearly useless imo. It provides very little in the way of electrolytes like a keto person needs. You might research ketoaide/ketoade recipes to replace the emergen c with.
Go ahead and do a search for ZornFast which has some people doing short fasts but, longer than IF. You might also do a search for EF or extended fast. If you aren’t the one then, there is someone else doing another EF experiment that might have more answers.
My questions and answers will hopefully help a more experienced extended faster find your post and get answers so they can help further.
I echo J_A-M’s concerns. That long a fast, though it can be truly transformative, is an advanced skill based on being very fat adapted, and properly psychologically adjusted to such an endeavor (i.e. over the cravings, etc.) or it is probably destined to fail in its overall goal.
That isn’t to say that even a 10 day or 20 or 30 won’t be a massive achievement and make some real metabolic difference. It can also do you severe damage if the body doesn’t see this as a body fat fast but as a hunger strike.
Read this thread - @ron-coleman has done a marquee fast of 46 days and this record of that experience should be very useful to you.
There is a whole section here called Extended in the fasting subforum full of discussion of long fasts, though I don’t remember anyone doing 60.
https://www.ketogenicforums.com/c/fast/ef
In answer the the topic, some very heavy guy in Scotland did 382 days, highly medically supervised and it changed his life. On the other hand, hunger strikers have died in as little as 35 and damaged their organs irreversibly in far less.
I appreciate and value what you both have said. I do feel really good. I would like to keep going. Before death, wouldn’t there be signs to stop a fast?
I’m not saying quit now, but don’t be obsessed by a 60 day target. We don’t know your history, conditions and goals etc. but no matter how bad it is, you can heal yourself several different ways beyond extreme fasting.
Just because you feel good at 10 days, does not mean much for your long-term success. Lots of things/deficiencies won’t show up yet and psychological highs may mask physiological issues. If you continue, go for a stronger electrolyte mix e.g. ZippFizz or even better, make keto-ade (easy and cheap). Emergen-c are pretty crappy with low levels of everything you actually need. Don’t be fooled by RDAs.
There are lots of symptoms of damage, but a key one is kidneys. Any kidney pain and you should seriously consider stopping if you are doing the right supplementation etc. though you may have done damage already. Remember, your body can do amazing things to stay alive and will start catabolizing (breaking down) almost everything you have to keep going (muscle, organs, etc.) to get what it needs, as well as reducing all the things it does to keep you fully functional. Things like taking calcium or other minerals out of bones to maintain heart/organ function is invisible until you break a leg or something but it is hard to put that back afterwards. I am no doctor but I would be very worried about the 99% you and I DON’T know.
Do what Ron and others did to be successful and when you feel crap DO NOT power through. Quit, regroup and try again later.
I get that at 386, you are probably quite desperate. I was desperate at 80lbs less than that, and again at 120lbs lower (but getting sicker) but don’t let that make bad decisions.
I guess my response is on the other end of the spectrum. I started keto in November the week before a trip to Disney, I ate keto except for a frequent indulgence is some products from the candy shop. Returned home 10 days later. December 2 I started a potential 3 day fast after 3 days I felt great so extended it to 23 days. I lost 20 pounds and a boatload of symptoms. I ate 2 days and then fasted til New Year’s, same cycle the following week, on and on through January and February except I added a 16 day fast. March I fasted roughly 72 hours a week. I’m down just under 30 pounds. I plan on starting another extended fast this month to lose the last 25.
Every body is different, if you feel okay keep going. You will know when you need to stop. I could have kept going on day 23 but wanted to eat Christmas Eve dinner with my family. I was not fat adapted when I started so I did feel weak, and would walk 2 miles every morning, much slower than my normal pace, I might have to sit for awhile afterward, I had detox symptoms as I progressed, back aches ( empsom salt soaks helped), chest aching for a day or so (normal during extended fasting), some times palpitations (I took iron) but it was probably detox. I lifted heavy kettlebells 2-3 days a week, and did sprints on my bike 2 days a week, jumped rope etc… Amazon has the science of fasting movie out, good information there. In the fasting treatment protocols in Russia the require 3 hours of exercise daily during a fast to aide with detox. I think they are correct with this. Good luck KCFO. Make sure to eat some salt I drank sol water with cream of tartar mixed in for potassium and took a mg supplement during the fast.
Giving your percent of body fat, there would likely not be any harm. Keep up the salt. Refeeding syndrome happens when electrolytes are low and a person eats sugar and carbs. Insulin then stores salt in the kidneys taking it out of the rest of the body. Not good. When you break the fast have lots of salt, steak, and butter…haha.
I am not only an administrator of this forum, I also am an employee of the IDM program.
We don’t recommend fasts over 10 days. I certainly would never recommend an extended fast for the sole purpose of losing body fat. You can lose a ton of body fat very quickly by simply following a ketogenic diet. It’s not worth the risk doing such an extended fast to possibly slow your metabolism, or run the risk of refeeding syndrome. Though rare it can happen, though normally after 10 days. It skirts the mentality of calories in/calories out more than anything else, which is a failed theory.
For ongoing monthly support join one of our Zornfasts. We always start the third Thursday of the month. Here is a link to last month’s fast. April’s fast will be the 19th through the 22nd.
From all my reading of Dr. Fung he repeatedly says if you have the body fat to fast you can fast. It is possible and fine to fast very long periods of time, well over 10 days.
Congratulations on your success!
I used to feel like I had to eat and weight gain was just something that happened as if bad luck - something over which I had no control. But going keto made fasting possible and when I fast I lose weight, 100% guaranteed. Maybe not as quick as I’d like and it isn’t so effortless that I can fast as long or often as I wish but my confidence has grown and I know I can do it as often and as long as I need to achieve a body I can live with.
I’ve done three 5 day fasts and quite a few shorter fasts. I’ve wanted to go longer but have always bailed at the first sign of trouble (getting cold or weak or cranky or just too hungry). Starting fasts was hard at first but has gotten easier, even though I’ve got less to lose. Lately I’ve been doing near fasting eating some protein in an effort to minimize muscle loss and am finding it more challenging than true fasting or fasting with a little fat such as coconut oil or cream as once I eat a little protein it stimulates my appetite for more.
You’ve received plenty of cautionary advice and undoubtedly are aware of the risks. But if you don’t kill yourself fasting you are surely lowering the risks of being overweight.
I’d be willing to bet you are also in control now. If you have done this once you can do it again and again and though it may never be easy it should get easier. Both tortoises and hares win races and I expect you can do this at whatever pace you choose. Don’t be afraid to pause or slow down if you need to.
Thanks to everyone. Im at day 12 feeling great!!! I made the keto aide and plan on going to the doctor for a physical soon. Should I ask for a specific test to be done? Also down to 383. I like seeing my face thinner, and it is weird, but I swear my feet have lost weight, they are slipping around in my work boots now.
I was just noting today that my shoes lace a lot tighter than they used to. It’s real!! Fat goes everywhere when the normal places fill up!!
I’m not sure this will really be helpful in your situation, but I fasted for 6 months in '08 with Raw, Unpasteurized Milk ONLY, about a quart or less most days. I lost 85 pounds and kept it all off…except for 100 pounds. 
Yes, you read that right. I went 185 consecutive days consuming Whole, RAW, Unpasturized, UNhomogenized Cows Milk ONLY. I cheated on day 50 with 2 pieces of pizza, which quickly found the quickest escape route from my confused, rapidly disappearing body. 
I had read about something called the milk cure, where a guy in England (maybe a surgeon?..) had terrible Epilepsy. He went on The Raw Milk Cure which was popular in the early 1900’s. And for the rest of his life that’s all he consumed… and he never had another seizure.
I reasoned that if raw milk were that good of a food, maybe I could survive on it and lose a bunch of weight. I did… But I’m not sure I can recommend it to most folks. YOU on the other hand…might take a look at it, since 60 days of real fasting sounds scary to me. I haven’t made it past 11 days of water only fasting, EVER!
The only downside to the milk cure, is that is challenging in some states to get raw unpasteurized milk that you trust… And it will foul up your…um… plumbing a little bit. YIKES!
Other than that, it is tasty, and pretty easy. FULL of fat, (and calories) but not low carb.
I wouldn’t. but that’s just me. I know the last time I fasted for 10 days that I started to feel not quite right so I stopped, and have never regretted that.
There is not really a lot more to be gained from fasting more than 3 days, other than proving to yourself that you can if you want not eat. At 3 days you will have totally regenerated your immune system, you will be dipping into maximum glucagon mediated autophagy, and your insulin level will hit it’s nadir.
From that point on it’s just more of the same. The problem is that we evolved to be cyclic in many areas, reproductively (ovulate - menstruate), circadieticly (sleep - wake), but certainly metabolically we are built to cycle between the fed and fasted states. Staying in the fasted state is as bad as staying in the fed state.
So my own advice is to add in a 3 day fast on a regular basis - once a year, season, month, even week … whatever works for you.
As far as how long you can fast? No-one knows. The highest risk is when you conclude a fast. That is why the Guinness book removed fasting from it’s records. There were too many people trying to beat Angus Barbieri’s 380+ days and killing themselves during the re-feed.
Out of curiosity, what is your refeeding plan since people have mentioned it? And, how will you feel about regained weight after the fast?
No real refeeding plan. Keeping it low carb. I’m thinking eggs and spinach juice. Gaining some weight would be ok, but I hope I don’t gain any
Eggs can be hard for some. A handful of macadamia nuts is an option. You should gain some as the body renovates during your post fast feast. That’s a good thing👍