Weekly fasting schedule

(Barbara Greenwood) #22

Maybe… he does say - or, rather, I heard Megan Ramos say on Fasting Talk - that fasting starts hard and gets easier with practice. She wasn’t just saying within one fast, rather, if you fast 2 or 3 times per week, it will be easier in week 4 than week 1.

Anyone been fasting regularly for a while care to comment?

I’ve found the opposite, if I’m honest. I started with 24 hour fasts that got easier… so that skipping breakfast was easy (I now routinely 16/8). Then I went to 36 hours, but found 42 hours easier, because it meant I didn’t have to force myself to eat breakfast the day after the fast. But after a little break from fasting for a holiday I have found getting back into 40/42 hour fasts and have slipped back to 24. IOW, I go all day, but crack at dinner time, when I intended to fast till lunch of the following day.

#23

@Barbara_Greenwood
I’m pretty sure I’ve heard Dr. Fung say that (difficulty of first 2 days and not recommending fasts of that length for that reason), as well as Megan on the most recent F.Talk.
That sounded confusing; agreeing with you. :grin:

(Anna) #24

I am new to KETO. I listened to a podcast in which Richard said one should not fast until “fat adapted”.
What is fat adapted? Maybe this is why fasting is so hard for me. :confounded:

#25

Fat adapted loosely means that your body is mostly a fat burner, as opposed to a sugar burner. This means that the energy from the food you eat comes from fat, as opposed to sugar and starches (like bread, potato and pasta).typically, a person who is fat adapted has an even energy supply all day and craves eating fat when hungry. The opposite for a sugar burner, who’s energy will rise and plunge (due to changes in glucose level in blood), and would crave carby snacks. A fat adapted person has a large inventory of fat, and therefore typically has less hunger and no need of snacking. While the sugar burner runs out of fuel in a few hours and needs to snack every couple of hours. This is why it is easier for a fat adapted person to fast, as opposed to a sugar burner.

(Kathy Meyer) #26

I’m not sure I agree with this for me. I take a week off here and there, but I do a 3 to 5 day fast almost every week, and I feel very healthy doing this. I don’t lose weight on a ketogenic diet alone, and will even gain weight if I’m not careful with too much protein and fat (nuts and keto treats are also a problem) – although I’m pretty good about eating enough so I don’t lower my metabolic rate during the days I do eat.

Because I’ve lost 80 pounds with this method, and still have another 40 or so to go, I’m also fasting for the potential of not having a lot of loose skin – and autophagy in general.

I believe that once I lower the amount of fuel sitting on my own body, I will need to decrease the frequency of fasting, however.

#27

That’s great that you discovered what works for you. And yes, when you are burning your own fat, you are essentially still eating, just eating your own fat.

I think part of the caution Richard and others bring up are not only the lack of eating during the fast days, but what happens during the refeed period. Some people can switch from fast to not fasting pretty quickly, without refeed issues. Others, it takes time to “restart” the digestive process. So, if someone does a five day fast, a two-day refeed window may not be long enough, and can create problems, if they go back into another extended fast. So, it’s not only important to test the fasting window, but also testing the refeeding window.

(Kathy Meyer) #28

Yeah, I’m pretty careful about that. I usually start with a few slices of avocado, then wait for an hour or so. Then I have a slice of cheese or a couple of olives. Then I’ll often wait to have a fairly small dinner after that – I never rush back into the eating as I’ve had my share of stomach pain in the past. Not until the second day do I really have a full meal. I do get the urge to “refeed” on the second day, and I just try and be careful not to overdo it. My nemesis is macadamia nuts, so I have parceled them out into 1 ounce portions so I don’t open a package and just keep eating.

(Music Lover) #29

Sounds good! That’s my plan exactly. I’m only on week two and I can see doing this for quite a while. I’m getting used to just ordering coffee when I meet friends for lunch or dinner. Keep it up!!