Intro : Hello everyone. My name is Ryan. I’ve been getting into health for the past couple years and really got into fasting through the Snake Diet guy on YouTube. I realize his methods and videos aren’t for everyone, but he’s the one that really got me into prolonged fasting so I look up to him to this day. Over the past couple months I went from one of my best physiques at about 150 lbs to a gross 170 lbs. I’ve just been a fatty eating everything in sight practically with no regards to the consequences, and I would have put on far more weight more than likely if I wasn’t as active as I am. Thankfully my highest weight ever in my life has been 175, and I haven’t gotten to there in a few years. I can pretty easily maintain a 150-155 weight for months as long as I don’t pig out, so after I’m cut for the summer I probably will plan to get back up to 150 or so. I haven’t thought that far ahead though yet to be honest.
Why : Why am I doing this? I am actually doing it for a plethora of reasons actually. The first reason, let me be completely honest with myself, is to get ripped. I wanna get under 140lbs for the first time in my life (and if I’m too lean there I can always gain a couple pounds back. I’m sure I’ll put on a little weight post-fast from water and everything anyways). I have a shorter timeframe to do this. I really wanna look good at my community pool, but more than anything I have to be this cut by the end of August for my beach trip with friends. Off of the weight loss topic alone, I also want to develop some serious self-discipline. I was extremely tough mentally in 2019 in my own opinion, as I had just gotten through a hard break-up. The longest fast I did was 6 and a half days. I plan to blow that out of the water today, no puns intended. I also want to develop a closer connection to myself and with God. Finally, I want to fully detoxify my body, and heal some mild skin issues I’ve been dealing with for the past few years on my face.
Long term goal: I long-term want to develop some serious self-development and discipline in all aspects of my life, and this is definitely one of the most serious ways to do that I believe. I also want to show my friends and family the power that fasting has, how quickly you can lose weight and how it can heal issues you have. More than anything I also want to somewhat keep the weight off, however I plan to build a ton of muscle once the fall comes around by lean bulking and getting strong. I also want to become more spiritually connected with God, which I’ve heard fasting helps.
Short Term Goal: It’s pretty funny to hear someone say their short term goal is to lose weight, as that’s usually someone’s long term goal. Yes, my short-term goal is to get either cut abs lean or get under 140 lbs. Whichever one comes first I plan to stop just after getting. I also have a short term goal of clearing up my face, detoxing, and moving to 2MAD after the fast is over. I also really wanna fit into my small t-shirts and have the mediums be big on me again.
Struggles I’ve faced in the past: I’ve been refraining from going out with friends or hanging out for the past couple months as even though I’m not even close obese I don’t feel comfortable with myself being this overweight and having blown up like this. I feel like I’m obese even when I’m not. There’s some clothes I have that don’t fit and it feels awful knowing I’m too big to fit into them, which is probably the worst. I’m also known as the gym-rat and nutrition fit guy around my friends so the fact that I blew up like this I absolutely hate. I’ve had comments from my family about my acne on my face I’ve gotten, and had a comment from my manager in regards to the red rash I have on my face due to inflammation (which I’ve noticed really flare up due to eating processed junk like cereal particularly). My mother also said my teeth look like they’ve gotten more yellow recently, and had even admitted that the fasting I did made them super white before. I also hope to help heal an issue with my elbow that I’ve gotten from overtraining, though I do plan to keep exercising plenty during this fast, just won’t overdo it on the cardio.
Game Plan: As I said, I AM going to fast either until I get under 140 or I complete 21 days fasted. I plan to maybe throw some dry fasting in at the tail end of the fast also to really get some autophagy revved up to the next level. After I’m done with the fast I plan to break it slowly with some bone broth, and then later in the day 3 eggs cooked in half a tablespoon of butter, less than 500 calories. The next day I’ll probably have some fish and eggs cooked in butter, just under 1000 calories, the third day probably some ground bison in beef tallow and eggs, under 1500 calories, and continue until I’m at 2500 calories by the end of the refeed week. I’ll then work on keeping my bodyweight maintained at that bodyweight so that I can make it my new bodyfat setpoint, and I won’t put on 10 pounds in 3 days at the beach at the end of August, or god forbid before. I’ll incorporate carbs back into the diet if I’m maintaining well at the end of July.
How do I feel right now? I feel a little bit scared to be honest of this daunting task. The longest I’ve ever fasted was 6 and a half days, so it’s kinda a big feat, and I just wanna make sure I can maintain after during the refeed. I am also excited though to FINALLY do this and I’m so happy I found this website as I think it’ll give me the extra motivation needed to finally kick myself in the ass and lose all the weight haha. I’M DOWN FOR THIS CHALLENGE!
How will I feel once I achieve my goal? It’ll be surreal. I’ve never had cut abs in my entire life, not once as I wasn’t a chubby kid but I wasn’t active either so I was just skinny as a child. I think I’ll be ecstatic, I can barely imagine it. On the downside I’m sure I’ll be slightly weaker in the gym, but that’s what to worry about later. I’ll gain my strength back through lean bulking and keeping a majority of my muscle during the fast due to fasting being anti-catabolic for muscle (as opposed to calorie deficits). I will feel extremely clean as well, fully detoxed with sound mind. Finally, I’ll feel like I have the discipline to take on the world. If I can get through this, I can get through anything.
Daily Affirmation: When you put your mind to something, you’re unstoppable. In the words of the great stoic Marcus Aurelius: “If it’s endurable, then endure it.”