What is the longest fast that you've completed?

(Alex Dipego) #41

My longest fast was 33hrs… I couldn’t do it longer. Stress from work plus the stress of fasting and I have a high metabolism with little BF. Extended fasts aren’t generally meant for already lean individuals.

#42

Hey,
Just sharing a link to an interesting approach to fasting. She basically weighs herself every day and fasts that day if she hasn’t lost 0.2 lbs:

I guess if nothing else, it guarantees steady weight loss.

#43

Interesting strategy.

(Jimmy Broadwater) #44

I’ve fasted for 120 hrs (5 days) three different times and many 72 hr fast. I’ve only struggled one time and that’s when I started that fast when I wasn’t in ketosis. I made it through that 5 day fast but it was very difficult at the end of the second day. I made it through it but, I learned that it’s a lot easier for me when I start a fast making sure I’m burning ketones. I like to fast a minimum of 3 days once a month.

(Mark) #45

Now we just need Seyfried to debate Phinney and see who has the more convincing argument ,I’m fasting now and fung seems to have convincing evidence but I am still not sure if I’m on the right track after listening to phinney,his voice rattles around in the back of my mind

(Jan) #46

After 5 weeks of having started with the ketogenic lifestyle I did weekly fasts of around 3 to 4 days, depended a bit on how I felt and if I’d like to chew on something or not.
I’ve did this for about 3 months and fealt great doing so. My maximum was 5 days, from sunday evening to friday afternoon.

It has become harder at this time, probably due to having a lower fat percentage. Because of this I’ve stopped fasting for longer periods and now only do IF.

(Lucrecia) #47

For once I do not exaggerate: am feeling like week old dog vomit. Entire body is aching, even my fingers and hair follicles are sore! Have been fasting for 30 hours now (been drinking water, homemade, well strained bone broth, with 3 tablespoons of ghee, herbal tea - fenugreek, coriander seed, cumin seed, fresh ginger and fennel seed, about ½ tsp of each to about a litre of water.

My FBG (after 30 hours of fasting) is 90!!! WTF! How is this even remotely possible? Particularly for someone who’s been following an 80/15/5 keto diet for just shy of two years?

Had my last meal at 7 pm on Tuesday evening. Felt fine all day yesterday till late afternoon when I just couldn’t get warm. Even a hot bath didn’t really heat me up much. Lay shaking on the couch under masses of clothing and blankets shivering myself silly. Temp was only 100 deg so I figured there was no need to fuss.

But it’s 3 in the morning and I’m wide awake and feeling awful. I’ve taken potassium, lots of salt, magnesium, water, etc. What am I missing here?

My (high for me) BG numbers of the last month as well as my excessive appetite have convinced me that I still have insulin resistance issues and all my research indicates that a keto diet with fasting is the best way to fix this. Do I just need to be patience, continue fasting and hope that I get sorted out in the days to come? (I’m very close to goal body size. Still carrying about 10 pounds of excess body fat. I tried eating cheese for a couple of weeks last year and the fact that I would consistently overeat the stuff and crave it all the time, finally convinced me to stop playing games and put the stuff down. Have been cheese free for awhile now, but still my BG numbers are not back in the 70’s which used to be normal for me.)

Those of you with knowledge/experience on this, please comment. I feel like I’m floundering here…

(bulkbiker) #48

It might be that you are coming down with an illness… that would explain the elevated blood sugar and general crap feeling. Dr Fung always says if you feel like crap then break the fast and eat… maybe that would help you too… there’s plenty of time for fasting but if you are ill you want to get better first.

#49

This is a sign that your body is reducing your metabolic rate. You do not have the ability to get enough energy from your limited bodyfat to sustain you at this point. You can either quit the fast or supplement more fat. Richard’s post on energy available during fasting might help:

(Blyss (Old @Charmaine)) #50

I’m in the midst of a 21 day fast and a huge part of me wants to go longer.

#51

I suggest you decide at day 20.

(Blyss (Old @Charmaine)) #52

Tomorrow starts day 20! And I agree that making a decision prior to day 21 will help me determine how to proceed. I’ll make the final decision during day 20 and go from there. Thanks bunches @Pilotbob

(Blyss (Old @Charmaine)) #53

I’ve limited the amount of bone broth when I do have it at this point. I don’t know enough about autophagy to say what would trigger a shut down so I’m working on hypotheses and logic based on pondering about our ancestors (like I’m pretty sure if something edible had been found like some locusts or other bugs and maybe other small animals, someone ate something and was still triggering autophagy some kinda way - at least that’s my thinking) and the Fasting Mimicking Diet where there is some amount of protein ingested.

(Bill Davis) #54

5 days, water only for me. I do. It fast for fat loss. It for cell autophagy. This is why I don’t do it often. I should also say I do t have a broken metabolism either, if I did that might me a good reason to fast more. It for now just a couple times a year is more than adequate.

(Alex Dipego) #55

I say eat if you’re feeling that bad. Have some butter or coconut oil and keep it just fat and see how you feel. If still bad eat food.

How lean are you? Are you active. Did something happen causing mental or physical stress to add to the fasting?

(Lucrecia) #56

Thanks Carol. Will definitely do more fat today. Seems that I’ve been dealing with a bona fide flu virus. My temperature has finally dropped down to normal and my body is no longer aching. Thanks to keto, it’s been three years since I got sick, and I guess I just didn’t recognise the symptoms! Am going to keep at it today. Was just very perplexed by the very high BG this morning (90) after 33 hours of fasting seemed excessive. But I guess that could be thanks to the flu…

(Lucrecia) #57

I do yoga 5 times a week and I walk about 5 times a week as well as lifting heavy things whenever I feel thus inclined. I’m pretty lean. Just need to ditch about 10 pounds of fat so I’m very close to goal size.

(Tony Sheldon) #58

I’ve done 2 multiple days fasts in the past 9 months. The first one lasted 2 days and I broke it because I was feeling funny. By funny I mean kind of spacy, light headed.

The second fast I did lasted 3 days. Originally I had planned on going for 4 days but I was hungry at this point and broke the fast.

One of my goals this year is to do one fast of at least 7 days which I will probably do with some bone broth so not a true fast probably.

(Alex Dipego) #59

Then being lean will affect your ability to fast. Those last 10lbs will be the hardest but are possible with control of intake.

#60

I am on Day 37 of Keto (not that im counting …) I am on day 3 of trying 16:8. I have barely reached hour 16 (and I am definitely counting …)

Has anyone had water trigger hunger when they are fasting or is this a ‘just me’ thing?