Extended (multiple successive days) fasting?

This topic contains 4 replies, has 3 voices, and was last updated by fasting_me 7 years ago.

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Big_Bill

1:33 am
26 Oct 17
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Once I get started fasting I’ve honestly got no great desire to stop. I’m currently nearly halfway through my 4th 600 calorie fasting day in a row.

If anything it actually gets easier after a few days. Energy levels stabilize, hunger and cravings are largely gone. Last night I was already full after a couple of bowls of chicken noodle soup, then worked out I had only eaten about 350 calories for the day…. so I had a muesli bar to bring it up to 470. I needed a bit of willpower on the first couple of days to resist the urge to snack, now I’m just cruising and not even thinking about grabbing a snack.

Yesterday, my 3rd fasting day in a row, I went to the gym and did 15 minutes on the elliptical and 20 minutes on the bicycle. I’ve got pain in my arches so I can’t run and need to minimise any sort of impact exercise. No noticeable lack of energy.

Just as an experiment I’m going to try to fast until Saturday morning, meaning that I will have done 5 days of back-to-back fasting.

fasting_me

3:49 pm
26 Oct 17
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Do you have some specific goals in mind, Big?
Do you have a weight below which you will not go?

BlythePaintstheWorld

8:27 pm
26 Oct 17
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Hi Big Bill
I so agree with what you wrote. It’s easier for me to stay on my low calorie lifestyle than go on and off it.

About 5 years ago, I went on a 500 calorie per day food plan eating very healthy foods and I started swimming. I lost some weight but more importantly, my joint swelling reduced because I eliminated some foods I was allergic to(all by accident). Well, I liked how I felt, so I did it again, and I became more healthy. I had less weight to lose but I was soon at my high school weight and very toned. I looked 20 years younger.
I did the plan 4 times that year and about 3 or 4 times every year thereafter. Now, I find I usually eat around 500 calories a day naturally but can eat 800 or 1000 and feel that it’s a splurge.
Recently, after reading the benefits of Autophagy, I decided to do an absolute fast for 3 days. It was easier after 3 so I extended to 5, 7, 10 then ended it at 17 days. I felt fabulous. And, I had some incredible health benefits as a result.
Now, I’m doing 500isg a day, I kept off the weight I lost in the absolute fast and have no joint pain, feel fabulous, and look great.
I do all of this under my doctors care as I have low blood pressure. She is a regular M.D. with a military background and really supports my choices. If I get too thin, I’ll increase my daily intake of calories.
My reason for this lifestyle is I have back issues and arthritis and am a cancer survivor. This lifestyle helps me with pain management, mobility, and overall better health. The byproducts are the better appearance. However, in Hollywood, I just read, Autophagy, Fasting, is the new face lift.

I am glad you started this thread. Let’s compare notes?

Big_Bill

11:58 pm
26 Oct 17
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@fasting_me, my goal is really to stop binge eating and find a healthy way of eating that I can live with and enjoy, rather than yo-yo dieting (as I’ve done pretty much my whole adult life).

I’m thinking of this as an experiment, I’m not going to eat like this long term. I just want to see if I can do it and what the effects are. Knowing that I can do this may be useful in the future if my weight blows out and I’m trying to kick=start myself back to a sensible way of eating.

Is there a weight I won’t go below? Well, my goal is 110 kg. I’m about halfway there compared to where I was about 4 or 5 months ago (I’ve gone from 146 kg to 128 kg). The lowest weight I’ve been as an adult was in my mid twenties when I briefly got down to 100 kg. People were telling me I looked gaunt and unwell at that weight.

I do have a very unhealthy relationship with food, no doubt about that. Being forced to eat adult-sized meals as a toddler probably didn’t help.

I’ve got no desire to be a tall skinny dude. I was 6’5″ (195 cm) at 14 and I’m a bit over 6’6″ now (199 cm) in bare feet. Most people struggle to believe that I’m over 100 kg. I bump my head on standard doorways if I’m wearing shoes and not being careful.

Think Tony Robbins or John Cleese in terms of height. Except I don’t have acromegaly like Tony Robbins. Although with the size of my head, hands and feet I probably look like I do.

@blythepaintstheworld, I’m glad you are dieting under the supervision of a doctor. What is your BMI like now? I knew a lady (online) whose TDEE was around 800 calories per day (due to Hashimoto’s Disease).

fasting_me

7:00 pm
27 Oct 17
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Blythe and Bill_: there is a problem with losing too much weight too fast.
If you lose slowly [1-2 pounds/week] then your body can reabsorb the skin that has been built over the fat. For example: if you have a 50″ waist which is quickly reduced to a 30″ waist, where do the extra 20″ of skin go? If weight is lost too fast, that skin just stays there, hanging in folds.

I’m glad that you are addressing unhealthy food habits. Be mindful that you don’t swap one set of unhealthful practices for another.

Good luck to you.