Anyone up for supporting each other with 36 hour fasts?

[Peae]

As a midlife / perimenopausal woman these worked brilliantly for me in the summer and I managed to lose my first stone. I'm completely convinced by the health benefits and would like to get back in to them, but can't break through the struggle at the 21hr-ish mark. OMAD is no problem, I just want to hit the 36-hour fast.

Would anyone like to buddy up for some mutual encouragement?

The sparkling water is a revelation. I have tried frozen pieces of lemon and lime. There was no mint at the shops so I had a dash of DP’s cordial. Reckon it stopped me from drinking two Cokes already. Whose idea was it? Thank you so much!

Minestrone soup and garlic flat bread eaten for tea and TRE started. Aiming for 25 hours. Slowly rebuilding my Monday fasting. Might be tough as I went to the gym this evening and the weights make me hungry.

That was me @Peae, inspired by the cans of Aqua Libra I'd tried. Glad it was helpful! I'm fasting today and may try it too, I don't have aqua libra this time but I'm sure have a bottle of sparkling water I could pump up. I don't like sparkling water on its own so kinda disregarded that option when someone suggested it, but with a bit of lemon etc I'm sure it would work.

What did you decide re eating any more @Sunflowers84? I had a McDonalds yesterday for lunch and a cake later, amongst healthier breakfast and tea, so I'm kind of expecting my body to struggle more than usual with the fast today. Plus my usual evening activity that helps keep me occupied is cancelled so that may throw an extra challenge. I ordered some fasting salts so will be first go of those as well. Will check in later.

I’ve had some challenges this morning. Been offered biscuits already (I’d kill for one but said no) and now the last colleague in our office of 4 men and 2 women has declared themselves on the injections.

Has anyone else read the recent AIBU thread on injections? I’m finding it really interesting. After seriously looking at the injections last week I feel affirmed in my (current) decision that they’re not for me (at the moment).

(And thanks again @Jollyjoy! I’ll be hunting for mint this evening and some cordial for eating window Coke-alternatives).).

I have been prowling on the WLI boards. It sounds dreadfully tempting to not feel hungry on a fast. But I am also very nervous and also don't qualify anyway as I'm not BMI 30

@Peae and @Jollyjoy How are you both doing? Is anyone else fasting today?

Yes, @Jollyjoy - I had some yogurt and fruit yesterday evening, which means I'm currently at around 18 hours.

I'm feeling a wee bit sorry for myself just now, tired and cold. Was needing a food shop but defo haven't got the energy. Gathering the energy to tidy up from kids' tea and get bedtime etc going. I'm sure I'll be fine after that, will get an early night. Don't even feel hungry, just a bit meh and tired.

How are you both @Sunflowers84 and @Peae ? M&S have some lovely cordials @Peae. Actually maybe I'll make myself a pimped up sparkling water to cheer myself up - just feel a bit too cold tho!

I'm actually feeling quite similar @Jollyjoy I'm going to make a herbal tea and focus on the fact that I've made it this far and normally when I get past around 7:30pm, it starts to feel more manageable again.

It's so strange why some fasts feel harder - I found last Monday so easy!

Ah sorry you're the same, why can't it always be easy! After writing that I got a hot water bottle and strapped it to my lower back and I felt a lot better.

@Jollyjoy @Sunflowers84 @peae well done with the fast so far. You're all at the hardest part and it will get better from here on. The body will be actively burning the glucose and fat now. Hope early nights ahead for all and before you know it, it will be time to break your fast in the morning.

I crashed out at 19 hours and gorged on crap. Absolute stinker of a day at work. My colleague was in tears.

Def feel right about the injections. I’m also below the required BMI of 30, having lost a stone to get here. I do wonder at this stage if the risks of the injections outweigh the risks of being overweight.
I do think they are a wonder drug, but “Glucose Goddess” posted some interesting facts(?) about muscle-loss and weight-regain within the year that is mostly fat. At my age (mid 40s), muscle-retention is something I want to take very seriously.

Aw no, sorry about the bad day. 19hrs not to be sniffed at and sometimes eating crap hits a certain spot. Hope you are ok and that tomorrow is better.

I'm ok but very tired and needing bed now. Night all

Keep going all or rest up, depending on where you are in your fast. Tomorrow is one sleep away.

I threw in the towel at 19 hours today as well. Dd came home for dinner from uni so I wanted to enjoy the family dinner and more snacks after...

Well done @Peae and @blueshoes on 19 hours.

@Jollyjoy What time will you break your fast today? I'm going to see how I feel during the morning (might be 36 hours or might stretch up to 40 if I feel ok).

@fastingaway I think (but I might be wrong!) that you're fasting today? Hope it goes well.

We all have those days @Peae .. well done for doing at least 19 hrs !
I am also worried about muscle loss as I'm the wrong side of 50 now. So will battle on with my various other techniques instead. But I would love to be able to turn off hunger for a day or two !

@sunflowers84 well done you're nailing it ! You must be pleased

My next fast will be Thursday when I have no exercise to do

I’m going to tweak yesterday and on Mondays just aim for a TRE of 18 hours. I’d love to be able to do the longer fasts but for now I think I need to focus on eating an extremely “clean” TMAD.

@Sunflowers84 that's me at 36 and I'm feeling surprisingly good, contemplating whether to go to the gym before breaking the fast, would that be daft? Will walk kids to school first anyway and see how I feel after that. I'm imagining about 40 too.

Well done everybody on the fasts yesterday and tofay. @Jollyjoy if you can do it it's a great idea - fasted exercise is proven to give a lot of benefits. Best of luck with breaking fasts.

I started my fast last night although quite late. Hope to go through to tomorrow morning.

Interestingly I just listened to a podcast that suggests that fasted exercise is good for men but less so for women ! And that we need to have small amount of protein intake prior.
I haven't looked at the primary research yet though

It's been said before here how much conflicting advice there is! I'm a great believer in listening to our bodies and instincts, I think everyone here is finding their own way into eating patterns that work for us as we age.

I did go to the gym and felt fine, but skipped my usual 10 min of running as fast as I can bear at the end! During it I listened to an interview with Mindy Pelz, is she popular here? I've not really done much research and learning a lot from you guys. I found what she had to say about working with our cycles interesting, and that the premenstrual week (which I'm in) is not the best for fasting hard or working out hard, more of a time for nurture. Personally it's period time I feel more like curling up and taking care of myself. I got her audiobook so going to give her ideas a bit of thought. Love all the chat about female power, I find that so motivating!!

Just broke fast with an eggy veggie scramble at 42 hrs. Hope your fast is going well @fastingaway and you enjoy your meal when you break @Sunflowers84.

@Jollyjoy we haven't talked in detail about Mindy Pelz but a few of us are cynical due to her experience (chiropractor) and also that she is pushing a lot of certain products. Her approach is also quite complicated as you delve into it more. Megan Ramos is not so rigid on women and fasting and emphasises that women need to see how they feel and adjust but does say that at times we might find it harder. Pretty sure this was also covered in one of recent q&as with Jason Fung or one of his you tube videos. I have Megan's book on women and fasting on pre order when it comes out on paperback.

Did you get your fasting salts @jollyjoy and how were they?

I’d like to hear about salt experience too.

Not a fan of Pelz’s work here (and I really wanted to be).

Well done fasters!! I’m impressed with your numbers. Are any of you experiencing any weight loss?

Well done @Jollyjoy I broke my fast at around 38 hours this morning.

@fastingaway How are you doing?

I'm also still getting a bit confused about when is best to exercise around fasting. It's really helpful when you all share your thoughts and things you've read/listened to (even if they are contradictory) so that hopefully we can all keep learning together, as well as sharing our experiences.

@Peae I'm still not seeing any weight loss on average on Happy Scale (obviously it fluctuates after fasting and non fasting days). It's a bit frustrating, but as I've said before, I am already a 'healthy' weight. I'm just really struggling with the fact that I don't feel 'myself'. I know that I feel and look better a few pounds lighter. I'm still experimenting with how much to eat on non-fasting days. I'm wondering if sometimes I'm not eating enough, especially with exercising as well. But then you'd think I'd be losing weight...?

Thanks for the thoughts on Pelz, really helpful to know. I got these salts www.ebay.co.uk/itm/283749435319?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=OV17FFrESU6&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=8e2rVwCmQF2&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

I started with a low dose as they recommended, I felt worse than usual in the eve but better than usual into the second day. So many factors can affect though hard to see the effect. Didn't see much change in my usual constipation around fast time so hope taking a bit more salts will help as has magnesium.

I always exercise fasted (find it more comfortable), for me I'd struggle with eating before. I do crave protein after so that makes sense to me, although I don't usually want to eat for a couple hrs after so not sure if that's a bad thing muscle building wise.

I am seeing the scales go down yes, a new low today, it's pretty slow but each week I tend to go down a good chunk when I fast, creep back up after a few days, then slightly lower again at the next week fast. I felt bloated today despite long fast so feel being premenstrual must play a part. Sorry that's so long!