My first proper fast was 29th December 2019 to 23rd January 2020.
I lost 7kg and it was very hard.
Second fast was 12th Jan 2021 until 16th March 2021. This was less hard but still hard, and I broke my fast for two three day periods, on 22d Feb and 6th March. Lost 7kg as well.
Am currently in the middle of third fast. It is much easier now. It’s like my body knows its coming and is happier about it.
Started on 29th December 2021. Have lost 15kg to date, intending to stop on the 25th so I can have haggis on Burn’s night.
First fast ever ended up being at around 48 hoursThen gradually built it up to 120, so 5 days. My longest fast was 6 days after that. I personally think 5 days are the optimal if you don’t wanna fast for too long but still reap the benefits and some fat loss. And over 5 days is even better if you prefer extended fasting.
I started with 16/8 and one i realized how it gets easier extended to up to 5 days a couple times. I’m IF all the time now and do a 72 hour water fast once a month. I’m athletic and never really had any weight loss goals, just trying to age gracefully. I tried to roll fasted a few times, total no go for my anaerobic self. Also bonked really hard for the second time in my life while fasted (whilst backpacking that time). Everything else is doable fasted for me; weight training (with proper rest between sets) running (as long as i keep it aerobic), working, meditation (is great fasted)… start slow and grow into it is my advice.
My first fast was 4 days. I picked that against most recommendations because I’m stubborn and may as well use that for something good other than to annoy people… Meaning once I started I knew I would finish. Also I knew it was easier to apply said stubbornness on the first go-around.
But the primary reason was because I wanted to see the gamut of feelings and sensations, and based on research it looked that you don’t hit the sweet spot until day 4 which was the case for me. Day 1 and 2 were fine. Day 3 was full of annoying food thoughts; annoying enough that if those continued it would have been a royal pain in the ass to fast. The morning of day 4 they all cleared and I felt my best.
The problem of the shorter fasts if that they can leave you with a skewed and demoralizing view of what a longer fast is. If my first would have been 3 days I probably would have been left with a bit of an intimidation towards longer fasts.
I did a 24 hour fast after reading Eat Stop Eat. From there I tried time restricted feeding but couldn’t stick to it. I then gave a five day fast a short and have since done three in the last few years.