Looking good! Wow, 2 more days! I hope you feel better. 
S2E2 21-Day Water Fast Journal
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CONGRATS on reaching a big weight milestone !!! thats awesome
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2/9/20 - Day 20/21 - 480 Hours completed - FINAL COUNTDOWN: 1 Day to GO!
Weight loss: 1lb - Total 31lbs - (9lbs water - 22lbs fat)
Exercise: Rest
Energy Level 
(Range: 
Sucks, Good, 
Totally Excellent)
Book: Break - Total: 11 pages
Toastmaster International Contest Speech: Worked on integrating feedback from TM club
Mom’s BGL: not taken today
Congrats everyone on completing Day 20!
Day 20:
Yesterday was my TOUGHEST day so far on this particular journey. The information given by the Opthamoligist weighed heavy on me and combined with the fact I was exhausted from detoxing sent me down into a bout of depression. I didn’t have my daily walk as a remedy and I couldn’t focus mentally to do much writing. So I searched YouTube for help. The usual motivation/inspirational videos didn’t; appeal to me and then I came across this musical video which helped.
A bit of backstory.
As a kid my favorite toy growing up was my mom’s 45 record player. I learned about Elvis this way. My family’s pretty religious, I’m not so much. I was shaped by my father’s death when I was three. Specifically, at his funeral I looked down into the open coffin and realized he wasn’t sleeping. He was no longer there and I didn’t understand all the weeping and wailing around me. Why grieve when Dad was no longer here?
Anyway, I went to parochial school and then onto Catholic high school. It was run by the Franciscan order, a pretty liberal bunch as they were the monks who made Christian Brothers wine. My freshmen year they took us to go see Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar. Quite a revelation to a kid who went to service every morning and read the Bible every day in parochial school. After graduating h.s. I then continued my life’s journey and one legacy I kept from those movies is several songs that have helped me overcome the challenges life throws at us to help craft us into becoming who we really are.
Yesterday was one of those times. Here’s the song, By My Side, from Godspell. Besides the spiritual aspect, its considered a masterpiece from a lyrical, harmonic and musicality standpoint. Enjoy!
Exercise Plan:
1/21 - 2 mile walk
1/22 - 1 mile walk & LB Flexibility workout
1/23 - 2 mile walk
1/24 - 1 mile walk & LB Flexibility workout
1/25 - 2 mile walk
1/26 - 1.3 mile walk & LB Flexibility workout
1/27 - 2 mile walk
1/28 - Rest
1/29 - 1 mile walk & LB Flexibility workout
1/30 - 2 mile walk
1/31 - 1 mile walk & LB Flexibility workout
2/1 - 2 mile walk
2/2 - 1.3 mile walk @ LB Flexibility workout
2/3 - Rest:calendar:
2/4 - Rest - Involuntary
2/5 - 1 mile walk
2/6 - 1.6 mile walk
2/7 - Rest
2/8 - 1.6 walk to Opthamologist yesterday and rest
2/9 - Rest
2/10 - Rest
Namaste, have a wonderful day! See you tomorrow!
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2/10/20 - Day 21/21 - 504 Hours completed - FAST COMPLETE!
Weight loss: 1lb - Total 32lbs - (9lbs water - 23lbs fat)
Exercise: Rest
Energy Level (Range: Sucks, Good, Totally Excellent)
Book: Pages Done: 4 1/2 Total: 15.5 pages
Toastmaster International Contest Speech: Break
Mom’s BGL: not taken today
Congrats everyone on completing Day 21!
Day 21:
Felt much better today. Put the day to good use catching up on the days I missed writing due to detox fatigue. I’d write a couple of pages. Lie down and rest for an hour. Get up and do it again. Did some relaxing reading for a change. Decided to re-read the fantasy novel series Wheel of Time. Halfway through the first book, Eye of the World. Amazon Prime has begun production hoping that the Wheel of Time series will rival HBO’s Game of Thrones.
For today’s video, the Guest Speaker is famous College Basketball Coach, John Wooden. He’s the primary reason I chose UCLA to be my university of choice. While coaching at UCLA he won an unprecedented 10 national championships with 7 of those won in consecutive years. 88 game win streak over 4 years. More importantly he combined winning with teaching leadership to his players.
I aspire to be as great a leader and teacher as the man simply called, “Coach”.
Exercise Plan:
1/21 - 2 mile walk
1/22 - 1 mile walk & LB Flexibility workout
1/23 - 2 mile walk
1/24 - 1 mile walk & LB Flexibility workout
1/25 - 2 mile walk
1/26 - 1.3 mile walk & LB Flexibility workout
1/27 - 2 mile walk
1/28 - Rest
1/29 - 1 mile walk & LB Flexibility workout
1/30 - 2 mile walk
1/31 - 1 mile walk & LB Flexibility workout
2/1 - 2 mile walk
2/2 - 1.3 mile walk @ LB Flexibility workout
2/3 - Rest:calendar:
2/4 - Rest - Involuntary
2/5 - 1 mile walk
2/6 - 1.6 mile walk
2/7 - Rest
2/8 - 1.6 walk to Opthamologist yesterday and rest
2/9 - Rest
2/10 - Rest
Thank you all for deciding to join me in this journey. It’s my hope its provided you information and helped inspire you all on your own journeys. There will be a a Project de-brief entry after this one, FYI.
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2/11/20 Project De-Brief
21 Days I hit the weight loss goal I established for myself which was 32lbs. Went from 216lbs to 184lbs. Also for all you T2 diabetics out there my average BGL was 55, right in the middle of Normal. More importantly is the inches that have melted off. Down to 2 athletic shorts that don’t fall to my ankles when I walk!
Here are the lessons and observations from completing Phase 2 of the Six-Pack at Sixty Project.
-
The 21-day ReFeed and then subsequent 30-day Flexibility & Endurance workout phase physically helped me get through the fast. Until the final week, I was able to maintain my daily exercise routines.
Lesson: Important to Build Body back up between prolonged fasts. -
Having a Daily Checkoff List is a daily motivating factor. For me, just checking a box off a calendar is NOT enough. Checking off completing an action fits in more with my personality of accomplishing something I control more fulfilling. It also keeps positive pressure on me. For example, writing make up pages for days I couldn’t write for various reasons. Or for noting consequences for “stupid” decisions like how many days I couldn’t walk for breaking my own rule of staying within my limits for a daily walk.
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How important having a supporting community is for daily motivation and sharing information. I’ve learned so much from members here. I’m so grateful @Yasemin for allowing me to participate in this wonderful world she’s created for us.
Where do I go from here? There will only be 3 more entries for THIS Daily Journal, the 3 days of transition from Ketosis back to Glucose burning. There will be 8 more days on a ReFeed, for a total of 11 days approximately half of the 21-day fast, incorporated into the 1st 8 days of the new DJ covering what I’m calling “Core & Endurance.”
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Day 1 of 3 of Transition.
Weight gain: 6lbs - (6lbs water - 0lbs fat)
Exercise: Rest
Energy Level (Range: Sucks, Good, Totally Excellent)
Book: Pages Done: 2 Total: 17.5 pages
Toastmaster International Contest Speech: Break
Mom’s BGL: not taken today
ReFeed: Well I started out with the best of intentions … LOL. After the 40-day, I did a day and a half of only Veg & Beef soup before starting on solids. This time around that similar type of period lasted only one meal! I did my 2 cans of soup and surprisingly had to push myself to finish. Tells me my stomach capacity has shrunk which should not come as a shock looking at the Before & After pics. Anyway from here on out will reduce my soup meals to the equivalent of 1 can now. I say equivalent because starting tomorrow I’ll have the ingredients to make my own homemade soup after looking at all the YouTube vids out there on other people’s recipes.
4 hours later had a small meal of sale & vinegar chips, peanuts and walnuts. Made sure I chewed through everything carefully for the stomach. I set the Zero app to doing a 20:4. I was on track until attending a Toastmasters training meeting at 6:30pm.
I sat with a friend of mine, an engineer with one of the major utilities. Since engineers and software guys have the same type of mindset we’ve always gotten along and he’s given me lifts to places after our TM meetings on his way to work and in exchange I give him tips on project management. Anyway, he offered to buy me dinner and I couldn’t turn him down. The meeting was held at an IHOP which could have turned into a mini-disaster. I held off on ordering all the various types of pancakes loaded down with sugary goodness and had the IHOP version of a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich. In other words, a cheesy roast beef with onions sandwich with fries. Since eating sufficient protein to feed those stem cells as they convert to new cells is important, I felt good about my decision. However, once I got home I then added another small meal of peanuts and walnuts.
Consequence I added 5lbs in water weight from yesterday. This didn’t cause me to freak out as I know from the last 2 fasts that my body holds around 9lbs of water weight. Just didn’t expect to gain so much so soon. LOL. On the other hand, I feel strong and will do an approximate 3 mile walk today whereas after I did the 40-day I could only manage to walk a single residential block on my 5th day of ReFeed.
Writing: Had to review my daily journal entries on my personal FB page from the 14-day Potato Diet as I did that before this forum existed. Took down notes which were the 2 pages written yesterday. Will review them and write a chapter draft. What helps is that @Anna and I collaborated on an possible posting on the positive benefits of doing the Potato Diet breaking sugar/carb addiction before starting fasting from our differing experiences: she did it for 10 days while I did it for 14 days.
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2/12/20
Day 2 of 3 of Transition.
Weight gain: 6lbs - Water weight & New cells
Exercise: 3 miles
Energy Level (Range: Sucks, Good, Totally Excellent)
Book: Pages Done: 0 Total: 17.5 pages
Toastmaster International Contest Speech: Worked on transitions
Mom’s BGL: not taken today
ReFeed:
Yesterday, I walked 1.3 miles to my favorite pastrami chain, The Hat, here in SoCal. Had their famous pastrami dip sandwich. Then walked the .7 miles to WalMart to record my b.p. And weight and then home for a total of 3 miles. After resting a lot the final week of the fast, my body welcomed the exercise. However, it could’ve turned into a bad mistake. Reason is after an hour of working on the iPad, I got hit by a wave of fatigue. I believe because I was still transitioning from ketosis back to glucose burning. So just spent the rest of the day in bed taking little naps. Didn’t prevent me from a good deep sleep of 4 hours.
This morning had my 1st 
in 3 weeks. The process this time smoother than after the 40 days. No constipation though a bit sore back there since its been awhile. Appears the body’s handling the transition better this time.
Writing:
As noted in the previous section, was drained yesterday after the long walk. Thought about attempting to write my minimum 2 pages but decided against it as I had no energy for creative thought. Yes, it is ONLY the 1st draft. Yet, I want to make sure when I do write I’m able to give my best effort.
Speaking:
The contest speech is coming along nicely. I should be performing this new version at tomorrow’s TM meeting. The 1st round of the World Championship in my area is on February 29th and I’ve secured transportation. Looking forward to it.
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2/13/20
Day 3 of ? of ReFeed & ReBuild
Weight gain: 5lbs - Water weight & New cells
Exercise: .6 mile (walk to TM club will get ride back home)
Energy Level (Range: Sucks, Good, Totally Excellent)
Book: Pages Done: 0 Total: 17.5 pages
Toastmaster International Contest Speech: Performing later this morning
Mom’s BGL: not taken today
NOTE: Was mistaken that the low energy I began experiencing during afternoons beginning yesterday was due to the transition from ketosis to glucose. It’s due to the energy my body’s demanding for the conversion of stem cells to new cells. This morning was waken around 3am by extreme hunger and luckily had 2 cans left of Vegetable and Beef soup. That took the edge off. Will be going to Costco late afternoon/early evening to restock my grocery stores which can’t get here soon enough. I have peanuts, walnuts and enough to make a cheese burrito or two to help me hold on until then.
As a result I’m changing the timeline and revising my project plan. Until my energy levels tell me different I will remain in ReFeed & ReBuild for the foreseeable future. This is fine as I have a 14-day buffer at the end that I can chew into. I’ll post a REVISED project plan when appropriate.
Writing:
Body sucking up all energy for stem cell conversion.
Speaking:
Did the final revisions in my head while lying in bed. Now its just “let go” and focus on being present with the audience when I perform later this morning.
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I’m glad you’re listening to your body! I hope you’ll have enough energy later on and that your performance goes well! Good luck! 
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The performance went well. Everybody appreciated the changes based on the feedback from last time. Of course, now I have to integrate new feedback for the final polish. 1st competition is only 16 days away!
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2/14/20
Day 4 of ? of ReFeed & ReBuild
Weight gain: 2lbs - Water weight & New cells
Exercise: Rest
Energy Level (Range: Sucks, Good, Totally Excellent)
Book: Pages Done: 0 Total: 17.5 pages
Toastmaster International Contest Speech: Performance went well. Got more feedback for final polish
Mom’s BGL: 140
Yesterday and last night was tough as a lot of confusing signals at cross purposes fighting it out. Body wanted to exercise as I’ve been doing a lot of resting but no energy as body still in stem cell conversion. What’s something new is how ravenous I’ve been for good food and then it processing it out of my body quickly. Case in point is I’ve had 4 bowel movements in the last 2 days! I don’t think my metabolic rate has been that fast since my late teens and early 20s. What that means to me is that the last 2 prolonged fasts have really healed and gotten my G.I. Tract healthy.
After napping most of the morning, I think I’m finally coming out of this phase. However, hands and feet still a bit stiff with the after effects of having elevated uric acid levels during the last fast. I’m looking at one more day and hopefully I can start the delayed Core & Endurance workout phase.
Writing:
Had to postpone again.
Speaking:
The updated speech went over very well yesterday morning. One member marveled that I had completely re-wrote the presentation. It felt good. There remains a final re-phrasing of the lesson line in the finale and cleaning up transitions between dialogue scenes and narrative ones. But I have 15 days to do that before the 1st round starting Feb 29th.
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Your fasting journey is really an inspiration. I have a lot of health challenges as well and hoping to lose weight and also improve my conditions at the same time.
I am very much housebound 90 percent of the time and bedbound until evening.
I have m.e/cfs, fibromyalgia, and hypermobility syndrome, also have ibs, hiatus hernia. My fatigue is debilitating and I also suffer with chronic pain all over. Doctors have not been much help as they say there is no cure etc.
I have been ill for almost 20years, before that I was slim and an exercise finatic and loved working out everyday. Now my body react terribly to exercise and basically puts me in bed as punishment lol.
I am doing low carb/keto and preparing to fast more. I also plan on doing the extended fast on the 1st of March and hope to do some shorter fasts before then and build up myself. I just wanted to share a little bit about myself incase someone is well versed on my conditions.
I have done a lot of research on m.e and fibromyalgia so I know a lot about these illnesses and I know recovery is almost impossible but I am not a quitter and will overcome it in time. Also I put on 80 pounds since being ill and it doesn’t seems to matter that what I eat I have not been able to lose the weight. I lose a little and then it goes back on. Most people with m.e and fibromyalgia are overweight as it affects the metabolism and also insulin etc.
One way or another I will succeed 
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Thank you for the compliment. It helps motivate me to keep writing.
@anna do you know anything that pertains to the relationship between the healing aspects of fasting and the challenges this member is facing? I’ll query the endocrinologist at USC as this is out of my limited area of expertise.
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2/15/20
Day 6 of 6 of ReFeed & ReBuild
Weight gain: 5lbs - Water weight & New cells
Exercise: Rest
Energy Level (Range: Sucks, Good, Totally Excellent)
Book: Pages Done: 0 Total: 17.5 pages
Toastmaster International Contest Speech: Worked on alliteration, dialogue and narration transitions, and closing statement
Mom’s BGL: Unknown
Had a burst of energy around 11pm. Instead of tossing and turning, I rustled up a cup of herbal tea and a croissant and worked on my contestant speech for an hour. Afterwards I had a very restful sleep of 6 hours. Last night’s burst of energy was a true harbinger of my energy levels making a comeback. I could have walked this morning. Instead decided to delay one more day. Also again this morning. Can’t wait to see what my energy levels will be tomorrow since I’ll commit to starting the Core & Endurance phase then.
Writing:
Postponed again. However, did watch a couple of agents discuss the mandatory parts of a query letter this morning on YouTube.
Speaking:
Polished the alliteration portions. Fine-tuned the transitions. Still struggling with the closing statement.
Have a gr8 day folks!
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2/16/20
De-brief of ReFeed & ReBuild Phase
Weight gain: 0 - Finally plateaued after gaining weight each day since I ended the 21-day fast
Exercise: 1 mile walk
Energy Level (Range: Sucks, Good, Totally Excellent)
Book: Pages Done: 0 Total: 17.5 pages
Toastmaster International Contest Speech: Break
It was a challenge to start my daily walking again. The reason was some toes in the left foot and both ankles were stiff. I just focused on the fact that getting the blood circulating again will speed the process of getting rid of these arthritic side effects left over from the fast. Had to take frequent breaks, not for aerobic endurance, but to give my aching joints a break.
Energy levels are almost back to normal. That combined with the fact that this is the first day, after 3 consecutive days of morning and evening bowel movements, that I haven’t had the need for a bowel movement tells me that the stem cell conversion process is almost done.
The main lesson I’ve learned after 2 ReFeeds after 2 prolonged water fasts is NOT to underestimate how much time and energy the body requires to convert those stem cells into new cells. After the 40-day it took 21 days for the ReFeed & ReBuild and for this recent 21-day, 6 days. So I’ve revised the project timelines.
Also, after having originally allocated only 3 days for this ReFeed & ReBuild scheduled and revising that, I also had to dump my original goal of doing some sort of fasting schedule during the ReFeed. Nope. My body was demanding calories for the ReBuild and I decided that was more important at this point in the project timeline since I still have 4+ months to go. So for the remaining 2 ReFeeds will NOT follow any fasting schedule during those phases.
NOTE: This is the FINAL entry in this journal. My journey continues in S2E3 Core & Endurance Workout Journal
Ok, my endocrinologist got back to me. Unfortunately, he couldn’t add anything to what you already know besides acknowledging you’re in a tough situation. However, he does agree that losing the weight should improve your symptoms.
Sorry I couldn’t help more.
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Thank you so much Compdude. Yes it is very tough indeed. I will keep trying to lose weight with keto, intermittent fasting and prolong fast. Hopefully I will lose a good amount of weight this year.
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