Supporting each other on 24+ hour fasts

[LittleLamzyDivey]

As promised, here's the new thread for us long fasters as the old one is nearly full.
Check in when you are able and let us know how you're doing!

@fastingaway Well done on the 42 hours! That first meal after a long fast is wonderful, isn't it?
I took a break on Thurs but am back on the 42 hrs schedule today. My body is complaining a bit but hopefully a cup of mint tea will satisfy it. 23 hours at the moment, 5 hours until bedtime then on the homestretch in the morning.

How do you do the 48 hour fast I'm interested but don't know the rules, is it just water through out?

@Accbabymom1994 Some people can have black coffee or tea (and some seem to manage a bit of milk in their tea!). Try it and see how you do. But maybe start with something a bit shorter than 48 hours 😁
I didn't have a great evening after the herbal tea so will go back to water only on Tues.

@LittleLamzyDivey sorry to hear your evening wasn’t great, well done on the fast though. I’m going to fast today until tomorrow lunchtime. Not done a weekend fast before but I’m hoping it will be easier than a weekday because I won’t be tied to my desk working. Sometimes that makes the hours drag. We shall see!

I hope fasting on a weekend works for you @Flibbertyjibberty . It is so, so much easier if you can keep yourself busy. I'm considering taking up wet boat racing on fasting days 🤣

Well done fasters, I've been away this week and have done nothing.

Very interesting discussions about milk and so on. I don't really think it makes that much difference but I have trained myself to have black tea all the same! I watched a program about a fasting clinic in Germany ( where you can get sent by your GP) and they have a cup of broth every day during fasts which last a week or two.

Will try a fast this coming week and see how it goes.

Welcome @Accbabymom1994

@Flibbertyjibberty Thanks for your thoughts about the different people/views on fasting. It’s all so confusing, isn’t it?! One of the things I really like about this thread is that we can all learn from each other - both from what we are reading/listening to, but perhaps more importantly, from our experiences. How’s your weekend fast going?

Is anyone fasting tomorrow? I’m planning on doing some form of a fast tomorrow. In term time, I’m hoping Mondays will continue to be my regular 36 hour fast, but I’m not completely sure for tomorrow if that will work (might have to have dinner). I’ll try to update tomorrow.

I'm hoping to do a 36/48 starting tonight but am travelling tomorrow so may fall to temptation along the way.

Hope you do too @Sunflowers84 will post if I'm doing well :-) otherwise will start Monday night

@Flibbertyjibbertyand @LittleLamzyDivey well done on the weekend fasts - they take a particular discipline. I’m going to do some kind of fasting too tomorrow @Sunflowers84. Good luck.

i’m feeling quite hormonal today and feeling under the weather and sorry for myself. Have realised that I really need to find a way to reduce carbs. Had hoped that once I nail fasting I could focus on the low carbing but finding it very tough. And have a small thought in my head whether I pause longer fasting and instead focus on the low carbing. For a short time last year that I managed 18-19hr fasts and low carbing I found my shape changing even though scales didn’t change much. For those that successfully combine these any tips on what helped you establish this. Did you do it in a particular order? Any advice for me?

I was gna try a 48 hour fast I'm really tempted but I have decided I'm not ready yet but I will be doing a 18 hour fast tomorrow definitely.

Good morning @fastingaway - I certainly found it easier to get really solid on the low carb before trying even short fasts. My first fast after the infamous chockie incident was unnecessarily tough. Low carb makes fasting possible, for me, anyway.

@Sunflowers84 absolutely, there’s no one size fits all approach and it’s great we can all do things slightly differently but get results. You won’t know if something works for you unless you try it!

@fastingaway I actually went low carb at the same time as starting IF and it went okay - I just had to make a meal plan each week so I knew what I was having. I’ve added more carbs back in recently because of running although I’m not sure I really needed to. I still don’t eat pasta or rice, but I do have bread and potatoes a couple of times a week. It was easier than I thought it would be though - give it a try for a few days and see how you go?

the weekend fast was a revelation! I barely thought about food but it definitely helped that I was so busy. I was only home for a couple of hours yesterday so I’ll definitely try it again next time I have a busy Sunday. I usually do Mondays while I work and I do spend a lot of time thinking about what I’m doing. Not yesterday! On hour 36 now so a couple more to go. Good luck to anyone doing it today! @LittleLamzyDivey maybe I need to take up boat racing too!

Thank you @LittleLamzyDiveyand @Flibbertyjibberty for your experience. Really helpful. I listened to another TFM podcast today and it reminded me of all the benefits of fasting beyond weight loss. So will keep at it and keep focussing on getting more discipline during meals. It really is just meal planning that I need to get sorted.

anybody fasting today? I’m just over 22 hours now and starting to feel cold. Found some Viridian electrolytes at home that seem fasting friendly and have been having these today. Not a great taste but feel ok on it.

Well done @fastingaway Hope you can get warm. What podcast did you listen to?

I fasted for 22 hours today, but family plans meant I couldn’t keep going for 36 hours (frustrating, as I was feeling fine and could have kept going). However, I think I’ve still only had around 400 calories in one meal, so hoping there was still some benefit to my 22 hours fast.

Hope everyone else is doing ok.

Hi, can I ask a question? Well two actually. If you're doing a 24 hr fast is it easier to do breakfast then fast till breakfast day after or dinner then fast to following dinner?

Also how many 24 hour fasts do you do in a week typically? Thanks in advance for any answers!

It was one of the Q&As with Jason Fung on TFM. Was talking about autophagy and how the sweet spot for it is between 20 and 30 hours and that anything after that was fat loss. But they also talked a lot of the healing examples they have seen.

22 hour fast and 400 cals is a pretty solid fast @Sunflowers84- will definitely have given benefit. It’s like the 5:2 with the added advantage of a long fast during the day.

Thanks @fastingaway

@Jabtastic It’s probably worth seeing what works best for you. I find it easier to start my fast after dinner. I’ve been doing 16:8 or 18:6 for quite a long time so my body is used to not eating breakfast. I think I’d find it harder to eat breakfast and then fast as I would have given the ‘message’ to myself that it is an eating day. But, experiment and see what works for you? This doesn’t really answer your second question - but I had been doing two 36-hour fasts per week. (Although you might have seen from my previous posts that I’m reviewing this at the moment.)

agree it’s become a habit to skip breakfast and I’d worry too that I wouldn’t be able to stop. But I’d see what you find better. Generally eating earlier in the day is better as you can then burn off the glucose before bed. In terms of how many times a week - sort of depends on your goals. I have seen 3 fasts a week mentioned as a goal. But anything you do will be beneficial. The other consideration more for those people who do this as an OMAD every day is to alternate between lunch and dinner so you end up with alternating between 30 and 16 hour fasts.

Yeah I’m another one that finds it hard to stop once I’ve started eating so I’ve always found it easier to skip breakfast than miss dinner on an eating window day. I also think I’d get hungry again later in the day - you're asleep when that bit happens if you have dinner and start your fast I reckon? But plenty of people do it earlier in the day too so you may well be fine.

well done on the fasts everyone! Hope you’re feeling warmer now @fastingaway i usually have to keep downing hot drinks all day to keep warm. Can’t wait for summer when we can fast in warmer weather! Hopefully the coldness won’t be so bad.

does anyone else sleep really badly on the second night of a longer fast? I’ve struggled with it for a few weeks now - I’ve been taking magnesium but it’s not done anything. I’ve been up since 4.30am today. I’m just wondering if it’s something that should go away with time or if I will have to suck it up if I want to fast. Either way it’s a bit annoying. I wonder what it is too, im not waking up hungry. Just awake!

Do you feel tired @Flibbertyjibbertywhen you do get up? Some people wake early or struggle to fall asleep but still say that they feel energised during the day. On the TFM Facebook page they advise to
really increase your magnesium and that you need to experiment with how much works for you. Some people need to take a lot. I was finding usually that I would sleep quite deeply although did have a few early wakings like you. The one constant however is that I get very vivid weird dreams. I also seem to have a few magnesium products now - tablets, Better you body oil spray and a magnesium bar from Lush.

im tucked up in bed now with the electric blanket on and reading Megan’s book that just arrived in the post.

@fastingaway actually that’s a really good point - I felt absolutely fine all day yesterday and didn’t go to bed till 10! So maybe I’d slept deeply and my body just woke up? I didn’t really think of it like that.

let me know what Megan’s book is like - I’ve been listening to their podcasts too. I just can’t see myself doing two or three overnight fasts a week! Then again i wouldn’t have seen myself ever doing one a week a few months ago. Funny how things change. Hope you feel good this morning and have something tasty to break your fast

How long are you fasting for @Flibbertyjibberty if you have 2 fasting nights? I can see I've got something to aim for as 1 fasting night is all I can manage...

43 hours - first night i sleep fine because I’ve had dinner. It’s the second after the full fast day where I tend to sleep badly. I’ve got a friend who keeps going for 60 hours but I have never been tempted to try that! Has anyone else? Sometimes I feel okay when I get to 42/43hours and wonder if I could do more but Im always ready to stop. Perhaps it’s a mental hurdle rather than physical.

I'm currently on 36ish hours. Got through my travelling day despite the temptations of endless snacks on sale and horrible coffee. Didn't sleep well though, not hungry just couldn't get back down at 3.

Just today to go then I will eat this evening and do some OMAD the rest of the week.

Interesting about the split between autophagy and fat burning, I've got immune problems so am hoping this will ease the symptoms.

So far I do basically like the feeling of not eating for a while and hope it does me some good.

I've never done strict dieting or had any food issues and actually I don't see this as dieting as such, just a different way of eating.

Hi all! Really enjoyed reading this thread.

Have been on a 'no (or low) sugar' detox for last 3 weeks. No choc, sweets, cakes etc. Have not faltered and feeling so much better in my body already. I am 3 weeks in.

I fasted yday for 20 hours and wow I feel this is the ticket to getting rid of stubborn fat. I ate at 8pm last night and hope to fast until approx 7pm tonight. I have a light day in work, am WFH today so I feel this could be manageable as long as I drink lots.

Is drinking sugar free squash OK when fasting?

An tips for a newbie very welcome.

Thanks :)