Week 08/16~08/22 was another very stressful one. One-hour job interviews are as tiring as a full eight-hour work but I was able to attend four.
Another stressful week ahead but I’m definitely getting used to it - I’m getting good at interviews.
Anyway, I only fasted twice last week for 46 hours each.
08/24/2020 - started fasting at 8:30 pm - planning to stick to it for at least 72h!
08/25/2020 to 08/30/2020
Ended my fast at 50 hours and did OMAD for the rest of the week.
Life is full of trials and errors…errors mostly and the biggest challenge I faced this week was to replace negative thinking patterns into positive, constructive ones. I need to stop listening to loud negative thoughts and stop making myself more anxious or depressed than strictly necessary (some anxiety and depression are welcome if they help me to focus).
08/31/2020 - 18 hours into a new fasting, let’s see how it goes.
Well done, I had 2 false starts to my last fast … so don’t let that demotivate you. OMAD is a great way to prepare for an upcoming fast too in my opinion.
There is a book I read 13 years ago “The Easy way to stop smoking” in which you train your brain to see the benefit rather than “loss” of not been able to smoke. I haven’t smoked for 13 years now after 20 years of being a chain smoker. I digress now, but it comes down to one day at a time, and focusing on the positive effect of fasting.
I do struggle though in the first 4 days of fasting … I constantly walk into the kitchen, then have a talk to myself, … and then having to force myself to leave the kitchen without giving in to the arguments in my head. 
@eddy: water fasting does provide several positive effects but the process is hard nevertheless, not only in the first 4 days but throughout the fast…many bouts of adversity including hunger pangs, nausea, fatigue, skin rashes, irritability come and go along with the fasting and sometimes it is REALLY hard to focus on the positive effects when you are actually having one or more of such bouts.
In my last fast I developed severe skin rashes, and I interrupted the fast on 09/01 at 38 hours. I actually didn’t find the root cause of the rashes - I don’t know if they were caused by the fast, the handful of nuts I usually have to get rid of dizziness, the sun, the house dust, the stress…anyway, cleaned up my house, stopped eating nuts, suspended fasting and decided to give myself a break. The rashes disappeared in less than a day so I started fasting again. It is really trial and error and listening to the body is really the best way out.
So I’m currently 42 hours into my second short fast this week - I will have an afternoon tea with a friend tomorrow so I’ll break it at 63 hours if nothing happens in between. Good thing is, my body fat rate is dropping consistently (at 34.0% now) and I’ve been fairly able to reduce the amount of carbs in my meals (pasta, rice, starches, sugar). I’m seriously considering to give carnivore diet a go during the remainder of the month - one of the few diets I never tried.
Hi CS_A, well done for jumping into the fast again 
Sorry to hear about the rash. I have been fortunate not to have had a rash yet. It might have been ‘Keto rash’ - (https://perfectketo.com/keto-rash/).
I too struggle with work stress, … the moment my anxiety goes up I feed my mouth 
This year has been especially stressful as most communication is either email or text and it’s difficult to determine your colleague’s frame of mind. Its so much better when communicating in person in the office.
Well done, and don’t be too hard on yourself. As you said, just keep listening to your body
09/08/2020: 23h into another fast - I have no lunch/dinner scheduled for the remainder of the week so I hope I can extend my fasting beyond 72h if I develop no rash. Found out that the rashes were indeed due to fasting. I skipped the afternoon tea last Friday and I was able to fast beyond 63h but the rashes reappeared soon after and I had to interrupt at 84h on 09/05. I did a very short 45h fasting through 09/07, had lunch and tea with friends and started another fast in the same day. Wait and see.
09/13/2020: itchy rashes again. Stopped fasting at 68h and will stick to 42-60h for the time being until I get rid of the rashes.
I guess I’m still reaping the effects of the 12-day water fast I’ve completed in July, but I still haven’t achieved my goals. I need another 10+ days fasting.
No journaling for more than 3 weeks…but I kept my 36-42h fasting protocol 2 to 3 times a week and tried the meat-based diet meantime (carnivore 70% of the time). I guess it really works for me, I was able to keep the weight off and lose another 3 pounds during the month of September.
10/04/2020: I’m currently 42h into another water fasting and I’m planning to extend it as I’m feeling great. Still fasting into fall!