I’ve been fasting during the work week and feasting on the weekends, going on three weeks now. So far I think this schedule fits really well. I start my fast after lunch on Sunday and end the fast around noon on Friday. I eat keto over the weekend. I also don’t sweat it if, for unforeseen circumstances, I need to break my fast early as I’m usually already into an extended fast at that point.
I listened to Jimmy and Megan’s recent Fasting podcast and heard Megan say that this type of fast was becoming quite popular. Apparently, my fancy fast for feeling fine follows fabulously fashionable fasting fame.
I tried this sort of fasting for two weeks in a row last month. I really liked not having to think about food during the work week. I could get up later because did not have to make breakfast. I didn’t have to think about where to go for lunch… etc.
Wow. Amazing your body can cope with two days feast between extended fasting. For me it takes 3 or 4 days at least, because the digestive organs need to “wake up”, and when they do, I can feel the huge energy draw from them. If I start fasting again on day three, I’m going to feel sluggish.
I guess it depends how fast your body can switch the lights on and off, I guess.
Totally. I try to ease into the weekend by nibbling every hour or so during the day on Friday. Even though not really a keto ratio, I try to eat something that has a probiotic in it (ex. tablespoon of greek yogurt or sour cream with low carb protein powder that’s been chilled). Hydration helps a lot as the new foods tend to pull water from my body and I’ll cramp up unless I take magnesium too. If I pig out over the weekend or cry unketo, then the sluggishness hits me. I also allow some of the zero products as guilty pleasures (looking at you punch flavored rockstar zero).
I thought the exact same thing on day one. After fasting on and off sporadically since January of this year, I came to the conclusion that I needed to just set a schedule and forgive myself if I mess up during the week (fasting) or weekend (keto). If the fast ends early, that’s OK, because it still means I fasted a handful of hours or days. I can count that as a success, high five myself (when no one is looking), and get myself ready for next week.
If I get to a point where fasting becomes too hard, then I’m super thankful because that helps remind me to check in with my current emotional/physical state of mind (which I’m really really bad at).
Could please post your food diary for a week, for example? Including what you eat / drink during the week when you are fasting, and also the feasting at the weekend?
Cheers in advance.
I fell into doing a couple of 24 hour fasts at the end of last week / weekend, and feel like my body is telling me to go for an extended fast.
Sure, I’ll come back around and edit this comment when the week is over.
Food Diary:
Sunday after lunch: Water
Monday: Water, 3 cups black coffee.
Tuesday: Water, 3 cups black coffee.
Wednesday: Water, 2 cups black tea, 1 cup black coffee
Thursday: During the work day: Water, 1 cups black tea, 2 cup black coffee. After: Keto Food (see update 1 below).
Friday: Coffee with heavy cream, 20 wings with ranch and bleu cheese.
Saturday: (see update 2)
Sunday: (see update 2)
Supplements:
Glucosamine (daily)
Magnesium (on fasting days, either through a pill or bath)
All Vitamin (on fasting days)
Vitamin D3 (daily)
B12 vitamin methylcobalamin (on fasting days)
I probably should have mentioned the water fast as my food diary looks pretty spartan.
Update 1: I am heading to an event this Saturday so I decided to “prep” my stomach a little earlier than normal so that I can end my feed on Saturday instead of Sunday. Here’s what I did. I had one tablespoon of Greek Yogurt, drank water, one tablespoon of Almond Butter, drank water, waited 1 hour. Had Keto chili with sour cream, cheddar cheese, dubliner cheese, parmesan (freshly grated) cheese and drank water. Finished off with 5-7 dark chocolate mocha ice bombs (0.5 carbs per bomb) and drank water. Felt like snacking so I dug into a bag of Parmesan crisps and drank water. I also snacked on a couple handfuls of macadamia nuts and drank water. I started absent mindingly picking at my daughters white cheddar popcorn (about 2 cups worth) and chicken nuggets with had breading (had two) before I caught myself and started to occupy another part of the house that wasn’t the kitchen. I then proceed to fast track bed time to avoid anymore late night snacking and resumed the drinking of water.
Update 2: Started Saturday with only coffee with heavy cream. I decided to use time restriction to limit the damage for the event. I gave myself a hard out and only about two hours of time to mingle/eat/drink. I ended up having three light beers and murdered a tribe of m&m cookies. On the way back started feeling nauseous and having acid re-flux so I was thankful to wind things down and get some sleep. On Sunday I ended up eating more crack aka smart pop popcorn (thankfully one bag only has 1,000 kcal total). But by the evening I had dialed it in with pork loin, brussel sprouts, kale chips and my keto mousse. Monday morning I weighed myself and I’m exactly 2.5 lbs down from last Monday morning so it appears my damage control helped! I hope this food log helps convey the important points of (1) Having a plan (2) Adapting to unexpected events (3) Getting back on track as soon as you can.
Part of the reason I couldn’t do it more then 2 weeks in a row is because of the way I fast. When I fast, I just drink water. I might ingest some salt … but that’s it. I get really nauseous if I take vitamins on an empty stomach. When I start eating I get hungry and eat more. So it’s really hard for me to just eat a little. If I eat a little, I’ll be hungry and I’ll be thinking about food all day. So fasting for me means no food, no calories, no fat, no broth… I can’t help it. It seems easier that way for me. I just can’t sustain it for very long.
Getting nauseous after taking vitamins feels like getting penalized for trying to help. It’s also a shame broth doesn’t seem to work. My bane is cramps hence I take magnesium or Epsom salt baths regularly.
Interestingly, eating a little and not being able to stop is why I started to supplement keto with fasting. I know some people have a little bit of food during their fasting days, but I feel like once my seal is broken, it’s broken. I don’t attempt any fasts until my hunger hormone hits it’s normal low after I wake up. In the end,
Funny anecdote, last time I was in Vegas I bought a buffet pass (unlimited buffet for x days). I inadvertently started doing 24 hr fasts because I would be so full from their buffets and didn’t make sense to wait in lines for 2 hours.
