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!

Hey all - sorry for the long silence. I'm sure no one will be surprised to hear that I've not been fasting for nearly 3 weeks and, like @fastingaway , it hasn't done my joints any favours. DH and I plan to walk Hadrian's Wall from June 1 and I've made it much tougher than it needs to be. So.... plan is to skip breakfast tomorrow and perhaps manage a few 24 hour fasts before the walk in the hope that my knees will cooperate.
Kudos to everyone who's been wearing their big girl pants 😇

Well done @fastingaway that is super.
Good luck @LittleLamzyDivey I am a very keen walker and planning to do the Camino at some point.
I survived to lunch today and if I am still down 1.5lbs tomorrow morning I'll be name changing to 124orbust 🤞🏻🤞🏻

Well there's good news and bad news on this wet morning.
Good news is I am still down 1.5lbs.
Bad news is it won't let me post under a different user name on the thread.

Gosh I think I have killed the thread!
Been away on holidays and come back to more than 2 weeks of silence.
Is there anyone out there?

I’m here @126orbusthope you had a good holiday. Managed to do one 40 hour fast this week and will try again next week. What’s your plan for the coming week?

Hi @fastingaway lovely holiday and had a big lunch on the lasy day and then went through to lunch the next day. i am 2lbs up so closed the kitchen at 7pm tonight and will try at get until 7pm tomorrow anyway.
Let me know if you start one next week and I'll try and join in if I can.

Hi, can I pop on as I am starting a fast today. I did a 64 hour water only fast June last year and it gave me a real boost.

I feel sluggish and generally dreadful. My DD is sitting her A levels and I have been comfort eating lots of pasta, toast, crisps and wine. It really doesn’t agree with me. My plan is to see how I go and then switch to Mediterranean diet OMAD which really suits me. I did that all last year and felt great. I am retired so I have a relaxed schedule.

Still going with my fast, thanks for all the support 😂. 👋🏻

Well done @Halfpenny58
Sorry you didn't get a response initially and solidarity with parenting through A Levels. I remember the stress well!
Pop back and let us know how you are doing when you get a moment.

Haha @Halfpenny58 , this made me laugh. Sorry just seen this and that the thread is a bit dead, it was quite lively at one stage but a few of us haven’t been fasting. How long are you doing, 64 hrs again? Do let us know tomorrow how you are.

I’ve had a time of it this month, a mystery throaty virus I mentioned that lasted 3 weeks in the end, got better a week then had a week of a more normal snotty cold. Just at the tail end of that and really hoping next week I can get back to fasts and gym. I really feel wobbly and that I’ve lost a lot of muscle I was building. I’ve done a little bit of tre, will try to do 16/18hrs sun into mon and build back up to 24+.

hey @Halfpenny58sorry didn’t catch this message in time. How many hours are you at now? Well done. How did you find the 64 hr fast last time? I was tempted to go longer earlier this week but a family emergency meant that I ended up breaking the fast. Planning on being back to fasting on Monday.

@Jollyjoysounds like it’s been a tough month. Hope you are the back end of the lurgy now and can start to feel better.

what I have really noticed with the lack of fasting is how worse I feel - so it was really doing something. Going to try and get 2 decent fasts in in the coming week

Hi @126orbust , @Jollyjoy (hope you feel better soon) and @fastingaway . Thanks for responding to some random who wandered on and then had a little flounce!

It’s gone well here, breaking water fast in 15 mins which will take me to 60 hours. I feel much better having done it. I did a 20 min walk every day but otherwise no exercise. I watched a box set, slept a lot and read on my kindle for about 4 hours a day. I have had the house to myself which is another reason I did it this weekend. Real life is kicking back in now as I have to do a 1 hour drive later today and then I am cooking dinner for returning family. I am breaking my fast with a plate of tomatoes and a tin of pilchards. Same as last time. Then I am switching back to OMAD at 6 pm which really suits me and try to stay away white wine (I am a cliche). I lost 4 1/4 lbs.

@Halfpenny58 60 hours - go you! That’s impressive. Did you feel okay during? What’s the hardest bit? Sorry we all missed it, I’ve not been on here much recently. I’ve had a couple of weeks on OMAD instead for various reasons but the main one being I started dreading the long fast days, so figured it was time for a break. Just had dinner though and attempting to do 42ish starting now! The break has felt like a bit of a reset and I’m keen to get going again today. I just hope it’s not back to square one and finding the fast hard!! Eeek.

Well done @Halfpenny58Im interested too in what bits were tricky. In my head going to bed the 3rd night fasting feels like a mental block. Not sure I could do it. I’ve managed 46hrs before I think.

fasting since yesterday evening and hoping to push through at least till this evening if not till tomorrow am.

Hi, hope it’s going ok for you @Flibbertyjibberty @fastingaway ?

I ate Thursday night so I only went to bed fasting for Friday and Saturday. I guess the mid point on Saturday evening is when my mind started to wander to food. I didn’t find it that hard. I rested a lot and weirdly listening to food podcasts didn’t bother me. I absolutely would struggle if I was looking after young children or working. I did OMAD all of last year which may have made it easier. I am going back to OMAD now.

@Halfpenny58 ha I love how you say ‘only’ went to bed fasting on two nights, it’s quite a feat! I’d love to try a slightly longer fast, I might give it a go later this month.

@fastingaway how’s your fast going? Hopefully you’re feeling good.

im coming up to 21 hours and feeling sleepy. Thankfully I’ll be out at a kids’ cricket match 5 till 9ish tonight so I’ll be out of the house for the worst bit of the day. Then just a sleep and a morning to get through!

keep going @Flibbertyjibberty feeling very cold here. Just coming up to 18hrs as had late night cheese and crackers yesterday. The cold is making me crave tea. I’m not bothered about eating but going to struggle to not have a hot drink. And have gone off herbal/black coffee. I might do a coffee with cream which I have in which will strictly break my fast.

@fastingaway would a hot bath help? Can you brush your teeth and have an early night, say 8 pm?

@fastingaway snap! I have not been this cold in months - I’ve just had a hot shower and am now in bed with the electric blanket on. I’m just telling myself it means I’m really burning fat but I hope it doesn’t mean I can’t sleep. And I have also gone right off black tea too, I’ve been sticking to green/decaf green then tea plus milk in my eating window. I don’t have any tips but I am sending you some solidarity!!

Thanks @Flibbertyjibbertyfor the solidarity - I have to say I caved and had 2 small coffees with cream. So I’ve broken autophagy but stayed low carb/keto. Not had anything else and will go to bed shortly. Looking forward to my electric blanket too. I’ll be ok till tomorrow now. Hope your night passes well and you can get switch off.

Hi all. I’m so sorry for my absence. After a number of months of doing two 36-hour fasts per week, I had a bit of a re-think about whether this was right for me. But I didn’t want to post and discourage any of you, as I still really think there are lots of benefits to fasting.

My current thinking is that I think long fasting is not right for me at the moment (I still do between 16 and 18 hour fasts every day), but who knows - I might be back. I will keep lurking on this thread as I am very open to re-thinking again and in the first thread we had, I really enjoyed us all learning together from podcasts, articles and our own experience.

I think I mentioned before that I am a healthy weight/BMI, but due to being quite short, am keen to lose a few pounds. However, I didn’t really experience any weight loss while doing two long fasts per week and then wasn’t sure I was getting enough nutrients over the other days to fuel my active lifestyle and workouts. I’m wondering (but very happy for any of you to challenge me?) if long fasting doesn’t work as well for weight loss if already a healthy weight. I’m trying now to actually slightly increase my calories, focusing on protein and fibre. However, I do still think there’s lots of other benefits to fasting. I’m hoping I’ll get some benefits by continuing with 16-18 hours every day.

That’s ended up being an essay, but I just wanted to check-in with you, as I felt like I had really got to ‘know’ a lot of you over the few months since we started the first thread and didn’t want to just disappear.

I’m also very happy for any of you to challenge anything I’ve said. I’m really open to learning and adapting what I’m doing. I will definitely keep popping into this thread, if that’s ok?

Lovely to hear from you @Sunflowers84and please keep posting. As you said feel like we have got to know each other. Sounds like you have a good approach to current lifestyle and health goals and it’s worth seeing how it works. We are all unique experiments if you think of it. My one view on the losing weight while a healthy weight is that low carbing during the eating windows helps. Without this and if we are at the perimenopause stage it becomes hard to lose weight despite the fasting.

@Sunflowers84 please do keep popping in even if you’re not fasting! It’s always good to chat. I do think longish fasts are hard to keep going for months on end - I feel better for having had a little break and you can mix and match approaches. TRE is a good way to lose weight or aim for a bit of body recomposition, you might find your weight doesn’t change but your body shape still does.

@fastingawayyes I find low carbing helps me lose weight more quickly too - I’ve not really had rice or pasta for months. I do like the occasional slice of sourdough with my eggs though!

My first fast of the week went okay, I lasted 42 hours. Aiming for 24 today! I thought maybe one 42 and two 24s a week (with 20:4 on the other days) might help me shift the last few pounds but we shall see!

Sounds like a good successful fast @Flibbertyjibberty. I made it to 40 hours (but of course it wasn’t a true fast as I had the two coffees with cream). Normal low ish carb eating day today and will attempt another 36 Thursday to Friday. I’ve realised the health benefits of the fasting alone are worth it for me even if weight may not shift much. Saying that there was some movement on the scales yesterday. Might have all been undone by a dinner party we were at yesterday. I’d be interested to see how you find your schedule of 1 x 42, 2 x 24 and 20:4s.

@fastingawayI would take that as a full fast, coffee and cream or no coffee and cream! Some people say a teaspoon of cream or milk is okay anyway. If it helps you fast longer then all good. Super impressed you’re going for another 36 this week, I’ve never been brave enough to try it twice in a week. Do you find the second fast any harder than the first?