21 Day Fast Diary (and ongoing plan for future)

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Beardless

Beardless

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Hi Everyone,


So A little background about me!

In my younger years up to about 18 I was quite an athlete, training competitive swimming 6 days a week (10 hours) with a local club. Two of those nights I went boxing for two hours straight after swimming and once a week trained for sprint at a local athletics club. needless to say I was quite a machine and weighed in a 10 stone (stocky but slender almost ripped lol) and even know everything I trained for was mainly explosive I was able to qualify for inter county school cross country, as well as still holding my school record for the 200m to this day.

I am now 28 and came out of a 10 year relationship (where I let myself go), and have been single dad caring for two children full time for around 6 months. Which I am really enjoying!

I recently went on holiday for a week and completely over indulged. Now in the New Year and the prospect of summer on a beach somewhere “being single” I have decided after much research to kick start my health and fitness regime by doing a minimum 21 day fast.


Key stats Day 1 (6 hours after last meal) 15.20pm 14/01/17

Height 167cm / 5ft 6”

Weight 11st 12lbs / 75.29Kg (my scales are not the best but will use the same ones)

BMI 26.9 (overweight)

Blood Pressure 127/89


Goals:

I am looking to lose at least 1 stone of weight enter a healthy BMI and tighten up that belly.

Form a new healthy relationship with food by continuing daily research on easy fast healthy meals for when I start to exercise properly again.

Clean out my kitchen and get organised.

Buy some nice fitted Shirts again!

Break my current familiarity with Beer.

Get my kiddies even more excited about eating healthily!


Plan:

Consume no food from 11am 14/01/2017 to 11am 04/02/2017 (21 days)

I will be drinking plenty of water along with a daily multivitamin supplement. And probably 3 cups of black coffee no sugar a day to help with the school runs e.c.t.

Take daily weight and blood pressure readings and record them here.

After photos will be posted with final BMI calculation.

Keep a diary on here of general experiences and thoughts, hoping for support and encouragement ;-)

I have easy access to doctor for a check-up halfway if anything feels a little squirley or if I wish to continue for a little longer.


Other notes

I have an under active thyroid and take 125mg Levothyroxine every morning. I have been stable for six months and my levels are now at the higher end of the healthy range, apparently the doc said could aid in weight loss.

I vape 3mg nicotine e liquid which I started to help curb hunger when my thyroid went bananas.

I work from home and attend university so my daily exercise is limited to short walks in the countryside and playing games with my children.

My past dieting experience was a 5 day juice detox about a year ago, it such a pain to keep stripping and cleaning the juicer, and the Fridge and kitchen looked like Kew gardens! I felt great though, so will be looking to at least incorporate a couple of juices a day after the fasting.

I have a Coffee date Monday ;-)

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Thanks everyone! I will be looking forward to this journey with you all and welcome any suggestions, comments and ideas you may have ;-)
 
LaMaria said:
Good luck reaching your goals, Beardless; I trust you discussed your fast with your doctor?
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Thank you LaMaria.

Yes I did last Thursday, my heart/pulse/breathing/blood pressure all good. I got the whole talk about just eating a healthy diet with exercise and loosing weight over the next year, which I was expecting. But we concluded I am taking the necessary precautions :)
 
Update: Going to bed soon (14 hours after last food)

I have been hitting the water throughout the day, keeping busy, not thinking about being hungry. Untill I cooked Spaghetti Bolognaise for the children at 5 pm and its smelt soooo good! I just dipped my finger in the sauce to test the flavor and wow yes ...grumble grumble..

I rode the wave and got the kiddies bathed then crashed out the sofa and slept for a couple of hours, I dreamed I was eating food haha and woke up at 11 pm hungry again. so a bit more water and I feel fine now.

Tomorrow I am cooking a lamb roast for my everyone just not me, not looking forward to that!

From my research the next few days will be the hardest? until the hunger subsides somewhat. Think I will cook a few days worth of food for the kiddies tomorrow, so I wont be chopping and cooking over the next few days, hopefully that will help :p

Catch up tomorrow night with first weight in a bp check.



 
Thanks Vivien.

How long did you fast for, and what Sort of results did you get? Was it just weight loss or did you notice any other positives and negatives?
 
Hey Beardless - I've avoided commenting as your plan makes me really uncomfortable, if I'm honest. I'm from the "healthy food and exercise" camp but have seen you've spoken to your GP which makes me feel a bit better! Happy to offer support..

This is an interesting read if you get time: https://personalexcellence.co/blog/fasting/
 
Hi Sunflower!

Thanks for the article, it's a good read with lists lots of helpful resources and links.

I think for me its not just about the weight loss, but connecting with my body again. I have studied human evolution and ecology at university. The idea of experiencing a natural body process that helped our species survive Ice ages and periods of famine really appeals to me, almost spiritually.

I am starting to view the fast as more of journey :).
 
black coffee no sugar never tasted sooooo good....

A few times now I have went to put food and milk in my mouth when making kiddies stuff. It's really surprising how much of a unconscious habit eating really is.
 
That's really cool, well done!

Im hoping to supliment with a multivitamin, I'll make sure to include some iron and omega 3 ;-) hopefully that should negate any possible deficiencys.
Its great to hear how the experience reset your hunger clock, and how it lasted.

Many thanks
 
Update:

Coming to the end of day two.
The hunger is very manageable only a couple of times have I really wanted to eat something. I also cooked a beautiful roast chicken dinner for my family today, I just sat there with my water chatting and serving drinks.

I have had plenty of water, two cups of black coffee and a multivitamin today.

No change in weight or BP as to be expected.

I have noticed my energy has been down today. Rushing around cooking for the family and sorting the kiddies out was quite a bit harder Today and my concentration was a little hampered. I had a few sit downs and slowed down a bit.

Now I'm ready for an early night.

Did anybody notice thier energy levels and concentration to be a little off? And does this get any better or worse as time goes on?

Many Thanks
 
It´s normal to have less energy - your body is in survival mode and will shut down unnecessary activity to save precious energy and make the available fat reserves last longer. I noticed that I had more trouble standing/sitting upright and felt colder. After a couple of days you are supposed to start feeling very clear-headed and happy. Which is highly subjective but still nice. Didn´t make it to that stage as I only did a three day fast (as recommended) and never repeated it as I did not get the hoped-for benefit to my inflammation issues. At all.
 
LaMaria said:
It´s normal to have less energy - your body is in survival mode and will shut down unnecessary activity to save precious energy and make the available fat reserves last longer. I noticed that I had more trouble standing/sitting upright and felt colder. After a couple of days you are supposed to start feeling very clear-headed and happy. Which is highly subjective but still nice. Didn´t make it to that stage as I only did a three day fast (as recommended) and never repeated it as I did not get the hoped-for benefit to my inflammation issues. At all.
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I woke up today feeling very empty and my tummy was grumbling. However I feel pretty good actually, my energy is down but hey ho, just going to take it easy.

I plan on adding a isotonic drink to my daily routine, I've seen some that are sweetener and preservative free. My Asian doctor told me a story about how the British when occuping India kept fainting in marches due to lack of salt / electrolytes. Combined with my multivitamins and omegas I should remain pretty healthy during my fast... Fingers crossed
 
Be careful doing the long-term fast, Beardless. I had a coworker do a month-long fast, along with her husband and a few of her friends. Within the first year of doing it, they got all sorts of illnesses (bronchitis, shingles, heightened allergies, a couple others I can't remember but I was like "People still get that?")
 
Little John said:
Be careful doing the long-term fast, Beardless. I had a coworker do a month-long fast, along with her husband and a few of her friends. Within the first year of doing it, they got all sorts of illnesses (bronchitis, shingles, heightened allergies, a couple others I can't remember but I was like "People still get that?")
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Hi Little John.

Thanks for your concern.

I have read that most people when they fast just drink water, I hope that with electrolytes, multivitamins and daily blood pressure checks I should ok.

I currently take wellman original and omegas 3 6 9. And a iron tablet every other day ;-)

I'm also only running for 21 days instead of a month. They say it takes the same length of time to start eating meat again. That's 42 days vs 60. Quite a difference, especially if they had water only, can't imagine what deficiencys could of Set in.
 
Remember to take your iron supplement with your multivitamin if it doesn't contain vit C or your body will find it very hard to do anything with it.
 
LaMaria said:
Remember to take your iron supplement with your multivitamin if it doesn't contain vit C or your body will find it very hard to do anything with it.
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Thanks for the info, I've never heard of that before. The multivitamin contains 100% Nrv of vit C but only 45% iron so I was going to take 100% iron tablet every two days to suppliment

Many thanks
 
LaMaria said:
Remember to take your iron supplement with your multivitamin if it doesn't contain vit C or your body will find it very hard to do anything with it.
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My doc told me the same thing, told me to take it with a small glass of orange juice, but I imagine a supplement works, too.
 
Update: 96 hours after last meal

Sorry guys been off the grid for a couple of days, my Internet went down :(

The last couple of days has been really hard in terms of Hunger. Especially when around overs eating + plus all the smells, colours even sounds of food cooking trigger a strong response!

I did say to family that if that insatiable hunger continued I would consider exiting early, it was just torture. Then yesterday something started to happen. I got a noticeable increase in energy and my hunger went through the roof! I got an early(ish) night, and I woke this morning I feel 110% no hunger and energy to burn "literally". I can likely conclude that I am now in full ketosis and I'm over the initial hunger spike!

My BP remained stable over the last couple of days and I have lost weight.

Stats as of now
Weight 11St 7lbs (5 pounds lost)
No noticeable change in BP
 
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