Well done! 
MaryAnn's First 21 Day Fast
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Day 8 Hour 179
CW 218.8 (-12)
Ready for bed (not sleep) by 7 pm, energy low
I know my weight loss will slow down the next few days, been here before. This may be why I usually quit here. Don’t usually feel great and no seeming benefit. I think if my goal was 10 to 14 days, I might. I am so interested to see how my body will react to an ExF. Extreme Fast (extreme as in bungie jumping, motocross-not as in excessive). I can actually hear the American Ninja Warrior announcer saying, “Welcome to EEEXXtrEEEme Fasting, next is Mary Ann a frumpy mom who has only made through the first part of the course. How far will she go?? Will she make to the buzzer?” Hmm… that amuses me, might work that into a bit for my next set.
I wonder if I will still be funny when I am not over-weight. I can see the faces in the audience when I walk out, they expect me to be funny. I wonder why that is? So many great comedians are obese. Will I feel exposed? Might have to dye my hair purple or something. Shave my head. Going to research and watch skinny women to see how they do it. The only ones I can think of are really foul mouthed and sexually explicit. Who is a woman Jerry Seinfeld…Erma Bombeck!!! She has always been one of my favorites. I have some of her books. Going to read them for inspiration.
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Lol! You will still be funny. I plan on staying funny 
you might even find that you are much funnier than previously 
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Thanks! Not even sure I am funny but they laugh and ask me back.
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Day 9 Hour 206
CW 217.8 (-13)
magnesium, salt, bad taste in my mouth, GI issue (let’s just say i am not constipated)
I had an ok day yesterday. Swam for about 45 mins. Not super energetic, but could muster what was needed. Had a get together (zoom) from 7 pm to 10 and had a good time. I haven’t had as many side effects as previous fasts.
(wrote this in response to another feed, but adding here for posterity) I must be feeling good because I’ve started toying with the idea of pushing past 21. The thought of stopping so close to “onederland” is my inspiration, but I would need to drop at least 8 below that to make sure I don’t rebound back into the 200’s. By my conservative estimate, Day 21 I will be @207 lbs. When is a good time to make that decision? I plan and shop for my refeeds days before the end.
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I always plan for I will regain all my water weight back. That’s normal and healthy because your glycogen stores are what keep you from starving at night and the first source of energy during workouts. For me that’s about 11 pounds judging from my previous 3 prolonged fasts.
Weight is just one guide for knowing when to stop. Check out Rebecca Hughes pictures where she only lost 6 pounds but looks fabulous because she gained so much lean muscle mass.
Hope this helps!
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Day 10 Hour 228
CW 216.6 (-14)
Supplements: Salt, Potassium, Magnesium
Side effects: Thirst, mild heartburn, fatigue(but able to do what I needed), brain fog.
Exercise: 000 But it was a busy day, so a lot of movement.
Feeling good this morning. Each day has its ups and downs. Because I am at home, I can rest when I am tired.
I noticed I was thirsty and drank a lot of water and consequently went to the bathroom a lot. I realized that my salt intake is sporadic so planning to be more consistent. I don’t track my water consumption because I have very good hydration habits, maybe from growing up in the tropics.
Tomorrow is my high-octane day. I let my assistant(they gave an assistant! I’ve been swamped. I got to choose too, and I picked the best!) know what I am doing, so that she can back me up. This helps.
Also, my teenage daughter volunteers and she is my biggest supporter. Now I am feeling emotional because she is so amazing. She wants to be a doctor and besides being genius, she has tremendous empathy. What an amazing combination!
I love my husband, but I think he is fearful of my weight loss. Unless I prompt him, he will not say anything. I think this is something I need to explore. It must be a thing, an enabling thing. He had a difficult childhood (I typed the details then erased them. That is his story to tell). I am going to start a non-public journal for those things.
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Day 11 Hour 259
CW 116 (-14.8)
HALF WAY! HALF WAY! Woohoo! i have done this before, but this was almost at my end goal. Looking forward to breaking my record of 300 hours.
I wouldn’t say I was bursting with energy, but certainly enough in the tank to accomplish everything I needed. I was just thinking how back in December before I started this WOL, I had less energy than I did today. This makes me more confident about Thursday.
I reached my BMI goal today of 34.9 Now low-risk obese. Can’t wait to get to 186 and be just overweight.
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Congratulations 
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Day 12 Hour 275
CW 215.4 (-15.4)
Since 12/29/19 I am down 60 lbs! Not bad for 22 weeks, actually quite miraculous. I am starting to feel comfortable and confident. I feel like I know when to listen to my body and when to have my body listen to me.
So fun to watch my fasting tracker now go the other direction. More elapsed than remaining. Looking forward to passing the 300 mark tomorrow. Going to cue the Rocky training music.
I have now sat with a few friends as they have had meals and it has not been awkward. But these are people who love me and support me. I used to be able to say, “I am not feeling so well, so I’m not hungry.” Since that pandemic this will make people uneasy. 
I am continuing my reading in the Bible about fasting. Notes available.
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Wow! That’s an excellent achievement, keep going, you are doing great. I can’t wait to be at the point where I have lost 60 pounds, I think I would do a backflip even though i don’t know how
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Day 13 Hour 299
CW 214.8 (-16)
I’m going to make it past 300 and head in to new territory. Still feeling good. We took a drive and walk in the mountains yesterday. I don’t feel energetic but I haven’t had to stop an activity yet. I was just thinking how little energy and motivation I had at 275 lbs. Literally there were days I thought I was dying (I was, slowly).
So thankful I found Dr. Fung who gave me the knowledge and encouragement I needed. Then as I learned more, finding @Yasemin and all of her first-hand experience has helped me push a little further with confidence, and organize, organize, organize. She is the Marie Kondo of Fasting. So thankful for @Compdude willingness to help and teach. I am so excited about the next days. Will my body continue to give me the green light? What will be the end result after refeed?
The thought of eating again is daunting. My why has changed as the days progress. Eating (not fasting) is where my big issues lies. I don’t want to go back to binging. I want to use food for fuel not entertainment or comfort. Don’t get me wrong, I can cook and I plan on making food taste and look good. But I want to control WHAT I eat.
I am going to go to clean eating OMAD. I have not eaten keto intentionally. I don’t count. I’m a strange one, I weigh myself everyday and track my highs and lows. As a woman, weight fluctuation is a fact of life. I have found if I weigh myself willy-nilly, I get discouraged, but when I can see the big picture I do a happy dance. However, tracking macros is only something I do occasionally(should I?) I plan on eating very low card, high fat and medium protein. Clean.
Homework: plan out refeed. I am thinking I will OMAD for 6/10 to 6/21 but then what? IF, EF, ExF. IF-omad, ADF, EF 3-7 days ExF 8 and beyond.
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It depends on your goals. Every body is different and you have to experiment. For example, during my 30-day workout phase I tried ADF/AF (Alternate Day Fasting) which is limiting calories to around 600 for males on “fast” day and unlimited on “feast” day. It didn’t work as muscles rebuild/repair for several days after a hard workout and 600 calories on fast day wasn’t cutting it. Found that a 20:4 TRE 2MAD works better for me. 20 hours of fasting with a 4 hour eating window beginning after my morning workout to take advantage of being the most highly insulin sensitive period of the day and eating 2 meals in the eating window. First meal is a small anti-inflammatory oriented meal and the second meal is my large main meal.
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Thank you! I will be doing my homework, make a plan, and adjust as I see what happens. You gave me a good starting place.
Day 14 Hour 323
CW 213.8 (-17)
Vertigo(minor), lethargy, general malaise all in the evening
I have now beaten my previous record. Yesterday evening was my hardest physical moment so far. My body told me to stop at about 6 pm. I ignored it. By 9 pm I was feeling run down and when I stood up I got vertigo and finally laid down. I lay in bed feeling the urge to quit.
But I am feeling good this morning. I am amazed that I haven’t had a single headache. I have had other strange symptoms. I have had something like hot flashes, but only in my body, not my head, I have had tingling in my feet. This intrigues me because my first 10-day fast took away my foot pain, plantar fasciitis. This is what made me a believer. Now I wonder what is going on. Healing? Hopefully. I have felt like the numbness has lessened but think it might be wishful thinking.
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The healing begins with refeed. I had the same happen when I was getting over my neuropathy caused by my diabetes.
Congratulations on the NEW record by the way. Nice achievement!
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I believe I have undiagnosed neuropathy. I have hidden this and not told a soul. I was pre-diabetic, but blood glucose normal now. (It goes down at the beginning of a fast and goes up in the middle. I assume because I am burning some stored sugar, yay!)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3652890/ Saving this article for later about nerves and IF. It was a little too academic for my brain power this morning. 2012 so a little old.
Been there. NIH studies are laborious to read through under the best circumstances. Why I’m glad to check my understanding with the professor at the USC medical school.
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All in all, not a bad day. Cooked for the family and did some moderate yard work. Did feel a little stomach discomfort after, maybe a little much.
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