Hi all,
At the posting of this I am around 35hrs into a fast, this is the longest I’ve done so far.
I know of the refeeding syndrome, but I am not sure when the becomes a ‘problem’ and how to tackle it if needed and when needed.
I am fasting until this evening, to make it a 48hr fast if I can. I did search but didn’t seem to find anything on this?
Thanks,
In my experience, re feeding problems was not an issue with a two day fast. It becomes more of an issue for me beyond 4 days.
Nonetheless, a strategy I use to break my fast is a small plate of something, like spinach salad, bone broth with a few pieces of meat in broth or a boiled egg. Wait about 30 to 60 minutes. If you feel ok, have your meal. But, be gentle. This is not a time to eat a thanksgiving feast or something like that.
If you didn’t do it right, your body will tell you…as in…
But, chances are very high you are going to be just fine.
And bravo, good for you making it to the finish line!
Thanks for the information, I didn’t want to go and do something wrong and end up sick as a dog, so good to know.
Still going, but I’m starting to feel hungry, but it could physiological as it is lunch time here now, and people are eating some tasty smelling food, lol.
Generally you don’t feel sick but you can’t stray far from the toilet as you pretty much dump everything and more!
Dr Fung says in his book that refeeding syndrome is pretty rare And if I remember correctly it normally results from quite extended fasts.
I’ve been giving thought to this myself…I’m going 18 days barring disaster. Going to have to take it slooooow.
I don’t think I could go more than the two days, I was really hungry coming up to 44hrs, but it could have been physiological as I knew I was going to eat in a few hours time.
Most I’ve managed previously was 24hrs, and I do If now and again.
Absolutely, @Scatter. The longer you fast, the great the potential for issues. Read my post above, which gives the strategy to re feed (that I learned from reading Dr Fung’s information). If you have any questions, please ask. I’ve been through re feeds, without preparation and advice, and it was not a good outcome. Nothing harmful health wise, but just a lot of discomfort that could have been easily avoided.
Actually, I think you can. The two or three day is when people are hungry as heck. If you make it past that point, your body stops sending you hunger pangs. At the end of my 7 day fast yesterday, I wasn’t hungry at all.
I love how I feel after the first day of fasting and usuallly go only 3 days. But when I begin eating again I can’t stop. Refeeding syndrome? I need to find out how to stop this thing. Meanwhile I will just be IF 19/5 daily until I can get a handle on this issue.
Oh is it eating until you are sick? Maybe that is not my problem after all. I just can’t get back to IF for days or weeks after a 3 day fast. I’m sure it’s emotional, like, “I earned this steak, bacon, cheese omelet, or 2 BPCs in a day.” Sense of entitlement. Bad girl.
Not sure I would equate it to “eating until getting sick” like in a sense of stuffing your mouth in a mad rage of hunger. You can eat a perfectly normal amount of food and still have issues.
Think of it as a house you locked up and abandoned for a year because you won a trip around the world. You come back, turn on the faucet, and instead of getting an instant stream of water, nothing comes out, you hear the pipes in the wall making water hammering noises and then water starts coming out, lower flow rate at first, and then building up to a normal flow rate.
In a very simple analogy, that’s what is happening. If you don’t start out slow, take a small plate of food, wait 30 to 60 minutes, and then proceed to eat a normal meal, then you may be pushing too much too fast, while the organs in your digestive system are not ready to go.
Funny that you and I have opposite issues with IF after extended fasting. The day after I break my fast, I usually don’t want to eat. In fact, I usually eat 48 hours later. Going forward after that, my hunger is so depleted that I can’t imagine eating any other way but IF.
Hope this explanation helps.
Thanks! Yes I usually start with a small amount of food (like a hard boiled egg) and don’t have tummy trouble at all. I just can’t wait for the next meal, and the next, and just can’t get back to IF. I think at this time I will concentrate on just IF every day and see where it takes me.
I have the same issue, if you figure it out, I’d love to know…
Maria Emmerich mentions something about leptin resistance being the problem with knowing when to stop in her 30 Day Keto Cleanse book, I need to look into this more.
I think too much is made of the supposed dangers of fasting. Most of it is put out by the same type of people who claim lchf is dangerous. If I don’t believe them on that subject why should I believe them about fasting. So much dogma surrounds fasting.
Refeeding is a rare issue and really only occurs on longer extended fasts. The caveat being every single human reacts differently. So your mileage may vary.
Personally, I have no issues. I have completed almost a dozen extended fasts of 3-5 days in duration over the last 6 months. I eat whatever I want post fast. Last night I broke a 4 day fast with a pulled pork Carl’s head pizza. Heavy on mozzarella, jalapenos, pizza sauce and black olives. No issues.
If you’re concerned, make an omelette.
Can you elaborate? I did a 4 day fast 2 months ago and had awful swelling. I do daily IF and am pondering a 2 day fast but after the 4 day post fast issues I’m hesitant though 2 days is much shorter.
