Hi all,
I came across this sub & I’m frankly amazed. I’m impressed by the research, dedication, and results displayed by people in this community.
At the same time, seeing people do these long fasts is blowing my mind! I’ve been practicing IF almost daily since ~2012 & I’m a huge believer in that & decently informed about autophagy etc. However my own longest fast was ~26 hours and I found it extremely challenging to manage my energy, focus, dizziness etc over even that relatively short time.
I’m curious to learn more and think about whether I too could take this on!
I’ve read the rules and I believe asking these questions is okay, but if not I can take this down. (Also tried searching the sub but I still have these questions.)
Is anyone willing to share:
-What’s your longest fast?
-Was your doctor okay with that?
-How did you communicate that to friends and family, people who ask you to hang out, get dinner etc? How do you tell a coworker “no I can’t get happy hour after work today or anytime in the next month?” (This is already a challenge for me since I skip dinner instead of breakfast in my IF).
-How do you manage a healthy mindset? I think it is a VERY good thing that people with an ED history are banned from this sub, but I still see language like people feeling guilty about eating, or calling a 6 day fast a “failure” because it wasn’t longer that makes me worry about people. Do you actively do anything to make sure you maintain a healthy relationship with food?
-Do you exercise while fasting? If so, is it super gentle walking yoga etc or can you still lift, do more intense cardio…?
-Can you work your job decently while fasting more than a couple of days in terms of cognition and focus? (Personally I feel more alert doing IF but started to feel very tired during 24 hour fasts.)
-Can anyone who’s a woman comment on whether you believe fasting has been impacting your fertility, positively or negatively? Or anyone with PCOS? (I’m working on freezing my eggs and believe I’d have to wait until we’re done to start fasting.)
Thank you sincerely to anyone who takes the time to answer any of these!
Answer
72 hours is the longest. I usually do 24-48. I didn’t consult a doctor, I just did it. However, if you are taking medications (especially something like Metformin, which is a fertility drug as well as a blood sugar lowering drug) or if you are planning on fasting longer, you really should do it under the care of a doctor.
I behave like normal when fasting, I exercise the same as I do when not fasting. I’m very open about it too, I tell my friends/family I’ll just have water, thanks. I love food and I love cooking, food and I have a great relationship.
I find eating a paleo leaning keto diet the key to not feeling crappy. I also find fasting during my period the easiest, I’m naturally not hungry. I take advantage of those times I feel good and I’m not hungry to try for longer fasts. When I don’t feel good, I stop.
I do not know about fertility, but I do know that PCOS is tied to high blood sugar levels, so fasting is probably the best thing you can do for yourself aside from watching what you eat and exercising.