| | Water Fasting

Am I fasting properly?

I am a 32 year old male, 5’11” I have been doing various forms of IF for awhile now, but I started doing extended fasting in August. This includes two separate 72 hour fasts, three 48 hour fasts, and a few 36 hour fasts. I have also been on the keto diet since April. I have weighed between 142 and 152 for several years. The numbers always go back and forth, but I was hoping that extended fasting three days a week would bring my numbers back down. *I do not consume ANY calories at all during the fasting period.* Example: I fasted 36 hours three times last week. I fasted 36 hours twice this week. I am a whopping 149.6 this morning before drinking any fluids. I want to get as close to 142 as possible, maybe lower. I feel like there is no progress and it can be stressful to fast. Should I push for a long 7 day? 14 day? Why am I not losing the weight that I want to?

Answer

It sounds like you’ve been keto for a few months, so it doesn’t sound like your insulin is the issue (a lot of people, myself included, have a very difficult time with weight loss due to insulin resistance, and fasting takes time because of this).

So it’s one of two things:

  1. Your re-feed. You might be getting in more than you’re burning in a large binge. It’s hard to do this when Keto, but I’ve seen it happen. What’s your re-feed like?

  2. Everybody (and every body) has a set weight point. This is the weight point that everyone naturally gravitates towards and that the body will constantly try to regulate towards. There have been some interesting speculative studies based on this idea and fasting is showing promise at slowly moving your weight downwards, re-regulating your set weight point to a lower number over time.

If you constantly go back to the same weight range (within five pounds) your body might be trying to regulate back to this range. Bodies are actually really phenomenal at regulating themselves and it will find a way to hold onto that fat store to the best of its ability…but it can’t do it forever. Fasting repeatedly will eventually lower this and you’ll start seeing progress, but it might take more time than you’d like to see.

So if your re-feed is fine (I’d make sure to track it/keep a food journal to make sure nothing is adversely affecting you/your re-feed isn’t too high) it might just be a load of water or your body trying to maintain. You’ll likely see a woosh (large weight loss) if you stick with it! It doesn’t sound like you’re doing anything wrong. Sometimes it just takes time.