Fasting? Anyone? Anyone?

driefishin · December 2017

Anyone fasting for 24 hours or more ? If so, why? Blood sugar reasons? Weight loss? etc....?

ccruz985 · December 2017

No.

MichelleSilverleaf · December 2017

The only times I've ever fasted were for a fundraiser project in high school (forget the specifics but it was trying to highlight hunger and starvation in third world places) and before a blood test. Otherwise, why would you?

TavistockToad · December 2017

driefishin wrote: »

Anyone fasting for 24 hours or more ? If so, why? Blood sugar reasons? Weight loss? etc....?

nope

alondrakayy · December 2017

That sounds awful.

rybo · December 2017

I've done the occasional 24 hr fast. It's not as apocalyptic as people make it out to be.

toxikon · December 2017

This is a very controversial topic, I'm fully expected to get woo'd here, but what the heck. I have anecdotal experience to add.

I decided to try a 3-day liquid fast (broths, diet drinks, tea) just to see if I could do it. I'd read some articles about the science of autophagy and purported health benefits of fasting. There ARE studies out there - most of them are done on rats and mice though, so it's hard to judge their accuracy. It's definitely a growing field.

First day was surprisingly easy, second day was rough, third day was a little easier. It mostly just got weird feeling so empty all the time and it was hard to sleep with an empty stomach. I had enough energy to bounce off the walls the first 2 days. Third day I was starting to feel tired.

After breaking my fast? Felt fine. I actually felt a nice psychological shift in how I thought about food. Before the fast, I felt really controlled by my hunger. Being hungry was bad, and I needed to eat immediately to make it go away. After the fast, it was easier to shrug off hunger and remind myself it's fine to feel a hunger pang and wait to eat till the next meal. It also made sticking to my IF schedule a heck of a lot easier.

Will I do it again? Meh. Who knows. Whatever benefits I might've received were so short-lived that I don't know if it's really worth it. I know some people do monthly fasts, but I don't really care to do something like that.

driefishin · December 2017

If this question is against forum rules, how do i delete it ?

rybo · December 2017

driefishin wrote: »

If this question is against forum rules, how do i delete it ?

I don't see it as against the rules. An occasional 24 or even 36 hour fast isn't a big deal.
There is a big difference between that and fasting for extended periods or starving oneself and calling it fasting.

jemhh · December 2017

A one day fast is not going to harm a person. I wouldn't do it, mind you, but that's because it wouldn't work for me (restricted eating times aren't my style) not because it's so dangerous. I have a friend who fasts once per week for religious reasons and has for years without any issue.

KombuchaKat · December 2017

rybo wrote: »

driefishin wrote: »

If this question is against forum rules, how do i delete it ?

I don't see it as against the rules. An occasional 24 or even 36 hour fast isn't a big deal.
There is a big difference between that and fasting for extended periods or starving oneself and calling it fasting.

Totally agree. Fasting is not inherently unsafe and I think our bodies are designed to be fine with occasional fasting. Before recent times people were forced to fast when food was scarce. Obviously you would need to consider its safety in the context of any health issues you may have. I have done fasts up to 48 hours and played around with intermittent fasting (basically skipping breakfast and pushing lunch back as far as I can) with no issue. In fact it worked pretty well for me as far as weight loss/maintenance so I am thinking of doing it again. Right now I am toying with potato hacking which I know sounds very trendy but there are some interesting reasons why it works. Basically I consider it a way of cutting calories for short periods of time (3-5 days) so that I can calorie cycle (cut calories for a few days then eat at maintenance to try and avoid the weight loss rebound).

KombuchaKat · December 2017

toxikon wrote: »

This is a very controversial topic, I'm fully expected to get woo'd here, but what the heck. I have anecdotal experience to add.

I decided to try a 3-day liquid fast (broths, diet drinks, tea) just to see if I could do it. I'd read some articles about the science of autophagy and purported health benefits of fasting. There ARE studies out there - most of them are done on rats and mice though, so it's hard to judge their accuracy. It's definitely a growing field.

First day was surprisingly easy, second day was rough, third day was a little easier. It mostly just got weird feeling so empty all the time and it was hard to sleep with an empty stomach. I had enough energy to bounce off the walls the first 2 days. Third day I was starting to feel tired.

After breaking my fast? Felt fine. I actually felt a nice psychological shift in how I thought about food. Before the fast, I felt really controlled by my hunger. Being hungry was bad, and I needed to eat immediately to make it go away. After the fast, it was easier to shrug off hunger and remind myself it's fine to feel a hunger pang and wait to eat till the next meal. It also made sticking to my IF schedule a heck of a lot easier.

Will I do it again? Meh. Who knows. Whatever benefits I might've received were so short-lived that I don't know if it's really worth it. I know some people do monthly fasts, but I don't really care to do something like that.

Same principle with the potato hacking, it helps your mental relationship with food to remove the palatability for a bit. And potatoes are very satiating so hunger is not an issue. And you can intermittent fast on the hack.

DananaNanas · December 2017

I have not looked into "potato hacking" and this is OT but I really like raw potatoes >_<

MegaMooseEsq · December 2017

I've been reading a lot about fasting recently, and am planning on trying the feast-fast protocol described in the links below, which calls for a 24 hour fast after a day eating at or over maintenance. My primary reason is that I already have one or two days a week where I eat over my calories, but as I've lost weight (almost 40 lbs this year) I'm starting to get to where I'll need to cut my calories back to keep up a moderate rate of loss (about a pound a week, nothing crazy - I've got a bit over 30 to go to a "normal" BMI). I am already eating moderately low calories during the work week to offset the spike day and don't like the idea of going any lower. And after almost a year of dieting, I've learned that I really enjoy letting loose at least one day a week and don't want to restrict those nights in order to keep up my deficit. So, the plan is to try fasting from when I go to bed Saturday night (that is, Sunday morning) until dinner-time on Sunday, probably totaling between 14-16 hours. If that works well, I'd plan to extend the fast through Monday morning, which would probably end up being 24-30 hours. That's step two, though.

http://romanfitnesssystems.com/articles/feast-fast/
http://physiqonomics.com/philosophies-dieting-fasting-spike-days/

vingogly · December 2017

toxikon wrote: »

After breaking my fast? Felt fine. I actually felt a nice psychological shift in how I thought about food.

I've done very low carb a few times when starting weight loss for the same reason -- it changes your focus on food, particularly carbs if desire for them is a problem for you. Christians, Moslems, Jews, Hindus, and Buddhists all fast for religious reasons, and have been doing so for thousands of years. But that has a different purpose than fasting for weight loss. My guess is that a day or two here and there isn't going to do any harm (but I wouldn't expect it will "supercharge" your weight loss either), but three days seems a bit over the top to me.

Good_Morning_Glory · December 2017

I don’t eat breakfast.

kgeyser · December 2017

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kimny72 · December 2017

I tend to overeat in response to being overhungry. I tried a juice fast a couple of times before I found MFP and all I got was a nasty headache and a desire to eat all the food for the next several days. I don't personally see any evidence that fasting is any better for weight loss than consistent lower daily calories, so I avoid making it more difficult for myself than it needs to be.

I skip breakfast because I'm usually not hungry in the AM and if I am, I find it fairly easy to ignore.

I know some people say that avoiding food makes them less dependent on it, for me it does the exact opposite. I guess it's a YMMV sort of thing.

GottaBurnEmAll · December 2017

A note about fasting and autophagy. The autophagy that people attribute to fasting is more related to the refeed period after the fasting, not during the fast. You don't need long periods of fasting if you're interested for whatever reason in pursuing autophagy as a goal.

Exercise also promotes autophagy.

The thing is that the nebulous information out there on autophagy is being correctly misapplied to insinuate that people can avoid loose skin by practicing prolonged fasting. This is pure BS, and the person peddling that information needs to be shut down on the issue with a quickness.

I skip breakfast. When I do this I have better appetite regulation.

I would never do a day long fast unless prepping for a colonoscopy. Fasting is not something that plays well with chronic migraine, a condition from which I suffer. In fact, this phenomenon is so well known, studies have been performed on migraineurs during Ramadan.

Fasting? Anyone? Anyone?

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