You seem very resourceful. I’m sure you will figure it out! Even sitting here this morning, the warrior in me wants to keep fasting. Easy to say now with no current heartburn. But because I really gave breaking fast thought for 2 days, I came to the conclusion maybe just as well. Sooner or later I have to start the real challenge…living a long term keto intermittent fasting life. So I’m excited about that next step too!
My Water Fast Journal
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Thank you @Tenax for the recipe!
That is such an achievement on your part, especially with your condition! Congratulations! I hope the GERD issue will not be persisting and that you will feel much better.
I read that Dr Jason Fung suggested that refeed to be half of your fasting length - how long do you intend to do the refeed?
I have been researching about refeed strategies, and some doctors cautioned against consumimg meat, dairy and starches during the refeed. Instead, they suggested green juices, plant protein powder, fermented drink, fermented veg, sprouts, berries, bone broth and steamed vegetables during the first half of the refeed, and gradually introduce nuts, avocado, olive oil etc during the second half of refeed. The thought that I wouldn’t be able to have meat, eggs, yoghurt and some cheese during refeed is a bit discouraging, though I definitely wouldn’t want to gain the weight back that I worked so hard to lose by not doing the refeed correctly.
What are your thoughts and experiences on refeed?
So sorry to hear that Alipio. You are such a warrior, I so admire your strong will and power of execution of completing consecutive extended water fast. I cannot imagine how you keep up all the positivity and get to 40 days with the underlying conditions - you are such a strong fighter.
I can’t even contemplate anything beyond 7 days (which is my current mini goal, and I will see whether I feel ok to extend it to 10 days next). I saw people writing about how day 5 was much better for them, but somehow it didn’t feel that way for me 
I have zero refeed experience so I’m going to go by the Refeed 101 guide here I think. I note Compudude brought up the half days refeed which makes sense to me but when I read his post 40 day refeed it doesn’t look like he took his own advice? 
Regardless seems different for everyone. Today I had a keto strawberry smoothie. 300 calories, 5 carbs. I’m thinking I will do that for 3 days, then transition into chicken vegetable soup mixed with broth for 3 days (Largely because I couldn’t easily find low carb soup at my local grocery stores) The mix will bring it down to about 9 carbs a serving. Again minimal calories. Then I will have lettuce with low carb dressing for 1 day, then add cheese the 2nd, then add bacon the 3rd. That will be 9-10 days in and then its bacon and eggs with appropriate veggie and my taco casserole.
I must admit, regarding the smoothies and soup and low calories I’m kind of trying to do a “dirty fast”. Trying to avoid regaining any weight as much as possible coming out of the fast.
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Its like anything else you build up to it. After the 14-day program to break my sugar/carb addiction, I spent 11 days doing IF and OMAD. Then a series of 4, 5 & 7 day fasts. Only after I recruited the endocrinologist from the USC Medical School, who was interested in IF for his clientele of T2 diabetic & cancer patients, because my Primary physician was skeptical did I feel confident enough to tackle the Big Boss Challenge of the 40-day.
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Yeah a build up on refeed makes perfect sense to me. For someone like me with stomach issues and far from young enough to be eating a pizza at midnight anymore, I will def ease into it. Certainly no harm doing so.
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Sounds like a good plan! Thank you for sharing with me - I have so much to learn!
I have the exact same concern as you - that I don’t want to regain any weight after the fast.
Let me know how that plan goes for you!
I do feel support from your doctor/physician is important, sadly it’s not something I would have access to, especially now with the lockdown.
Nobody can go to the doctors or hospitals here in London (UK) now. Everyone is required to call 111, and then they will decide whether you can go to the doctors or whether they will send somebody to do a swab test on you for covid-19.
Exercise is restricted to one form of exercise, once per day, the time spent outside needs to be kept to a minimum, and exercise can only be done as close to where you live as possible (so can’t drive/travel by public transport to the park to exercise).
Since I won’t have any access to the doctor, I wonder if there are signs that I should look out for, according to your experience?
Will do. Btw, you’ll see online a number of layman people who suggest fruit, fruit juice or specifically watermelon thinking so much water in it is good. But they all have a ton of bad sugar. Only fruit we should eat is easy to remember…berries! (Still in moderation of course)
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Even if you have a doctor you can go to, are they equipped to guide you through a fast? Or open to the idea of fasting at all? As Dr Fung says in his book, in all his years of training to be a Dr, he never got more than 4 hours of lecture time on nutrition. If I could afford it, I would find a local nutritionist who has a strong background on fasting. I used to have a great gym coach who was also a nutrionist. Even so, I can’t see her being a fan of fasting. There’s such a stigma against it. Even against keto!
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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?
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Thanks for the great advice Bob! Do berries include strawberries though?
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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.”
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Yes! Blueberries, raspberries, strawberries all good!
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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!
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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:
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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