I can fast, and so can you! :D

#1

I surprised myself! I wanted to try a 20 hour fast. One time a few months ago, I did a 24 hour fast, and it was HORRIBLE… I think I know why. #1, I don’t have a whole lot of excess stored fat so fasting isn’t as easy for me, period. #2, I did not feast enough in my last meal prior to fasting. So I felt like I was gonna die the entire time.

So this time, I ate my entire day’s worth of food all before noon (this was yesterday) and my goal was to make it until 8am this morning. I was so scared I would be starving at dinner time, go to bed starving, and wake up starving. NOPE… not at all. I drank water all day, and I was happily satisfied all through the rest of the day, didn’t have one single desire to eat a thing the entire evening. Woke up at 6am feeling fine…not hungry at all. By 7:55am I felt like it was time to start sipping my coffee (HWC in there), and honestly even that might not have been real hunger, lol… my brain knew I was “allowed” to eat again at 8am so it could have been in my head. Maybe I could have gone longer, IDK.

So, I did it… and it was easy! By the way, I normally don’t track calories or macros at all, but I do know my general targets, so yesterday I did track, because I wanted to make sure I was eating ENOUGH to sustain myself through the 20 hour fast. Maybe soon I’ll try the 24 hour fast again (OMAD), but I’m in no rush. Just wanted to see if I could do it.

(Windmill Tilter) #2

This one is absolutely key for me too! I do an 84hr fast every week, and if I don’t truly feast the day before, it ain’t gonna happen. It’s almost as though if I let my body build an ounce of fat the day before, it says “you seem like a reasonable fellow, permit approved”. It doesn’t seem to care that I drop 2lbs of fat over those 3.5 days as long as I pay a 2 oz “fat bribe” up front. :yum:

I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some hormonal signalling that happens when your body builds fat. It’s like it resets a bunch of metabolic warning signals and alarms and declares an all clear.

#3

lol :stuck_out_tongue:

(Susan Kwasney) #4

Good job! It’s not easy the first time! I failed miserably the first time. Then I did a 3 day fast which was interesting. I had been on carbs so Day 1 and 2 were not good. I had terrible headaches and I was tired. I also felt hunger according to my circadian rhythm and realized that hunger was mostly in my mind. It came in waves and then subsided. Day 3 was amazing. I felt energized and clear.
I am a terrible terrible sugar addict and being able to fast for 3 days was a victory. It felt as if I was finally in control. Since then I’ve done keto. I’ve been in ketosis for a 3 weeks now and it’s a whole lot easier to fast once your glucose levels are already low. As I am writing this I realized my last meal was yesterday’s rather large lunch and I don’t feel physically affected by the lack of food. I eat when I am hungry. I wish I’d found keto and I tried fasting a lot earlier. It would’ve saved my selfasteem due to constantly failing at low calorie diets. I can do this way of life and I find it quite easy. Step by step it feels like I’ve “found myself” again and reclaim self control and strength. Mood swings and headaches have also been going away.

#5

I did 3.5 to 5 day per week fasts for six straight weeks and felt like my body was tiring of the rigors of fasting and starting to adapt because I’ve been losing and gaining same 4-5 pounds (184-189) during all of February when I only lost 3.2 pounds (compared to 7.5 lbs per month average).

Last week I did one 48-hour fast to start then have been taking a break, eating well at an 18/6 IF. Staying steady at 187-188 for four days despite some fried chicken along the way.

Going to a mini-class reunion Saturday night so that will be interesting. But after that big feed I will be off on another 4 to 5-day fast.

Just 7 pounds away from goal of 180 and have only March before reaching 1-year, low-carb anniversary.

Yes, it does get easier each time you try. Just give your body a break sometimes. I am one of the worst to realize this but weight loss is a journey, not a vacation.

(Carl Keller) #6

I found that keeping busy helps, especially around dinner time. The clock has a powerful influence on our natural rhythms and if we can just make it past the dinner hour, the rest is pretty easy.

Feasting and fasting is probably how our ancestors ate most of the time and I know it works for me too. If I start my fast with a really satiating meal, the thought of food doesn’t occur to me for a good 20 hours. Even then, it’s not like I am feeling starved.

#7

No doubt.

On a 3+ day fast, the hours 22-26, 46-49 and 70-74 are bears. If you can finagle your way around those peak clock/eating hours then you will be fine.

Yes, staying busy is paramount during normal feeding hours. I often go and bury myself on my PC perusing this forum and my favorite sports forum. Soon, when the time and temperature changes I’ll do my dog walking chores at that time.

(Windmill Tilter) #8

@GentleBen

It looks like our bodies do adapt to extended fasting. Most folks assume that our metabolic rate is preserved, or slightly increases during fasting because of Dr. Fung’s books “The Obesity Code” and “The Complete Guide to Fasting”. I think Dr. Fung should get the nobel prize for those two books but although he was correct that our bodies preserve metabolism the first time we do an extended fast, he never claimed that this remains true for the 20th time we do an extended fast. The body adapts quickly. The metabolism is very, very clever little monkey, which is why we are not extinct. Dr. Fung’s recommendation at the IDM clinic is 42hr fasts twice a week, and five day fasts only once a month. I suspect the reason for that is that nobody knows WTF happens after repeatedly doing extended fasting for month after month. It’s never been studied.

Over at the IDM clinic forum, there are a couple of us who do extended fasts for 3-5 days each week that have bought metabolic carts/indirect calorimeters and are measuring our metabolic rates daily. These aren’t toys; mine is around $12,000. Suffice to say, our metabolic fasting pattern is nothing like the one in Dr. Fung’s book from Zaunders et al. The first chart is from Dr. Fung’s book. The second is my friend primal.peanut who has lost 75lbs over the last 5 months doing a 2 Feast: 5Fast routine on a weekly basis. Three things I want to point out.

  1. Initially, his pattern bears no resemblance to the one in Fungs book. On the first day of fasting his metabolic rate drops like a rock.
  2. He has used something we call “metabolic ratcheting” to raise his RMR (resting metabolic rate) from a normal level of 1700kcal/day all the way up to 2200kcal/day - 2400kcal/day. He is 32,175lbs,and 5’10. Any RMR equation in existence (Harris Benedict, Mifflin St Jeor,etc) puts his metabolism at 1700kcal/day - 1800kcal/day. He is 3 standard deviations above the mean (higher metabolism than 99.7% of people with his height/weigh/age). Metabolic ratcheting can likely be used to drive metabolism down as well. You may have inadvertently done this. That would not be good.
  3. He fixed his pattern. Look at the first few measurements. His metabolism drops like a rock in response to the first day of fasting. He was complaining of being cold and lethargic during fasts. He took a vacation and basically did an ad libitum refeed for 2 solid weeks. Look at his fasting pattern after the break. It looks like the one from Zaunders et al again.

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Long story short, everything you’ve described suggest your body has adapted to fasting to such a degree that it’s counterproductive. Do you get cold after 2 days of fasting in a way that didn’t happen when you started fasting for the first time? It might be a good idea to get an RMR test to find out where you are. The test costs $50-$100. Just my 2 cents. I’m certainly not an Dr. or an expert, but the truth is that there isn’t a single person on the planet who is; no study has ever been conducted of the metabolisms of people who have done an extended fast more than once.

#9

edit- moving because I posted under the wrong post!