Looks pretty brutal:
JAN 2026 IF/EX Fasting
ctviggen
(Bob M)
#41
Janie
(Jane)
#42
I am just north of that light pink line north of Little Rock, so hoping we get more snow than ice. Will be hunkered down and not going anywhere and have a generator hooked to a dedicated 500-gal propane tank that powers everything critical in the house and stocked up on meat and dairy so we are good!
We are expecting bitter low temps and I would love to fire up my wood stove in the basement - perfect weekend for that! But I have 2 new kitties who are still a bit wild and they stay in the basment with the elder (14-yo) cat and the dog in her crate at night. You can’t just stop and start a wood stove. Takes a long time to heat up and you have to keep it going and takes a long time to cool down. My new kitties jump on it at night so I will wait until next year to run it. All I need is burned paws and we can’t get off the property and the vets are all closed. Closest 24-hr vet is an hour and a half drive.
Nope - not worth it.
CFLBob
(Central Florida Bob )
#43
Yes, it does help. I read that as 72 hours counts from Tuesday after lunch until Friday at the start of lunch. Is your regular routine to eat three meals/day, so that you have breakfast and lunch on Tuesday?
I completed my third fast of the week at around 11AM and my weight this morning was exactly the same as Wednesday.
Pink salt? Himalayan or ?? Our choice in salt has been Redmond Real Salt, but I’ve never tried anything like salt under my tongue.
My only barrier to trying this is concern about my wife eating. She swears she doesn’t mind foraging for herself when I’m fasting but when I look at the stuff she eats, I think I should be cooking a “proper” meal.
ctviggen
(Bob M)
#44
I’ve found salt under the tongue to be tricky. I can’t get it to stay there. It does help though.
Janie
(Jane)
#45
No - never hungry enough to eat breakfast so we just drink coffee, eat an early lunch around 11 am and dinner around 6 pm.
Sometime I put the pink Himalayan salt in my coffee instead of under my tongue.
Shinita
#46
Theoretically… I easily can imagine that for me. My first meal wouldn’t be so big but the next day surely wouldn’t be a problem. I even could have multiple meals after I break my fast in the afternoon but that has conditions (the desire to do so). Though… It probably would depend on my diet. I have phases when I am very fine with smaller meals even without any EF due to my very satiating very low-carb food. Of course, I can choose less satiating items… It would be interesting to experiment if I could stop eating for a longer while.
Still, a 3 day fast every week isn’t for me. I consider that too often. And it’s possible that I would get used to fasting too much so I barely could eat enough on the other days to avoid undereating.
–
No more frost! We surely will lose this snow, finally. It was pretty but to be able to use our vehicles is important here (we could use the bicycles on normal roads but not in the forest and the roads are way too dangerous in the dark, my SO got multiple accidents) and even walking had difficulties (too deep snow then icy snow…). We finally can go to our usual big shopping next weekend!
I want sunshine already, we barely had any since weeks. At least I am not sick anymore or just barely.
I try to talk myself into some proper fast next day. I mean, trying and we will see what happens. I will have plenty of my top satiating protein rich food tomorrow so I should be satiated during most of Monday. Especially if I manage to do it OMAD.
That sounds super tough to me (as it’s impossible in my case). I only go from dinner to bedtime, much easier (well, trivial if I ate properly. I can’t even eat enough for lunch only without troublesome effort, I need my dinner). And sleep makes me more satiated, that’s nice. And until afternoon, it’s just not eating time for me. Except if I really underate the previous days. I mean, I ate little. If I ate nothing, I don’t have that.
It’s probably different for the ones who wake up hungry or get hungry real soon… I always wake up satiated (let’s forget the only time I went to bed hungry, that was a very bad idea).
I think I can relate…? I have the former (with exceptions), they even help and I just don’t have memories of the latter. If I try to fast and it’s tricky (chance for me to get hungry), I don’t cook dangerous food and my SO usually cooks some extremely enticing smelling food in the morning when I have less than zero appetite and hunger.
But it’s usually mental for me. There is food and I am not very satiated, maybe even a bit hungry (as I can handle the lack of satiation now)… Or not a bit but it’s not severe yet… And eating sounds such a superb idea… And torturing myself such an antihedonistic one… Yeah, if I get tempted, it’s game over. I mustn’t get tempted. Staying away from the kitchen when my SO has a meal is a good idea if I want to fast. I may be serious but the presence of food and company can trigger hunger, appetite and even other things making me want to eat. I had times when I just wanted OMAD, nothing extra determination and I was FINE, no hunger… But I sat down, drank tea and after some minutes, things just got out of hand somehow. I need to be vigilant. And shouldn’t trust myself 
It’s fasting, not life or dealth or health or sickness where I would be way more serious…
Can’t you cook in advance? It works in my household so well… Though it definitely helps what we both can cook and are health conscious… We may cook the main stuff but we need other items… Many people eat simpler than we do, though. We can’t just eat one course for lunch!
I can’t put it there but it doesn’t work anyway, of course not, if I am hungry, I need food. Lots of protein rich food. I am simple like that but it’s fine.
So you have days with only lunch? It’s a low-cal day for you or you can eat more when you plan to fast? Small lunches and no dinner never ever worked for me. I need my macros or else I WILL eat whatever I can after midnight (well whatever that I consider food, I still won’t eat something that can’t help at all… unless it’s tasty or have a nice texture…). Oh I forgot some people are able to go hungry. My SO does that. No dinner and hunger and quick, smooth fat-loss. I get hungry and eat. I can’t stand proper hunger without being well-fasted. Hunger right after a meal is the absolute worst. I need substantial satiating meals.
Apropos salt… It seems my salt need went down or something. I apparently oversalt things even when they are supposed to be salty and I only use a pinch of added salt… It’s only one thing, maybe it’s special but I know I am prone to feel things with barely any sodium too salty. I don’t even do carnivore, why I have this, no idea. I will track my sodium intake, I am curious.
Janie
(Jane)
#47
No - sorry for the confusion - we eat lunch and then dinner around 6 pm… unless we are starting a fast but that is only once a month or so.
Shinita
#48
I was curious about the day when you start the fast. So those are only lunch days. Is the lunch the normal size then? I would be super hungry at bedtime but we are all different. My SO totally can skip dinner (he is hungry but not unbearably like I am - or he is just stubborn and better at discomfort. I am a hedonist who even learned that going to bed hungry is a horribly bad idea, it makes my sleep super bad like 90% relative humidity).
scaperdude
(B Creighton)
#49
My excellent progress continues with my IF of OMAD on MWF schedule even with a bit of continued cheating like non-keto protein bars on a recent road trip. From two weeks ago my weight increased to 179.7 from 175.9, but I am back on creatine so chalk up most of that to creatine water retention. My lean mass was up to 129.2 from 128. Skeletal muscle mass is up 1.8 lbs. My BMR is up to 1695 cal. My BF is down to 21.9% from 22.7 and my subQ fat was down to 19.1% from 19.8%. I am back in size 34s, and my “metabolic age” dropped another year to 52 - a full decade below my chronological age - That’s all according to my new Hume scale - except for the 34 waist. That is actual. Some size 36s I recently bought just want to fall off of me…LOL. I am going to go through my wardrobe, and pick out everything above a size 36 for someone else who doesn’t have my protocol to lean on… So, all in all I had a great January, feel like I have optimized a few things, and everything seems to be going in the right directions. It’s Working!!!
scaperdude
(B Creighton)
#50
Got you beat in the subcute fat category my man… 
Just had to do that… no one else seemed to catch on… Maybe I will actually become cute again…
. Gettin’ more subcute all the time.
ctviggen
(Bob M)
#52
Hmm…got a message saying I’m posting too much on this topic, so maybe this will be my last post on this topic.
I wear size 34 pants, but I weigh about 35 more pounds than you do. What’s up with that?
What scales are you all using to get this data?
OldDoug
(Doug)
#53
Bob, is that a system-generated thing? If so, I really don’t think that at this point any of us need to worry about posting “a lot” on a given topic. 
ctviggen
(Bob M)
#54
Doug, it is a system thing, and of course this time it didn’t give it to me. Maybe because I’m ignoring it. 
Janie
(Jane)
#55
Got it - yes, lunch only the first day. I find it easier than starting a fast in the morning and going all day without food. Then I have to deal with 2 hunger “waves” - at lunch and at dinner time. By the next day I am 24 hours into the fast by lunch time and the hunger is much milder.
And yes, going to bed hungry isn’t pleasant, but not unbearable. The dinner “wave” of hunger has passed so only a mild hunger I can fix with salt.
scaperdude
(B Creighton)
#56
Is this some kind of bait? Dude, I hope not. You are the life of this party… Don’t go!!
I told you. My Hume Body Pod. Yes the weight is accurate, and confirmed by an old fashioned lever scale and our Renpho. At 35 more pounds you would be 215. That is far above average for a 6 ft man with a 34 waist. Not even 6’5" basketball players reach that weight easily. R U built like Arnold? I am a skinny twig, although I am trying to change that at least a little. At least I am not skinny-fat anymore…
ctviggen
(Bob M)
#57
I’m only 5’7". So, even worse.
I was a body builder when I was younger, due to Arnold. Wanted to look like him. Got much bigger and stronger, but got nowhere near his musculature. There’s a thing called “genetics”, which I didn’t really have. I’m still fairly muscular, but not near what I was.
That’s an interesting “scale”, and they say it’s near a DEXA scan.
https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/humehealth-body-pod?test_uuid=04IpBmWGZleS0I0J3epvMrC&test_variant=A
I may have to look into that.
CFLBob
(Central Florida Bob )
#58
A few weeks ago, there was a discussion about “scales with handlebars” and this scale showed up as a possible alternative
I still haven’t taken the dive on it and I can’t help but be suspicious because 50-ish bucks vs. more like 200 - 1/4 of the price. Cheap copy vs the real thing? Or some more charitable explanation?
CFLBob
(Central Florida Bob )
#59
So since this is the end of my first month of ADFs, it’s time to post the results:
| Date | Weight lb.s | BMI | Body Fat % | Lean Body Mass lb.s | Subcute Fat % | Visceral Fat % | Body Water % | Skeletal Muscle % | Muscle Mass lb.s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01/05/26 | 218.4 | 29.6 | 29.4 | 154.2 | 25.7 | 12.0 | 51.0 | 45.6 | 146.4 |
| 01/07/26 | 216.0 | 29.3 | 29.0 | 153.4 | 25.3 | 12.0 | 51.3 | 45.9 | 145.8 |
| 01/09/26 | 216.2 | 29.3 | 29.0 | 153.6 | 25.3 | 12.0 | 51.3 | 45.9 | 146.0 |
| 01/26/26 | 214.2 | 29.0 | 28.5 | 153.0 | 24.9 | 12.0 | 51.6 | 46.1 | 145.6 |
| 01/28/26 | 213.8 | 28.9 | 28.4 | 153.0 | 24.8 | 12.0 | 51.7 | 46.2 | 145.2 |
| 01/30/26 | 212.6 | 28.8 | 28.2 | 152.6 | 24.7 | 12.0 | 51.8 | 46.3 | 145.0 |
I deleted the middle two weeks of the month, leaving the first and last weeks to reduce the size of this. To me, the bottom line is that there was an improvement but there were hurdles I need to find a way to overcome. Aside from the first week, when the scale dropped the most - what I call junk weight - it was pretty disappointing. By just eyeball estimate, in the rest of the month, I dropped two pounds.
I always weigh the most the morning after the first fasting day, which is after two days of eating, instead of one. The only time I eat two days in a row is Friday and Saturday. Fast Sunday, weigh in Monday.
I get cold pretty much by late afternoon every day of fasting. It doesn’t help that this past week was the coldest we’ve had in at least a year.
Sunday’s forecast is for a new record low temperature.
My plan four weeks ago was to do the ADFs for January. Primarily because my birthday is next Tuesday and those are a well-known time to take stock of where you are in life and adjust things.
I just don’t know what to adjust.