Last meal I had was Monday at around 6pm. Haven’t eaten since. Only drink water and electrolytes. I’m pretty hyped. I haven’t done an extended day fast in almost a year cause I have just been super stressed with work and life. Finally had a moment where I was gonna be alone for about a week and so with no one else cooking and eating around me it was the perfect opportunity.
I’ve done several of these extended day fast over the past few years. My longest was 162 hours or just shy of 7 full days. I am tempted to go for a 7 day this time but not sure if I want to get that close to the Thanksgiving holiday. Refeeding properly takes 2-3 days minimum. The longer the fast the longer you should spend refeeding. By “refeeding” I mean, eating small portions steadily over a few days increasing size and amount as you go till you are having normal sized meals again.
For anyone that is going to go one some “fasting isn’t good for you” rant, do some actual research please. https://youtu.be/7nJgHBbEgsE There has been a lot of good research done into therapeutic fasting. It is a perfectly safe and normal thing to do if you don’t have some medical condition and are intaking the proper electrolytes. The human body evolved to be able to go long periods without food.
Only in the past hundred years or so have humans abandoned fasting at large and I feel a large part of this is the promotion of excessive consumption by capitalism. Almost ever culture on earth has had some fasting tradition in it’s history and many still do. It really is an empowering thing to do. Until I started intermittent daily fasting, and later extended day fasting I didn’t understand how much food ruled my life.
How do long fasts like these affect your (not the general “you”) mental capacity? E.g. assuming you’re working while fasting, do you feel any positive/negative effects?
I love how I feel mentally. I’m not sure how to describe it but, as long as your water and electrolyte intake is good and you get enough sleep, my mind feels “clean” and focused. As if I have been driving around with a dirty/foggy windshield and then one day it gets cleaned and you are like “holy shit everything is so clear and crisp looking”. Mood wise I am usually I’m higher spirits. I think a part of that is your mentality going into the fast too. Like I look at this as an accomplishment and as something I am doing to better myself. Taking the reigns kind of thing. There’s lots of talk about how much you gut microbe controls what you do/eat and the way you feel. A part of fasting to me is saying “this is my body and I’m the driver. I eat when I say.”
I will say, personally, I tend to be a little more hyperactive and will snap as some stuff more readily. On the other hand though it’s usually things that I would snap at anyway, like shitty programs at work and stuff, I’m just a little quicker to get annoyed with it but also recover from it and move on. Like things don’t linger in my mind like the normally do.
I think a big part of it is it’s your bodies way of putting you into “hunter gatherer” mode. Where it’s like “ok so we are not eating which means we need to find food so we are gonna clean this shit up and get you working at peak efficiency so you can go find/hunt us some food.” Which would explain why I feel like my reflexes are faster and I’m more focused on my surroundings. Then, since I’m not actually hunting shit or searching for food, I can use that focus and mental clarity on other things.
That do sound good. I’ve only been doing 16-hour fasts for the most part so far
I usually don’t switch into hunter-gatherer mode. I switch into “don’t move, you don’t have enough energy” mode. It actually becomes more difficult for me to get food.