Fastlane Fasting Friends

[MTF]

There are a lot of people on the forum interested in intermittent fasting as one of the top threads in this subforum shows.

I decided to start a new thread for those who are interested in exploring longer fasting, beyond the usual 16/8 (16 hours fasting, 8-hour window of eating) or 20/4 (20 hours fasting, 4 hours for eating) protocol.

@Sander and I are doing a 3-day fast starting this Wednesday, which means the last meal on Tuesday and the next one on Saturday. @Brian Suh is doing a 4-day fast. In the same hyperlinked thread, @JordanS plans a 3-day fast and @brockzilla and his wife are doing a 7- and 10-day fast respectively. You can join any of us now or set a different date and find a Fastlane Fasting Friend to fast with you.

Anyone else interested in doing a 3-day fast with @Sander and me starting this Wednesday? Let me sell you on the idea:

• Eating takes a lot of time out of your day - shopping, prepping, cooking, eating, cleaning up, etc. During the fast, you'll free up at least 2 additional hours a day, if not more. This can be a great time to set more ambitious goals for your business because it will be like getting a free workday.
• It's a great exercise for self-discipline, one of the keys to success. There's @Fox's thread about a 75-day challenge that shows how important this skill is for everything in life. After going without food for 3 days, other willpower challenges will be easier.
• You'll lose some weight. A lot of it will be water weight you'll regain, but there will be some fat loss, too (based on my experience, it should be at least 1-3 pounds, or 0.5-1.5 kg). While on a fast, particularly the second and third day, it might be a good time to go hang out at the beach (with a bottle of water only) as your physique will be much more defined. Who knows, maybe you'll see your abs for the first time in your life
• You'll reset your body as you won't be supplying any of the crap coming from processed foods. Your body will begin the process of autophagy (self-eating), which sounds scary, but in reality is desirable as it will clean out damaged cells to replace them with new, healthier ones. Your insulin levels will drop and inflammation will reduce. It might help improve your physical appearance (reduce acne, redness, etc.). Here's an article on the 5 stages of prolonged fasting.
• You'll gain more mental clarity and improve your relationship with food. After a fast, even a very simple meal will taste incredibly and junk food will probably taste strange, if not way too sweet/salty/greasy, etc. This can help you rebuild your diet from the ground up.
• You'll probably have some weird vivid dreams, which is trippy, but also fun.
• Perhaps for the first time in your life, you'll feel true hunger, not fake hunger you feel in between meals. It's a humbling experience that will help you understand the struggles of those less lucky who are forced to fast.
• You already have two guys who will hold you accountable and share the experience with you. It's much easier to do it with someone else also doing it at the same time.
• It's a simple challenge that, even if you decide not to repeat it, will be a cool experience. You'll be able to brag that you once went without food for 3 days

We're doing a water-only fast, so you'll also cycle off your caffeine intake if you drink coffee or tea daily.

If you're in, you still have two days to plan ahead, including eating any food you have that would have spoiled by the end of your fast, scheduling tasks you'll perform while fasting, and letting others know that you won't be available for dinners (or any eating out for that matter) for three days.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Once you're deep into the fast, your brain will be astounded at how everything in culture revolves around food. It's actually a bit disturbing. Some years ago I did a 7 day fast and the experience was quite vivid and eye-opening.

 

[MTF]

Not so much because my body needs to eat, more that my mind wants to eat.

Same for me. I'm mentally tired of fasting and really looking forward to eating tomorrow. I'm extremely grateful that this fast is 100% voluntary. Makes you realize how lucky you are to have food on your plate every day.

66 hours in. We can eat again tomorrow. Woop!

Woop woop!

Over 61 hours down. Less than 29 hours to go.

Staying hydrated.

Very clear thoughts. Slight headache. Bubble guts.

But, I get to eat tomorrow.

We're almost there!

Also it's good to know that hunger pangs subside. Ghrelin, the hormone mainly responsible for hunger, comes in waves and after a short amount of time it will subside.

Yeah, I've noticed that it does come in waves and they do go away quickly.

We’re almost there. How’s everyone doing?

I’m finding falling asleep to be difficult. This is probably because I usually eat late and as such go to bed with a full stomach. I do end up waking up feeling good though.

Workouts have been feeling good, can’t really say there’s been a big difference. Energy levels have been stable.

The real battle is in the late evening, when the day is done. This is when my mind starts playing tricks on me. The demons come out at night as they say.

I’ll be finished this evening, making it 72 hours. Planning on doing a 48 hour next week. Probably going to make this a regular thing

Yes, falling asleep and for me sleeping as well is difficult (woke up a few times last night, hope it won't happen this night again).

As for the workouts, I did my workouts as usual and so far it has been okay. Perhaps I was a little bit tired, but more mentally than physically (I like to motivate myself when working out thinking about food I'm going to eat afterwards haha).

My girlfriend has been going strong as well. Super proud of her considering it's the first time she's fasting for such a long period of time. She's coping by writing down foods she wants to eat and restaurants she wants to go to after breaking the fast

 

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[fishgodeep]

What meal is everyone having to break their fast?

I ate ~4lbs of ground beef and slept like a bear.

I’m going to do another 72 hour fast starting Sunday evening ending Wednesday evening. This time I’m going to do a better job of tracking; weight, mood etc.

Anyone else care to join?

P.S. congratulations to everyone that took part, including those that were unsuccessful

 

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[mws87]

Any advice on how to deal with getting hangry?

Water. Salt. Magnesium. That's what I do for my 23-hour fasts, anyway. Gets rid of the headaches, keeps you hydrated and sharp.

 

[Ben Taylor]

Just finished dinner and am starting now. Here we go!

 

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[fishgodeep]

This first hour is proving brutal, hopefully it gets easier

 

[Rawseed]

24 hours down. 66 hours to go.

A gallon of water. Lots of table salt.

 

[fishgodeep]

I just had to eat breakfast this morning. Am I still in?

 

[MTF]

My Greek salad. It was everything I dreamed of and more. So fresh, so juicy, so salty, the explosion of flavor was incredible haha. I didn't know I craved salt so much. Now giving the body an hour or so to restart the system before eating some berries.

I broke the fast after over 89 hours, my girlfriend after 87.

Her final stats:

Weight before: 115 lbs / 52.2 kg
Weight after: 109 lbs / 49.4 kg
Loss of 6 lbs / 2.8 kg

I consider this crazy for a person her weight. She was feeling weak yesterday and today morning as well but managed to keep going until the finish line. After she finished her salad, she removed almost half of her list of foods she wanted to eat and restaurants she wanted to go to after a fast haha.

So happy to be able to eat again!

Couldn’t finish it all! I’m 6’3 and 105kgs so it’s unusual for me not to finish any meal let alone on after 3 days off!

Yeah, it's important to take it easy during the first few hours at least. I guess that tomorrow or the day after tomorrow you should be able to eat your normal portions (but they will be probably a little smaller anyway because of the weight you lost).

 

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[Sander]

So, my watch has ended.

96 hours, and just finished my first meal - grilled chicken with garlic marinade, a light sauce, salad and a grilled sausage.



And in a few minutes I'm going to dive into the fresh new strawberries on the side.

Thanks @MTF for creating this challenge. Didn't have any plans for doing this before I saw your post in the other thread. I love to do impulsive stuff, even though my wife told me I was stupid (with a smile) through the entire challenge, when she saw how low energy I had, how hungry I was etc.

I'm kind of jealous that some of you didn't feel the hunger for through the whole thing. I was hungry from day one until today 18:17 PM, when I could eat again.

Yesterday was tough. Could barely finish my 45 minutes on my home bike. Didn't have any energy yesterday - but made my 45 minute walk and 45 minutes biking anyway. Today I did the 45 minute walk earlier, but saved the biking to after my dinner.

This was hard. But it was worth it.

It was never an option to quit, but it wasn't a pleasure the last 48 hours.

Have madly respect for those, who don't have a choice, but have to live without food for days or even weeks.

Don't know if I'm going to do this again. Maybe for a shorter 24-48 hour period once in a while, or maybe two 24 hours per week.

For now I'm going to stick to keto.

Can't tell anything about a weight loss, because I don't own a weight. But I feel lighter, so I guess there has been some progress.

If anyone is up for an endurance challenge, try this. It will really test you.

And respect to anyone who was a part of this challenge. We should everyone be proud of what we did, even if you ate before time. You still pushed yourself to your limit, and I think that's a healthy thing to do - maybe not everyday, but at least once in a while.

Didn't experience the mental clarity that many of you talked about. Was feeling dizzy everytime I stood up, feeling extremely hungry all the time, and couldn't even concentrate about work yesterday and today. Hats off to you who did this while working full time. I'm writing as a freelancer, so no problem in low work effort for a few days.

However, I have experienced mental clarity while being on keto, so really excited to start on this again.

Thansk for a fun challenge.

Could be nice with more stoic challenges as suggested earlier in this thread. Or just other endurance challenges.

Have a great evening with full stomaches everyone.

Cheers.

 

[million$$$smile]

I just finished a 6 day fast.
Water only.
I was going to continue but I have a small medical treatment in three days and my doctor recommended that I eat so that I heal quicker.

Some takeaways:
My first and second day. I had a slight headache, most likely due to no caffeine. I am a big coffee drinker and normally in the past, I would continue to drink coffee, but I thought this time I would try a full cleanse and go water only.

Hunger pangs were not overwhelming for the most part during the complete fast, and mainly occurred during the day on day 5. That was a tough one. I noticed an overall feeling of weakness and along with that more hunger pangs. Later in the evening, it seemed I got my "second wind" and I felt like I could have run a 5k (of course, I would have probably dropped 5 minutes in the run!) but I felt great.
No craving food, and wishing I could have continued my initial plan of several weeks.

Day six (last day) again felt fine. But I knew I was going to break the fast that evening when meeting up with some business friends for dinner.
My first meal was fish and greens and a bit of rice. And a glass of wine. There is nothing better than relishing the taste of food after abstaining for a few days.

Today, I have gone back to 20/4 and plan on a meal (lean meat, salad) this evening. I do feel a bit weak and hungry. Probably due to having had a meal last night. Tomorrow and the next 2 days I am planning on eating 2 meals preparing for my doctors visit and will continue that for a week while my body heals. This procedure is minor so I don't have any concerns.

Lost a total of 12 lbs in 6 days. I'm sure there was a bit of muscle loss, but I believe I can gain that back with the same effort I focus when fasting.

I am not recommending this to anyone unless they really know themselves and what they are in for.
I have done several extensive fasts in the past (up to 14 days) but not water only.

This has been a great thread for me because it inspired me to try with water only.

Fasting has taught me a lot about myself. Especially in a work environment and being around stressful
situations. I have been learning to not allow my personal edginess to reflect on those around me. This has been an incredible insight on learning to "breathe out my stress" when I feel it coming on during fasting.

Fasting has much to do with preparing the mind and realizing that our form of eating 3 squares a day is induced much of the time on habit rather than hunger.

Thought this might help someone.

 

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[AgainstAllOdds]

Just competed a 3 day fast.

@Bearcorp @MTF @Sander @Timmy C @million$$$smile -- Wanted to thank you guys for the inspiration and motivation.

Just had my first meal after 3 days -- avocado toast with two eggs and tomato. Maybe 450 calories total. Feeling like I ate 2,000.

It was a bit of a challenge, but well worth it.

 

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[Kak]

Bumping because I discovered something that I am having some great success with. Here's the backstory.

Since I had about 40 pounds to lose, I decided to go OMPD because I am someone that feels fine until noon without food. I felt terrible holding out longer. I became inneffective on the diet and I cant have that, so I quit. Instead, I decided to avidly run, walk and lift weights, and eat responsibly. I only lost 5 pounds after doing that for a year. I feel good though. Running just made me more hungry.

Recently, I discovered why fasting made me feel like such crap. How you feel isn't really lack of fuel, your body can make its own out of the fat. Keytones are actually better brain fuel than carb glucose anyway... It is about an electrolyte imbalance. At least for me.

I have always been incredibly susceptible to dehydration sickness since I was in high school carrying a golf bag in 105 degree Texas heat for 5 hours. I would end up with a fever and legitimately sick.

I discovered something called "fasting salts." It is a combination of sodium, magnesium and potassium with zero sugar or anything else. I have lost 8 more pounds in two weeks on OMPD and feel great. I feel like I actually found something my body likes. I am stoked.

My point is, if you feel like crap when you intermittently fast, try supplementing electrolytes. It's like magic for me.

 

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[fishgodeep]

Hello everyone,

I am in! Shout out to @Sander and @MTF for starting this. I was going to do my own 48 hour fast starting last night but I stumbled on this thread and I was reminded of the old saying 'Misery loves company'. So lets all be miserable together .

I'm on Mountain time and will be starting tonight after dinner around 9pm. Like @KnightByDay I am also doing the 75 Hard programme. Right now I plan on doing a 72 hour fast, so that my last meal is Tuesday night with my next being Friday night. However it's quite likely I'll get to this point feel the competitive urge to not tap out before the rest of you ha. We'll see.

Anyway, book me in for 72 hours starting tonight. Hopefully no one dies as @MTF may be liable

 

[Timmy C]

Keep your mind distracted when your feeling shitty, don’t dwell on it too much and also drink lots of water! I’ve had some slight headaches which I’m thinking is no sugar and caffeine related, but haven’t had hunger issues just yet, which I’m thinking will make tomorrow a nightmare

Also what time did you have your last meal yesterday? I’m over 24 hours in now!

Last meal was a protein shake and some beef Ragu after gym at about midnight.

I usually eat alot of food everyday, mostly clean food.

Work was F*cked! took all of 10 minutes for one of the waitresses to ask if I wanted some cake.... Straight up said NO. They where all eating it in front of me. Then another chef drops some stuff on my work bench, here have this!...

Kill me now I thought lol.

 

[Boyd]

59 hours and still going.

Felt a little tired and weak late yesterday afternoon. Probably because of a long day at the day job. Also looking forward to breaking the fast. Not so much because my body needs to eat, more that my mind wants to eat. Been thinking a lot about safe, healthy foods I can eat to end this fast the right way.

Last day guys. Push through it.

 

[Rawseed]

Over 61 hours down. Less than 29 hours to go.

Staying hydrated.

Very clear thoughts. Slight headache. Bubble guts.

But, I get to eat tomorrow.

 

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[Bearcorp]

Saturday morning here, 84 hours since my last meal and the fast is over! Going out for breakfast in an hour or so, not sure what’s on the menu yet!

Yesterday I missed eating mentally like a few others have said, seemed to notice food outlets everywhere when driving and food adverts everywhere! Didn’t have any strange dreams (bit disappointed with that ) and abs aren’t visible*, but there was always going to be a bit more work required before that happened!

I hope everyone else is still soldering on to the finish line, thanks for organizing this @MTF and @Sander learnt a lot about myself the last few days.

*EDIT I took my photo after this message and the top 2 are showing Scales we’re broken when I weighed in on Wednesday so I’m a bit disappointed not to know the weight lost.

 

[Boyd]

Crap. I absentmindedly took a gulp of my wife's soda. About a half hour after the carbs and sugar hit me, my stomach started growling like crazy. I broke down and decided to eat something, thus ending my fast.

It's weird because I wasn't even thirsty. We were in the car together and the soda was sitting in the holder between us. Without even thinking, I instinctively reached down and grabbed it. Everything suddenly went into slow motion as I realized what I did.

It's amazing how ingrained our food habits have become. At least for me, anyway.

I'm not going to consider this a failure, though. I lasted a lot longer than I thought I could. I'll definitely try another prolonged fast again soon.

Here are my final numbers:

Fast duration: 70 hours, 22 minutes.
Staring weight: 196.4 lbs
Ending weight: 190.2 lbs
Total weight lost: 6.2 lbs

Overall, I'm very pleased, albeit a little disappointed I couldn't properly finish. Huge congrats to those who make it all the way.

 

[Rawseed]

It will be 90 hours by the time my bun-less cheese burger arrives from Five Guys. I just ordered it with Door Dash. I'll have a rib-eye tonight.

I was low-carb before the fast, so I only lost 6 ponds over the 90 hours.

I'm going to go back to low-carb until the end of the month.

Then I'll either do keto, no carb, or carnivore.

 

[fishgodeep]

100 hour fast in the books!

Feeling really good about this one. The real challenge about fasting that is usually overlooked is the re-feed. People (myself included) have a tendency to overeat after a long fast sometimes even with unhealthy food. And end up undoing a lot of the good work they just did. This time I broke my fast with a regular sized dinner consisting of meat and vegetables. And did't feel the need to eat again that day.

I did a much better job of tracking this time around. Ended up loosing 5 lbs and an 1 inch off my waist. Energy levels felt great throughout the fast. Trained Jiu Jitsu everyday and got some walks in as well. I didn't experience a lowered body temperature as some people often do. And I'd know as it was -30C here in Canada the last couple of days .

The main benefit I can report is mental. When you go through several days of not consuming anything but water you come out of with heightened degree of confidence. Like anything you need to experience it to truly understand it. But having the knowledge that you can forgo consumption for a few days is incredibly liberating. You can truly focus all of your intention on your goals, no food, no coffee, no social media, no bullshit.

If anyone is feeling curious about trying fasting do it and jump in with both feet!

@Sheens how did it go for you?

 

[MTF]

I pretty much fast every day in the morning. Wake up at 6 AM, eat a snack around 10 AM. Lunch at noon.

I've been doing IF for many years already, usually roughly 18-20 hours of fasting and 4-6 hour eating window. Sometimes I also do 36-hour fasts. But a 3-day fast is different since it's way longer. And at least in theory, possibly helps the body rebuild itself (it takes much longer than the standard 16 hours for the process to kickstart).

So to sum up, I'd encourage you to join us

 

[MTF]

Doing a 40+ hour fast today since it's been a long time since my last one. If anyone wants to join, feel free!

I stopped eating yesterday (on Sunday) around 6 pm and will resume tomorrow probably around 11 am so about 43 hours of fasting.

 

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[heavy_industry]

Awesome thread!

I would suggest adding a huge disclaimer at the beginning:

• Use OMAD for at least 30 days before trying an extended fast - your body needs to learn how to use stored fat efficiently (generate enzymes, ramp up gluconeogenesis etc.)
• Always take sodium and potassium when doing extended fasts to prevent electrolytes imbalances (can be deadly)
• Never eat carbs when you break a prolonged fast to avoid re-feeding syndrome (can be deadly as well). Always use lean protein to break the fast and don't binge eat right away
• Do extensive research before trying any health intervention, and seek medical supervision if you are older or have any underlying health condition

Other than that, fasting is one of the best ways to improve health and mental sharpness. It's very hard to do, but that will increase discipline so it's another bonus.

I haven't eaten a substantial meal in 14 hours. Now I'm having a bit of dark chocolate and will not eat anything for the next 24 hours, but will train hard instead.

So it will be a 38 hours semi-fast.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

What prompted you to do a 7 day fast?

Because my health was a shit-show and I had all kinds of problems, from Gout to Acid Reflux to High Cholesterol to Chronic Fatigue, even was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. I was hard drinking the Paleo Kool-Aid and while I looked like I was in decent shape, I was seeing a doctor monthly. I thought a fast would "reset" my gut, which it did, at least until I started eating the same way, and had the same problems simply come back.

 

[Sander]

Let's do this!

 

[MTF]

i have a coffee addiction, is caffeine tablets acceptable or just ride it out?

Ride it out man, it's a self-discipline challenge as well. I have a habit of drinking tea in the morning to begin work so this will be hard for me, too.

 

[Timmy C]

going strong fam!


I work with food every day so i have to get mentally prepared being around it all the time on my fast, first shift on a fast is tonight so it will be good prep for the upcoming days.

 

[MTF]

I am in! Shout out to @Sander and @MTF for starting this. I was going to do my own 48 hour fast starting last night but I stumbled on this thread and I was reminded of the old saying 'Misery loves company'. So lets all be miserable together .

Awesome, let's all feel magnificent, majestic, mighty, and merry, definitely not miserable, together. The right mindset is key

That makes us 12, and 13 with @Briah Suh who's been doing a 5-day fast and plans to finish on Saturday as well.

going strong fam!

I work with food every day so i have to get mentally prepared being around it all the time on my fast, first shift on a fast is tonight so it will be good prep for the upcoming days.

From my experience as long as you're determined, being around food shouldn't bother you too much, though you'll probably smell it from a mile away by tomorrow.

@Bearcorp how's your first full day going?

DAY 1

It's day 1 for me. I had my last meal at 4:51 PM yesterday so I'm 15 hours into the fast now.

Starting weight: 187 lbs / 84.9 kg

Today I have the toughest workout during the entire fast, but since it's day one it doesn't matter. Time to get to work without my usual dose of tea.