July 2026 Intermittent/Extended Fasting

(Bob M) #1

Anyone trying fasting this month? I’m on day 2 of what I hope will be a 3.5 day fast.

Morning Day 1: ketones 0.1, glucose 108 (had a bit of ice cream for the July 4th holiday weekend, which caused the lower ketones, but that glucose is normal)
Evening Day 1: Forgot to take measurements in the evening.
Morning Day 2: ketones 0.8, glucose 89

I’m on Jardiance, which lowers glucose and raises ketones, so your mileage may vary. And, in fact, mine has because I used to get a lot lower ketones when fasting. And I’m fasting 3.5 days because my ketones were way too high (6-7 mmol/l, blood values) when fasting 4.5 days. That high level of ketones had my brain in overdrive, so I’m fasting less so I hope I don’t get there.

#2

I did a 60hr fast, broke it with scrambled eggs & 90second bread …

(Bob M) #3

60 hours is great! Supposedly, these longer fasts help reduce visceral fat, which is the fat around organs and supposedly causes issues. I listened to one podcast where the person was recommending a 3.5 day fast every week to reduce visceral fat. That seems like a bit much, though.

Evening Day 2: ketones 2.8, glucose 72
Morning Day 3: ketones 2.2, glucose 73

For comparison, I did a 4.5 day fast before going on Jardiance, and did not get to ketones of 3 at the end of the fast. I’m sure I’ll be higher than 3 mmol/l (blood test) tonight.

I don’t do well with this high of ketones. They make me weepy, frenetic (my mind is everywhere), especially when they are near or over 6. But I can’t go off the drug, so I’m limiting the length of fasts to keep the ketones lower.

It’s too bad I find it hard to get blood tests done. I’d love to get an insulin test on the first day then on day 3.5 The lowest “fasting” (morning) insulin test I ever got was after fasting 4.5 days. That was about 1/3 of what I get now.

(Sean Stafford) #4

Last week I did 80 hours. First time ever and loved it. Amino acids + electrolytes + extra salt 3X a day. Felt absolutely amazing on day 3 - even my workout had solid energy levels. Couldnt do much cardio but the strength training went as usual. Didn’t test for ketones. Really feel like I want to push to 5 days next time. I made the mistake of jumping right in with a couple of beef pattys. Shoots right through you, so dont make that mistake.

I still feel like I have more mental clarity a week later because of the fast.

(Bob M) #5

@sean2 That is great news. When I used to fast 4.5-5 days a lot a while ago, I use to eat a normal meal to break the fast. That caused me to go to the bathroom a ton, which one would think wouldn’t happen as I hadn’t eaten anything. But it happened. Now, I try to ease into eating a bit. Usually have some broth, then a (very?) small meal sometime later, then a bit larger meal. That has seemed to help.

It’s amazing that you’re exercising. I used to do 36 hour fasts, and work out at about 32 hours, and I found them to be great. I also used to exercise when doing longer fasts. but now I just try to fast and not exercise for the longer fasts. Since I like to exercise, I try to do these longer fasts only once a month or so.

Day 3 evening: 3.8 ketones, 62 glucose
Day 4 morning: 3.4 ketones, 65 glucose

Breaking the fast this morning. Put cream in my coffee/eat this morning. Not sure how I’ll break, because I don’t think I have any stock/broth. I’ll look in the freezer though. Will report back.

#6

Good job! You guys inspire me. I still just do 1-2MAD days and think about food way too much (well I inevitably handle food a lot, that doesn’t help) so no EF for me yet. But I really wish to do it this year.
The heatwave put my mind off from food a bit (still not enough for EF) but July is very nice this far. We could use more rain though.

(Bob M) #7

I found some broth and started with that. I then had - hours later - a hot dog on an egg white wrap with blue cheese, onion, and tomato. I also had a can of sardines. We’ll see what happens.

I think 3.5 days is my limit. This drug (Jardiance) makes my ketones too high. Greater than about 3 mmol/l is not great for me. My brain is all over the place. Last time, with another day of fasting, I was into the >6 mmol/l range. I couldn’t concentrate.

What I’d love to do is get one of the very fancy scales that tells you data like different types of fat, muscle mass, etc., and see what happens over the course of a fast. As I said above, visceral fat is supposed to decrease. It would be interesting to see if that is what the scale shows. And do I lose muscle mass? Unfortunately, those scales are relatively expensive, and I’ve been about the same weight for years. The scale would only be useful for fasting.