My 7 day extended fast: Day 3
Because the hunger hormone ghrelin follows your body’s natural clock, you will notice that you feel most hungry during the daytime and less, by the time you hit the bed for a night cap. That’s why the first few days of a prolonged fast are the hardest. For me personally, it gets easier by day 3. Day 2 is the most testing and day 1, is just matter of trying to get through it without giving in to the hunger pangs and tummy growls. I did it! I’m on day 3 and boy does it feel good.
Like I told you in my blog last week, I suffered keto rash on the night of day 2 that kept me up for a couple of hours but eventually, my body gave in to sleep which was a great relief. Keto rash usually occurs when your body is in ketosis and from my personal experience lasts a few hours after I apply an itch relief like sudocrem. According the link I attached from dietdoctor.com, it can also be brought about by exercising and sweating during ketosis which I did experience with my fasted workout yesterday.
Break down of day 3
Began my day 3 fast last night at 8pm where I weighed in at 67.1kgs/ 148 Lbs. which is 1.5kgs/ 3 Lbs. weight loss from when I started last night at 68.6kgs/ 151 Lbs.
A few hours before bed, I suffered mild headaches so I rehydrated, put my headsets on and took a light stroll while listening to some really nice music to relax my mind. It’s been wandering a lot and I just needed to destress. The headache settled about an hour later and I haven’t had it since.
I peed a lot last night… 5 times to be exact and sorry for the graphic image, pooped too for the first time since I began this prolonged fast.! very little though so I guess there’s nothing left in there haha. The constant toilet visits are due to the fact that I’m hydrating every time I feel my mouth is getting too dry. I sleep with a bottle of water by my bedside to keep hydrating throughout the night as well. However, make sure to check your hydration levels so you’re not over or under hydrating.
I also experienced vivid dreams of me overindulging and eating a lot of really good looking fried foods … which was so weird especially as I have noticed from my notes on past extended fasts that these dreams tend to happen on the 2nd or 3rd day or both of my prolonged fasts. Have you experienced this? You beat yourself up about giving in only to wake up and realize.. just another dream! Funny enough, it motivates me to keep going once I realize I didn’t actually give in. I guess my mind is doing its own cheat meal since my body isn’t doing anything about it haha
Next morning at 8am, I weighed in again and I’m currently 66.0 kgs/ 146 Lbs. making that an amazing 1.1kg / 2.4Lbs overnight weight loss.
I still have the white coating on my tongue. less than yesterday but still there, so I brushed my teeth and my tongue to get that coat off. I love my tongue brush, for a tooth brush could never get it as clean!
60 hrs. later, according to my Life fasting app tracker, my insulin level had dropped to its very lowest and my body was becoming more sensitive to it. Because I already hit my autophagy goal, I’m taking liquid I.V and electrolyte water which is about 40 kcals each; technically what many would consider breaking a fast, which is true if your main focus is autophagy and other health benefits besides weight loss.
Started my day with a bottle of freshly squeezed lemon juice no sugar of course and a cup of freshly brewed Vietnamese loose leaf green tea. Then I headed out for my first cardio tennis class with my liquid I.V for rehydration as I play. like I said in my last blog, I chose to sign up for new sports activities to keep myself looking forward to a fasted workout. At this point if you aren’t taking any electrolytes, you are most likely to experience muscle spasms which will indicate low sodium. So make sure you have electrolyte effervescent tablets with you OR, you could make a cup of warm water with Himalayan sea salt, OR purchase bouillon stock cubes and make a cup of hot water with 1 cube, OR have a teaspoon of peanut butter which is rich in sodium and potassium. This ought to get your sodium levels and energy back up again. Personally while doing active sporting classes , I’m falling back to my liquid IV.
Had a fun group exercise doing cardio tennis for my fasted workout. My friend and tennis coach Nick has been trying to get me to try Cardio tennis for years when I was overweight and I always came up with excuses because I had low self esteem and didnt feel like it . Can’t believe how much I’ve been missing out. So much fun!! If you happen to be in Hanoi and curious to try out a new class, pm me and I will connect you to him. but, lets wait out the covid19 lockdown situation happening at the moment first.
With my energy levels up, I decided to get my steps in as well. Made 30.000 steps which is 5k more than yesterday.
Went to a spa and had a full body massage and facial to help me relax and pass time.
Kept hydrated on water, freshly squeezed lime juice and green tea. I had a glass of electrolyte water at 4.30pm In the afternoon
Ended my day with my osteocare tablets (read more on that on my day 2 blog) and a glass of water.
Went to bed earlier than usual at 9pm. Weigh in at bedtime was 65.4 kgs/ 144 Lbs. which is also my start weight for day 4.
What I did to complete day 3
So it’s 72 hours later, it’s 8pm and I have officially began day 4. This is what I did to help me complete my 3rd day on this extended fast.
Kept hydrated all day making sure I wasn’t under or over hydrating.
Did my fasted workout to help me pass time.
Ran my errands on foot therefore getting my steps in.
Got a body massage and facial to help me relax and also pass time.
Wrote down my daily experience in my journal to compare with previous long fasts.
Took the necessary supplements I needed to keep going.
Conclusion
By the 72nd hour, most doctors and nutritionists will recommend you break your fast or seek their consultation should you need to go further to avoid refeeding syndrome that may make you gain back all the weight you just lost and also because many other people believe that after this time frame, you’re just getting your body into starvation mode. This is where myths on fasting come in; a topic I will soon break down for you in my future episodes/ blogs.
If you're not suffering any withdrawal syndromes or feel like your starving and can go on, then do it. Should you need to add few calories and do a dirty fast then do that as well. follow the PROLON FAST MIMICKING DIET to see how to go about that. But if you are struggling, then listen to your body and break the fast the right way so your hard work pays off and you make yourself proud. Then resume with a low intensity IF protocol like the 16:8 to ,maintain your journey to continued weight loss.
Remember, non of this content is intended to replace any medical advice from your health professional. It’s just me sharing my personal experience and how I tweaked my fasting to achieve myself the body goals I have hit today!
Look out for my next blog on my Day 4 experience next week!
Until then,
much love.