How to break my 14 day fast

(Jim) #1

Hey everyone,

Right now I’m on my 5th day of fasting and doing great. My plan was to fast until Wednesday, July 31st, which makes it a 14-day fast. Now I’ve been reading a bit about how to break a fast after such a long period of time and was looking for your opinion. Mostly what I read is that 2 days of adjusting is enough to start eating “normally”. However, I’m going to an all-you-can-eat Chinese restaurant with family on Friday (2 days after) and then eating with another friend on Saturday. After that, I’ll go on a 3-week vacation with my friend to Crete, a great country to eat Mediterranean keto style, and my buddy will start his keto journey there. We will eat some carbs when we eat out, such as rice and potatoes, but never things like pasta, pizza, and bread, which I can handle pretty well.

Now my question is, with these wonderful food events that are coming (where I will eat mostly Ketovore), how many days should I ease into it? I don’t want to have refeed syndrome because I’m reading things like 2 days but also 4 to 7 days until you start eating “big” meals again.

Thanks!

(Bob M) #2

How were you going to ease into the first two days? Bone broth to start? What about introducing real food?

I’m probably not the best to answer this, as the longest fast I’ve done is 5.5 days. But even there, I had a good 1-1.5 days of going to the bathroom a lot. Seemed like all the water in me just wanted to come out.

#3

I’m similar to Bob, my longest fast was only 5 days - but I would be cautious. Better safe than sorry, food regrets can be quite unpleasant. I am sure it’s highly individual, I most probably wouldn’t need any easing into it after 5 days while others do - but 14 days are long for everyone. I don’t know if 2 days will be enough, surely it depends a lot on what you eat during that time but that must be individual too.
Even if 2 days are enough, I wouldn’t go wild after that either and would listen to my body even more than usual. The last thing I would want on a holiday to get sick… Many of us have a pretty good feedback and guide in our bodies, it’s useful and we should use it :slight_smile: It doesn’t help with planning in advance if we never even experienced it (or just once or twice… who knows if it will be the same?) but it does help when it’s already time to decide what and how much to eat.

I am curious about this topic and hope someone way more knowledgeable and experienced will say something more useful. We have people with fasting experience though few do really long fasts. (14 days is really long in my books.)

(Jim) #4

Yes first day I was thinking about bone broth. Then bone broth with eggs and maybe later in the day some cauliflower with lean chicken. Do that for 2 days and then slowly incoperate meat and fish but keeping the carbs very low. Then when I go to the Chinees (wont eat much, makes sense because my stomach doesn’t need that much anymore) I’ll eat a bit of rice to see how I respond. So instead of 14, thinking about doing 12-13 day’s. Unless indeed someone on the forum has an different perspective

(Bob M) #5

I would probably shorten it a bit, as you’ve indicated. When I was doing 4.5 day fasts, I’d start back with a regular meal, but man that had me going to the bathroom a lot. Which is weird, considering there’s nothing but water in there.

I then started going a lot slower, bone broth plus maybe an egg, Wait a while, then a smaller meal. That helped quite a bit.

12-13 days I’m assuming would be harder, and bone broth would make a good start.

I always finished my fast when I was at work so that I could hit the bathroom. And I started ending them earlier in the day, say 10 am, so I had a lot of the day to ease into it.

But I am notorious for going to the bathroom a lot. On keto, I never have constipation and go multiple times a day. It’s only when I add fiber that I get constipation.

(KM) #6

There seem to be as many suggestions for how to break a fast as there are fasts. One recurring principle is to be sure you’re getting enough electrolytes all along and then especially when you break the fast, specifically table salt (or sea salt or pink salt or what have you, some form of sodium chloride.) Most cases of refeeding syndrome were observed in conjunction with gross electrolyte imbalance when the body suddenly received a new supply of nutrients to utilize.

I agree with your idea of breaking the fast slowly and a bit early so you’re back “up to speed” in time for your celebrations.

Personal experience I have done many 5-7 day fasts but no longer than that. Only one time did I feel ill when I started to eat again (nausea and diarrhea). That was an ‘egg drop soup’ made by swirling an egg into boiling bone broth, but it was not a variety of bone broth I’d had before and I discovered that fasted or not, I didn’t care for the taste. After that, I would gingerly test out something that looked / smelled appealing to me and just have a sip/bite or two and see how I felt, and I’ve never had an issue after that, even with broth, cheese, eggs, what have you.

#7

Break with bone broth first.

Then have fermented foods next: yogurt with active cultures, sauerkraut, kimchi, etc. Slowly introduce solid foods with these foods first. The fermentation helps prepare your digestive system.

Egg drop soup made with bone broth is perfect for starting on solids too and alternating with the fermented foods. Then move into eggs anyway you like.

Works for me every time I break a fast. I’ve never done one as long as yours, but I would spend a whole day with just bone broth, then the 2nd day alternating broth with rich fermented foods.