Late notice - Advent Fast

(G. Andrew Duthie) #1

Here’s my plan, would welcome anyone who wants to join in.

I want to really stretch my fasting muscles, and at the same time put some effort into preparing for Christmas this Advent season.

So I am planning to fast through Advent, with the exception of Sundays.

Given my current body fat levels, I will probably need to have some fat to ensure my metabolic rate stays up, and I plan to bump up my water and salt intake.

Planning to fast from Sunday night through Saturday evening each week, so I can break the fast gently on Saturday with something light (broth or eggs, say), and feast on Sunday.

For anyone who is new to extended fasting, that last part is important. Refeeding at the end of an extended fast should be gradual (good advice on this thread), lest you experience uncomfortable side effects.

Most important thing (and this is my main rule going in)…LISTEN TO YOUR BODY!!! If you aren’t feeling good, and particular if you start feeling bad… It’s OK to break the fast.

The first 24-48 hours can be hard and may include hunger and cravings. But after that if you’re feeling really cold, or lacking energy, or otherwise feel poorly, it may be time to eat.

6 days should be pretty doable… Doing it 4 weeks in a row will be interesting.

Whether you’re wanting to fast for weight loss, for Advent preparation, or other reasons, please come in if you want to jump on board.

And I welcome any encouragement as I post my experiences.

Starting at around 196, and (according to the notoriously inaccurate impedance measurement) 23% body fat.

Last meal was a lovely ribeye, seared in our new cast iron skillet, with homemade mayo, and buttered broccoli.

See y’all around the empty plate!

(Tim W) #2

I will join in next week.

After an almost two week celebration of thanksgiving and family, I am in need of a “recovery week” of eating but not consuming alcohol. Then, next M-F I’ll fast with you.

I am curious as to how the 4 weeks in a row works for you. The holidays are already stressful, while fasting will give you lots more time to do the holiday chores, it does add stress, especially if done “too often” (for me, too often is defined by signs of depression, loss of libido, high irritability, then I know I’ve done too much fasting).

I’m looking forward to fueling up this week, followed by the health benefits of the fasting next week. I wish you the best and I love the “see you around the empty plate” comment, if only more folks would do that, spend some time maybe just visiting and actually paying attention to others rather than forcing every discussion/gathering/holiday event to be around/about food/drinks.

(G. Andrew Duthie) #3

Interesting. As a rule, I don’t find fasting stressful at all. The biggest trick with fasting for me is getting started, at least when I’m at home. I have found, at least in recent months, that when I’m traveling, I can easily just fall into fasting because I’m outside my normal routine, and in many cases it’s easier than trying to figure out what I can/can’t eat while on the road. As long as I’ve got a water bottle and some salt, I am pretty much good to go.

I’m grateful for Advent as a time when it feels natural to me to change up my routine, and make fasting a part of that.

(Tom Seest) #4

I’ll probably be doing between 3 and 5 days of fasting per week during that time. It all depends on my cardiologist appointments, etc. I’m 89 hours in now, and going strong.

#5

I don’t need to do a gradual refeeding when breaking a 7 day fast. I pause the fast, eat a regular meal then continue on with the fast. Perhaps I’m atypical, but I’ve been doing a continuous fast with occasional meal interruptions for the past couple of months with no ill effects. YMMV.

(G. Andrew Duthie) #6

I’ve had gastrointestinal unpleasantness when eating too much, too fast. Nothing terrible, but enough that I’m hedging my bets.

(G. Andrew Duthie) #7

Week 1, Day 1 recap:

Weight (measured in the AM): 194 lbs.
BF% (using low-accuracy impedance scale): 23%
Breath acetone reading (cheap breathalyzer): 0.05%

Drank a full pot of coffee, first cup with a slab of Kerrygold butter + HWC, and sugar-free syrup, later cups with just HWC and syrup.

Sadly, I managed to break yet another Chemex coffee pot. I love the Chemex for brewing, but it seems like just a slight tap from the faucet can break a chunk loose. /rant

Some mild hunger towards mid-day, which is almost certainly psychological rather than physiological, since it’s not even 24 hours since I’ve eaten.

A little chilly, but that could be because my office is over our garage, which is not heated.

(G. Andrew Duthie) #8

Week 1, Day 2 recap:

Weight (measured in the AM): 192 lbs
(Note that this is surely just “clearing the decks”, so nothing to get excited about yet.)

BF% (using low-accuracy impedance scale): 22%

Breath acetone reading (cheap breathalyzer): 0.08-0.09% BAC

Today’s excitement actually started last night, when I broke my coffee pot (Chemex, the third one we’ve broken, and the last I’ll buy). While I am very happy with the coffee I brew with a Chemex, they’re too fragile for my use…a glancing tap with the kitchen faucet, and a chunk of the funnel breaks off.

I ordered an 8-cup Bodum pour-over to replace it, which Amazon said would be delivered on Wednesday.

So this morning, I got up, and figured I’d use our Gevalia drip coffee maker. I don’t think it makes great coffee, but not great coffee is still better than no coffee. So I get it down, fill the water reservoir, and go to grind some more coffee, only to find…I have NO COFFEE!

Turns out, I did have some coffee, just not my mainstay. Had a bag of Bolivian coffee in the freezer. And as I was grinding that, my kids said we had a package on the front porch. Which turned out to be the Bodum pour-over pot. Did I mention that I ordered that yesterday?

So hoorah, got to have better than expected coffee, though I’m going to skip using the permanent mesh filter, as it leaves way too much sediment.

The good news is no hunger at all today. Not yet feeling super-energetic. But I feel good, and content, which is a nice feeling.

Less chilly today than yesterday, too.

(G. Andrew Duthie) #9

Week 1, Day 3 recap:

Weight (measured in the AM): 192 lbs

BF% (using low-accuracy impedance scale): 21%

Breath acetone reading (cheap breathalyzer): 0.09% BAC

Steady on…no big changes today.

Started the morning early with a fully-fasted workout (Stronglifts 5x5), followed with a cup of coffee with butter and HWC.

Had a couple of business meetings, so I made up a couple of bottles of salt water to take with me. Despite a pretty busy schedule, nasty traffic, and less sleep than I’d have liked, my stress level was quite low, and I felt good for the most part. Didn’t even really stress out when my coffee filter busted and dumped all the grounds into the pot. Just dumped it into a measuring cup, rinsed the pot, and ran the whole thing through a new filter. Pretty sure that fasting is helpful in keeping on an even keel, mood-wise.

A touch of hunger on my way home from my meetings, but nothing major.

Had a cup of homemade bone broth, and some tea with butter to get in some salt and fat.

(G. Andrew Duthie) #10

Week 1, Day 4 recap:

Weight (measured in the AM): 191 lbs

BF% (using low-accuracy impedance scale): 21%

Breath acetone reading (cheap breathalyzer): 0.10% BAC

Had a conference to attend, so I got a lot of steps in, both walking to/from the Metro (in Washington, DC), and during the conference.

Had some coffee with butter and HWC in the am before heading out, and again took a couple bottles of salt water with me.

Needed a boost mid-day, so I got a Starbucks (I know, but it’s consistent at least, so I know what to expect) Americano with HWC, and a decaf on the way home from the conference.

Finished up the day with a spoonful of homemade avocado oil mayo, and a cup of vanilla rooibos tea with butter.

Missed taking my supplements today, which I’m hoping I don’t end up regretting.

(Tim W) #11

I don’t feel guilty about buying starbucks, except for the price (I’m very frugal). I get that starbucks is considered “trendy” and it’s not counter-culture to NOT get coffee there but if I’m not in the mood to run down to wawa (such good coffee there, the food is, sadly, off limits) I’ll go to starbucks for the very reason you stated, it’s consistent and, once you come to terms with the flavor, good coffee (IMHO).

(G. Andrew Duthie) #12

Week 1, Day 5 recap:

Weight (measured in the AM): 189 lbs

BF% (using low-accuracy impedance scale): 21%

Breath acetone reading (cheap breathalyzer): 0.10% BAC

Busy day today. Started the day with a workout with my 14 yo son…his first ever workout, which was cool. Workout felt pretty much normal. I’m not at my heaviest weights, as I restarted recently after a break due to a cold, but no trouble at all lifting.

After that, went to Mass, and as soon as I got home had to jump on the first of a day full of conference calls. Thankfully, didn’t leave me much, if any, time to worry about the fact that I wasn’t eating.

Starting to feel it a bit towards the end of the day, but knowing that tomorrow evening I’ll be breaking the fast makes it pretty easy to just push through to tomorrow. I did bump up the fat intake with a good chunk of butter this evening, along with a cup of tea with coconut oil and HWC, and 5 macadamia nuts.

Still planning to fast again starting Sunday evening, but listening carefully to my body, and prepared to change plans if my body says time to stop.

(G. Andrew Duthie) #13

Week 1, Day 6 recap:

Weight (measured in the AM): 188 lbs

BF% (using low-accuracy impedance scale): 21%

Breath acetone reading (cheap breathalyzer): 0.10% BAC

Broke my fast as planned this evening, with some chicken broth, a handful of macadamias, and some pork rinds.

Weight loss for the week was either 8 lbs (if you measure from Sunday, when I started the fast) or 6 lbs (if you measure from Saturday, the first full fast day). Not bad, but I expect some of that to return after feasting tomorrow.

Another busy day, with a short game of Ultimate Frisbee (due to few people showing up) in the snow, a trip up to MD to teach a class in making knotted twine rosaries, and a bible study group with friends tonight.

I’m going to evaluate how I’m feeling by the end of the day tomorrow to decide whether to continue fasting after tomorrow evening. Was feeling a little out of it today, but that might be due to not getting as much sleep as I really should most of the week. Still, as I’ve noted previously, important to listen to your body when fasting.

Still hoping to continue fasting through Advent, so I’ll keep posting as long as I keep going.

Happy to have anyone else jump in…no need to go all through Advent. Just hop in when you feel like.

(G. Andrew Duthie) #14

Week 1, Day 7 recap:

FEAST DAY!!!

Weight (measured in the AM): 192 lbs

BF% (using low-accuracy impedance scale): 22%

Breath acetone reading (cheap breathalyzer): 0.10% BAC

As expected, breaking my fast last night resulted in part of the weight lost popping back up.

Feasted like crazy today, on the assumption that I’ll be back to fasting tomorrow.

Had bacon, sausage, and homemade frittata for breakfast, leftover frittata and Greek yogurt with crushed pecans for lunch, and went out for dinner (after getting our Christmas tree), and had an amazing ribeye, with asparagus and garlic broccolini.

Tomorrow morning I’ll see how much additional weight I’ve put on. Wouldn’t surprise me to be back where I started, but I suspect I’ll start seeing a ratchet effect if I keep this up.

(G. Andrew Duthie) #15

Week 2, Day 1 recap:

Weight (measured in the AM): 189.5 lbs

BF% (using low-accuracy impedance scale): 22%

Breath acetone reading (cheap breathalyzer): 0.10% BAC

Not gonna lie, getting back to the fast after a wonderful feast day (particularly that ribeye, oh my!) was tough.

But given my assumption that I was going to see more weight regained after all that food, I got a nice boost when I stepped on the scale to find that my weight had gone back down! Now, of course, if you understand that CICO is oversimplified at best, and rubbish at worst, that probably doesn’t surprise you, but it was still nice to see. With, of course, the caveat that day-to-day weigh swings can be noisy.

With this morning’s weigh-in, the total drop for the week was around 6.5 lbs, which is almost certainly outside the margin of day-to-day variability. Not bad, even if it’s not the primary goal.

Another day of working out with my 14 yo, and then a lot of sitting at my desk, which might account for why I am not jazzed about the fasting.

Had my usual buttered coffee this morning, and a couple of pumpkin cheesecake fat bombs my 10 yo made for me. May have a few macadamia nuts for a little extra fat and salt.

Speaking of salt, it’s the one variable I’m still trying to get in the right range. Too little, and I tend to get leg cramps. Too much seems to have a laxative effect. The good news is that I can kind of tell where I am with salt by whether I crave the taste, or have an aversion to it. Need to see if that’s enough to make sure I’m in the right range.

Big goal for this week is to try to improve my sleep quantity/quality. Last week I had really good results despite getting pretty lousy sleep all week, and not enough of it. Would be nice to see how a week of fasting does with proper (or at least better) sleep.

(G. Andrew Duthie) #16

Week 2, Day 2 recap:

Weight (measured in the AM): 186.5 lbs

BF% (using low-accuracy impedance scale): 22%

Breath acetone reading (cheap breathalyzer): 0.09% BAC

While I can’t say I’m shocked to see a 3 lb drop since yesterday, I’m not displeased at all. That puts me close to 10 lbs down from my last weigh-in prior to beginning the fast.

Pattern today much the same butter coffee in the AM, a couple of fat bombs and macadamias for extra fat, feeling pretty good overall.

It’s been really cold and windy today, and apparently today is my day for technology to hate me (trying to work with a several years-old photo printer, which is giving me fits), so I’m a little cranky, but hoping that a good night’s rest will help remedy that.

(G. Andrew Duthie) #17

Update…decided to suspend the fast.

While I’m getting good results, during the second week of the fast, I was tending to get pretty cold, and not feeling at my best. Didn’t feel bad, per se, just not great, and the combination leads me to believe that despite supplementing fat, I may not have enough energy coming from my own fat to supply my daily metabolic needs.

I don’t have a convenient way to test that theory, other than noting that sitting in my office today, after eating yesterday and breakfast this morning, I’m not having much trouble staying warm, whereas two days ago, I was using a kerosene heater to keep warm.

Another factor in ending the fast is that my wife expressed her desire for me to be there to eat with the family, and suggested that the fast may have had some downsides on my mood, particularly this week. The latter is certainly possible, and hard to assess form the inside. But family needs are a good reason to modify plans.

Overall, I’d call the fast a success. Managed 9 days of fasting over the last 2 weeks, and dropped around 10 lbs total. I’m confident given the length of the fast(s), that I probably got a good bit of autophagy in, along with the other benefits of fasting.

Lessons learned:

  • I may not be able to sustain very long fasts (i.e. greater than 3 days) at my current level of BF.
  • While fasting, I need to be better prepared for occasions in which fasting may be awkward or difficult. Had a couple of business meetings yesterday, and went to lunch with colleagues between the meetings…ended up ordering a bowl of chili just to have a little something, but it had a ton of beans, so it wasn’t an ideal choice.
(Tim W) #18

Happens to me every fast.

Once I cross the 20 hour point (give or take a few hours) the cold sets in and I stay cold until I eat.

I think it’s a great indicator or how much “energy” we burn off on a day to day basis, just in temperature regulation. The question in my mind is this, are we “heating up” to burn of “excess” energy? If so, the cold is not an issue except it’s uncomfortable. I do wonder if there is any other benefit to the “normal” state of temperature regulation (the body staying at xxxx temp) that we experience while eating.

(G. Andrew Duthie) #19

I doubt it. Seems unlikely that our bodies would operate in a way that would leave us constantly uncomfortable.

(Zack F) #20

Have you considered that stopping and then resuming a fast with only one day of eating may contribute to the coldness? Just curious if you’ve fasted longer than six days before without interruption?