Hello, I'm usually lurking here but wanted to share my experience. I've been doing a dirty fast as I consume two cups of coffee with quite a bit of milk each day, probably around 300 calories in total or so and I'm doing it for weight loss reasons so I'm not bothered by the fact that it is not quite a proper fast, but I'm pleased to report that I am still getting amazing results anyways, I've weighed myself this morning and lost 6 lbs in total after 2 full days so I'm very happy, my goal was to do a 106 hour fast and will eat again on Tuesday when I'm in the office as I normally go to the gyms also. A dirty fast is so much easier for me mentally so I prefer doing it this way. I'm not hungry but I still find that I have a foggy brain and not much energy but I totally love fasting, its such an amazing tool. Does anyone have any tips on how to get around the foggy brain etc?
Answer
That milk can cause brain fog for some people (including me).
Instead of long dirty fasts, why not do shorter water fasts and get the clarity + energy along with the other benefits?
If it’s just for weight loss, a healthy OMAD lifestyle is more than enough for most cases. Or do ADF or rolling 48h if you’re in a hurry for some reason.
Answer
Use your coffees with milk for as long as you need to as “training wheels”. You might find that in time you’ll naturally want to let go of the milk and if you’d like to ween yourself more slowly, switch to heavy cream (which has a smaller insulin response) at two tablespoons per cup, then one, then half, then nothing. I’d question whether you’re getting a sufficient amount of electrolytes, particularly sodium. That brain fog is usually easily eliminated with proper electrolyte balance.