So as many of you know I fasted last week for 3 days, drinking water and electrolytes (salt, potassium, magnesium) after the first day. It was a mind opening experience, and I was excited to try it again, this time for 5.
Here is what I learned:
Prolonged fasting is easy after 1-2 days. No energy or fatigue issues. I feel more tired when I am eating. My guess is that the body is converting fat into energy quickly once you are in ketosis. I also imagine this is what a fetus must experience nutrition/hunger wise: not eating, but it doesn’t matter because it has plenty of energy (assuming it can feel hunger and energy). It is really a trip because you think you should be feeling hungry or tired but you aren’t.
I think between days 1-2 are the hardest, but surprisingly this time around, it was altogether much easier than the 3 day fast.
I was not hungry, not tired and clear minded the whole time. Seriously, it feels freaking amazing, almost like being on a runner’s high. I’m estimating Ive lost 8lbs between the two fasting experiences or close to 1lb per day. It’ll be interesting to see if it stays off (I was 251 before the first fast I am 241 now, but I think some of that is water weight).
My sense of smell greatly increased after the 3rd day, I thought this was fascinating.
I don’t really think ketosis kicked in until after the second, maybe halfway through the third day. I went walking each day, and also a 5 mile up hill hike on day 3, and felt fine.
I am absolutely convinced now that our bodies are designed to go many days without food if needed. As long as you are getting fluids and electrolytes, and don’t have some kind of medical condition, this is something everyone needs to explore at least once.
I really question the 3 meals a day plan for anyone who isn’t a growing child, pregnant or athlete (obviously makes sense if you have higher output of calories that you will need to eat more, Im kinda thinking 1-2 meals a day would be more than sufficient for what our bodies need, but I also believe that much of what we eat is for pleasure or because we are bored, possibly even addiction or habit, not so much out of biological need, despite what our hunger pangs tell us. There is a temptation to go 7 days, but I promised myself I would stop after 5 days, and I think there is some wisdom in not pushing this too far. You can hurt yourself if you aren’t careful and in some cases, it prolonged fasting like this can be a gateway to anorexia.
One thing I wanted to try was working out for hormonal reasons, but not eating any protein within a day of a fasted workout didn’t make good sense to me so I held off on that and stuck to pushups and the like.
Im definitely in ketosis now, and the plan is to transition back to my ketogenic diet for 1-2 weeks, only this time introducing more exercise. I am thrilled with my abs almost being back in, and looking forward to keeping the weight off with the keto diet which has absolutely been working for me. So as many of you know I fasted last week for 3 days, drinking water and electrolytes (salt, potassium, magnesium) after the first day. It was a mind opening experience, and I was excited to try it again, this time for 5.
Here is what I learned:
Prolonged fasting is easy after 1-2 days. No energy or fatigue issues. I feel more tired when I am eating. My guess is that the body is converting fat into energy quickly once you are in ketosis. I also imagine this is what a fetus must experience nutrition/hunger wise: not eating, but it doesn’t matter because it has plenty of energy (assuming it can feel hunger and energy). It is really a trip because you think you should be feeling hungry or tired but you aren’t.
I think between days 1-2 are the hardest, but surprisingly this time around, it was altogether much easier than the 3 day fast.
I was not hungry, not tired and clear minded the whole time. Seriously, it feels freaking amazing, almost like being on a runner’s high. I’m estimating Ive lost 8lbs between the two fasting experiences or close to 1lb per day. It’ll be interesting to see if it stays off (I was 251 before the first fast I am 241 now, but I think some of that is water weight).
My sense of smell greatly increased after the 3rd day, I thought this was fascinating.
I don’t really think ketosis kicked in until after the second, maybe halfway through the third day. I went walking each day, and also a 5 mile up hill hike on day 3, and felt fine.
I am absolutely convinced now that our bodies are designed to go many days without food if needed. As long as you are getting fluids and electrolytes, and don’t have some kind of medical condition, this is something everyone needs to explore at least once.
I really question the 3 meals a day plan for anyone who isn’t a growing child, pregnant or athlete (obviously makes sense if you have higher output of calories that you will need to eat more, Im kinda thinking 1-2 meals a day would be more than sufficient for what our bodies need, but I also believe that much of what we eat is for pleasure or because we are bored, possibly even addiction or habit, not so much out of biological need, despite what our hunger pangs tell us. There is a temptation to go 7 days, but I promised myself I would stop after 5 days, and I think there is some wisdom in not pushing this too far. You can hurt yourself if you aren’t careful and in some cases, it prolonged fasting like this can be a gateway to anorexia.
One thing I wanted to try was working out for hormonal reasons, but not eating any protein within a day of a fasted workout didn’t make good sense to me so I held off on that and stuck to pushups and the like.
Im definitely in ketosis now, and the plan is to transition back to my ketogenic diet for 1-2 weeks, only this time introducing more exercise. I am thrilled with my abs almost being back in, and looking forward to keeping the weight off with the keto diet which has absolutely been working for me.