My proposed fasting schedule--what do you think?

(Jane Srygley) #1

This is the regular fasting schedule I’m considering because I think it works the easiest with my work schedule: 22:2 (fast from after dinner Saturday to dinnertime on Sunday), 60 hrs from Monday after dinner to Breakfast on Thursday, 36 hours from dinner Thursday to breakfast on Sunday. Do you think that a weekly fast of 60 hours too much?

(Polly) #2

I only fast when it feels right and my intention is generally to dampen down inflammation and get some autophagy / apoptosis going.

Whether something is “too much” must be for you to assess whilst listening to your body.

Why are you thinking of so much fasting?

(Jane Srygley) #3

I’ve been reading The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung. He recommends alternate day fasting every week, but typically people do 24-36-hour fasts. I’m just wondering if the 60 hours is excessive if it’s done on a weekly basis.

(Bob M) #4

I don’t think you’ll be able to recover, unless you eat more after the 60 hour fasts. For fasts of that duration, I usually eat when I’m hungry for a while.

In my opinion, the people you see on Fung’s website are (1) superstars; (2) crazy; or (1)+(2). When you start fasting 3x36 or 3x42 or 2x48 every week, that’s tough. I barely make 1x36 and maybe 1x22, then two meals a day the other days.

But they seem to be able to do it.

(Robert C) #5

I would stay away from 60 hour fasts.
Less frequent 72+ hour fasts would be better and 42 hour fasts would be better.
72+ hour fasts are better because you get past the difficult second day and then have one or more days of not feeling bad (after the second day) while really getting some fat burn going.
42 hour fasts are good because you are stopping just before the difficult time starts (and you can do several 42 hour fasts per week).

#6

I’ll be outlier here and say that if you have fat to burn - and you are careful with electrolytes and the meals you do have- this sounds fine to me. There are several folks who have posted here over the years who basically just fasted right down to their comfortable weight, pausing to re-feed very occasionally along the way, and I’m surprised this isn’t used more often. I know he’s abrasive and controversial, but the Snake Diet guy essentially coaches people this way, and they have phenomenal results in terms of both health and weight loss.

#7

I believe one longer fast (72 h+) once in a while is both easier to do and more beneficial than several fast per week.

I do OMAD but throw in a longer fast (72 h +) when I see that it’s convenient. I think it’s important to let the body recover. And equally important not to let fasting prevent you from having a social life. That is why I fast a bit more randomly.

(And each summer I do my annual long fast, currently on day 12 -aiming for 21)

(Polly) #8

That sounds like a good routine HeidiSnow. What results are you hoping for from your annual long fast and what have you found beneficial from extended fasting in the past?

I tend to do 16:8 most days, 24 hour fasts occasionally when it feels natural to do so and planned 72 hour fasts every 3 months or so. That works for me, but when I last did a 72 hour fast in June I felt I could have continued for longer and broke it only because that was what I had planned.

#9

I do the longer fasts mainly for prevention. Hopefully it will help me prevent or at least delayed cancer (both my parents died from cancer in their 50s and I have a genetic predisposition for several types of cancer)

The shorter fasts and OMAD has helped me control my eating and my weight. I love it.

8:16 is pretty much how I used to eat before I discovered IF. I have never eaten late at night except for special occasions. So that wouldn’t have made s change for me. Stop eating breakfast in the morning however, was a game changer.

Why did you break the fast in June if you felt like you could have gone longer?

I will probably feel the same in 9 days when I am breaking mine, but I want to break it before going back to work after my vacation.