Second extended fasting experience

(Ben Davis) #1

I tried to fast the last few days of Easter (you can see some of that info on the Easter 2017 fast thread) and only made it 60 hours before I decided to break the fast because I was feeling pretty cruddy.

I have been attempting some IF in the last few weeks, skipping breakfast and eating in smaller windows (18/6 or so). Since doing so, I felt really good this week and decided it was time to start an extended fast again, so I started after dinner on Monday night, 9/11/17. I have now gone 72 hours and, at least right now, feel really fine. Day 1 was ok, day 2 sucked, but day 3 I feel the best yet. I’ve been keto since November 2016 and have previously lost 30 pounds. I have been stuck losing more weight, so I have decided to try some fasting to get me past it. I am 5’8" and started the fast at 169 pounds. Here are my specs for the last three days:

Day before starting the fast: 169 lbs, glucose 90, ketones 0.6
After 24 hours: 168 lbs, glucose 79, ketones 2.3
After 48 hours: 167 lbs, glucose 63, ketones 5.5
After 72 hours: 163 lbs, glucose 53, ketones 5.3

The weight measurements were actually first thing in the morning, but the blood tests were at 5-6PM.

It’s amazing how much better I feel on day 3 than day 2. Day 2 I was weak and really low energy. Day 1 I was hungry a lot, but energy wasn’t very low. Today, on day 3, I feel almost normal.

I have been supplementing Real Salt under the tongue several times during the day all three days. I seems to help a bit. I bought some magnesium citrate as I felt some minor leg and back aches today, and boy does @Brenda’s grape ketoaide hit the spot! It’s really yummy after three days of no flavor other than water and salt.

Not sure how long I’m going to go. I’d like to see 159 on the scale as a mental success as I haven’t seen a 150 in 20 years. My goal weight is what I weighed when I graduated high school - 140. Not for this fast, but in general with keto/fasting/bodyweight exercise.

Thanks everyone for your indirect encouragement, particularly Jason Fung, @meganjramos Jimmy Moore, @carl, @richard, and @ron-coleman!

(Doug) #2

Right on, Ben. Those glucose numbers are sweet.

(Ben Davis) #3

I made an interesting discovery of what NOT to do during extended fasting. I was chilly last evening, so I decided to soak in a hot bath for more than 30 minutes. It certainly warmed and relaxed me. However, getting out of the tub ended up being a harrowing experience. After drying off, I got terribly nauseous. After spending a few minutes hanging out by the toilet and not feeling any better, I decided I needed to get my wife in case I passed out. I stood up to walk out of the bathroom (BAD idea) and stumbled due to getting light-headed, hit my chin on the sink counter, and ended up laying on the floor halfway out of the bathroom and into my bedroom. Didn’t quite pass out, but got really close. Wife came up about a minute later and turned on the ceiling fan so I could cool off and recover. I recovered pretty quickly, but found that I had cut my chin on the sink and nearly bit my tongue in the process, scraping the hell out of it on the right side. I’ve had a couple of experiences feeling like this before donating platelets and plasma, so it wasn’t an entirely new experience for me.

So lesson learned - no hot baths during extended fasting!

Mostly so that my wife wouldn’t worry about me today, I decided to end the fast. I had a hunk of colby and some unsweetened almond milk about 8PM then bacon and eggs along with “bulletproof tea” (Lipton, butter, whole milk, and salt) at 9.

I did reach my goal - experiencing what coming out the other side of the sucky part of starting an extended fast feels like. Definitely building up my fasting muscles!