Yeah don't beat yourself up. What's important is that you were listening to your body. It's never wrong to break a fast when you feel you may be harming yourself. I've broken them before because of feeling weak before, or body aches, or one time some horrible acid reflux. Nothing wrong with that. Just a note- not sure if you are aware of this little trick or not- but sometimes symptoms like headaches can be relieved by drinking some water with salt dissolved in it. Non processed salt like Himalayan salt. Helps replenish your nutrients. A lot of the times the symptoms we experience while fasting are due to an electrolyte imbalance and taking a bit of salt can help.
Yea, you're right, shouldn't beat myself up, I have been telling this to myself. But it's still annoying, ya know, cos I feel like I want to lose the weight as fast as possible, so these types of setbacks are extra annoying. I do realize that I should not rush this, but nonetheless the feeling of urgency is there. I did have some acid reflux before, drinking some baking soda made it go away. Have you tried that? I have heard of it and the thought did cross my mind for split second, but I did not end up doing it for whatever reason. Maybe I should have tried other things more, before resuming eating; maybe drink more liquids and given it more time to hydrate, and maybe tried this salt trick first. I will try to not rush to brake the fast again next time if this happens. I think I might have just ran out of willpower to be honest and so chose the easiest path of just braking it; it's hard to stick to discipline when feeling bad physically ya know.
these kinds of urges are quite normal, but it can be very helpful to REALLY reflect on whether or not eating is actually "fun" - if you actually feel joy while eating or after eating - or if you're confusing "fun" with the feeling of relief you get when you end the imaginary deprivation. also completely normal. after a few weeks of starting a diet, u get intrusive thoughts as the original reasons for starting your diet begin to disappear since you start to feel better. a good thing, a sign that you're winning! but, be constantly aware that there's no such thing as "one little cheat day" - it's a lie, so don't be lured into the trap also, just curious: what does a normal refeed day look like for you? you're making amazing progress, so keep up your great work, and be proud of yourself
Thanks! Maybe about 3 meals a day on average, with some snacks here and there, in between meals, whenever I feel like. I was originally planning to keep my eating window under 6 hours, but kind of dropped that commitment to be honest. Trying to eat plant based, cos I think it's the most healthy, and I need to condition my brain into a habit of eating healthy for when I will lose the weight and start maintaining. Trying to focus more on high potassium foods and decent amount of salt, to replenish electrolytes for the next fast ahead. I definitely feel pleasure while eating the delicious food itself, during eating, not just after. If anything I feel kind of numb after eating; sure, full and satisfied, but really kind of indifferent for the most part. Sometimes actually worse, cos I feel more tired and lazy after I eat. When I say "fun" I really just mean that quick hit of dopamine that I get from food; a chemical fun, if you will. The texture, taste and smell of food is pleasant, sure, but when I focus on them through mindful eating they seem almost boring and just so... mundane. But it's never how I remember them after it's been a while and when I think of them before eating the next meal. It's like ya know when you PMO and then you have that post–nut clarity, and now you see it for what it is? It's kind of the same with food I think—the magic is in the illusion, and the illusion can only return when the memory of reality fades somewhat. Very many parallels between PMO and food I notice.
Day 1 of 4 day water fast in progress... Daily morning weight in: 268.96 lbs (122 kg). 10k walk done.
Day 2 of 4 day water fast in progress... Daily morning weight in: 267.20 lbs (121.2 kg). 10k walk done.
Day 3 of 4 day water fast in progress... Daily morning weight in: 259.92 lbs (117.9 kg). 4k walk done.
Day 4 of 4 day water fast in progress... Daily morning weight in: 258.38 lbs (117.2 kg). 4k walk done.
4 day water fast completed! Refeed day 1/2 in progress... Daily morning weight in: 253.09 lbs (114.8 kg). Successfully did complete a 4 day water fast! Pretty happy with myself. No real headache this time! But there was some slight pressure, it just did not turn into an actual pain, so did not bother me much. It started during the evening of day 3, just as last time. That made me think that I will have a proper headache again on day 4, but thankfully no. It was just slight pressure that showed up about once an hour for like 2 min and then went away. I did drink more liquids this time; on top of 2 liters of tea that I drink normally I added another extra liter of just plain water, starting with a big cup right after waking up. That was during day 1 to 3 of the fast. And then during day 4 I added another extra liter of water on top if it, which I drink in the morning in like 3 hour period, so 4 liters of liquids in total. And yet the headache did not happen, so I am guessing that it probably was not due to low electrolytes, cos me drinking more water should make me flush them out even faster. Probably was dehydration. Next time I do the fast I will add another liter of water on top. Will see if that makes the pressure go away too. That all being said, I did notice that this fast, during the day 4, I felt way weaker and light headed. Probably cos I was drinking more water than last time, flushing out more electrolytes. But that doesn't really bother me—headache does! The rest of it was pretty much the same as last time. Same amount of hunger during the fasting days: nothing new to report there. But I did notice that after the fast my food cravings are less, once I actually start to eat. Before eating cravings are high, I think of all this delicious food and how much I am gonna eat, but after I start to eat the fantasy of that food in my mind does not match—it's not as delicious as I remember it—and I feel satisfied way faster. That is weird, because before I started to do fasting I could eat massive portions and be hungry a couple of hours later. Now I don't. Did my stomach shrink, by not taking in food for so long? Or is it psychological and am I "rebooting" from food addictions? Either way I like it! As per usual, I will now refeed for 2 days (maybe 3, will see) and then start another fast on Friday or Saturday. I do want to go for another 4 days at least, but might extend to 5 days if I feel like it. Committing to 4 day fast, but not to 5 day fast yet; will see if I don't have any headache. Edit: 4k walk done. I was gonna do it in the morning, but figured out that after eating I would have more energy. But then after I broke my fast I actually felt even more weaker and light headed, my heart rate also went up. So ended up waiting till later of the day to do my 4k walk. Was considering not doing it today, but figured I did not felt shitty enough not to. Weirdly enough my energy started to return back to normal during the walk, and by the time I got back home I felt almost completely fine again. As far as I know this could be due to two reasons. One is due to low blood pressure; due to suddenly starting eating the body draws a lot of blood into digestive system and away from the head. And of course cardio elevates blood pressure, so it might have fixed it. And another reason is due to low blood sugar as opposed to insulin; after suddenly eating the insulin levels spike way too high. At the worse case scenario this might also signal that I might be somewhat prediabetic—would certainly suck, but wouldn't be a surprise considering I am obese—all though this never happens to me when I eat regularly, so maybe not. And if this would be the case I would imagine exercising would make it worse, not better, cos exercise depletes glucose. In any case science shows that extended water fasting can fully heal prediabetes and even fully reverse type 2 diabetes, or prevent them from developing to begin with, so I am doing the right thing for my health. I will make a point to refeed slower and with smaller portions next time I brake my fast, and also focus on lower carbohydrate foods at first, to hopefully avoid this happening again.
Day 1 of 5 day water fast in progress... Daily morning weight in: 262.79 lbs (119.2 kg). 10k walk done.
Keep it up, you've been making excellent progress! I've experienced this too. My own explanation tends towards your first one rather than the second. Fasting should make you more receptors more sensitive to insulin so if it is a prediabetic condition it should fade away the more you fast and resensitize your insulin response. Something to look out for I guess. Not a doctor though so definitely talk to one if you have questions about this. And if you do go in to see if you are diabetic, ask for an insulin test not just a glucose test, as glucose tests don't tell you anything about where your insulin response is until your diabetes is so bad the your body can't handle the sugar and it spills out into your blood. That's when people will get a high glucose result, but they've probably been diabetic way before that. Just regurgitating all this stuff from Dr. Fung and Dr. Jamnadas lol. Definitely not a medical expert.
I don't see much of a point in testing right now to be honest, cos I am fasting, exercising and losing weight, so by the time I am down to normal weight in just a few months the results might be different anyways. Dr. Blåhaj—that has a nice ring to it!
Day 2 of 5 day water fast in progress... Daily morning weight in: 259.92 lbs (117.9 kg). 10k walk done.
Day 3 of 5 day water fast in progress... Daily morning weight in: 255.95 lbs (116.1 kg). 10k walk done.
