Prolonged fast starting Sunday

[BestestBrownies]

I am planning to begin a prolonged fast on Sunday 28th June.

Anybody want to join me?

May I ask how old you are? I’m really interested but there’s such mixed research for women my age 51 (perimenopause).
But I used to do it in my early 20s no problems.

Im 49, 50 in September. I'm just about post menopause - last period August 2024. Before 50 you have to be 2y period free to be considered menopausal, but my two periods before my last were 1y apart.

So anyway, nearly 50 and menopause.

I think the reason fasting works for me is my job. SLT in a large secondary school. My Mon-Fri is 100mph non-stop busy. I got home 8.3pm tonight, having left home 6.45 this morning. I don't eat at work, never have a moment to think about eating. Then it's often too late to eat when home. These factors are what enables fasting. I can never fast at weekends or school holidays.

I fast sunday evening to Wednesday evening every week except holidays, etc.
I wish I experienced the feeling great that others have mentioned but I generally just feel hungry and bored 😅

Thanks very much. I’m a teacher too so might give it a whirl but have a long commute so might try in hols and see how I get on.

@BitOutOfPractice ah well.
Each to their own
Horses for courses
🤷🏻‍♀️

@Cookingandfoldingthings i also loved basically being told to fuck for questioning the “science” followed by “peace and love”. But hey, each to their own eh?

I find it interesting that so many would trust their GPs judgement on this or anything. My experience is that NHS GPs often give very outdated, bad advice. Eg. widespread terrible perimenopause support and prevalence of prescribing anti depressants over HRT; or my mother that was told when diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes she must be sure to eat carbohydrate at every meal 🙄

Highly recommend Hunter Gather unflavoured electrolytes:
https://hunterandgatherfoods.com/products/restore-all-natural-daily-electrolytes-unflavoured

@BestestBrownies@paulinespecial@AmberLime@ResultsMayVary

Long time intermittent faster - typically never more than 16-22hrs. Really interested in doing a longer fast.

A few questions:
How many electrolytes do you consume each day? (I already drink one pint every morning)
Can I add collagen to (black) coffee as usual?
Do you find it messes with your digestion - not consuming anything at all for several days - do you experience constipation or any other symptoms at the end as a result?
What are the benefits you have personally observed vs a shorter fast?

And yet so many prepared to take advice from randoms on the internet and spurious “science” in commercial websites. I mean, it’s mad right?

But do many of the links to “science” quoted on this thread are sketchy to say the least. And your experience of your GP is certainly not mine (yet you claim that for everyone). And the name calling is the tin lid on it for me. But there you go. I’ve clearly hit a nerve.

I use High5 Zero electrolytes, two tablets in 1 litre of water, which i drink on my commute to work.

I also have a pinch of Maldon sea salt flakes in at least two of my coffees most days. This is an each-to-their-own thing, people tend to find the fact that I put salt in my coffee interesting, but I don't know anyone that does it.

I don't have any constipation or digestion issues because I drink large amounts if fluid every day. I have 4-8 mugs of coffee in my working day, plus 1 litres of water, twice a day in my commute. I probably drink 5 litres a day.

I bought collagen powder, but I don't really use it (my young adult children like it though!). I don't want the calories of protein powder on fast days. I figure if I'm going very low calories (I can't claim true fast because I have milk in my coffee) I don't want to drink 100ish calories of collagen powder when I could have zero calories electrolytes.

I spent a month or so having a collagen protein drink all non-fast days but honestly don't consider it made any difference. I eat clean on non-fast days and morally object to the processed nature of protein powder because it doesn't fit with my whole food approach. That said, I do have a milk-made protein shake as-and-when I feel I need it. Just not frequently.

Regarding the benefits of a longer verses shorter fast - we'll a short fast is the norm for me. I haven't had breakfast for ages. I used to beat myself up for not finding time to eat in my working day. So giving myself permission to be OMAD was freeing. I can't imagine being anything other than OMAD weekdays at any time. Longer fasting was a natural extention to this.

I'll be honest that the main benefit of fasting for me right now is weight loss. I'm on a journey from morbidly obese and part of teaching myself to listen to my body was to move away from narratives around eating because I should, to eating when my body needed fuel. I had to accept that, being overweight meant that my body has ample fuels cells to burn in my body fat, so I would not starve by not eating. That would be different for someone at a lower weight.

I take a multivitamin plus an extra Vit D tablet every morning, so im covered for the essentials. My husband (a runner 🏃‍♂️) has started taking magnesium every morning (instead of the vitamin D I take, because he runs outdoors so gets ample VitD). Im considering adding his magnesium to my morning vitamins.

@BestestBrownies how are you getting on?

Thanks for all the info @AmberLime👍🏻

I like the sound of salt in coffee, might give that a try! I like cinnamon in mine sometimes.

The collagen is not as a protein supplement per se but for peri-menopause achey joints and I have found it has helped. Maybe it’s just psychosomatic! 😆

Wishing you all the best with your weight loss journey ☺️

Well said @AmberLime👏

My - now deleted as clearly immediately reported - post was much shorter but the primary sentiment was the same.

Clearly it’s okay to come onto a thread you have no interest in or knowledge about purely to disrupt, goad, be rude and sarcastic…but not swear. Which is a bit rich considering the first person to swear was @BitOutOfPracticewho said she’d “basically been told to fuck off” when actually the post in question was very polite and had not even come close to doing so. Similarly removed from reality apparently saying “My experience of…” is claiming for everyone.

The audacity and entitlement of some people.

Now you say that and it will likely make me want to buy some.

I try to be really careful and not follow gimiky supplements just because they are fashionable. I only added Vit D to my multivitamin after Covid and there being a lot of evidence-based hype about it.

I'm not convinced about collagen supplements (or magnesium salts above regulator sodium chlorine). I worry I'm being suckered into dieting industry marketing (similar to advocating high protein intake through powder). But then (because I'm a real human with real doubts) I also consider that I have enough income to take these supplements even if they are worthless... just in case they aren't. Which means I'm adding to the false marketing hype that I dislike in the first place!

I don't claim to have the answers. But I am willing to face the judgement and be open, in order to have the discussion.

Yeah I know what you mean - on the one hand supplements may give benefit, on the other hand they’re still processed and not whole foods.

My collagen and electrolytes come from Hunter Gather - no added preservatives, sweeteners etc and I think they’re pretty decent as these things go. I also agree that providing cost isn’t a barrier there’s no harm in giving these sorts of things a go if there’s no down side.

Really appreciate you being open and having the discussion - Mumsnet usually is a great forum to share ideas and benefit from others’ experiences on topics like this; there has been a frustrating trend lately of hijacking of threads just to be negative and goady, it’s really doing my head in 🙄

Would also love to hear @BestestBrownies!

I haven’t given any “unsolicited advice”. I have merely questioned the competitive tone of some of the early posts on this thread. And challenged some of the spurious “science” also quoted and linked on this thread. You choose to see something entirely different.

I will leave you too it.

Can you stop making stuff up please @BitOutOfPractice

I haven’t said anything about unsolicited advice. Just as I hadn’t “claimed for everyone” my clearly stated own experience of NHS GPs.

What you have “merely” done is be negative and unpleasant, unnecessarily. And when that was pointed out to you civilly and politely by @AmberLime, you declared that you had “basically been told to xxxx xxx” which was ridiculous. And yet when multiple posters told you to xxxx xxx - you reported them. Half the thread is now reported + deleted - for goodness sake this is supposed to be a forum for adults not children. (Perhaps you wouldn’t be making up stuff people have said if the posts were actually available for you and others to read?)

One rule for you, one rule for everyone else = entitled.

If fasting is not something you agree with why on earth click on a thread that is asking if anyone wants to join a fast???

Can you not see how bonkers all this is?? Electrolytes and salt in coffee and collagen and multivitamins ....

This isn't fasting it's starving yourself.

And yet I:

• have plenty of energy each day
• feel great from a mental health and confidence point of view
• feel healthier than ever from a physical health point of view
• thriving in a busy work environment (I'm a secondary assistant headteacher)
• get told multiple times most weeks how healthy I'm looking
• don't feel hungry, don't eat more than once a day when not doing a prolonged fast
• am menopausal and have not had any negative menopause symptoms
• am just over BMI 25
• can run 5k easily, 10k wiyhout too much challenge and could run a half marathon if I put my mind to it

These are not presenting factors someone who was actually "starving" would feel.

I think people who have issues with fasting may come from a place of either ignorance or jealousy.

The fact that eating disorders exist does not mean that restrictive diets are unhealthy. What is well researched to be unhealthy is the obesity crisis.