My Water Fast Journal

[Quesara]

Absolutely! I think gradually building up also prevents you from upsetting your stomach too much, so that your body has time to wake up the digestive system that was previously shut down during fasting.

I would love to be able to have sweet potato and rice (congee) again after my refeed…I have emotional attachment to sweet potato congee as that is part of my childhood memory. I read that people generally go into OMAD and Keto after the fast and refeed, so still going low-carb. I wonder whether I would be able to slowly re-introduce starches (like rice and sweet potato) after the refeed period, whilst doing OMAD, without weight gain?

[Quesara]

Thanks for the great advice Bob! Do berries include strawberries though?

[Quesara]

Yes indeed that is a real issue. I have a good friend who is a doctor. Last time I did a 5-day water fast, he looked at me with disbelief and said, “you haven’t eaten in 5 days?! You must eat something! This is not good for your body.”

[Tenax]

Yes! Blueberries, raspberries, strawberries all good!

[Tenax]

Here’s how I look at it. According to Dr Fung, a cheat meal every once in awhile is not going to hurt you and the great thing about practicing fasting is you can then go into a fast right after. Your body will still be fat adapted, ready for that and keto again.

I finally understand why I could have 2 or 3 days of bad eating after doing keto and maintain or even lose my weight. My system was going in a good direction then I relentlessly pushed my body the other way until I became insulin resistant…again!

Insulin resistance is really what a lot of this is about. Thats why sweeteners are bad. Boost your blood sugar levels so much you become insulin resistant. And then you struggle to lose weight. Thats why even when I was eating only 700 calories per day, but using 6 packets of sweetener in coffee and tea, I couldn’t drop a lb!

[Compdude]

Well, every body is different and you take it to another level to how “metabolically flexible” is your body at this point. Metabolic flexibility refers to how easily can your body switch from glucose to adipose tissue (fat) for its primary source of energy. I should also point out that I’m blessed with a cast iron stomach.

Its the reason I was able to have shredded beef tacos by Day 3 of my ReFeed after the 40-day and a Roast Beef sandwich and fries at the end of Day 2 after my 1st 21-day.

You may want to check out this refeed guide put together by my friend Anna that she used after her 30-day and that Yas recommends:

REFEED TIPS - (Vegan/Vegetarian version) - by Anna

This is a modification of Yasemin’s refeed guide to suit vegans and vegetarians! Because of the forums Ketogenic focus, I’ve modified it to exclude high carb foods such as starches and legumes etc. Make sure to do your own research too on what suits you! (This could vary based on the length of your fast, your weight etc.) Day 1: 500-800 calories NO Vegetables high in fibre NO Tempeh, tofu, seitan NO Onions What to eat: Vegetable broth Vegetable soup Cooked veggies Vegetables high in wa…

[Tenax]

Yep my days of a cast iron stomach are gone. When I did my longest fast prior (2014), I had zero stomach issues past the typical first 3 days keto flu stuff. But that also predates my hiatal hernia and resultant GERD issues which got bad enough I have to be checked annually for cell mutations (pre-cancer) in my esophagous. Part of the reason for my extreme caution with it.

In any case, on to post fast journal Day 2:

Weight- 239 up from 238.2. Not surprised as I had an extreme drop, for me Sunday to Monday. (-1.8lb due to level of exertion, all in the hot sun.) Then the last 2 days I had just a few around the block walks. (Lack of energy is real). Today I’m back to work and it should be really busy so a good exertion day. I’ve got to push myself on days off to do longer walks.That’s all there is to it.

More importantly at this point, my GERD activity last night seemed to have quickly settled down. I still had a little heartburn before bedtime so I popped a few Tums to be on the safe side but nothing like the night before. I’m hoping by end of the week its a non issue.

Looking forward to my keto blood test check tomorrow!

[Quesara]

Day 5 completed.

Unlike other people’s experiences, day 5 was not easy for me. I did still feel hungry some of the time, and found myself completely drained and lack of any energy.

Whilst cleaning the bathroom and wiping the living room floor like Cinderella, I was already panting and a bit breathless. Although this could be due to my inactivity in the past 2 months, which drastically decreased my fitness level, I did feel a bit fainted after doing the housework. Also did 2 rounds of laundry in the evening, and after that, very little energy was left of me.

Some people reported having less need to sleep, yet that has not been the case for me at all. I found myself sleep a lot. Wish I my body would want to sleep less so I would have more time and energy to study for my exams and do my dissertation.

My current goal is to get to 7 days, and then I will see if I will feel good to extend it to 10 days.

[Tenax]

Yeah last time on 7 day and with this longer fast I never felt extra energy…nor did I sleep better from fasting. Everyone is different I guess. I haven’t been taking my tylenol nightime due to concerns about adding to upset stomach. Once I get my eating to regular pattern, I’ll reassess.

On the bright side I think my stomach is starting to feel better with food going back in. I decided to advance my plan a little and throw some veg soup into the gut this morning. It tasted wonderful! Smoothie for lunch after work.

[Compdude]

In my case, I never got the mythical energy boost during my 40 or 1st 21-day fast. I attribute that to my diabetes ravaged body. However, on the recentl completed 2nd 21-day I did get a mild energy boost. Also slept much better than the previous 2 prolonged fasts.

[Quesara]

Thanks Alipio! I am actually more concerned about regaining the weight than upsetting my stomach. Anna’s suggestion seems prudent, I will try to follow that when I am at the end of my fast.

[Quesara]

Hopefully your heart burn will fade! Keep us posted of your keto blood test

[Quesara]

I am really drooling for vegetable soup

[Quesara]

Thanks Alipio. I guess everyone is different, I will just have to stop comparing and wondering why I am not getting the supposed-to-happen energy boost

[Quesara]

Day 6 completed.

It was slightly less difficult than day 5, but I found myself extremely lethargic and yawning a lot - not great for studying. Difficult to concentrate, and had back pains. I wonder if some of these symptoms might be attributed to the fact that I am ovulating.

At some point when I was reading the messages on this forum on my phone, the images became flashy and blurry, as if someone was shaking my head. Also noticed twitching in my right thigh.

Cooked sausage and egg fried rice (pictured) for my husband. I did not feel the desire to eat, but I just miss food. Later in the evening, my husband cooked air-fried chicken legs - something that really made me want to have, but I know that is not due to physical hunger, but rather psychological.

Started to feel hungry and an empty stomach when it was near midnight. I am running out of ideas of how I can create different blends of herbal tea. So far I have had Greek mountain tea, Greek olive tea, tea made with dried hibiscus flower and dried orange peel, Greek thyme with Greek stevia leaf and mountain flowers, barley tea.

Haven’t had any bowel movements since day 2, despite the fact that I still religiously take probiotics every morning. Not sure if this is normal - which I gather is not.

[Compdude]

No. It can be normal if you have a healthy GI tract. On my last 21-day, my last bowel movement was Day 3.

[Tenax]

post fast journal day 3. 237.6lb, down 45.

blood ketone level 3.9. last week 4.8. not concerned as the difference is eating some carbs versus 0 now. stomach is generally better than while on the fast, thank god:) i had a good workout during work yesterday which helped propel the weight loss in spite of adding food and carbs. which just encourages me to try to get a longer walk on my days off. I enjoy walking, when I have the energy. I have not had energy during the fast or so far post fast. Until I start getting my calories up more, I don’t much on that front. I will jump my calories up on Saturday from 300 or less per day to 1200. so why am I only at 300? i really felt that soup and keto smoothies were the path for me on early re-feed. The lowest carb veg soup I could acquire was not keto though so the carbs were higher than I liked. In the end I want to be max 10-15 carbs per day after all this. otherwise, my focus at the moment is how I eat food. i grew up in a small family and table was minimal. we ate our food quickly and cleaned up so we could get to whatever we would do in the evening. yardwork, homework etc. i can’t remember how often my mom would say hurry up, how often my dad would say eat everything on your plate. then that bad habit of rushing to eat carried over into work, especially as once i started my desk job career, i ate at the desk a lot. either not paying attention to my eating. or rushing because i felt guilty, eating at work! i most recently realized how f’d up my eating was when i realized the incongruity between craving a meal so bad…then eating it so fast! so, my goal is to slow down and savour the flavour and texture of my food. its really a different experience for me to take my time eating.

[Quesara]

Thank you Alipio, that sort of relieved my concerns for the bowel movement.

Before the fast, despite the fact that I take prebiotics and probiotics on a daily basis, have greens powder as a a supplement and having vegetables in my meal, I was still chronically constipated. I have a Chinese physician in Taiwan (where I am originally from), whom I had been going to for years. To redress issues of my constipation and poor circulation of blood flow, I have to ask my mom to ship the Chinese medicine from my Chinese physician every 6 months now that I live in the UK.

Since starting the fast, I have stopped taking my Chinese medicine, hence I was a bit concerned about the bowel movement as such.

[Quesara]

Thanks for sharing your story Bob! It is incredible how our childhood experiences shape us to be the person we are today.

One thing I found that made me not want to binge eating and snacking at all was when I sit down with the whole family (I grew up with grandparents and uncles and aunts, we all lived together. So when mealtime comes, it was a big family eating together at a round table) and eat together with them. My grandma would usually cook up so many different dishes, so even when we all liked different things, we could all mix and match and pick the ones we liked to go with either rice or congee. But sadly that is simply not doable for me here in the UK, as it is just me and my husband. We like different things, and it’s just not practical or economical for me to cook the way my grandma did, especially with law school. Nor is my cooking skills that superb.

[Quesara]

Day 7 completed!!! Never thought I could come this far. I think I would want to extend it to 10 days.

It was easier today than the previous days, though I still suffer from dizziness and occasional hunger.

Late in the evening, around 10pm, after working on my dissertation continuously for 5 hours, I truly felt I needed to have something to make myself feel better as, at this point, no amount of water and herbal tea with Himalayan salt seemed to be working.

So I had miso soup (made with pure miso - about 1 tbsp - and water). It did make me feel so much better, though I am concerned if the miso would kick me out of ketosis or break my fast, since some people suggest that miso is too high in carbohydrate?