Taking on an extended fast (10-14 Days)

fasting
(Zack F) #21

Day 7 The Undiscovered Country

Weight 259.2 lbs / 117.6 kg
BG 74 mg / 4.1 mmol
Ketones 4.1 mmol
GKI 1.0
BP 131/78

I’m now fasting longer than I ever have! Yeah. Incidentally I’m also lighter than I’ve been in over a decade.

Enjoyed my WOW. My protocol calls for sets to full failure and I kept that up though I lightened the settings just a bit. I’m looking forward to my blood readings tonight. I did take a BG reading and it was 74 still. My loving wife keeps asking me when I’m going to eat again. I’ve repeated 3/19 over the past few days. That’s fasting in maawidge. :couple_with_heart: I’ve dialed back on the electrolytes some which I think has helped curtail the runs.

Thanks for the support. I’m not a wooden stoic and I’ve thought about food from time to time. I have a recipe request in the food section.

(Zack F) #22

Day 7 Evening Reflections

BG 65 mg / 3.6 mmol
Ketons 4.6 mmol
GKI 0.78

Spent most of the afternoon and part of the evening out of the house with my family. During that time I hit my fasting record. We did some shopping and I watched them dinner. We got home about 7pm and I took the above readings. Some soreness and tiredness from my WOW but that’s not unusual especially this late in the day. Looking forward to Day 8. Fasting and ketoing on!

(I am a Dog (Dog's eat until they burst!)) #23

I found that I really have to cut back on the magnesium when fasting as it causes the runs.

(Zack F) #24

Day 8 Fasting Normalized

Weight 258 lbs / 117.1 kg
BG 71 mg / 3.9 mmol
Ketones 4.1 mmol
GKI 0.95
BP 136/88

Fasting is just part of life now. , As an experiment, I’m going to try to reduce the conscious thinking about it. Not that the thinking is unpleasant until now, I just suspect less thinking about will be psychologically helpful as I stretch my fasting muscles. As before, I’ll try to do an evening entry.

(Zack F) #25

Day 8 Evening Reflections

BG 67 mg / 3.7 mmol
Ketones 4.6 mmol
GKI 0.80

I think my little “don’t think about fasting” experiment worked pretty well. I had some salt for lunch. It wasn’t extremely pleasant to watch a friend at work munch down some Chipotle but…I’m good!

#26

Not sure if you’ve done longer than this before, but if not, I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how little interest you have in food after a few more days!

You’re doing great!

(Zack F) #27

@Debby It’s funny you mention that because last night I dreamed that I at some food at a party and broke my fast. It was a pleasant surprise to wake up.

(Zack F) #28

Day 9 A New Kind Of Nightmare

BG 75 mb / 4.2 mmol
Ketones 4.1 mmol
GKI 1.02
BP 140/93 hmm…

Forgive me for the click bait title but it best describes the experience. Normally I’d never consider a dream where I was eating food that I enjoyed a nightmare. Last night it in a dream I broke my fast at a party and felt bad in the dream for what I had done. Dawn came to rescue and reality washed over. I’m relieved that I’m fasting on and ketoing on. :slight_smile:

I don’t have a clue where that blood pressure reading came from. Stress from the dream?

This morning I’ve encountered the dreaded “sludge” moment as other extended fasters have though it seems a few days earlier. A lot came out. I am tempted to describe more. I won’t. You’ll have to experience it yourself. I’ll leave it at that.

I think I still have some dawn phenomena going albeit much much less since before my first extended fast last fall. My guess is insulin sensitivity is increasing while liver blubber is decreasing.

Until later…

#29

Sludge factor!? Yikes! :grinning:

I heard Jimmy Moore answer a question on one of his podcast episodes, where he said that he does continue to have “bowel movements” everyday. I thought it was because he was consuming kombucha and broth.
Was hoping it didn’t scare people from extended fasting…as a water only faster, I don’t go after the first 2 or 3 days. I consider the lack of bathroom use to be a major plus during fasting. :slight_smile:

Lovely lunch time reply. :slight_smile: Haven’t had “breakfast” yet.

(Zack F) #30

I am sure the diarrhea of the earlier days was egged on by the magnesium drinks. I’m still taking magnesium but less of it. I have no cramping and so I think I’ve nailed the dose for now. However, even if something happens, I still say better out than in. I’ll spare you details, but today’s “sludge” was different.

(Zack F) #31

Day 9 Evening Reflections

BG 70 mg / 3.9 mmol
Ketones 3.4 mmol
GKI 1.1

Ketones lightened up. Not sure why as I haven’t eaten anything. I’m not worried.

A close family member found out I was fasting and didn’t like at all. “He’s gotta eat!”

People have definitely noticed at work and two people there know I’ve been fasting over the past week. So that’s cool.

Tomorrow is day 10. Double digits. A year ago, I would have laughed at anyone who suggested that I’d be fasting this long.

My wife and I have been talking keto substitute recipes and she’s open to them. This is my only shot at bringing her on board. For awhile it may be simply low carb and not necessarily keto for her. Baby steps…I’m taking the long view.

#32

Oh no…the black sludge happens even after 2 or 3 weeks of fasting. Even with water fasting.

#33

I’m sure @Fiorella knows, but I’ll briefly explain the source of the black sludge - the spaces between the many, many intestinal villi throughout the gastrointestinal tract that actually do the job of absorbing nutrients.

Emphasis in the quoted text below added by me to underscore just how much space there is for the sludge to hide.

In all humans, the villi and the microvilli increase intestinal absorptive surface area approximately 30-fold and 600-fold, respectively, providing exceptionally efficient absorption of nutrients in the lumen.

#34

Ughhhh. I’d be afraid to leave the house. :grinning:

My digestive system must be screwed up, but better than dealing with that! Maybe from all the protein powder I consumed back in the day…constipation much?

#35

Thanks!

(Zack F) #36

Day 10 Resting a Lot

Weight 255.6 lbs / 115.9 kg
BG 71 mg / 3.9 mmol
Ketones 3.7 mmol
GKI 1.1
BP 130/85

I deliberately been forcing myself to rest more with 8.5 hours of sleep last night. My expecting wife spoke again about how my snoring has softened so much that it is much easier to sleep. About food, I’ve been putting together a list of things to try the whole family will enjoy. My wife is open to it and my daughter doesn’t have a choice. :smile: I don’t have much experience with scratch cooking but more than willing to learn for health sake.

(Zack F) #37

Informative but…eeewww. Better out than in.

#38

The funny thing is (funny?!) that once I break the fast I go back to normal looking excretions immediately. Where’s the sludge?! :confused:

#39

Under normal circumstances there’s too much digestive material and/or it moves too quickly to access the material trapped in villi.

Given that there are bowel movements during fasting, it’s a combination of ongoing mucous secretion and the mechanical disturbance caused by peristalsis and physical movement that allows the material to break free when otherwise it would keep getting pushed back in by the regular ingestion and digestion of food.

(I am a Dog (Dog's eat until they burst!)) #40

@Debby I am at day 16 of my fast and had a black sludge experience and it really wasn’t bad. I could feel a slight urge, that wasn’t gas, and waited a bit to see if it would go away. When it didn’t I easily headed to the bathroom and took care of it: no urgency, no great pressure, just took care of it and was back in my office in a few minutes!