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Fasting routine

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ascrit
ascrit Posts: 770 Member
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I have decided to experiment with fasting once a week. I plan to only fast on a day in which I am not working out. Does anyone else fast regularly? If so, what are some things I should look out for?

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  • sarabeth624
    sarabeth624 Posts: 33 Member
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    I do this by accident occasionally. It's just one day. Don't overthink it. How I do it by accident is I have a lot of fat the day before, get super busy on fast day, never get hungry and forget to eat. Then go to bed exhausted. I know some people end up eating more on the days after to make up the lost calories. Some don't. I don't know what's better.
  • ascrit
    ascrit Posts: 770 Member
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    Welp, my fast day yesterday went well and there were zero adverse effects. Hooray!
  • SteamClutch
    SteamClutch Posts: 433 Member
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    I used to do this routinely in college nearly 40 years ago now (how did I get this old?). At the time I followed Paul Bragg's "Miracle of Fasting" but the book has been taken over by some family member who promote vegan-ism and he was not a vegan. Anyway, I did this during my Whole30 a few months back while I also was consuming a bunch of good food on my regular days and had real success with it.

    Bragg's method is to do a 24 hour routine where you eat a meal and 24 hours later eat a light meal like a salad (but this is not really necessary). My method a few months back was to have a nice breakfast, try not to overdo anything that day while drinking plenty of water, then get up go for a long walk (which some call putting a load on a fasting state), I had no issues after a night's sleep, then had breakfast again. I fired it up this morning to start it as a routine again but didn't psych myself up for it much and I will likely have a salad tonight and try again next Friday.
  • ascrit
    ascrit Posts: 770 Member
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    Yesterday was my third fasting Thursday in as many weeks and it was definitely the toughest as I woke up kinda hungry. Still, no adverse effects.
  • lujo321
    lujo321 Posts: 78 Member
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    I recently saw something about intermittent fasting that suggested you divide the fast over two days. For example noon to noon. That way you actually eat on both days and you still get the 24 hour fast but it is supposed to be a bit easier. I have been considering this for myself and may give it a try once I've kicked my sugar demon to the curb.
  • LeenaGee
    LeenaGee Posts: 749 Member
    edited November 2014
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    I definitely like the way the person who evented the "noon to noon fast" thinks. :D

    Whether it is of any benefit I have no idea.
  • lujo321
    lujo321 Posts: 78 Member
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    I inadvertently did a 15 hour fast yesterday. Woke up late than had no time to cook before leaving the house. Thank goodness for my coffee pot timer so I at least had coffee. I had dinner around 7-7:30 the night before and didn't eat again until 12:30 the next day. Can I count it even though I didn't plan it? LOL
    I am super proud I didn't hit the vending machine at the rec department during my daughter's practice or any of the fast food options in town either.
  • GrokRockStar
    GrokRockStar Posts: 2,938 Member
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    Lujo, that counts! I have tried 16/8 a couple of times, but I felt miserable! I don't think I could ever do it by accident though :)
  • Akimajuktuq
    Akimajuktuq Posts: 3,037 Member
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    Most days I have a 18/6 eating window and I love it. I've gone as low as 22/2 on weekends. I don't seem to do well with any fast where I go to bed hungry; I don't sleep well like that so for me it doesn't seem worth it. That doesn't mean that I won't keep trying it periodically though.
  • SteamClutch
    SteamClutch Posts: 433 Member
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    One thing I can say for the 24 hour fast is even though you are hungry at the end of it the mental state is quite clear before you break the fast. A real clarity of the mind is there and it can help with decision making if you're having trouble making your mind up about something.

    I have done (in college) many 3 day fasts and this clarity is amplified to a crazy extent and after the 3 day point you do not really experience hunger pangs. I have done a 7 day once as well while working full time and I even cooked food while on it with no pangs but this was well into the method of weekly fasting routines. I am not sure I would recommend this to anyone anymore, it was part of my youth and spiritual pursuits and I was much more adept at pulling this off.

    The concern today is how the body tends to consume muscle tissue when it needs energy and we have no food to convert to energy for it. I am sure there is science on both sides of this matter but I only know what I experienced doing it and I do not know if it was a bad thing or not but it put me on a road to eat more naturally when i was young even if many of the foods were actually not good for me anyway like wheat.
  • GrokRockStar
    GrokRockStar Posts: 2,938 Member
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    I just realized that I stop eating at 6:30pm usually and have my first meal about 8:30am the next day, so that would be 14/10 (guess it was by accident). I feel completely fine with this and with a little tweaking perhaps to 16/8 really shouldn’t be a big deal. I’ve read the benefits of IF and if I could do it, I could be on my way of LGN!

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