May 14th Start 7-Day Fasting Challenge

[Tenax]

Thank you. Your post motivates me more! I think the key for me going forward will be to continue my keto lifestyle & occasional fast journey because:

It allows me to have a cheat meal without guilt. If I wanted to eat out once per week, why not? One cheat meal won’t kick me out of ketosis. Its not that cut & dried a situation. And I could plan an immediate nect day or a day later fast.

Its an old story but find something to do if I’m bored or depressed rather than mcdonalds or a pint of ice cream. I hate the gym…but I don’t mind walks with tunes playing & find me a handyman project & I’m in heaven. I spent 2 days this week stripping some outdoor chairs I found for my daughter. Love it!

Keep finding & creating great keto recipes! In the past I’ve been guilty of buying 3 or 4 different things & eating nothing else. Recipe for disaster!

There’s a no namebut familiar actor who made entertainment news last month for how he’s lost weight & buffed up (I think he’s in the new movie The Hunt). Anyway he said how he did it successfully with his emotional & mental ties to food. He said he had to start to view eating as simply a mechanical function required by the body. I get his point, don’t want to go that far as I think its important to take time to enjoy your food…savor the taste. I need to turn the tv off and eat slow. TV on I forget & eat fast. Easy to do when you are single too.

Lastly cravings…thats where eating fat to sate our appetite comes in. Your cravings can go away & like someone said, a lot of the carbs & food they used to eat is just like cardboard to them now. Just no reaction when they see it. I get that. For example, I’m thinking I would love some chinese takeout, but then I think I have a great keto recipe…or that idea (cause its not a craving) passes. It used to be a craving for me would become an all consuming desire that would gnaw at me until I did it. Addiction, anyone?

[Clara]

The latter half of day 4 and the morning of day 5 were horrible. I had muscle sores all day and night and couldn’t sleep. I was working out every day on this fast but I was so tired yesterday and today that I couldn’t do it so I went for walks instead. Thankfully both walks did the trick to tire me out and I fell asleep at home right after even though it wasn’t at nighttime.

I might not make it to day 7 though. People say that you get mental clarity during this fast and I do feel the energy slightly but not enough for me to get up and study unfortunately. I’m also feeling very weak still. Like walking up and down the stairs of my house make me tired. I have a big project I need to do and I’ve been pushing it since I thought these pains would go away. If they don’t, i’m going to have to stop tmr night so I can work on it.

[NOLALady]

@Jewell I don’t mind at all. Yep! I’ve watched a lot of Cole’s videos. He can take some getting used to but that’s where I learned about the electrolyte mix.

Thank you for that video. I love the Impact Theory and David Goggins.

The journal really helps. I look forward to each day when I document how I feel.

Have a great weekend as well!

[Yasemin]

Yes, journalling is a very fundamental part of fasting because it really helps with the mental side which is far more important in this journey, since it’s where all the momentum comes from!

Keep up the journaling as for electrolytes, all you really need is a sprinkle of salt in your water as well as optional potassium & magnesium tablets!

Sodium - Dizziness, Headaches
Potassium - Heart health and muscle cramps
Magnesium - Trouble sleeping and muscle cramps

Other: for acid reflux/heartburn you can mix 0.5 oz of Apple Cider Vinegar with 1-2 oz of water and drink to close your esophageal valve and solve the root cause of acid reflux!

keep it up!!

[Tenax]

Hey Yasemin. You said mix water with water? Tee hee😃

[artemisia]

The rest of Day 2: I went for a long walk to get myself out of the apartment. I was surprised that all of the good smells coming from coffee shops and restaurants (even during quarantine) didn’t tempt me. Coffee shops, especially local ones, are my biggest weakness when I’m out and about. My brain basically went “yup, that’s food. Moving on…”

When I got back home, I felt really worn out. I wouldn’t describe it as tired or weak, just “out of fuel”. I took a nap for a few hours, woke up to a grumbling stomach, and distracted myself with work/projects that didn’t require too much energy. Had a little pinch of Himalayan salt in the evening.

Day 3: I slept later than I usually do, but I didn’t wake up feeling hungry. My legs and arms feel tired — but nothing else. Weird! Otherwise I feel fine — no headaches, no grumbling stomach, no craving for food. I added magnesium and potassium to my morning meds and vitamins, which is probably helping a lot. It’s raining today, so I plan on taking care of projects around the apartment (as long as I have the energy for it) and preparing for the workweek (fortunately, I am working from home due to quarantine).

This is the longest I’ve ever fasted for at this point, so I feel really determined to stay with it to the end!

[Jewell]

Thanks for sharing, @Tenax! It’s clear that you’ve put a lot of thought into this, and all of your perspectives make a lot of sense to me. I do think it’s key to shift from a ‘diet’ mentality to a ‘nutrition’ mentality-- in other words, how will I set up my lifestyle to support the healthy changes I’d like to make and sustain for my body?

I especially like that fasting can become a part of our lifestyles, and I hope that I can integrate it weekly. The health benefits and mental reset that this could offer seem certainly worth it to me…

I’m with you on your perspective with that actor you mentioned. It is a useful shift, to understand that food serves a functional purpose in our bodies. I’m also a fan of enjoying the many enjoyable aspects of that functionality. It’s amazing to share a meal with people we love, and many foods are just damn delicious.

Hope you have a great weekend!

[Jewell]

Totally understandable @Clara, and I’m sorry it’s been so physically tough on your body. Not getting sleep is literally the worst…

Take care, and whatever you determine is necessary for your bod and for what is required of you for school, I hope you feel proud of what you’ve done!

[Jewell]

Checking in! I hope everybody is doing well so far.

I’m feeling good today, this marks the start of day 6 (and the longest I’ve ever fasted!). The last few days I’ve had some black coffee in the morning to help with focus for work projects, but today I’ve opted out-- which feels nice, as I think the caffeine actually has a negative effect on me-- shakiness, acidic digestive tract, etc.

It’s been interesting in the last few days to note the contrast for how I feel mentally (AMAZING) vs. physically (weak as shit ). I wonder if this contrast will continue. Hunger is not really a strong feeling, but feeling so weak/dizzy is not that sweet.

My original plan has been to fast ~14 days, May 12-25. I’ve allowed myself a potential refeed halfway through, which would be tomorrow on the 18th. The ability for the refeed has to do with a bit of intimidation about the effects of long-term fasting on hormones and sleep, since I haven’t ever fasted for that long previously. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next 24 hours, and what I decide to do. Aside from the physical weakness, I actually feel ok-- I can focus mentally when I need to, I’ve been getting enough sleep at night, and I think hormonally I’m ok. A part of me thinks a refeed would be actually to just REALLY ENJOY A MEAL and then get back on the wagon. Which would be ok too, though it’s not totally necessary.

If anyone has some thoughts, would love to hear them! Best of luck to everyone.

[Yasemin]

Hahahaha just fixed it thank you! Imagine That’s the solution 0.5 water and 0.5 water no I meant 0.5 oz of apple cider vinegar with some water 1-3 oz!

[Yasemin]

Amazing!!! Keep it up

[Yasemin]

Jewell you’re really a shining star! Your commitment with posting and check-ins shows how successful you will be!!! I’m putting posting the May 21st thread soon too! If you feel good, feel free to extend!!

[artemisia]

Rest of Day 3: I crashed pretty hard by the afternoon — I felt weak (but not tired enough to sleep), and like I was rapidly cycling through the stages of grief for some reason. I wasn’t hungry or craving any foods; I just felt bad in a general sense. I ended up going to bed around 6pm and woke up this morning at 8.

Day 4: I woke up feeling weak, achy, and mentally slow. Salt and potassium have helped somewhat, but I still feel overall bad. Again, not hungry. I keep reminding myself that I’ve passed the halfway point. I hope that work will keep me distracted throughout the day (although I’m finding it really difficult to concentrate).

I’ve lost about 8 lbs since this time last week. I have an overall goal to lose about 30 lbs to get back down to my racing weight, but it’s not really the focus of this fast (which is more about getting more in tune with what my body needs vs. what my brain thinks it needs).

I run marathons so I’m no stranger to long bouts of suffering, haha. I haven’t been running much since quarantine started since the year’s racing season has basically been canceled. I’m also not running while fasting, because the two aren’t especially compatible (you need to take in nutrition during super long runs).

I was daydreaming about cooking — but not eating — this morning. Weird, huh? I won’t post any details since it might be too tempting for some folks, but lol it was weird.

[Jewell]

Thanks so much, @Yasemin, but really a big shout out to you-- gathering and facilitating this community is a huge gift to all of us who get to participate, so thank you! The community here helps so much with accountability as well as inspiration-- so many inspiring stories of strength and healing here.

To be forthcoming with the group, I decided yesterday to do a refeed today. Then I’m jumping back into a fast, hoping to go from this evening until the evening of the 25th (sorry my dates are offset from the dates of the group challenges). I feel really good about the decision for a refeed; I’m not sure if it was mental or physical, but by the time I walked out of the market yesterday with some food for this refeed, I was nearly passing out-- or nearly throwing up, my body couldn’t seem to decide which was most appropriate. I’m very gratefully drinking/eating some plant based foods today, and looking forward to hopping back in.

Does anyone have perspectives on detox during extended fasting, and any ways to support the process? I’m guessing that’s what yesterday was about.

Hope everyone is doing well!

[Yasemin]

Of course!!! I built this forum to help everyone share their experiences on a common platform!!! And I wanted a daily journal section so everyone can create their own personal thread!

Refeed and then continuing is perfect!!

[JJ_Rdz]

Hi, i been wondering to take this challenge again, but the resistance comes to me often.

What do you struggle the most when fasting? Would you consider that your election to do fasts its only for the weight benefits? Do you know a tool that mixes fasting, meditation and awareness?