Husband wants to fast

[ICaughtTonsillitisFromAFriendsKid]

My husband is slim. He's 5'11 and not more than 11 stone.

He's sent me a YouTube video about what happens to your body when you fast for 44 days (David Blaine did this) and says he wants to do it. I don't know if he means the full 44 days or a bit less.

Wtf! Based on a quick Google it will lead to headaches and worse.

He's a great husband in every other aspect but this has frightened me.

I'm not sure what to do. I feel dreadful enough with tonsillitis I can't handle more stress.

I don't know if he is thinking of 44 days, I must point out. He's out of range and I'm left here with my mind in overdrive, and my IBS going nuts. I have to go to work now and all I want to do is worry-poop and read PG Wodehouse on the sofa. :-(
In the meantime I wanted to see if anyone on here had pros, cons, tips and advice, which has been offered and I'm very grateful.

Let him.He won’t manage 40 days but fasting is really good for you. I think he will find 40 days is a leeeetle optimistic

If he plans to fast for prolonged periods he can buy electrolyte supplements which are very important as your heart can fail without them.
If he’s planning on dry fasting (no water) I’d warn him off it.

There’s subreddits on fasting and intermittent fasting which are full of info.

Let him. What a numpty. He's not talking sensible fasting here, not Michael Mosley or 5:2. Total fasting completely? Shall we place bets now? In heatwave Aug 22 with a manual job? I'll say he'll be ill within ???? Tries to estimate .... 6 days. 12 days max. Hope you've got a quick GP appointment lined up!

I've done extended fasting a few times and don't get headaches any more. Most people do when they do fasting for the first time, but usually only for the first few days. As someone else already said though, headaches will be the least of his problems.

Anyone who considers a fast that long usually has a reason for it - spiritual, weight loss, or autophagy (to heal a health issue). I'm on a few different fasting Facebook groups and I've seen a few people fast this long, but none who were a normal weight.

44 days is a significant amount of time. The body will start by burning the fat stores (in deep ketosis), but when the fat runs out it will turn to protein and start to metabolize muscle, including the heart and other organs. At 11 stone your husband might not have enough fat to safely fast that long.

Is he doing it under doctor supervision? Will he be taking electrolytes (sodium, potassium and magnesium are an absolute must).

I've never seen anyone who's only fasted half a day manage to go into such a long extended fast though. It's very, very hard mentally. I've done 21 days (when significantly overweight) and could have gone longer because I felt good. Mentally I'd had enough. I also refed very carefully.

Didn't David Blaine experience symptoms of starvation, breathing problems, heart palpitations etc. after fasting 44 days? And lost a huge amount of weight, which your husband can't really afford to do when he's already a healthy weight?
I'm very much pro fasting as it can have a lot of benefits. What your husband is suggesting though could be detrimental to his body and could potentially cause long term health problems.

My DH is also pro fasting and a similar weight and height to your DH. He only fasts a max of 72 hours per month, otherwise he would get underweight very quickly. A 72 hour fast can improve insulin sensitivity, reduce inflammation, increase metabolism, improve cognitive function etc. (there is research to support this), but I don't think your DH should be considering any longer than this.

"David Blaine was expected to be rushed to hospital yesterday evening after 44 days apparently without food, drinking only water, in an exercise variously received as a pointless publicity stunt and a quasi-religious experience."

He never moved. barely. Not the same as OP's Dh with a manual job.

"He has endured heart palpitations, breathing problems, backache and blurred vision..."

Yeah for me, for stress!

I love my husband and I need him. He's a great dad but is so full of energy he's always coming up with outré ideas. I feel like the misery guts saying no.

This is very helpful indeed and I'm really grateful :-)

David Blaine lost 54 lbs didn't he? Which OP's Dh can't afford to do.

Anyone got a link to the damage DB did to himself physically? Say a Doctors Report a month or 2 months later?

It's not just misery guts OP. (Although I'm sure gut damage will be one of the most likely long term side effects). It's fucking dangerous. And stupid.

I was on 5:2 plan for over 2 years. I got on with I ok mentally and lost a little weight..but nothing like the weight I was told I would loose.
but it took me over a year to make the link between fasting and the most horrendous IBS. I was always ok on first fast day, then I’d do a second one on the alternate day after that, but the next day after 2nd fasting day when I ate My main meal “normally” I’d literally get really painful bowel spasms within 2 hours of eating and then start to “ dump” both vomiting and diarrhoea. I’d be in bathroom for next 3 hours.
pit didn’t happen every time to start with hence why it took months to make connection. And I’d add that I had it occasionally before. So, much so I’d been referred to specialist and had investigations with no cause found.

I stopped the fasting plan because of this. I have since read I’m not alone and quite a lot of people get this. It isn’t “healthy” or manageable ( I had some pretty unpleasant experiences out in public) and I’m not going to go to extreme lengths that some folks do to eat various crap they say deals with the issue

i still have issues if I don’t eat something, no matter how small, at regular intervals. I always sure that I have a piece of fruit or similar with me if meal times are likely to get messed up.

so, whilst fasting des have many health benefits, for a large minority of people it causes very nasty side effects that can significantly effect the quality of your life and therefore needs to be avoided.

Is he just a bit bored or something?!

I would gather lots of evidence on why intermittent fasting is good for you, and encourage him to try that.

You could also pull the basic info on DB’s fast - it was just a stunt, he fattened up beforehand, was constantly monitored by docs, and was so exhausted he couldn’t do anything. Fasting for 44 days is not a good idea.

I wouldn’t be too worried….he probably won’t last a full day because it’s so difficult to sleep when hungry.

I do have weight to lose postpartum but I don't think he would want this for me. He has witnessed my dizzy spells when I'm over hungry.

My understanding of this though is that the dizzy spells are probably blood sugar highs and lows because you're not regulating blood sugar well. I used to get them a few hours after eating sweet things. You don't get these in the same way with fasting if you ease into it right. I have done 2-4 day fasts and the day before cut down on carbs (E.g. keto) so that my body is already moving into fat-burning mode by the time I stop eating. I do feel a bit hungry on and off but nothing terrible and physically and mentally I don't really notice any difference, but I eat very healthily anyway for medical reasons, no processed food or refined sugar. The main challenge is just the habit of eating and structuring your day without food.

I'm thinking it's unlikely he's thinking of 44 days though.

There is a good Netflix series on at the moment that covers a variety of ‘health’ fads, including fasting. It’s called (Un)well. Get him to watch it. It’s pretty balanced really.

Controversial but why not let him get on with it?

There are so many 30 day or whatever challenges on YouTube nowadays and not all good but he obviously wants to give this a go.

I've not done anything but 5:2 and could last into the 2nd day without eating but it does take a lot out of you. My guess is that he won't do 44 days.

I don't think they're questioning if someone slim has MH problems just because they are thin and want to fast. They are probably asking because 44 days is a long time to fast, if that's the one he wants to do and not just a few days here and there.

Lunar270 yes I totally agree. He sound like he's being a total bell end. Let us know if he asks for support from the gp, I'd love to hear what they say at the surgery.

Ask questions instead of challenging directly. Be curious - what will happen to your body after day 5,10,30? What do hunger strikers need in terms of fluids or salt? What is the experience like for people? Do people hallucinate? What about it appeals to you? Are you looking to find your limit? How will you know when to stop? How would I know when to seek medical assistance for you? What do people do about their jobs or their other commitments? What will you be needing from me? Do people get grouchy?
Recommend pps Facebook fasting group to him. At least he'll find out some practical advice, hopefully he can think critically about it.
Its too extreme to do straight off, obviously. He could need urgent medical assistance. You would have to call the doctor if you think he's lost mental capacity which he will. If he's genetically predisposed to Anorexia (has that type of brain) this could trigger future eating problems. If he's not, he won't fast for long but might develop over-eating or binge eating problems afterwards as the physiological urges to eat after a period of starvation are overwhelming. If there's an underlying unhappiness this won't solve it. But only you know if he's faddy and impulsive and won't see it through or if he's obsessive or single minded and actually will.

Tell him if he organises the glass box and the crane to hang from he can go right ahead.

He sounds like a drama queen. Let him get in with it as it won’t last.

For so many reasons!

I think maybe calm down a bit. If he’d sent you a link to the London marathon, you wouldn’t assume he was going to run 26 miles tomorrow afternoon.

There’s nothing wrong with fasting. It’s practiced worldwide by millions of people from reasons which are nothing to do with weight at all. Few people would randomly and suddenly decide to fast for six weeks right out of the gate. Get some actual information first - we are SO blitzed with advertising from good companies that we must eat every four minutes (to bolster their profits) that fasting has become freakily dangerous in most people’s minds. It’s not. Dr Jason Fung has good information on it, and I think does loads of utube videos.

I would love to do a 30 day fast. It's supposed to eat all the things in your body, that shouldnt be there. So it cleanses you e.g. parasites, fat etc. But the first 3 days are supposedly brutual, so best to have a fasting partner. Which is probably why he asked you. But I personally couldn't do it, if I still had to prepare food for the children.

@ICaughtTonsillitisFromAFriendsKid

why on earth are you getting so wound up about it?!

he’s a grown man

chill out