Several day fast

(Donna) #1

Hi All! Does anyone do fasting in their Keto journey? I do intermittent fasting off and on, but have only done it up to 24 hours (no food, just water). I have had no issues and really like doing it. However, I want to do a 48-72 hour fast starting tomorrow (Monday). This would be my first time that long. I have been doing Keto since August. I have been eating too much and some of the wrong foods the past 3-4 days, so I want to try and detox for a bit. Anyone have any experience on fasting for several days? How did you feel, during and after? Thanks!

(John) #2

There is a whole forum section about Fasting. I moved your post there. Plenty of reading to be done there, and many active threads.

(Donna) #3

Thank you so much! I did eventually end up looking at some of the already posted info about fasting. Very helpful!

(Full Metal KETO AF) #4

The first time I fasted longer than OMAD I found that the block I had to overcome was fear of not eating longer, voluntary. This was in early November 14 months after I started KETO. It turned out so much easier than I imagined the experience would be. I kind of felt like I had grown up a little and ditched my preconceived notions. I actually fasted for 48 hrs, ate three meals in a 24 hr period and went on to fast another 96 hrs with ease. I liked the high of it. I haven’t fasted EF since then, I hit my goal with weight loss and maintenance with that one. Good luck and enjoy it. :cowboy_hat_face:

(Donna) #5

That’s awesome that you were able to do as much as 96 more hours. I am into day one of my 3 day fast. I have been chugging water, so that has helped me to feel full. Hopefully as I go through my second 24 hours, I will feel ok. I have been reading a whole lot of the benefits of longer fastings and I figured, why not give it a try. I fell out of Ketosis from eating many days in a row of not the best foods, so I am hoping to get back into Ketosis as soon as possible. Thanks for replying!

(Full Metal KETO AF) #6

How’s it going today Donna? :cowboy_hat_face:

#7

I have little experience and it’s individual but maybe it will be interesting a bit for someone…?
I probably will have more experience in a few days, after ZornFast. If I will last long enough.

It doesn’t really matter to me if I am in ketosis when I start or not.
A few days of eating too much and not the right food, I can relate, I did that last week. I always feel like fasting then but I rarely go way over 24 hours. And that’s tiny, I do that very, very often as I normally eat 1-2 meals per day.
40-48 hour fasts are another world to me, I rarely do them. Sometimes I feel too full and have a zero calorie day without planning.And I have a single experience with longer fasts than that.

As I wrote (and I say this very often), it’s very individual. If I do a fast, it’s very easy. If I get hungry, I almost always immediately eat and it’s true for my fasts too. I just don’t get hungry very easily, I usually eat without hunger.
Sometimes I am determined or life forces me and wait for real, strong hunger. Sometimes it comes in my 24th hour, sometimes in my 120th… I don’t suffer and stop if I have no hunger or appetite but I feel weak, a bit unwell and I know my body wants fuel despite my reserves should sustain me for way longer.
So my fasts are very loosely planned (and sometimes not at all). I do them until it’s comfortable and enjoyable enough.

I feel perfectly normal when I fast, usually. I had some fun weird feeling only on my 4th and 5th day when I did my single longer one but it was probably lack of sodium. I had no idea about electrolytes back then but my body seems to handle lack of sodium a bit better than the average according to what I’ve heard, I don’t know statistics about it. I eat low sodium on keto too and it’s fine, the two is probably correlated.
My 4th and 5th day was special anyway. The beginning when I wasn’t in ketosis yet was fine, my determination is powerful, usually it’s odd to skip my first meals, I always eat around the same time and I am very attached to it.
Fasting helps with satiation and appetite very much in my case. I have desires and hunger mostly during and after a meal, my well-fasted state is safe unless I feel the strong, physical need for food.
About after 3 days I daydreamed about food a lot. I had no particular hunger, I felt no need to eat, I wasn’t weak, I just can’t get the thought of food out of my mind. It got stronger and stronger. But as I haven’t eaten in days, my body kind of disconnected from eating so I didn’t get real temptation. I don’t really resist temptation, you know, I am very undisciplined if it’s about eating. I just was in an odd mental and physical state, no idea the role of lack of sodium in that. It was better than being drunk but similar. But I guess being drunk is very individual too. I surely wouldn’t have driven a car even if I could :smiley:

(Cancer Fighting Ketovore :)) #8

It’s important to remember to STOP if you start to feel bad, ill, etc. Don’t force the fast just to got a certain number of hours!

If you feel a little bad you might just need some salt, especially if you are drinking lots of water.

Good luck on your fast!

(Bob M) #9

I’ve had to break also when I couldn’t concentrate. My job entails concentration, so if I can’t concentrate, I can’t work.

The only time I drink extra minerals is when I fast.

#10

The longest I have went is three days. It wasn’t too bad, but I had to do more salt water combos because I was doing some fairly strenuous physical work on the last day in order to meet a deadline.

I usually do OMAD Keto during the work week but on Sunday I had eaten lunch and went to an outing later that day that wasn’t keto friendly. By the time we got home it was too far past my usual eating widow for the next days OMAD so I just did a 36 hour fast instead. I started to push it to a 54 but was a little bit hungry and decided to eat. Also had some meat in the fridge that needed fix. One of these days when the fridge is near empty I might go longer. Let us know how it goes.

(Doug) #11

Hey Donna. :slightly_smiling_face: I think fasting and keto eating go together perfectly. People certainly get benefits from a ketogenic diet by itself, but the body does some things differently when it’s running on its own fat and nothing else - and when one starts eating again afterward - the “refeeding” period. I am firmly convinced there are definite advantages to being in those states at least once in a while.

Keto goes a long way to healing a lot of us metabolically - I think fasting either continues that, kicks it up a notch, or even goes to another level. I realize that’s pretty vague and not really scientific, but there are quite a few good things to consider - autophagy, lower inflammation levels, further declines in insulin and blood sugar (even coming from a ketogenic diet), higher levels of growth hormone, declines in triglycerides and “bad” cholesterol (if there really is “bad cholesterol”), and some rest/self-cleaning/at least a change of pace for some of our organs.

It’s pretty common to have a tough time around 18 hours into a fast - this is when the stomach and small intestine are pretty well emptied out, digestion finished up, blood sugar is declining and “hungry” feeling hitting. Many people feel the 2nd day is the hardest, as well - stored glycogen is depleted or being drawn down and the body is really going over to using nothing but fat.

In general, we get better at fasting the more we do it. Yet you also never know, each fast will be its own deal, to an extent. I’ve had “the easiest fast ever,” then on the next couple I’ve quit about halfway through the time I aimed for - just really “was not feeling it.”

If we’re well adapted to burning fat for energy - keto certainly helps this - and have adequate fat stores, then fasting is overwhelmingly mental/psychological, usually. I’ve done about 30 fasts of 3 days or longer, and every single time I’ve quit because I just wanted to go out and eat with somebody, or I was bored, or was thinking about food a lot and just threw in the towel - not because I was truly, meaningfully hungry.

I’ve certainly read about other people’s experiences while fasting - many right on this forum - and thought, “Yes, you were feeling true hunger, there.” It’s also no shame to stop - there are always future weeks, months, etc., plenty of time for more fasts, and I can see pushing “too hard” making for a rough experience that one remembers and doesn’t want to repeat.

I do get definite physical benefits from fasting, and once in a great while the ‘euphoria’ that can accompany it. More frequent for me are periods of really calm mental clarity, true peace if you will, and the feeling that I’m doing something good for myself.

(Donna) #12

Hey! It is going ok. I am really hungry, so I don’t know if I will make it another day. I may eat dinner and try a longer fast next time around. I am doing more then I usually do which is a 18/6 fast (my normal). I think my issue is that, I tried to start this 3 day fast after being off of Keto for several days. I kind of ate the wrong foods and too much, so I was trying to come off of a carb binge, all while throwing a 72 hour fast in there, right away. First time experimenting on extended fasting. Thank you for asking!

(Donna) #13

Yesterday around 4:00, was my first 24 hour of fasting and I felt so hungry and really grouchy. I almost ate, but I controlled myself. It is my 2nd day (48 hour mark) and I am feeling so hungry, so I think I am going to eat a small dinner and call it over. I will attempt to do another fast (longer), in a week or so. I am coming off a carb binge, so I think this is having an affect on why I am so hungry and very grumpy. I had 3 days of so much carbs. I think if I had been doing my straight Keto foods, I could last. I honestly am dissapointed in myself, but I know I will be over that, as soon as I get the 9 pounds of water weight off. I actually lost 5 in the past couple days, so 4 more to go. Thanks for the response!

(Donna) #14

I appreciate your advice. I am about to stop and go eat a small dinner. I am so hungry and I do have a bad headache. My fast lasted exactly 48 hours, so I guess that isn’t too bad, being my first. Next time I attempt longer, I will make sure it doesn’t start directly after a 3 day carb binge. I had two birthday celebrations and I had a hard time getting back to the norm. I know I am not one who can do Keto 100% perfect. I just won’t do days in a row of total carbs, anymore. It sets me back by a week.

(Donna) #15

Your post is awesome. Helped me alot. Yesterday at 4, was my first 24 hours. Now it has been a tad over 48 and I am about to run into the kitchen and make a salad with some meat. I don’t think I can wait until tomorrow at 4. I feel good that I at least did a couple days. I have only done intermittent fasting 18/6, sometimes 1 or 2 meals in that time, depending on how I felt each day. I am hoping after I repair my carb binge damage I had recently, I can do another fast, but maybe add an additonal day for more benefits.

(Windmill Tilter) #16

I did a couple dozen three-day fasts last year, some of which were after carbs binges. Trying to do them after eating carbs for a few days is much, much harder. Once you’ve been back in ketosis for a week or two, I think you’ll find it a heck of a lot more pleasant!

(Bob M) #17

I think you mean “last year”. :wink:

(Windmill Tilter) #18

Yup. Lol. Nice catch, I’m still writing 2019 on everything too. Damn calendars and their changing years…

(Doug) #19

Heck yes - we do get better at it, and things are quite relative. Doing a longer fast usually makes future shorter ones easier, too, just because we’ve been through that territory and even beyond it before.

(Donna) #20

I agree with you. I think in a couple more days I should be back into Ketosis. Hoping as you said, it may be easier next time around on an extended fast.