Gabrielle’s Long Term Fast

Here is a great resource and inspiration guide to long term fasting. I’ve found it extremely helpful.

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Typically I do coffee enemas after a few days to get things moving and to ease cravings and detox symptoms. I’ve done them for years, especially while fasting, as I’ve found them to be very helpful.

:partying_face: Double digits! And great willpower! It seems to be getting easier as the days go on.

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I will definitely be using that resource!

Also, since the end of day one of my fast, I have been offered food each day. :confounded: I have been strong though and did some sun gazing last night, which was a nice experience.

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I am dedicated to finishing my fast and ending on June 1st. I give glory to God who is my strength. I feel like it is getting easier each day. Thank you for all of your support. I am proud of you as well. I think having my set goal and seeing my calendar marked of each day has been motivating. Not weighing myself until day 21 was a good choice because I get really discouraged if I don’t see the results I expect. I also have a transition plan. I will end my fast with a two day refeed with all natural and whole foods and then go back to 5 day fast. I will continue with the 2 on 5 off until I get to my goal. From my research, that is the best plan for me. The 5 days of fasting will ensure atophagy to fight against loose skin.

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I recommend a longer refeed after such a long prolonged fast. Rule of thumb is refeed length should be half of prolonged fast. After my 40-day I did a 21-day refeed followed by a 30-day workout phase before tackling my next prolonged fast of 21-days. I tried to shorten my refeed period after the 21-day. Nope, my body rebelled. Remember fasting is stressful to the body; especially long prolonged fasts. Its how we activate the body’s natural rejuvenation and recovery systems. They need time to work their magic. Just speaking from personal experience.

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You’re welcome and thank you as well! I’m contemplating losing the scale also, as I know the weight will not fall everyday and I don’t want to be disappointed. Honestly, I’m most nervous about my refeed because I’m not good with moderation.

Thank you for sharing your experience on this matter. I was going to refeed for a few days then switch to alternate day fasting or just do daily intermittent fasting. What are your thoughts on still maintaining some kind of fasting during the refeed process?

Based on my records:

  1. After my 40 day I did no planned fasting for the 1st 8 days of the 21. I just let my body tell me what to do. During those 1st 8 days:
    Day 1: OMAD
    Day 2: 2 meals of soup 6 hours apart
    Day 3: 3 meals over 8 hours (incl 1st meal of solid food)
    You get the idea.
    For the remainder I did IF ranging from 20:4 to 1 day fasts.

  2. Refeed after 1st 21-day:
    No planned fasting 1st 6 days then it fell apart because I tried to shorten the refeed so I could start the workout phase sooner.

  3. Refeed after 2nd 21-day:
    No planned fasting 1st day. Unscheduled IF next 4 days then unplanned for arthritic attack forced me into No Fasting for the next 5 days. Identified the problem, researched and created a treatment protocol approved by a university endocrinologist. Restarted IF by completing a 15:9 this morning.

The point is after a prolonged fast your body is going to demand protein to convert new stem cells produced during the fast into new cells in your major organs to replace all the dead cells cannibalized during the fast. You can see the progression in my face here in a series of profile pics I took at the completion of these 3 fasts:

Alipio’s Profile Pics: AFTER 40-day, 21-day and 21-day

The lesson: listen to your body.

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Thank you for your feedback. I have done lots of research and listened to many testimonies on weight loss of 50+ pounds. I am very healthy other than the extra weight. I had my blood work completed 1 month ago and everything was in optimal ranges other than my weight. I have no old injuries or issues with my heart. I do feel to reach my goal quickly and safely, the 5:2 refeed sounds like a good option for me. I an also considering a 4:3 where you fast for only 3 days straight to still reach optimum atophagy but then eat for 4 days. On my refeed I will eat 1500 calories which my resting Metobalic rate is 1546. I had that tested as well before my journey by a nutritionist. I will recheck it after I complete my 50 day fast.

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Thank you for the detailed outline. I will refer back to this once it’s time to break the fast and listen to my own bodily messages to tweak as needed.

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Day 11. I am here and I am happy and motivated. Just a few things I am experiencing: I am really tired by 9-10 p.m. which is fine and when I go to bed I fall asleep hard. I wake up energized though and I’m waking up around 4 a.m. but I usually make myself rest until 6. My body is fueling off all of my excess fat because I haven’t felt hungry or dizzy. I have moments of irritability but it goes away. I’ve had slight hunger grumblings here and there but nothing major. I have been able to accomplish 10,000 steps a day through out this journey and my body feels fine. Mentally I know I am still all in and not accomplishing my goal of fastIng will hurt more than any reason to stop. By the grace of God, this has been a very serene process. I am sacrificing my unhealthy relationship with food but I feel like God has blessed my actions of laying this at his feet and gave me strength beyond my own to continue on this journey. It has been freeing to not have to deal with food right now. It has been freeing to not have to deal with a scale either. I just simply trust in the process and know things are changing by the way my clothes are fitting. I am shy but I do have before pics, I will post those at the end to help others. I will also post my weight loss at the end. I am apologizing now but I will crop my photos just above my lips to keep my privacy. My face is changing so I will show the double chin changes. So that’s about it for now. I am working from home during Covid so I have the flexibility to take my walks at my leisure. May God bless all of you who are following my journey.

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Day 12. Things are moving along and I am very motivated and know I can conquer this long term fast. I did take a nap yesterday after my walk. I was a little tired. That is the only change I have noticed from the previous days. I feel really great this morning. My body feels good. I am so happy that I jumped right in and was obedient to God. I made no excuses as I knew I had to fast to overcome my eating habits. I had kept praying asking God for help and I kept hearing fast in my spirit. This has been Comforting to my mind, body, and spirit. God is my strength. If I had started this fast in my own will and strength without God, I would have failed at day 1. I want to encourage all of you following my journey to love yourself and find your peace in God.

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Day 13. I went for a morning hike in the mountains. I did about an hour hike. Today is a beautiful day! In my photo you can see the city way down in the far background.

image

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I wanted to make a comment on energy during a long term fast. This is my first fast beyond 3 days. I have to say I am experiencing bursts of high energy. I do require periods of rest though after doing something like that morning hike. I haven’t been on a mountain hike in 2 years butI felt this morning upon waking that I had a lot of energy and I just wanted to do something more than a simple walk. Going up a mountain was a lot of cardio and I was sweating but enjoying the process. I will also mention that I am 40 years old, I had a clean bill of health proven by recent blood work just before starting this fast. I’m not sure if that makes a difference in energy. I haven’t felt dizzy or imbalanced through this process and I can honestly say I don’t have physical hunger. I do think of food and dream occasionally about food but it’s nothing so intense that I feel I have to quit. I am listening to my body and I do have an end date. I will transition over to a low carb diet and incorporate fasting. I have never had an eating disorder either so I should mention that this is a legitimate long term fast with intention to transition to a healthy lifestyle and eating plan.

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Day 14. I am at 2 weeks. I am still super motivated and feeling like I can do this for a while. By this point I have dodged family feast several times over and most of my family now know I am fasting. I went with my mom and auntie this morning to buy flowers and plants for their gardens. They brought back huge breakfast burritos and ate them at my house. I had a cup of coffee with them while they ate. It was very nice. I am learning great self discipline and I like this feeling of being in control rather than food being in control. I bought an air fryer last night so I have when my fast is complete. I will weigh myself next Sunday and then everyone and myself can know how much weight I’ve lost in 21 days. I notice a big difference in my face and stomach. Ive always have had a small waist though even fat it’s my butt that is huge. That has shrunk a little but not as much as my stomach. I am so happy with myself for starting this fast. Changes are coming quick which keeps me super motivated. As far as detox, I feel like my skin and fine lines have smoothed and cleared up. I look younger and it’s incredible. My hair has always been full and long but now it is shiny and looks healthier. Also, side note, i am in the process of removing two tattoos from my body and have had several lazer treatments. I have yo say my tattoos have faded tremendously during this process. The are color and I can see my skin coming through so that is a HUGE benefit because tattoo removal is super painful.

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Great post! Which airfryer did you but if I might ask?

I bought an Emeril 8 qt. air fryer. It is a pressure cooker, dehydrator, canning, and yogurt maker. They had a great deal on these at Sam’s Club.

Cool. Thx for info

Me too on day 19! Didn’t expect this.

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