How Much Fasting is Too Much?

#1

Hi everyone,
1 month ago I completed my first 4 day fast with water, coffee, and on days 3-4 with bullion added as I had a lot of headaches and nausea. It was a learning experience.

I started another fast with water, black coffee, and salt (2000mg or so) only with tonight being my 4th day. I also supplement with Lite Salt 1 tsp & Mag Citrate powder orally 500mg a day. This time is eeeeasy.

I’m not diabetic and trying to lose weight - doing this for the health benefits too of course. I spent about 3 months going thru Dr. Fung, Dr. Darren Schmidt, Dr. Longo, and I’ve read dozens of threads here. I’m at 158lbs and 13% BF. I’ve maintained a 70lb weight loss for 10+ years and finally dropped another 20 in 2 months. My question is how much fasting is too much?

I’m thinking of fasting 4-5 days every month and in between I’d fast 24-48 hours each week. I eat OMAD (at a 15% deficit) on weekdays. I tend to feast on Sat & Sun up to about 100 carbs and 3,700 cals. I guess the 24-48 hr fast would be to “cleanse” the weekend which does contain some crap like bread, pizza, candy in small amounts, and lots of vodka (about 8 drinks) which I record on My Fitness Pal. Working on changing the weekend habits :blush:

(VLC.MD) #2

What are your goals ?

(Chris) #3

It’s fine. I have been maintaining 80lbs fat loss for 4 months on strict zero carb and fasting usually 3-5 days every week. I’m back in the gym now so I’m eating like, one day in the middle of the week now and training fasted quite a lot. Just make sure you’re up to speed with the electrolytes, and don’t be afraid to break the fast if you feel horrible, and don’t beat yourself up over it because breaking a fast is not a failure.

(Charlie Kathopoulis) #4

@basedketo that is fantastic results and kudos for making the fast the second time round eeeeasy. As too how much fasting is too much, it simply depends on your goals. If it’s for weight loss, then fast away as often as you can and let the body feed off your fat stores. If its part of a cleansing regime or other health regimes then you will need to decide what that is. There are no hard and fast rules i think. Personally, I do a 16 - 8 hour split (because of work) but every 3 to 5 months I’ll do an extended fast (depending on what I have been eating, how I feel and if I feel comfortable). So my only advice is to listen to your body (I know that can be cliché) and if it’s saying fast then fast, if it says bacon then BACON :slight_smile:

#5

Strictly weight loss, trying to get down to 10% BF which would be around 145lbs. That’s why I was wondering if we’re only after weight loss and there’s no disease to treat if it’s possible to go overboard.

#6

Wow, you’re a fasting machine lol. Good to hear your routine and ability to train when fasted and when you eat.

#7

Yeah, that’s the vibe I get - just fast according to your body. I was just worried because I did feel “good” when I fasted the first time. and I do a lot of 22/4 IF’ing.

I was just getting worried why it feels so good this time and if I kept chasing this good feelings, it may backfire. Another angle was that I’d just fast as often as I want, as long as it’s not in a negative punishing or guilt trip way.

(Charlie Kathopoulis) #8

I like that second angle :smiley: . The ketogenic lifestyle and IFing should be an enjoyable experience. We should not have hung up’s or any negativity associated with it (life is hard enough lol). I enjoy my food, but the beauty of IFing is that I don’t let the sugar craving I used to get control my life. SO if you are feeling great, and the blood tests from your physician are all good then Keto on buddy :slight_smile:

(Chris) #9

Energy, hunger, and lethargy all come in waves. Learning to read those signals is a big part of it. Sometimes I have to skip a workout, or take one slowly, but it gets easier the more one gets under their belt.

(Tim W) #10

I’ve had this same thought.

I’ve been fasting/using IF for over a year and eating keto for 95% of 2017 and did a fast of 20 days this year. I feel great on day 2-3 when fasting, I work out fasted and LOVE the HGH “high” which is similar to a runner high (I run a lot and long, I know what a runner’s high feels like).

I also LOVE the post fast feeling, the day or two after you break a longer fast (3-5 days) and you feast, often leaves me feeling euphoric. This is such a good feeling that I know I’ll fast again, even though I’m at goal weight and lean as well. I guess it’s a bit of a bio-hack. You can eat all the time and feel good BUT, if you find yourself not eating for a period of time, for whatever reason, enjoy the positive feelings that can create and the positive long term changes it can have on the body (and the extra free time from not cooking/cleaning).

My wife also fasts and we are both very candid with each other. I caution her to get lots of sodium and watch her energy levels and she calls me out if fasting is having a negative impact of my mood. That’s the one thing I’ve found I have to watch, I can get a little depressed when fasting more than a day, I think it’s from a lack of cholesterol, I eat a few eggs upon breaking fast (and up to 10 eggs a day when feeding) and my mood bounces back within a day.

My current protocol is a 4 hour eating window Sat-Wed and fast Thur/Fri. This leaves me feeling awesome all weekend and makes my Sunday long runs a little easier. I think that as long as we are eating well on our feed days, we can keep skipping a few days of eating here and there for a long time (maybe the rest of our lives?), provided we gets lots of vitamins and minerals on feed days and don’t try to over-due it during stressful times. The more stressful things are, the less I tend to fast, it’s much harder when cortisol is high.