Simple Self Experimentation

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How much water your muscles are retaining after exercise could be it. Bladder isn't full - the weight readings are always straight after waking post-bathroom. But I did play a round of golf yesterday, which is the first exercise I've done for a couple of days. Anyway it's one day - will see what happens over the next 5. Half way there!
 
Water only fast (can I still call it that now I've added sodium and potassium?):

Starting weight: 90.3kg
Day 2 morning: 88.8kg
Day 3 morning: 87.6kg
Day 4 morning: not recorded
Day 5 morning: 86.1kg
Day 6 morning: 86.2kg
Day 7 morning: 85.2kg (today)

Back on the down trend. No exercise yesterday seemed to knock off the water weight build up from the day before. I think I'd rather exercise and keep the water weight going forward - it's going to come back post-fast anyway. Surprisingly exercise hasn't seemed any more difficult to date - there's been zero fatigue outside the usual, if anything I have slightly more energy. The elevated heart rate has gone now but it still feels like it's beating slightly heavier than usual. I'm not sure whether that's real or just because I'm hyper-alert about it after day 4. It's really the only signal I'm getting from my body that it's doing something unusual. Hunger hasn't intensified at all yet.

4 days to go.
 
Day 9 morning: 83.9kg

2 days left, minimum. Bit of acid reflux this morning. Strange symptom without eating? Otherwise everything fine.
 
You need to begin planning how you will end your fast, usually if you return to normal eating immediately, stomach cramps etc. will result. A slow return to food is needed, Broth is usually a good first meal.
 
Yeah I was thinking protein shake to start. Then some veggies a few hours later. Maybe some fish a few hours after that. Just ease into it. Is there anything specifically to avoid other than just eating too much too fast?
 
Day 10 morning: 83.3kg

7kgs down already. I didn't see this coming. Will be interesting to see how much comes back.

My calves are very twitchy this morning - usually means a cramp is close. I'm going to assume that's a magnesium issue as I've been supplementing potassium. I'm not going to buy a packet of magnesium tablets just for 1-3 extra days. And I don't have a bath for epsom salts. Should I just break it now or is there some quick fix magnesium I can take for a day or so that won't cost me a fortune or break the fast?
 
I got some epsom salts and decided just to fill up the bin so I can fit my calves in there. Hopefully that staves off the cramps long enough until I'm happy to finish the fast.
 
Day 11 morning: 82.8kg.

7.5kg (16.5 lbs) down. I've just about wiped out the entire 80s already. This was going to be the end of the fast but I've decided to push on another day or 2, or until I get cramps in which case I'll end it immediately. I have a huge lunch on Sunday so can't really push it any further than that.
 
Day 12 morning: 82.6kg

Weight loss slowing down. I'll give it one more day. 300 hours is a nice round number.

I'm not sure I could digest anything solid now if I wanted to so refeeding will be interesting. I might have to make the first day all liquid. Then maybe just fruit/veg/nuts for most of day 2. Finish with a tin of salmon or something and see how it goes. Then start building back to normal meals on day 3 and hopefully ready for the big lunch come Sunday.
 
Thanks Bianca - that's very kind of you!

But I think things like this seem much more difficult before you actually try them. The hunger doesn't increase at all as you go along. If anything, it starts going away, because when you smell the pizza as you walk past the restaurant you immediately realize there's no way you could stomach it even if you wanted to. Even the stuff I have in the house like the Ben and Jerry's triple caramel ice cream tub, which has never lasted more than a day in my house before, isn't something I want right now because I know it will just make me sick. So the temptations disappear more quickly now than they did early on. I think once you get past a certain threshold - maybe 4 days - the rest is easier and the combination of the weight loss + the unknown about how to refeed properly makes it easy to keep procrastinating about it and put it off for another day.

That said, while it's probably a useful exercise to try for overweight people, just checking out your diary - I can't imagine anyone would recommend it for you!
 
I tried water fasting in the past. I did a couple of 3 -4 days and sometimes it did reset my bad eating habits. I only found it easy once but I did a lot of cardio on those days. I guess I came into ketosis a lot faster and did not have to deal with the transition phase too long. I really enjoyed that fast. I fasted 2 times for about 6 days and it was very unpleasant. The first time I continued to drink coffee (just black) and tea and the second time I was just lying around and my BF kept me from eating because I told him to hold me back. I also had a lot of online support but it was very unpleasant.
After my longer fasts I binged- basically the very first time I started eating again. Destroying everything. I did not fast since then but I am thinking about it. I need to get away from snacking first, getting used to 3 meals a day, then 2 meals and probably 1.

I have only eaten twice today but a HUGE amount of nuts and yoghurt so that I am still full after 6 hours past eating. Not good. I really need to get used to not overeaten and recognize my hunger clues. I hope that fasting would help with that. It did in the past...

What do you plan on breaking your fast with?
I made bone broth and blended some fruits and veggies- before I binged.
For the shorter fasts, I just had a regular meal and ate it slowly.

I would just make sure that the Sunday thing does not get you in a bad habit again- it would be a potential problem for me..
 
That's interesting - what made the 6 day fasts unpleasant? Was it hunger or other things?

We don't really have broth here. We have vegetable stock which you mix with boiling water to make something sort of similar but not the same. I'm really not sure how to break it. I might just have juice for a day, then a more normal diet the 2nd day but eaten slow, in small doses and more meals. Then build it up to something approaching normal the 3rd day. Sunday lunch will be big - appetizers, huge meal, desserts, beer, wine - the whole kit and kaboodle with most of it unhealthy. So I need to be ready to go for that. I'm not too worried about it setting me down a bad path - those social occasions I'm always going to splash out and enjoy to the fullest - it's one of the great parts of life. Back home I can always adjust to allow for it. And I know now if worse comes to worse I can always fast fairly comfortably.
 
Starting weight: 90.3kg
300 hours later: 82.1kg.
Total weight loss 8.2kg (18lbs) before refeeding.

Really it's only a social event coming up which my body needs to be ready for that's going to bring me out of the fast today. As I sit here now, I have no desire for food and no physical reason not to continue.

Anyway, I bought some vegetable juice, watermelon and a few soups for the next day or so. I'm planning on slowly re-introducing solids in the 2nd half of day 2 with veggies and salmon and see how that goes. Hopefully back to normal by the end of day 3 because I'll need to be for Sunday.
 
Hi Holloway,

So you breaking the fast tomorrow or already now? Let us know how it goes.

I do not know why it was unpleasant. One time I was working and I almost fainted. I had a teaching job and had to teach 8 hours with 2 hours office hours. So, it was though.

For the second time I fasted for 6 days- I really did not want to but I thought I have to because I gained a bunch of weight. I could not concentrate nor work and felt really bored. It was probably not the right time..
 
Hey Bianca.

I'll break it sometime today/tonight. I haven't yet only because I really have no desire to. But I can't really afford to push it any longer if I want to enjoy this lunch on Sunday, much as I'd like to keep going. I feel great now - next time I'll plan better and do it when I have nothing on for at least 3-4 weeks.

I had the dizzy/fainting feeling after waking up on day 4 but it passed very quickly and hasn't returned. I started supplementing sodium and potassium then and have felt much better since.

The lack of concentration is surprising. I've found if anything I'm more alert than usual.

But you are in a very different position to me. Given you are already comfortably in the healthy weight range, you might get side effects I haven't because you just don't have enough fat to burn so the body tries other things that feel uncomfortable and may even be unsafe. I imagine this sort of measure is best suited to genuinely overweight people.
 
May I ask you what you do during fasting? Are you working? How does your day look like?

I also experienced the clarity and I was super active on day 4 and 5. Felt great and almost unbelievable.

Right now, I feel like that I am fine when I am hungry but not as soon as I eat
 
I work from home so other than a round of golf or a walk on the beach, I'm here most of the time. It's pretty easy to control things. But because this was spontaneous rather than planned, I made a lot of mistakes, especially leaving my favourite ice cream in the freezer and half a blue cheese wheel in the fridge that has since gone off.

I wonder if your 6th day was just a one off, and you would have felt better on the 7th? Who knows.

I'm pretty much the same as your last comment. Only get seriously hungry after I've started eating already. It's probably a useful trait for fasting!
 
I see. I really want to try fasting again. As of right now, I think I will try starting Sunday. Its a good time but won't go longer than 1 week
 
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