Fasting Diary

This is going to be a continuously updated post, which I will edit according to my entries.

I stopped yesterday at 4 PM, counting my fast starting from Thursday on.

Day 1. Thursday.
Incorporating hard dry fast (no water, not even teeth brushing, washing, taking shower, going out if it rains)

9:15
Last sip of water/ with zero-flavor electrolytes, after low-resistance training.

Feeling tired, a bit of a headache. Despite doing occasional fasting, IF (intermittent fasting) with two meals a day, often one meal, and eating keto/low carb, I feel this time tired after not even 18 hours of fasting.

I believe it is my fault, as I took melatonin drops 3 evenings in a row, and it made me tired before.
I also made the mistake of not quitting drinking green/black tea, aka caffeine, a few days before starting the fast. Usually, when I take a break from tea, I get one day of severe headaches and feel sluggish/tired.
I stopped 3 days ago drinking tea, but I still had 2 cups yesterday.


12:12
Feeling reeeeallly tired, not good.
I've done so many times short fasts (3 days), but this time, after not even 20 hours, I don't feel good and headaches are starting to make themselves noticed. I just had to have that tea yesterday. What a mistake. And also the melatonin. I shouldn't have taken that either.
I have carefully chosen the dates when to fates, as always, in relation to my menstruation. I am day 7 and it should be fine until day 11 or so.
I've seen different recommendations.
Everyone says to not fast day 21-28 of your cycle - this being the week before your period. Day 1 is when the bleeding starts.

The different opinions are concerning days 12 to 14.
Some say 15 to 21 is a wild card and do as you feel. I've never had issues with it.
But 12 to 14 seem to be a grey area, better - to not fast as much?
I personally cannot start in the first 3 days of the menstruation. I planned to start on day 3, but I had food leftovers so I started on day 7.
At this moment I don't know if I can adhere to the planned at least 5 days water fast, with a 36-48 hour dry fast in the first two days.
Will see.

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13:05
My hands and feet are getting cold. Usually, I get this in the 2-3rd day of fasting. Maybe my hormones are out of balance. I had extreme night sweats the past week. Getting older, guys. Getting older.

Different opinions on dry fasting:















16:05

I went for a walk, in the first half the headaches were lighter, but then came back worse than before.
It could also be, that I am not fat-adapted.
I did around 10 fasts (approx 3 days) and 3 longer fasts. Half of the time I had the same issues as now - the first 2 days, especially somewhere end of the first day to day 2, were terrible. Once I even stopped after less than 36 hours.
I had good results with doing a 36-48 hours fast, in the week where I started the longer fast. It was actually because I started the longer fast and the side effects were too harsh. So I did the 36-48 fast, probably because my glycogen was enough depleted, I was very strict in eating next to zero carbs the next days and then restarted.



Day 2. Friday.

My headaches are gone, but I feel very weak. Maybe is the dry fast, since this is a whole new dimension and stress on the body.
I am more convinced now, that my yesterday's headaches were primarily due to me not being fat-adapted. I looked over my list of fasts, and the best results, both mentally and physically, were when I used to do ADF (alternative day fasting). After two weeks my body got adjusted and I felt good.
I wanted to avoid this during the week before menstruation, but once I get off being fat-adapted, due to poor metabolism, it takes a while until I go back to the previous status and I guess, that this is why I stopped ADF.
I also had good results with weekly around 36-48 hours fast. Say from Saturday morning until Monday.
I guess I have to be more consistent with my longer fasts and test it including the week before menstruation.
In the second part of the day, I felt quite good, and despite moving around and doing physical work, I wasn't bothered by the thirst feeling. Being preoccupied with something physically helps, as long as it is not training.

I was surprised over how much better I felt, compared with the first day.
Despite dry lips, there were no other signs of dehydration

Day 3. Saturday.
Day 3 started with me a bit weaker, and impatient. I was not really hungry, not very thirsty, but I made the mistake of visiting a friend and the smell of the food knocked me over, but not necessarily because of the hunger, but because of the thirst. One little bite caused such a severe need for water, that I stopped right there.



Conclusion:
I should have stopped drinking tea a few days before starting the fast.
I shouldn't be around food when dry fasting. I never had issues of going nuts when fasting for several days, just by seeing, or smelling food. Dry fasting though caused severe thirst attacks.
I was surprised that I've held on for so long, though it wasn't planned (the dry fasting).
Maybe I will try it again next week.

Mentally as always - a little bit of a hormetic stress and my dopamine receptors seem to react positively because I feel better mentally.
 

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