19 Hour Fast

auntstephie321

So I had a long carb filled weekend. I am doing the IF challenge and decided that after 10 last night I would not eat again till 7 tonight, then stop eating again at 8 pm to get back on my 16:8 schedule. I had a bpc this am and then a cup of coffee, water, and now a cup of tea.

What is driving me nuts is this churning acidic feeling in my stomach, I've felt that before sometimes in the am before I started eating low carb, and it would go away after I ate something. It makes me feel sick, is there anything I can do that will stop it.

SRJennings

This happens to me all the time and I usually just have to give in and eat something. Would you consider a large spoonful of coconut oil in order to soothe your stomach? I realize that would mean technically breaking your fast but it could make you feel a whole lot better.

auntstephie321

I would but I have no coconut oil here, I'm at work till 5 pm, I have pickles, almonds, bologna, and dark chocolate lol

KnitOrMiss

I would try salting your water or eating a little salt between sips. If that doesn't help, I would recommend the pickle...and maybe almonds, but I'm not sure when way I would go. Chocolate tends to trigger my bowel/tummy issues, so I would err away from that myself. I would probably go in order of your list. I have found that because I have no gallbladder, going that long was disastrous for me...

In all likelihood, it is the carb weekend causing this more so than the IF...

auntstephie321

@KnitOrMiss I was thinking the same thing, something about the overindulgence from this weekend but be triggering the intense feeling of hunger and discomfort. I wonder if the pickle would technically end my fast, it contains no carbs and no calories. I really want the chocolate but I do think that would make me feel sick and not really help anything

KnitOrMiss

auntstephie321 wrote: »

@KnitOrMiss I was thinking the same thing, something about the overindulgence from this weekend but be triggering the intense feeling of hunger and discomfort. I wonder if the pickle would technically end my fast, it contains no carbs and no calories. I really want the chocolate but I do think that would make me feel sick and not really help anything

The pickle actually probably has about 5 calories and depending on the size about 2-4 carbs, so it does have some heft to it, but as long as there are no sugars in the pickle blend, you probably wouldn't trigger the insulin response, but I wouldn't swear to that.

I would avoid that chocolate at all costs. You've got the combo of sugar and caffeine and that would trigger a huge insulin response, and have you rage/breaking that fast... And likely DUMPING in the bathroom shortly thereafter with all that acid feeling you have in your stomach. Though now that I think about it, if it's a big pickle, I'd only eat a portion of it. That vinegar in large quantities causes dumping in my belly/bowel, too...

I'd go with salt, pickle, almonds, bologna, and if only truly desperate, the chocolate, no matter what your head tells you it wants...

auntstephie321

I'm going to try some salt water, it's only a pickle spear so by weight it usually comes out to less than 1 g calories and carbs for each one. hopefully the salt will help

greenautumn17

I just drink the pickle juice.

wabmester

greenautumn17 wrote: »

I just drink the pickle juice.

I smell like pickles after doing that (according to my wife).

CoconuttyMummy

You did amazing to fast for 19 hours. Wow, Soldier!!

I keep trying IF but b/c im already on really low calories and feeling depleted to start with, i only manage to fast on a BPC every now and then until lunch. I'd love to do it more often but ive been having to stick an egg in my BPC to feel more satiated and to ensure i get enough protein in to preserve/build muscle, so that obviously ends my fast. Since having the egg in my BPC now im only fasting for 12-13 hours over night, like the average-joe.

Id love to know if fasting for 16+hrs loses you more weight on the same daily cals as just fasting for 12hrs overnight. What's the idea behind fasting? Is it meant to increase your metabolism? I mean, if you ate the same amount of calories on day 1 and day 2, but you fasted for 16 hrs on day 1 and ate your calories after that period, and on day 2 you just spread your calories out as normal from breakfast - would you lose more weight on day 1? Or is the idea of a fast that you DONT eat the same amount of calories as you normally would (ie effectively missing 1 meal's worth of calories)?

toadqueen

I used to fast quite often. From everything I read, one begins to burn fat after 2.5 days of water fasting. However, that really messes with the adrenals. I am fasting this month to give my digestive track a break each week and see how I feel.

I have never felt the acid feeling OP described, I just get really bored with long fasts.

CoconuttyMummy

OMG, @toadqueen , 2.5 DAYS?! It takes that long? Geeze. That's never going to happen. So what are the benefits of shorter fasts, ie. 16-20hrs? If you're not burning more fat, and you're eating the same amount of calories as you would on a non-fasting day, what are the benefits of IFing?

auntstephie321

Phew, I made it, and my math apparently stinks because that was 21 hrs not 19.

@CoconuttyMummy I've found this site helps explain it well

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2013/08/06/a-beginners-guide-to-intermittent-fasting/

CoconuttyMummy

Wooh, 21 hrs! How do you feel? Have you had your 1st meal or just a snack? Do you feel hungrier or less hungry? Spanish inquisition, sorry, just really interested. Well done, stephie.

auntstephie321

I felt much better after having some salt, the acidic feeling in my gut stopped. by the time I got home I wasn't really hungry at all, I just had some nuts and feel really good

glossbones

Yes I'd say that's the only problem I've run into with the fasting, the lack of sodium in the morning hours. A cup of broth can be added with little insulin effect. Hope tomorrow is better!

bluefish86

Ditto on the salt.

I had the worst headache on Monday after fasting for about 18 hours... it was like someone was stabbing me behind my left eye. I had some salty chicken stock and that sorted it right away.

Foamroller

toadqueen wrote: »

I used to fast quite often. From everything I read, one begins to burn fat after 2.5 days of water fasting. However, that really messes with the adrenals. I am fasting this month to give my digestive track a break each week and see how I feel.

I have never felt the acid feeling OP described, I just get really bored with long fasts.

Source? Or maybe someone misunderstood along the line?

I'm sorry, but pretty sure the bolded above is incorrect. We «burn» fat all the time, the body is in a constant flux of anabolic and catabolic states. (the cells). There are different degrees on a continuum. We «burn» a higher degree of stored fat overnight during sleep, because the para sympathetic nervous system (relaxed state) regulates metabolism, including endocrine system. And logically we don't eat while sleeping.

As soon as we start eating the body starts to work on that batch, and it will use easy calories like sugar or mct first. Whatever is a surplus over a few days is stored.

I didn't need to water fast to lose weight, and I'd be very surprised if water fasting was a universal component to fat loss, since millions of people lose fat all the time with a caloric deficit. I do think that a water fast is a very efficient weight loss tool and with possible added health effects like more autophagy by mitochondria at 72 hrs. But still not a vital component for fat loss.

Edit: clarity, not meanings.

wabmester

I'm guessing the 2.5 days refers to the time it takes "normal" people to deplete glycogen. Low-carbers start off in that state, which is why we adapt to fasting more quickly and get the benefits more quickly.

Edit: it should only take about a day to deplete glycogen with a water fast, though.

auntstephie321

That was my goal of the fast to begin with. I ate a lot of carbs and wanted to quickly deplete the glycogen stores that I had built up

kirkor

wabmester wrote: »

I'm guessing the 2.5 days refers to the time it takes "normal" people to deplete glycogen.

Is that for both liver and muscle glycogen stores?

wabmester

Just liver. The brain only puts demand on the liver supply. The muscle supplies last as long as the muscle demand is low, I imagine.

toadqueen

Yes, that is what I meant from the articles I had read. It generally takes up to 3 days to burn the glycogen stored in the liver and then the body begins to burn fatty acids as fuel. Sorry for any confusion.