New to fasting- Help needed

#1

Hi all,

So I’ve been reading up on fasting for a while now and I’m absolutely stunned. I tried my first fast a few weeks ago going straight from a moderate carb diet to zero food. Not wise, didn’t know any better but I managed to fast for 2 days and felt awesome till I got some chest pain which scared me since I had my electrolytes in check.

Fast forward to last week, I’ve been trying to fast only to find my self supementing with MCT oil and some butter, and even like that I can’t finish a day. Yesterday I felt ravenous and ended up doing a fat fast. I felt very energetic. I thought I would be accustomed to keto by now and attempt an actual water fast but I woke up with a hole in my stomach and I’m now sipping my fatty coffee!

I have abused my body for many years nutritionally, plus through smoking and medications. I want to experience the benefits of an actual fast so bad but I don’t know if I can, or if I should. I’m only max 10 pounds overweight, meaning losing 10 pounds would put me borderline underweight since I’m short with a very small frame.

Should I attempt fasting with only 5-10 pounds of extra fat? If yes, how long? 24hrs? A couple of days? Any help appreciated

(Allie) #2

Lose the MCT oil! Firstly it messes with your digestion until you’re used to it, and secondly, if you’re not fat adapted it can make you ravenous.

If you feel you need fatty coffee to get through then have it. Things get easier with time. I can now water fast normally, but this last time I struggled so made it a fatty coffee fast.

#3

Hi, I’m fairly new to keto too- not to fasting though. The advice on here generally seems to be don’t try to fast until you’re fat adapted, which can be 6-8 weeks of eating 20g or less carbs & sometimes longer, so maybe it’s a bit soon for you. Sounds like you have a lot of metabolic healing to do in your body as you said you’ve abused it nutritionally for many years, which will take a while, until this has happened you won’t be fat adapted & you won’t find fasting easy at all. It’s best not to shock your body too much, get it used to keto first before you add anything else into the mix!
I started fasting back in September, just 24 hours, & use the fatty coffee if you need to to start with. then work up gradually. I’ve only just extended mine to 36 hours a month ago, then 42, now 48, but if you don’t have much to lose then there’s no need to do extended fasts maybe?
Hopefully those with more experience can chip in too!

#4

Why though? Is it because of the supposedly speeding up of metabolism when using MCT oil?

#5

Thanks for your answer, I thought entering ketosis and being fat-adapted was the same thing?

While I’d love to be in my ideal bodyweight/bodyfat%, that’s only the icing on the cake with fasting. It’s not a priority for me right now. Rather, I’d like to enter the autophagy mode but I’m not sure if 1 day fast (as recommended by Dr Fung for people with BMI <20) would suffice for that. I’ll definitely not attempt another pure fast till I feel ready, but is 1, max 2 days enough for me to reap the benefits of fasting beyond weight loss?

(Allie) #6

They’re definitely not the same thing. Being in ketosis means your body is producing ketones, being fat adapted means it actually knows how to use them and that’s the process that takes time. Until it knows what to do with the ketones, you’ll just pee most of them out which is why the pee sticks work in the beginning but not later on.

#7

There’s lots of info on here about the difference- if you use the search facility you can find out more, but here’s a link someone put in to a discussion: http://www.tuitnutrition.com/2016/01/dont-be-a-ketard1.html

(Chris W) #8

I would say if you are under 8 weeks into keto way of eating you should not attempt to fast or the results will back fire. Fasting a is tool that has defined purposes and strictly trying to loose weight is not one of them IMHO. Fasting is not going to be a magic exlir, when you add it to the sum of the whole experience if done right can make you feel a little better.
Provide us with a broader picture of your stats and how long you have been keto and that will help.

(Allie) #9

No it’s because the body has to learn to use the MCT oil in the way it’s intended which is why it’s recommended to wait until adaptation before I’m using MCT, and then to start with just a teaspoon full until you’re used to it. Even in experienced keto people, MCT oil is well known for causing serious digestive issues.

#10

Like I said losing weight through fasting and in general is not my priority or the reason I want to fast. If I lose weight great, I’m not entirely comfortable withy body. But my main priority is therapeutic fasting, which, if I understand correctly needs to be somewhat extended.

My stats:

26 yo female with debilitating endometriosis (hoping to treat it through fasting), ex-heavy smoker, ex-bulimic (no issues for a long time),
5’1, 112lbs.
I have been lifting as a hobby for years so im relatively muscular but nothing mind blowing.
I have been on and off keto for 5 years, currently on by fat fasting last 3-4 days, already feeling the effects of ketosis.

I missed keto and just now discovering the benefits of fasting. This is the first time I wish I was at a much higher bodyfat so that I could do an extended therapeutic fasting. I’m currently ~20% bodyfat, equivalent to ~10% in males

(Candy Lind) #11

I agree, you should wait until you are fat-adapted to try EF (extended fasting) with your low body fat percentage. In the meantime, you can IF (intermittent fast - search the forums!). When you are (fat-adapted), read this; then you’ll know how much fat to intake while you’re fasting. You can still get the benefits of fasting while taking in fat. I suggest you search through the “fasting” subforum for more goodies about fat fasting.

(Chris W) #12

I would say at your BF% you are probably going to be only good for a couple days EF no fat, but its hard to say until you try. If you are fat adapted enough currently it may work, I know fat adaption does not general disappear over night and if you have given yourself enough time to readjust then you would probably be ok. Fasting itself improves your fat adaptation, so there is that. I did my first good EF about 2 months after fat adaption, I did one about a month into keto and that went badly. When your hunger starts to wain is probably a cue that you could fast longer without much issue.

Some of the more fasting guru’s say that after 48 hours is when your autphagy and other catabolic processes are at the highest. I would probably make sure the day before I have a decent amount of protein. Personal experience is that I do best in the 60 hour or less range and have hunger issues at the 18 hour mark most of the time.

Fasting for lifting supposed to be a good thing as well, I have done it a couple times EF and I did not notice anything drastic. I do most of my normal exercises on the back end of my IF almost daily.

#13

Thank you all for the answers. I will listen to my body and eat when I truly feel hungry-which I lately do all the time, eating 1700-2200 calories, 80-90% fat daily without exercise and not gaining weight but losing instead. Every meal could be the last for the next day or two, I will let the fast happen when it can happen, not force it.

For the record, I usually maintain around ~1500 calories depending on the day. Last 3 days I’ve been eating an average of 2000 of mostly fat and lost 6 pounds without intending it. Happy to see from experience that calories are not that important after all, but I’m losing weight too fast and I can’t eat more than I currently do

(Raj Seth) #14

Losing weight too fast is an old wives tale from when one lost weight by calorie reduction and too fast meant too much metabolic damage. Now, if eating fat to satiety, lose weight at any rate - all good. If you are losing weight eating Keto then you should just let it be and KCKO. your body will do what it wants

(Raj Seth) #15

That’s absolutely fantastic. Something good is happening

(Chris W) #16

I lost 22 pounds in two weeks I don’t think there is such a thing as loosing too fast either. I was never hungry and felt amazing, when I started to cut my calories is the only time I have had issues with weight loss until many months in when I was a lot smaller and I stalled.

#17

Well, my point was that I’m already at a relatively low weight for my height (was ~112lbs) and got down to 105 in less thab 3 days. I’d never have thought I was retaining so much water

(Roy D Rushing Jr ) #18

Fasting wasn’t even on my radar before looking into this diet. I really don’t like the idea of going without food for multiple days, yet if the diet itself makes it easy then I’m not leaving that door closed. Still, I’m not sure why anyone who isn’t keto adapted would be as anxious to fast as you are.

(Alec) #20

This.

#21

@Roy_D_Rushing_Jr, because Im so new to this, the one and only time I went straight to fasting from a carby diet without being fat adapted (because I didn’t have all the info yet), I did 2 full days with no issues. (TMI) After the 2 days, I got my TOM a few days early and without a sign of PMS or pain. It was the first time in 5 years I got and finished my period without crying my guts out, vomiting and going to the ER for strong painkiller shots. I was shocked and started looking into the benefits of fasting and was eager to make it part of my life.

Since I did 48 hours with a lot of ease with no preparation I found it odd that the second time around I couldn’t go more than 12 hours without starving, all while going keto after some reading. That’s all.

As you all know and now I do as well, is that the benefits of keto and fasting are numerous re:health. I suspect insulin resistance despite my low weight and have been living with chronic pain that interferes with every aspect of my life (Endo). Anyways, as I said in an earlier post I now know it’s better to not force a fast and I will keep ketoing regardless, IFing too.

Sorry for the dear diary post, thanks all :slight_smile: