Noob wants to do a long fast

#15

Is it hard to do long fasts when you work a high stress job? Curious cuz I can see myself getting irritable lol…

(Alec) #16

That, right there, is a fantastic question! There are 2 answers (no, not yes and no! :joy::joy:):

  1. If you are an emotional eater (like me), then fasts are harder to do when you are stressed. I stopped my fasts when I got stressed a few months ago as I just wanted/needed to eat when I got stressed. It is not impossible, but I just wanted to eat, and I did.

  2. If you are not an emotional eater, then my opinion is that it should not make much difference. You may find that the extra time you have due to fasting might help you be more productive, thus helping your job?

Cheers
Alec

#17

Well never thought or considered if I’m an emotional eater or not I might be. It’s more like I get irritable from not eating, or maybe it’s the caffeine I don’t know…but it’s weird it’s like I’m not on a carb diet or consuming sugar but I still feel like my blood sugar drops or something when I don’t eat, maybe it’s in my head ha

(Alec) #18

This sounds more like carb withdrawal to me. Or simply (if you are not fat adapted) your body telling you to eat. This is why long fasts are not recommended if you are not yet fat adapted.

#19

I’ve been in ketosis for almost three months how long does it take? I been feeling like I’m not fat adapted also

(Alec) #20

You said you were a noob!!! That’s not a noob!! :joy::joy::joy:

You are probably quite fat adapted if you know you’ve been in ketosis for 3 months. If so, then maybe your edginess is lack of electrolytes?

I drink a lot of electrolytes when I fast.

#21

Honestly it’s probably just a lack of self control , I’m sure I could fast if I just sucked it up and did it but I’m such a baby lol

#22

Do you plan your fasts out? Like do you pick a day that is better like a weekend vs a week day?

(Alec) #23

Oh yes, very much so. I have a fasting plan each week, I know exactly when I intend to fast. I currently fast Mondays and Thursdays. If I go into a longer fast I have a target end date. Sometimes I end a fast early as I feel off eg get a headache, or just feel bad. Most times I end the fast on plan.

#24

I consider a noob anyone who can’t fast also (like me lol) but Is sugar free gum out of the question…I’ve heard some people say they chew gum during their fast. What do you do?

(Alec) #25

I am not a gum person, but chewing sugar free gum during a fast is perfectly fine.

#26

So is it just about keeping the calories under 50? I might be able to try this with black coffee and sugar free gum, at least for my first shot at it. Are you a spiritual person at all? Did you fast solely for health? I would like to fast for both spiritual and health reasons I’m curious about the spiritual benefits as well as health benefits too. Seems to me that people who can fast seem much more grounded spiritually and mentally. Just my opinion

(Alec) #27

I don’t have a caloric definition of fasting. It means to me eating nothing, but I do have cream in my coffee when I fast. It works for me.

Yes, my fasting was purely to lose fat. Does my fasting have a spiritual element, I would say no. Am I a spiritual person, I would say yes, but probably not in the organised religion sense. Does fasting make me feel more spiritual, I would say yes. But it may just be the ketones talking! :joy::joy::joy:

(Allie) #28

Respectfully disagree on this one. I’m not an emotional eater, actually the opposite is true historically as in the past I tended to not eat when I was struggling emotionally, but now I’m fasting semi-regularly, if something stresses me out during a fast it does have a big effect and normally I end up having to eat to deal with feeling shaky and sick. Maybe it’s something to do with cortisol, I don’t know, but stress and fasting just don’t go together. I’ve heard plenty of people on podcasts say they also struggle with fasting while stressed.

(Alec) #29

Allie
You may be right! And cortisol’s effect on fat burning could well be the mechanism. I had always assumed I found it hard because I was/am an emotional eater. Maybe I’m wrong and everyone has an issue with fasting and stress.

(Eric - The patient needs to be patient!) #30

The data about autography is not very clear. There is some evidence that within 18 hours you can experience it. Much of it depends on on clean your fast is (no calories) and how your are metabolically speaking. There are “experts” who say that you can calculate an index or ratio that indicates autography by measuring BG (in mg/dL) and Ketones (in mmol/dL). If you use other units I’m sure the calculations are out there.

Research GKI (Glucose Ketone Ratio) and the Dr. Boz (Dr. Bosworth) ratio. She simplified the GKI a little.

Here are some sample calculations

BG 90 (mg/dL)
Ketones 2.0 (mmol/dL)

90/18.06/2.0 = 2.49 <== GKI
90/2 = 45 <== Dr. Boz Ratio

These would be good numbers that indicate some level of autophagy.

For fasting ease yourself intoi longer and longer fasts. If you are not fat adapted it is harder.

There are support theads here for fasting each month. The April one should go up soon. The March 2019 one is MARCH 2019 IF/EF Chat ALL WELCOME

Also Brenda Zorn does a fast starting on the 3rd Thursday of each month and the March thread is March ZornFast 2019

These forum threads are great places to share your experiences and ask questions. I do 1 to 2 EF most weeks but mine don’t line up with the 3rd Thursday of the month so I participate in the first thread.

Also there are a lot of people posting about GKI or Boz Ratio here as well as Autophagy

This is a good one Dr Boz Calculates levels of autophagy using blood sugar/blood ketones ratio

Happy fasting.

(Eric - The patient needs to be patient!) #31

Sorry but I disagree if you are trying for autophagy. There is some evidence that sugar substitutes stimulate insulin in obese people and that stops autophagy. At least that is the assumption I’m working under. Of course everyone’s mileage may vary.

(Alec) #32

You are going to ingest minute quantities from chewing gum even if that sweetener does normally stimulate insulin in that person. I think it’s a good bet chewing gum would not raise insulin in any meaningful way. Quantity is important in insulin triggering.

(Eric - The patient needs to be patient!) #33

Dr Jason Fung says the site and smell of food (so the taste of gum) can raise insulin. So it is not so much the quantity of sweetener as it is the flavor.

It is down the page a little https://www.dietdoctor.com/can-just-sight-food-raise-insulin

We can disagree. For me I am avoiding even flavored seltzer (with no sweetener) on my fasts. But I am metabolically still messed up with BP that needs to come down (I want off my meds) and my fasting BG needs to still come down some. Yesterday it was 99mg/dL 18 hours fasted. That beats 120 to 130 in the past but I’d love to see it be more around 80 to 85.

#34

I’m like that too now that I think of it, I tend to actually not eat when I’m super stressed.