What is the longest fast that you've completed?

#181

27 days (water and broth) was my longest fast. I was aiming for 30 but broke at 27 because my body was relentlessly sending signals to eat that day. I’ve done four month-long fasts in the last couple of years, mostly in the guise of seeking solutions to a severe back injury but I switched over to intermittent fasting then one meal a day and found that I get exactly the same benefits in terms of razor sharp mind and reduced inflammation. I’m not sure I will ever do anything more than three day fasts now, IF has been a great addition to keto for me.

#182

I went on a 21 day fast a couple of years ago for a several reasons and they were huge. One is that I have breast cancer and I have chosen to go the holistic route to either cure it or keep it at bay. So far I have kept it at bay–was dx’ed over 4 years ago at stage 3. Practically the first thing I did was to go on a keto diet and that stopped the growth. If I had advice to give an cancer newbie, I would recommend that they fast–it’s hard to eat anyway when you’re freaking out.

So I strayed off my diet and gained some pounds back and in a deep prayer session one night (freaking out with God) it came to me that an extended fast would be the best thing for me to do. I have to add that I am not an overly religious person but one can get religious really quick when you have a major health challenge.

I’m a teacher so I decided to do the fast during the month of June when I’m off and good thing I did because I was very weak the whole time but otherwise felt great and was actually in a good mood, though I stayed home by myself a lot. I found out later that adding salt to my water would have helped a lot with the weakness. I kept a journal during that time and it makes for some interesting reading.

I lost weight during that time, which was needed, and for entertainment I read cookbooks lol, but when I got to craving food, it was always really healthy food. A sinus infection I started with was completely gone by the middle of the 2nd day and my hormone imbalance was fixed and that was huge for a woman with breast cancer. My tumor did shrink back some but didn’t go away completely–I’ve often wondered what would have happened if I’d continued the fast–I was still 20 lbs off my lean body weight when I finished so I could’ve kept going. I think I just got bored and had more things I wanted to do that summer.

I know that some will say that what I’m doing is phenomenally stupid but I will say this…I"m still here and I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be if something wasn’t working…remember that I was stage 3 at dx. Anyway, I will politely ask you all to reserve your negative opinions on that b/c I’ve heard them all and I’m not going to change my mind–I’m a Taurus after all. LOL

#183

Wow, Stephanie this is amazing!
There’s a cancer subforum on here and if you made a visit there - or even just copied and pasted this post - it would be so great for folks to see (someone newly diagnosed might head there directly).
:clap::clap::clap::clap: to you in any case. Thanks for posting, and best wishes to you.

#184

Thanks for telling me about that Madeleine, but I don’t see the subforum. How do I find that?

(VLC.MD) #185

https://www.ketogenicforums.com/c/health/cancer

(Mberg) #186

That’s awesome congratulations and keep up the good work

(Lynne Hurley Perry) #187

55 hours is my personal record. Hoping to go for 72 hours…after the holidays. Until then I plan to keep practicing shorter 24-36 weekly.

#188

Hi Carolyn, I just read all your posts. Wow…good on ya!
Wondering how you are , how did you fare thru Christmas.
I’m very impressed with your determination.
I’m curious how you decided on a goal weight.
Best Wishes to you and all best in 2018.

(Annette) #189

I am 75 hours fasted and I am in pain. My back (kidneys?) really hurts. Not muscle pain. Not great with physiology but am guessing kidneys because the pain is on both sides and just below my bra. Do I need more water? Less? Time to quit for this fast?

I might add that I otherwise feel fine even though BG is 43mg/dL and ketones were over 8.0. (I don’t know exactly; however, when ketones are that high, the keto-mojo displays “hi.”

Thanks! Happy New Year!

#190

Is the pain still there? How are you doing? I think that low bg when you’re fasting is fine as long as you’re feeling ok and in the context of ketosis. Your ketones are pretty high… do you usually get such high numbers when you’re fasting?

Mostly I’m bumping this in case someone else has something useful for you (@VLC.MD?) . You don’t want to ignore kidney problems…

(Annette) #191

Thanks, Madeleine.

I am feeling well, except for the pain, which has subsided a bit this morning. I’ve not had ketones this high before. I’ve only fasted this long once before. Currently at 87 hours. (Go, me!) I am hoping that I am losing lots of fat!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

PS: How do I “tag” someone like you tagged VLC.MD?

(Andrew) #192

I have read this is indeed kidneys. How’s your water and electrolytes? Too much water can be a problem. Use your Google fu.

#193

Type in @ and then - no space - their user name (e.g. @TravelGal)

(Jer Ba) #194

Have you tired hot water

(What The Fast?!) #195

how much salt are you taking now?

How is this going???

(Inese) #196

My longest fast was 5 days. I started intermittent fasting before I was on keto. So in summer I decided, that I will do 5 day extended water fast and then transition into keto diet. And I did. After 5 day fast I began eating keto and continued using intermittent fasting, and didn’t regain any weight that was lost during fast. I plan on repeating 5 day fast. The only thing that bothers me, is that I used sugar free mints during fast and its probably not good.

(Jay Patten) #197

I’m a newbie (started the first week of Jan). I do a 48+ hour fast when my wife works evenings and I eat dinner when she’s at home. It’s a good system, mainly because she would murder me in my sleep if I skipped out on one of her meals, lol.

(Benny Gallagher) #198

I’m planning on having a shit meal tonight and fasting for 24 hours… which will more than likely be closer to 40 hours all up. Have only been doing Keto since Jan 1st. Have only just recently started in the “Keto flu” period - shit sleeps, waking often, feeling sluggish, constant headaches. So I thought if I have this meal and conduct my first 24hr fast, it should help me in the greater scheme of things from what I understand from listening to pods and reading comments…

(Trish) #199

I’ve only done one; last month’s Zornfast, which was 88 hours I think. Joining this month’s as well and hoping to go for 110 ish on water and coffee.

(Luke Jorgensen) #200

72 hours. Did help that for the first day I wiped myself out from a night of catching up with some mates. I had approx 6 Canadian Club & Dry’s (sugar fee of course) and went well beyond tipsy.
Day 1 I couldn’t even get out of bed.
Days 2 & 3 were fine. I ended my fast after hockey (field) training where we did approx 7km of sprint work.