Starting a five day fast this Sunday (NOV 27th) at around 8 PM and we are planning a 15 day fast in late FEB/MAR of 2017. We’d like to do the 15 day fast sooner but won’t due to holidays/other engagements.
Anyone want to join us in one or the other and commiserate/offer support back and forth?
This will be our second fast of the five day length. We consume water, black coffee, and, in the depths of despair, a diet soda/fizzy water with sucralose if necessary to maintain sanity (last time I drank 2 diet drinks over the five days).
Background
We’ve been fasting for six months, primarily intermittent (going 18-24 hours without a meal) but had worked up to three days before attempting the five day fast. In our experience, you will likely see weight loss but, if you are not weight stable prior to fasting (your weight is not going up or down for 3-6 months) then you may not maximize the weight loss benefit. If you are gaining weight on a regular basis, you may put all of your fast-lost weight right back on post fast. I would not recommend fasting as a weight loss mechanism, unless you are in good control of your diet and are weight stable.
If you have never fasted before, I would not suggest attempting a five day (or longer) fast to start out. I’m not going to sugar coat it, during our first five day fast, there were moments of freaking despair, especially in day 2-3, as the body is switching to fat burning mode, it’s one of the more difficult experiences I’ve had. It’s actually suggested by some that if you are going to pass the three day mark, you should go for the 7-10 or longer fast protocol. Essentially, if you are going to pay the piper, might as well dance as long as you can. We want to see if the five day fast gets easier after repetition and maybe front load it with a keto based diet a few days before, see if that makes a difference.
Why do this?
For health reasons, primarily autophagy. I personally have multiple non-cancerous lipomas and I’m doing a long “sort of” experiment to see if the body will eventually re-absorb them. In addition we have nasty family health histories so we are playing with various protocols for preventive measures.
For a challenge. After you go five plus days without food (and you can unless you have certain medical conditions) you feel like you can do ANYTHING in life. In addition, in the two days since we’ve been re-feeding (post fast eating) I’ve felt like a golden god. I’m not exaggerating. I have more energy and mental clarity than I’ve had in 5-8 years. I honestly thought to myself, if I felt this way every day of my life, I’d rule the world in six months. You’ll have similar moments during a long fast period. The mental clarity and energy level can be amazing. I found I could discuss things all day and think logically, I just could not study difficult topics without trouble, it was strange, I could read a section from a text book and follow it but committing it to memory or really wrapping my mind around a new equation/etc. would not happen.
To save money. This is MMM after-all! Seriously, we could care less about the grocery savings BUT, when you consider that two people didn't eat for five days, that's some DOES have an impact. We are already grocery-store-frugal as it is, so we didn't save much but it could be a motivating factor in the lives of some. It was nice not going to the store and we didn't have a "bow wave" of spending (or eating) afterwards. I don't think you CAN eat the accumulated "missed calories" if you tried, maybe from one or two meals, but not five days worth.
Can I do this if I have (insert condition/limitation here)?
It’s probably up to you and your doctor but, in my experience most folks CAN fast and enjoy the benefits. My wife keeps telling me I have to “be more careful” since I don’t have much excess body fat but, to be honest, unless you are rocking 7% or less body fat, you can probably do up to 15 days easy. The rough estimates I’ve seen is that you can fast up to 2 days for every excess pound of fat over 4% body fat and/or do not fall into the underweight BMI category (less than 18.5). The length of fast may need to vary based on your condition. If you are 60 pounds overweight, you can most likely do 15 days without issue, while, if you are at 9% body fat or 18.6 BMI, you should probably roll with shorter durations, it all comes with knowing yourself.
What’s the hardest part about fasting this long?
Honestly, I’d say the hardest thing is finding something to do with the “free time” you have on your hands. For much of the time our energy levels were up and down, you may be wacked out tired, but don’t need sleep, and have time on your hands. We went to work as usual; worked in the yard/around the house, did some deep cleaning/organizing, and tried to keep busy. We actually did some shopping, and we both HATE to go shopping. Having the free time, low energy states (sometimes) and lack of desire to really accomplish anything “big” made shopping and video games attractive at night, it gave us something to do/keep our mind off food. That’s harder than it might sound since SO much of our society is based around food. My wife counted 51 restaurants (of all kind) on her 8 mile drive to work (moderate sized metropolitan area).
Do I have to stop exercising?
It depends, mostly on your current level of fitness and body fat stores. I exercised during our five day fast, running three miles morning 1/2/4, walking three miles on day three (that was the WORST DAY) and running five miles and lifting weights on morning five. Once you “switch” into burning body fat instead of ingested food, you theoretically can exercise just fine for as long as you have stores. Your body breaks the fat down and uses the glucose created, it’s may be as efficient and you may not have the same level of energy but it’s certainly doable. I would not suggest a marathon in a fasted state but I also would not say it could not be done, I’m sure it’s been done before. I’d suggest starting with walking and working in a job later in the fast, once again, your current level of health/fitness will come into play here.
Won't I lose muscle?
No, the body will up-regulate human growth hormone and won't break down muscle. Think about our ancestors, did they lose muscle and lay down after a period of not eating? If they did, they are not YOUR ancestor, cause they probably died without passing on genes.... When you think of detractors like this, consider evolution, does the idea of "you can't do XXXXX" jive with evolutionary progression and the human body?
Is this safe?
We’ve read six books, at least 20 scientific articles from peer-reviewed journals (for what they are worth…) and watched a good 20-30 hours of videos with doctors discussing fasting (Dr. Rhonda Patrick/Dr. Fung and so on….) and yes, bottom line, this is safe (for most people). On days four and five, I felt like I could continue fasting for an indefinite amount of time, I even worked out on day five and spent the second half of the day doing yard work and wood working activities. My only detractor was low blood pressure leading to dizziness when I stood up too fast or bent over to pick up leaves.
BUT I JUST CAN'T! MAYBE YOU CAN BUT I DON'T HAVE THE WILLPOWER!
OK. I'm not going to use my energy to convince you. If you think you can't, you can't... and so on.
Why are you posting this here?
We’ve searched for other message boards to discuss this topic, throw down this challenge and we just haven’t found one with reasonable/non-emotional folks to discuss this topic in a logical and intelligent manner. Most of the boards I’ve found revolve around those who have not done their home-work, don’t want to put the work in, or attempt something like a 40 day fast right out of the gate, and then wonder why they are so weak if they fail. Many of the boards I’ve browsed have been laden with head-cases. I know that isn’t the case on the MMM board (and reading this far down into my post indicates you are capable paying attention to one thing for longer than it takes to read a tweet from kayne [my boy] west).
We are looking for others to share war stories with, discuss preparation strategies, and moan and bitch with when it’s time for the big fast. We’d be glad to have conversations over email/skype etc. It’s hard to find folks who can have a decent conversation about this subject. In my experience, 99% of people just say “that’s not healthy” without even thinking before they speak. When the doc tells us to fast to test blood sugar or get a colon screen do we punch the doc in face and tell him that’s not healthy?
So, who’s ready to for a heavy duty challenge, to climb a higher hill than just skipping desert, or feeling superior because you skipped breakfast one day. Take this challenge with us and give the finger to the concept of “you have to eat every 12 minutes or you’ll go into diabetic shock!” If you undergo this, or something like this, you’ll gain a clarity and new relationship with food.
You’ll “see” the matrix and realize that the main benefactors of our current “food is always here for you” society (in the USA at least) are those that sale that food. Those of us that buy it don’t always need it and we sure as hell don’t “need” most of the junk being pushed into our faces. Obesity epidemic.... not a worry if you can develop the fortitude to go 5-15 days without food, if you can do that, you can surely conquer any demon.