Fasting

I wasn't quite sure where to start this thread, I'm sure the mod(s) will be move it need be.

By fasting I mean several days, serious/intense fasting. I've been semi-curious about fasting for a while, having read/heard about fasting as part of religious beliefs, cleansing ceremonies, etc. Fasting seems to have long history.

Some background might be helpful.

My weekday mornings start with two large cups of strong coffee, each doctored with three teaspoons of sugar and generous splash of whole milk. I rarely eat breakfast unless I know that my morning will involve interacting with others (I don't mean the usual exchange of general pleasantries) and/or dealing with potentially stressful issues. If I do have breakfast it's usually fairly light, maybe two slices of whole wheat toast with cottage cheese, perhaps a bagel & a hardboiled egg. If for some rason I'm actually hungry (rare), or am going to be physically active, I might have a couple of slices of bacon, a couple of fried eggs, & some whole wheat toast.

I try to have a decent lunch that includes a veggie, or at least something of nutrional value (lettuce, tomato, onions on a sandwich/burger, etc). Dinner usually includes a meat and two veggies, although we do sometimes have a carbo/starch. We sometimes have vegetarian dinners. I'm not a carbo/starch person, I'll gladly take a veggie over bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, etc. When I do eat bread, it's nearly always 100% whole wheat. I have a sweet tooth, but over the past couple weeks I've done a good job fighting the 'gotta have something sickening sweet' urges.

My exercise habits are poor.

If you're still with me , what are your experiences with fasting, either personal, or someone you're close to? Your thoughts? Research? I'm leary of fasting because my thinking is clearer & my ability to deal with stress (controlling my irritibility) is better when I have some real food in my system.

 

i'm a big fan of intermittent fasting. i believe the importance of breakfast is way over blown. eat when you're hungry. why eat breakfast or lunch if you aren't hungry and it just makes you feel tired and groggy afterwards?

i believe the correlation between eating breakfast and being healthy is just because people who are health conscious eat breakfast because they are told that it's healthy, not necessarily that it actually is more healthy than skipping breakfast.

the longest 0 calorie fast i've done was 36 hours. i must say it felt amazing, but i broke the fast more out of boredom than actual hunger. it's amazing how stir crazy you can get when you are supposed to be eating.

 

I'm not sure what I would want out of fasting, perhaps see if I can get a better handle on my sugar cravings. I'm also interested in the history of fasting (fasting myth, so to say) verses the reality of fasting. I'm basically trying to get info based on TFPers experiences. Thanks for the links, I'll do some reading.

I've do partial fasting, yesterday in fact. Other than my usual coffee, some water, some diet soda, I only had dinner. Weird thing was I actually felt good, handled an important phone call with a sharp mind, & twice made love with my wife.

 

There are no beneficial health reasons for fasting. Please don't try to argue this point either because you won't have any peer reviewed literature to back it up. And please don't quote some crackpot book of the week. Now that that is out of the way, I could see a benefit in mental conditioning, but that's about it.

 

I had seen it
Once fasted 52 days (less food, only twice, no egg or meat) concluded with a pilgrimage that involved hiking/trekking to reach a shrine. It was very spiritual and brought life altering experience.

But apart from that... I eat four to five times a day. I get hungry every three hours. Perhaps I eat smaller. I never fast. Say in pay five years I could have skipped a meal may be a couple if times.

My mom fasts a lot. But I never liked her doing that but respected it. Where I come from it is very common to self inflict pain, pressure, etc on religious ground. I always thought it as a mental conditioning and coping with the unreasonable living conditions they face. I seriously can't believe how far I myself have come.

 

Fasting is important for some religious functions as it weakens the mind. There is no "value" in fasting for long period except for muscle loss. You don't "detox" the body, or achieve some higher state, you just weaken yourself physically and mentally.

"Intermittent fasting" is basically skipping breakfast, and I do it all the time. Its a good way to keep calorie intake under control and a good weight loss tool in that. You are less hungry and can manage with less food that way. There are no real benefits beyond that.

Salt is one of those things which is "evil" now with NO science to back it up. All long term studies have shown that sodium is fine, with no correlation with negative health outcomes. Low sodium is the low fat of the current diet fads. Unless you have a specific issue with sodium, salt up, it makes your food taste better.

The paelo diet is just a offshoot of Atkins and its a stupid diet that works. It works because it restricts caloric intake. Its not extra healthy in any way beyond that. I used to be a big Atkins "fan" before I did a LOT of research on the subject. Atkins (and paelo) work very quickly at first, because you lose a lot of water weight, but unless you are in a sport that has a weight in, who cares about water weight, its fat that matters. Higher protein with lower carb also curbs appetite at first, and you end up eating less. Later though the body adapts and you start to get more calories and the weight (fat) loss slows down or stalls. If you go off it you will find your weight jumps up very quickly, but thats the water weight coming back which can be as much as 7 lbs.

The best diet is IIFYM. If it fits your macros. What this means is you don't worry about WHAT you are eating in terms of fast food, or organic, or the like, but what IN the food itself. Get the protein, fat, and carbs. There is no "level" for carbs, but protein you want 1g per pound of lean body mass (some go with .8) and fat you want at least .4g per pound of lean mass. TRACK everything, weigh your food, write it all down (lots of apps for that). Figure out your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) and eat 500-1000 calories less than that depending on how aggressive you want to lose weight (lots of online calculators for it, and NEVER use your exercise in it unless you are running 5+ miles a day or something like that). Using this with weightlifting turned me from dud to stud in about 2 years.

I spent a good part of my free time for several years reading everything on nutrition and every scientific study available. Most are poor and luckily I have a background that lets me sift through the bad ones quickly. What it boils down too is there are no secrets, no wonder foods, no obesity foods (HFC), no super diets, no tricks. Its simply calories in vrs calories out and the variations with things like GI, or meal timing are too small to matter. Many diets work, but WHY they work is always caloric reduction. No ones body violates the laws of physics.

 

I do a three day fast once every month or two . I feel its beneficial both mentally ,physically and culinary (everything tastes awesome ) .

-take it easy , ease into it and ease out of it.
-day two is the best , you feel light and focused but do not trust your farts.
-day three is rather floaty and serene.

It does take a bit of practice to get used to it but I find that resisting temptation during the fast is surprisingly easy.

 

Most of you know i fast a whole month out of the year in Ramadan, the muslim month of fasting. Fasting in ramadan is during daylight hours only - no food, no water. Some people tend to gorge in the evenings, but ive never been a big fan of that.

The first day is hard and you watch the final minutes which always seem to gooo soooo slooowwllllyyyy. the second day is a little easier, by day three, it becomes pretty easy. Its quite easy to fast like that for a long period of time. by the end of the month you find that a very small meal or a few bites will fill you up, compared to the large meals you were having at the start of the month.I have some family members who do additional fasting throughout the year twice a week, but that is real dedication.

the worst thing about fasting i find is the bad breath by the end of the day. i make sure i take mouthwash with me then. fasting in ramadan isnt only about refraining from food and water though, and includes refraining from smoking and sex during daylight hours, and swearing in general. So its a good 'reset' button to keep you in check with yourself. obviously it also gives you a good indication on how much you've deviated from the end of ramadan the following year. It also comes with the other spiritual and religious obligations, but i wont get into those unless members want me to since this thread is about food fasting

 

Ramadan fasting has be studied and there are no real ill effects from it. I'm not sure why its considered a big deal on the food side to be honest. Today I'm working straight 8am-3pm without a break and I won't be eating from last night at 6pm until maybe 4pm today. Thats basically a Ramadan fast food wise. The fast itself is intermittent fasting which is what a lot of fitness oriented people do for dieting. One study of a Muslim soccer team showed no real ill effects in terms of muscle breakdown or performance during Ramadan, as the fast is too short to cause the negative changes seen in long term fasting, such as muscle loss.

This btw is why no one who gives a crap about their body should do long term fasting. The ratio of muscle to fat loss in a fast over 3 days is something like .6 fat to .4 muscle. While fat can come and go easily, muscle just doesn't regrow without real effort.

The liquid part of the Ramadan fast on the other hand, under some circumstances, is the real issue and I'd never do that one voluntarily. At the very least dehydration headaches are awful and I'd guess thats also the cause of the bad breath.