Extended fasting, anyone?

[Bearyhumcrack]

I like to fast for 48-72 hours most weeks. Works well for me and then I minimise carbs the rest of the time (weekends not so much).

I'm almost at the end of my longest ever fast of 156hours (14 to go) and I've lost about 10lb. Based on my last long fast, I expect 3-4lb of that to go back on once I have refed but half a stone or so should be in the bin!

Curious if there's anyone else on here who's a faster?

Gosh. That's a very long extended fast.

I have only done three days in the past.

I am wavering if I should fast today and if I do, and it goes well, I may carry on tomorrow.

How did you break your fast and how are you feeling?

Are you sure this is safe OP? That's 6.5 days without food.

I broke it with a small amount of fruit, feeling great! Going to have some raw vegan food later on. I'm not vegan but it seems to help.

@SallyWD yes, very safe.

I do a 36 hour fast once a week, but that's my limit.
I admire your self discipline and would love to lose 7 pounds, but this would be too much for most of us mere mortals

Well done! I regularly do 36-44 hour fasts (2-3 x per week) and working up to a 72 hour.

The mental clarity is amazing and my skin never looks so good as it does after fasting.

I do a 72-96 hour fast once a month, for health reasons rather than weight loss. It’s very very good for us to give the pancreas etc a break.

I've done a few extended fasts, up to about 100 hours or so.

It suits me because I'm a bit of an 'all or nothing' person and once I get in the zone with it it really doesn't feel so bad, although I get bored when I can't eat all day!

I like it because of the health benefits as well as the weight loss / control.

Christ on a cracker, 156 hours?

I caved at 4pm on my first day of 5:2! 😂

To be honest I think anyone who is fasting for such a long time as well on their way to a full-blown eating disorder. Speak to your doctor if you're ever tempted to fast for such a long time.

Wow!!! One day I hope to do this. Whenever I fast I feel amazing but I never stick with it long enough

Why would you think that? Human bodies aren’t designed to be constantly processing food.

There is a huge difference between constantly processing food and starving yourself days.

You clearly haven’t ever done it or read any of the research around it. It’s not starving yourself.

Me. Currently on day 12 of an open ended fast. I’m fat, so I have enough reserves to last me at least 6 months. I usually don’t do longer than 7 days as I find my body “hoards” when I start eating again and I retain a lot of water etc. But I’m suffering with something that feels and acts like inflammation that started in my fingers and spread to my hips. Thyroid and blood tests keep coming back normal yet for the last month I’ve had difficulty walking more than 15 min bcs my hips hurt so much.

After about 7th day of fasting, my hips stopped hurting and yesterday I was able to make a fist first time since November.

meanwhile I wait for a referral. Going to Gp again next week and will ask them to run another round of bloods while I’m fasting so they can compare since they can’t figure out what’s wrong.

I think psychologically it's probably easier as you can avoid the thing you might be addicted to - food.

Question - do you think it has a long term impact on your metabolism?

Interesting observation in the Why we Eat book around the impact of famine on people and their offspring - suggesting a epigenetic impact. Basically they lay down fat more easily than people who haven't experienced famine.

Wow that's amazing. Are you able to carry on with day to day life having no Food
What drinks do you have?

Just water/fruit tea when I do it.

And yes, I live a normal life whilst doing so. If anything I have too much energy on those days and do more!

Just tried to have a look at research about extended fasting and most of the stuff I found was written by Françoise Wilhelmi de Toledo who is a 'fasting expert' owns a company about fasting and has written books on it so has financial interest in positive fasting research papers. Will try and search for some more balanced ones though as it is interesting.

Even if all the people fasting on here are 100% mentally healthy with no predisposition to eating disorders you must acknowledge how dangerous extended fasting could be for some if they are prone to EDs.

Day TWELVE?! A voluntary 12 days without eating? And not done yet?

Which specific doctors recommend that sort of eating pattern, and what are their credentials?

I wouldn’t go past 5 days (have maxed out at 3.5 so far).

What are you able to drink when fasting? And do you not get faint? I don’t think I could go more than 24 hours but would be interested in trying.

I only have water and fruit teas. Others might have bone broth (I don’t eat meat).

You should prep before fasting, cutting out caffeine, processed foods and sugars. Going cold turkey of those are a normal part of your diet will make you feel quite unwell. I eat “clean” most of the time, and strictly for 3 days before an extended fast. I can do 24-36 hours without notice or prep.

I do it for the health benefits. It is nothing to do with weight loss for me.

I’m not sure why people who literally walk around with stones of stored fat that have been designed as reserves to sustain us in times of no food, and a body which knows how to access and burn that stored fat automatically - get told this could lead to an eating.

I can only guess it must be by people who maintain normal body weight and are completely unaware just how incredibly difficult it is to maintain a weight loss. Very few people who lose weight manage to maintain that weight loss but thanks.

I won’t be responding to the posters who clearly have done zero research on this subject because this isn’t “intro to fasting” and I’m not here to give you links to medical papers. If you are joining the conversation just to state your negative opinion on a subject you know nothing about, it’s your time you’re wasting.

I have done some extended fasting before but I found I struggled with electrolytes so if you do fasting you do need to make sure you take the right salts in etc (they call it snake juice on the various forums). There's a great Subreddit on reddit for fasting which tells you all about the ins and outs and inspiration.

Just been watching this guy and he's really inspired me!

Currently doing 2 x 24hr fasts a week but hoping to increase it to 1 x 36 and 1 x 24hr per week with a 3 day fast each month for health benefits.

Also check out Tim Ferris on fasting on youtube, he has some interesting stuff about it.