January 2020 IF/EF Chat Thread (All Welcome)

(John) #81

Well, I’ve done 48 and 60+ hour fasts before, and generally have found my sweet spot to be in the 36 to 42 hour range. This time is a little different for some reason. I will pull the plug if I feel like I need to, but there is some value to maintaining the self-imposed discipline of sticking to the plan.

One difference this time is that I decided to start the fast mid-day, after already having had breakfast that day, and the previous day was a somewhat low intake day already. Usually I do a full-day fast, where I have eaten a normal amount the day before, and dinner is my last meal, not breakfast.

But I feel OK this morning and really do think I need a good reset, both physically and mentally, so I am keeping on with it.

(Brennan) #82

First EF in way too long (months anyway). Thinking I’ll do ~120 hours this go around. 14 hours in so far, really looking forward this :grin:

(Jane Srygley) #83

Good luck!

(Mame) #84

Best wishes and cheering you on!
I am starting a 96h Saturday eve so we will have some overlap…

excellent
So today is a feeding day (but I will still do an 18-6 TRE) on the Clark protocol, my digestion still feels odd.
numbers currently at 17h, about 11am, bg=82, bk=2.7 gki=1.68

(Patricia) #85

I’m just at the end of my 120 hours… a couple more hours to go. Cheering you on!!

(Jane) #86

Mine too. Still had some runny issues this morning so I took a couple of Immodium AD (never travel w/o them) and ok since then. Just a bit… off.

(John) #87

So I’ve made it to 33 hours. There is a part of me, which we will call “the stomach,” that is saying “Hey, that’s pretty good. Lets eat!” There is another part of me, which I refer to as “the brain,” which is saying, “Dude, this is Fasting Friday. Look at the clock. Is it Saturday? No, so shut up.” Meanwhile the mouth is saying “Hey, I’m with stomach. I want something.”

So mouth and stomach are getting some decaf right now, while brain is deciding if it should force muscles to get in a workout.

(Windmill Tilter) #88

My scheduled 40 hr fast has unexpectedly turned into a 60hr fast. Today was supposed to be a weight training day, but I was still a little sore when I woke up so I decided to wait until the evening to see how I felt.

At dinnertime, my wife ordered pizza for everyone else and hot-wings for me. I sat there at dinner with zero appetite and there didn’t seem any point in forcing myself to eat wings. That was pretty unexpected! I still went the gym, but since I’m not eating, I just did 25 minutes in the sauna.

If all fasts went this well I’d be one skinny dude! :yum:

(Susan) #89

Today was one of my Fasting days and I messed up when we had been running around all day, and when we got home at 2pm I caved and made a saladand not eating anything more until Lunch tomorrow at 1pm, and back on the Fasting protocol on Monday =). I was really exhausted and I only slept 3 hours last night and I just wasn’t doing well fasting today at all.

Big congrats for all of the Fasting victories thus far this month to all of you =).

(Justin Jordan) #90

And I’m coming up to the end of this fast day (although I am probably not going to break my fast for a bit) and six weeks of ADF - well, three non consecutive fasting days each week.

I think I’m going to switch to two fast days a week, which has seemed to fit my brain better.

(Patricia) #91

John, this really made me laugh. I imagined a kind of cartoon where all of your body parts were opinionated. Thanks for the chuckle!!

Susan, guess I don’t see this as “caving” but just doing what’s best for your body at the time. One thing I’m learning from everyone’s posts is that there are so many variables and that we each have to judge what is going to work for us in the long run. Listening to what our bodies are telling us. So good for you - and I also hope your exhaustion is passing and you are able to sleep better. More and more, I’m just trying to prioritize a good night of sleep, which can be a challenge and a learned skill in itself.

(John) #92

I had that in mind when I typed it. :slight_smile:

Joking aside, that is sort of what really goes on. I read a really great book, called The Upward Spiral by Alex Korb (https://www.newharbinger.com/upward-spiral), which is primarily about depression, and another great book, Incognito, by David Eagleman (https://www.eagleman.com/incognito), which is more about how the brain works in general.

Both explain the neuroscience of how different parts of the brain, mostly NOT under your conscious control, are sort of fighting to see which one gets to control the body right then, and gain access to the executive function (i.e., “you”).

And why, when you are calm and thinking clearly, you wonder “why the heck did I do that stupid thing when it was against my intentions and goals?” It’s because the brain chemicals in your amygdala or hippocampus or whatever are signaling for you to do something, and your executive either gets taken over temporarily, or “convinced” by them, or just is too tired (i.e. ran out of serotonin to secrete) to override them.

After you kind of understand all of that, you realize - “Wait, I am not weak, or a bad person, or stupid. I am an electrochemical computer and my dopamine circuit was overriding my norepinephrine circuit at that time” or something along those lines - I am just cobbling together the words to get the concept across.

So really and truly, my executive process (me) was aware of the very strong desires to eat something, and I did have to resort to some tricks to shut those up because otherwise they would eventually wear me down, and I would “logically” decide that I had fasted enough, and then would rationalize that choice afterwards to avoid cognitive dissonance.

When really, there is nothing to reconcile. My lovely little logical self is just a passenger in a boat that it only occasionally gets to steer, and the best I can do is make sure I get longer turns at the wheel, and that I can figure out how to leave notes for the other captains so that they avoid the bigger icebergs.

Edit: Still technically fasting, I guess, coming up on the 48-hour mark, though I did have some all-fat almond/coconut creamer in my coffee just now, about 30 calories worth, so I don’t know if that counts or not.

(Brennan) #93

38 hours in and feeling fantastic.
I was worried after not having fasted for a while that this fast might be difficult. But so far no worries.
Good luck to everyone and I’ll check back tomorrow :wink:

(Patricia) #94

Your whole post was interesting, John! I’d kinda like to memorize that one sentence (whether cobbled together or not to get the idea across): “I am not weak or a bad person or stupid. I am electrochemical computer and my dopamine circuit was overriding my norepinephrine circuit at that time…” Maybe I can find a short-cut phrase for that! :wink:

(John) #95

I am done at about 49 hours, give or take a half hour. Got down to a new post-fasting low of 200 on the scale this morning, which ideally will have corrected some upwards drift during the holidays.

I had a normal-sized, well-balanced breakfast that I prepared at home, and feel quite full now. I’ll give that a chance to digest a bit then get in a little workout.

See you all next Friday if I stick to my weekly 36-hour going forward.

(Windmill Tilter) #96

Are you gonna do something special for “Onederland”? You should do something special for Onederland. Let the rest of us live vicariously… :yum:

That’s a day I’m really looking forward to. It’s been about 17 years. :+1:

(John) #97

Only Monday morning weigh-ins count. And I will not claim that particular victory until I see two consecutive Mondays of 199 or less. :slight_smile:

I have found, especially as I get closer to my goals, that each little 5 pound range is its own little battlefield. It won’t be until I kiss the 195 mark at least once, that I will have any real confidence that 200 is in the rear-view mirror.

(Mame) #98

I don’t start fasting until tonight but I wanted to pop on here and cheer everyone on! Reversing damage and trying to reset habits (not to mention losing weight) is usually not a quick or easy process. So proud of this group!! :star_struck:

Totally forgot to take my blood measurements today before feeding… oh well.

(Susan) #99

Thanks, Patricia =). My hubby has been restless sleeping and talking in his sleep a lot, moving a lot, getting up a lot, and snoring even more since his brain shunt surgery on December 16th, so that has been messing up my sleep too. He is back to work on Monday though, so hopefully things start to get back to normal and my sleeping wlll be better too =)).

(Mame) #100

It’s Saturday night and my 4 day fast has started. I am going at least 96 hours (barring any emergencies). I assume I will be breaking it sometime Wednesday evening. I think it’s more common on the Clark Protocol to wait until lunch next day (Thursday) but I will not risk breaking my fast at work.

As always I will make fasting fit my life. I ate a pretty large volumes of food, tmad, the past couple of days so I am currently very full. It’s good. I just need to plan distractions and stay out of the kitchen.