I tried but my results were half-fast.

Well dang...between yesterday afternoon yesterday and this morning, I guess I fasted for 19 hours.

quote:

Originally posted by Strambo:

quote:

Originally posted by slabsides45:
Going over 24 hours will trigger metabolic shutdown mechanisms, and counter your intended effects.

Not true, especially if you stay active, keep working out. When fasting our bodies release hormones to tamp down hunger and increase metabolism to fuel your search for more food.

Caloric restriction is what really slows down your metabolism. Since you are eating, your body is trying to get by on what you are giving it and it is not enough.

When you are truly fasting, you aren't giving it anything so it has to first turn to glycogen stores, then fat. Fat has 3500 cals per lb, so if you are just 5lbs over your lowest safe BF level (say 4.5% for a male), you still have a week's worth of calories on board.

Studies also show lean muscle loss is minimal during a long fast (again, if you stay active, keep working out).

I think the number was north of 24 hours, but I forget the precise number. Been a while since I read the book, but most of the gist of it is correct. I know you do begin to burn muscle after a certain amount of time, but I'm not here to argue the PhD'd author's version versus anyone elses. Main point was, short periods of fasting work to lose weight.

Also, on a separate note, I gained better control of my cravings and appetite, counter to what was stated in the CNN dieting thread.

Fasting helps to get rid of sensor cells which are no longer useful and it also helps to prevent cancer and extend your life. Here is a video of fasting and benefits"


One hour presentation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k__Ff_rzphk

Here is Dr. Longo's book:

https://www.amazon.com/Longevi...ration/dp/0525534075

https://articles.mercola.com/s...575&et_rid=171064435

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 41,

quote:

Originally posted by slabsides45:
Going over 24 hours will trigger metabolic shutdown mechanisms, and counter your intended effects.

I don't know what the book you've mentioned said, but the sources I've seen say muscle catabolism kicks in between 48 and 72 hours.

I haven't read anything about the effect of exercise on long-term fasting, so I'll defer to Strambo on that.

I also Recently saw the Science of Fasting, and IIRC the percentage of muscle (protein) the body used after the second day of fasting was really low.
Something like 4%, and after the 48 hour mark was when fat started getting burned en mass.

Others may feel free to correct me if I got that wrong.

Makes me wonder about the shorter duration fasts' effectiveness for fat loss.

I fasted for the weekend years ago due to being broke and not having anything left to eat.
To say it sucked would be an understatement. But now I kinda want to try an extended fast to see what happens. Just don't want to put on a lot more fat afterward.

Fasting is effective and easy, nothing special to prepare. I've lost a lot of weight doing it. 2 days per week limit your calories to 600.

Fasting or at least intermittent fasting (time restricted eating) is a pretty natural byproduct of becoming fat adapted. Our bodies evolved to store and use fat and spare muscle breakdown in times of scarcity. Dr. Jason Fung on YT is a good resourse for info.

quote:

Originally posted by apprentice:
I also Recently saw the Science of Fasting, and IIRC the percentage of muscle (protein) the body used after the second day of fasting was really low.
Something like 4%, and after the 48 hour mark was when fat started getting burned en mass.

Others may feel free to correct me if I got that wrong.

Makes me wonder about the shorter duration fasts' effectiveness for fat loss.

I fasted for the weekend years ago due to being broke and not having anything left to eat.
To say it sucked would be an understatement. But now I kinda want to try an extended fast to see what happens. Just don't want to put on a lot more fat afterward.

4% is the number I recall as well. So, if you did a really (really, like 9 days plus) long fast and somehow dropped 10lbs...that would only be .4lbs of muscle.

OTOH, studies of those who are bedridden show that 1 week in a hospital bed can result in 3-4lbs of muscle loss.

That is why you have to stay active while fasting. If you lose muscle, it isn't due to the fast, it's due to the inactivity. In the Nextflix documentary, the people doing multi-week medically supervised fasting, they have them exercising as well.

We store fat for emergency energy. Burning useful muscle in a fast would be like burning your furniture when the power goes out instead of the firewood you have stored. Our bodies aren't stupid!

Limiting daily calories is not fasting!! Doing that can have the opposite effect of what is being discussed. When you eat anything you secrete insuline and turn off other bodily functions such as fat burning and autophagy (what helps your body get rid of unwated-bad cellular materials). Eating low calories is also what slows your metabolism to a crawl and makes you really hungry all the time. (reference the Minnesota starvation study).

Anyone considering any sort of "pseudo-fasting" or "fasting-mimiking" very low cal plan would be way better served by truly intermittent fasting (no cals for 16+ hours) and eating whatever your daily caloric target intake is after that. It is really easy to do, just skip breakfast (water, black coffee, unsweetened tea only) then eat a normal lunch (perhaps a late lunch depending on when you ate last the night prior), and normal dinner.

Get all the benefits of a fast with none of the very low calorie diet problems.

This thread turned out to be beneficial in a way. I reread the thread and am watching the Amazon movie Science of Fasting.

I'm going to watch it and perhaps try it. I got nothing better to do.

Truly, when I was a sailor, every time I was on land especially during shipyard periods, I would fast. My purpose was because of my belief that without food in my stomach, I would get a more efficient buzz from alcohol.

One time, I hadn't eaten for four days. Saw a bucket of KFC, ate a good portion of chicken and biscuits. Shortly after, I had stomach cramps and thought I was going to die.

I'm going to research fasting now for the sake of being healthier.

No you definitely need to eat carefully and lightly when you go back on food.

In only slightly related news... odd diet experiments, I once ate nothing but banana's for almost a week.

By then I was house bound... or more accurately I should say bathroom bound. Every 15 minutes. No other food on hand, and no way to leave the house. lmao I won't do that again.

Whatever people do in the privacy of their bedroom is their business.

Not my thing though.

Well last night, I wrapped up a 72 hour fast. I was already keto adapted. Pretty easy and wasn't even that hungry.

I broke fast with two eggs sunny side up fried in butter, 4 oz of kimchi, and half an avocado with 1 TBS apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper.

No negative effects from refeeding however the blood glucose effect was interesting.

I checked BG before eating (82) and every 15 minutes afterwards for 3 hours. Only one measurement exceeded 100 (101) and there was one 95. All the rest remained in the 80's.

Since one of the purposes of fasts is to reduce insulin resistance, I am pleased. I also lost a few pounds, but that was mostly (probably) water. Nothing wrong with that. I had some slight edema going in which reduced considerably.

I have actually started what they call Intermittent Fasting. I do a 16/8 split. I don't eat for 16 hours and can eat normal meals during an 8 hour window. My window starts at 12pm to 7pm where I eat. After 7pm I do not eat anything. In the morning all I have is water, coffee with stevia, or tea with stevia. I eat regular portions but healthy foods. No fast foods, however more of a KETO diet where there is very low carb and sugars. So usually meat, fish and vegetables. I have started this week and have actually lost 5 pounds. I am a very big breakfast type person where I usually have to eat breakfast as they say it is the most important meal of the day, and thought I would be sluggish without it. However, I am not sluggish and after a day or 2 of not eating breakfast, I am getting used to it. YMMV. God Bless

According to Fung, Stevia doesn't increase blood sugars but does raise insulin levels which impedes fat burning and signals to store fat.

I had a friend who started a fast, he wanted to see how long he could go. Just as he was coming up on the world record he died. Crazy....

quote:

Originally posted by Fenris:I broke fast with two eggs sunny side up fried in butter, 4 oz of kimchi, and half an avocado with 1 TBS apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper.

No negative effects from refeeding however the blood glucose effect was interesting.

I checked BG before eating (82) and every 15 minutes afterwards for 3 hours. Only one measurement exceeded 100 (101) and there was one 95. All the rest remained in the 80's.

Why would you expect it to be higher? There's hardly any carbs in what you ate.

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:
Why would you expect it to be higher? There's hardly any carbs in what you ate.

True. But that is still unusually low for me even with a low carb meal. I usually hit 120-130 on low carb meals. So this was an improvement. I expect it is a temporary effect, but I'll take what I can get.

If I've ever done it, it was unintentional / coincidental, and I've never studied the subject.

That said, this topic came up a few days ago in a context I wasn't expecting... an elderly relative was in the hospital having surgery, and much to my surprise their physician mentioned that they (the doctor) had fasted for 24hrs prior to performing the surgery. I'd never heard of such a thing. I'm not even sure how I feel about that. This wasn't some trendy yuppie up-and-comer or an Indian (dots), but a 50-something honkey who otherwise seemed normal. The surgery went well, regardless, but it sure seemed unusual to me, and the whole experience reminded me of how Fasting as a topic is certainly gaining traction.

Curious.

I never buy more than a dozen donuts at a time. Because I stop eating every day by 5pm. And never leave a donut behind to face the night alone.