I’m fasting 72-96 hours every week to mainly cut calories and drop some weight.

It’s been surprisingly easy!

After about 60 hours of fasting I start to think a lot about food. I can’t watch any sort of Food videos because I will start having the urges to binge.

I’m talking about getting up at 3AM and start cooking Bacon, Eggs and Toast bread lol.

I’ve been drinking Powerade Zero that has no calories but Gatorades Zero are on sale so I wanted to stock up on them. I drink 2 bottles a day and they really help fight off cravings and urges to binge.

They taste like 7/11 Slushies when you’ve been fasting!!!

I know Gatorade Zero calories has a bit more calories so technically I’m consuming 20 calories a day.

Will that break my fast?!?!

Im fasting mainly focused on cutting calories at the end of the week and maybe some health benefits like Autophagy.

Thanks in advance!

I know its common knowledge that you should pace yourself when you break a fast, but I learned my lesson last night. I’ve cycled between OMAD and 20/4 for the past 6 years with an estimated 95% consistency. I usually eat all my daily calories in one meal, and my body is used to it.

I completed my first 48 fast last night, and for the last 4 hours of it, I had a delicious pot roast cooking in my oven. Needless to say, I was very excited to feast, and I ate the same amount I would normally eat during OMAD. Let me tell you right now I felt like I was going to explode. My body was not happy. I went from feeling like I was on top of the world from my fasted state to feeling like I completely negated any and all health benefits from my fast 😆

I think I need to try some broth to initially break it, followed by something like assorted nuts so soft launch solid food

Side note about my fast— I felt so amazing from the fast. It was a nice reset on my body. I’m going to try a 72 hour fast next week and see what that extra 24 hours feels like. After that, I’ll make the decision between 48 and 72 hours and decide how often I do them. I’m currently leaning towards either one 48 hour fast per week, or one 72 hour fast every two weeks. I’d love to hear anyone’s experiences and what they choose to do. I’m not doing it for weight loss, but maintaining a healthy weight is obviously a great benefit alongside all the other amazing benefits.

I’ve done long extended fasts in the past (like a 14-day water fast) and noticed a massive, rapid weight bounce-back upon refeeding, even after doing a clean refeed.
I know that a big chunk of that quick rebound is just glycogen stores refilling (and the 3–4g of water attached to every gram of glycogen), plus fluid/insulin shifts and gut mass. I also know that extended fasts eventually lead to metabolic suppression / adaptive thermogenesis and potential muscle loss.

Given that autophagy seems to peak/plateau around 48–72 hours, what’s the sweet spot or maximum hours for an extended fast where you get maximum cellular cleanup/fat loss without triggering heavy metabolic slowdown or massive water bounce-backs after refeeding? Would love to hear your experiences!

Ps. i’m already doing omad right now

Hey guys

Day 4 of my fast and I feel great. I have decided I want to attempt 21 days.

Right now I haven’t stepped on a scale or anything, but the feeling of being hungry has like almost gone away entirely. I can now see how this is just a mental game.

Standing in front of a mirror I can see how much different I look now the bloating has gone and my body is a bit depleted, and it’s given me more motivation than anything.

It was hard to fall asleep last night and I woke up once or twice but I got a solid 9 hours sleep, and better quality sleep than I had on days 1-3, feels like I can actually do it!!

I’m almost at the 72 hour and unsure whether to push it further also is doing rolling fasts dangerous?

I have very little time left. I intend to break my fast tomorrow morning, maybe later. But I swear, eating time with my kids (6, 3) is a battle. Its not bad food either. Meat, cheese, fruit, an occasional vegetable. Salty. Sweet. Savory. It stresses me out to no end. I CANT EAT, DONT YOU UNDERSTAND?!?!?! EAT YOUR FOOD OR YOU'LL DIE AND I'LL GO TO JAIL!!!

GOD DAMNIT.

/end rant

Finishing my 2nd 5+ day fast. Cant wait for the sausage and eggs tomorrow.

39M 5' 6.5" SW 240 CW 210 GW 130.

Going strong! Usually day 2 is the hardest for me, but I’m doing good! Granted, I’m currently 45 hours in, so hopefully I’ll still be doing well by nighttime (which is usually when I struggle most). Still, I don’t feel tried or weak at all!

What has been a huge godsend is drinking lots of hot water. Like drinking tea, but without putting anything in it. I believe the warmth makes me feel like I’m eating something, so it helps any hunger pains.

I also took some magnesium oxide to hopefully prevent any muscle cramps. I only took half a pill though, because I don’t want any stomach pains.

Again, though I’m primarily drinking water, I’m also drinking diet sodas and Gatorade zero. The caffeine and electrolytes help me get through the day.

4 days ago I decided to jump straight into 20/4 intermittent fasting after coming across and reading "The Obesity Code" and I am honestly baffled at how doable it is. I've always struggled with stress eating and constant snacking. Trying to follow a diet is mentally like participating in an endless debate with a grubby middle schooler that wants his Oreos. Its exhausting, and the grubby middle schooler eventually wins by bombarding me with justifications for why I should give in and eat. But my weight has been at a very unhealthy level for a few years now, and I got put on beta-blockers for near constant sinus tachycardia at 22 years old and told I need to lose weight. I think reading that book gave me a scientific slap in the face.

I really thought I wasn't going to make it through the first day. (similar to how other diets have gone) But 4 days later I've stuck with it so far. I really believe fasting takes out the part of dieting I struggle with the most, the mental debate. There's no back and forth of what or when I should eat, its a deep, unmistakable line in the sand. If it's not between 4pm-8pm, I can't have it. No matter what it is. It doesn't make the urge any less uncomfortable and frustrating, but it makes it leagues easier to fight when there's no wiggle room for my brain to take advantage of.

Currently I'm not worrying about what or how much I eat within my window, besides making an effort to eat more protein and fiber. For now I just want to teach my body that I won't, in fact, die if I have to wait a few hours to eat something I'm craving. Regardless, if I had to guess, my calorie intake has probably halved compared to what I used to consume in a day. I'm curious to see if there is any weight loss in a couple weeks or if this helps regulate my appetite long term. I do also want to try longer fasts at some point, (1-3 days) but they're pretty intimidating right now.

I was curious what other former (or current) stress eaters experiences are/were with fasting? Was it similar or do you have different struggles?

Figure I might share my daily journey somewhere as I’ve never done that before! I feel so motivated reading everyone’s experience here and I’d welcome any discussion or questions :)

Day three into my long fast. I haven’t decided how long I’m going to go for in total. I am just set on trying to reach 7 days and deciding how I feel. The obvious goal is weight loss, and just resetting my hunger levels and my attitude towards food.

Besides morning headaches (which are fine after I have some salt and a glass of water), I’m feeling good! Focus is definitely up, but physically I’m low on energy, and this weekend will be the next big test. Weirdly I haven’t had insane hunger pains today, I’ve thought about food for sure, but I’ve been able to just ignore the noise. I feel restless at times, sleep is broken but I’m generally sleeping 8 hours, and the last 2 days have been mostly sedentary.

I’ve bounced back and forth a lot today between wanting to go 30 days straight and dropping an insane amount of weight, and being scared I’ll just lose this momentum and not be able to get back to fasting like this. I feel like I want this time to be different, and I want to feel lighter physically and mentally, so then day to day movement will be easier and I’d be allowed to eat without feeling so ashamed about it? I also want to push myself to do something so difficult I can only feel proud about it.

I weighed myself at the start of the fast, and I’ll weigh myself on day 7, and I’m hoping seeing the number will add to my motivation.

I tried to go on a light walk today, and it was fine. I was sweating a bit harder than normal and when I got upstairs (4th floor flat no lift ffs) I was slightly light headed and my stomach hurt, but after some water and a sit down it was fine.

Thanks for reading my little daily talk :)

I am taking 400 mg of magnesium citrate and 400 mg of potassium, licking table salt for sodium. I'm not dizzy or light-headed. Just feel fatigued and low on energy. I am shooting for 10 to 12 days which would break my personal record, any tips appreciated. Female.

Hi I’ve been told by people that there are no benefits to pushing a 48 hour fast to 72 hours but I’m not sure that’s true I’ve done previous fast for up to 100 hours and wondering whether to push my current 48 hours further

I've done about 9 fasts total in my life. I feel really good when I do them and this is the first time that I'm trying to do rolling fast for the next few weeks. I started by doing a 24-hour fast and then eating some grilled chicken with homemade cream sauce. Then I fasted for 44 hours and broke that with two eggs and an avocado. An hour later I had some chicken wings. Since then I've fasted for 38 hours and plan on breaking it at 48 hours tonight or 72 hours tomorrow. Does anybody have any tips with the rolling fast? I feel like I'm really confident and feeling good and then all of a sudden it hits me how hungry I am and then it goes away and it's just a repeating cycle. At the beginning of this I was 216 lb and now I am 207. By November 19th my goal is to be at 190 lbs.

Was going to break on the 5th day but I felt off after waking up from a nap. I just had 3 scrambled eggs cooked in butter and will continue to refeed until the end of the day

Is it an issue to have constant elevated levels of cholesterol due to fasting? I’m assuming this is the case since all of my blood tests have shown higher than recommended levels of cholesterol.

With this most recent blood test, its been several months since I’ve done an extended fast. I’ve been on omad somewhat consistently Mon- Fri for the last 3 yrs. I’ve done sporadic fasts of 48 and 72 hrs during this time too.

I’m 5’10 150lbs and was around 165lbs 3 years ago when I started; so I didn’t carry a lot of fat to begin with.

Can anyone share insight on how cholesterol behaves in someone like myself? Since my blood tests have been taken in close timing with an extended fast and also not, I’m assuming that my baseline for cholesterol levels are always slightly elevated than doctor recommendations.

What are the effects of that? conventional approach says that I would be building up plaque in my arteries, but fasting doesn’t follow conventional methods.

Hey fellow fasters!

I am 173 cm male, currently weighing 81.25 kilos (after a 83 hour fast). Just wanted to keep sharing my journey. 

So I did a bit of research this morning which told me that fasting beyond 72 hours requires some medical supervision, and most of the weight you lose will be lean/muscle mass and water weight, only around 1/4th of it will be actual fat and it got me thinking— is this really worth it? Like whatever autophagy benefits and damaged cells dying that could happen, has already happened with 72 hours of fasting. And since I will probably gain back most of the weight after 2 days of refeeding, what exactly am I trying to accomplish?

I try to hit the gym at least 3 times a week so I already do a decent amount of strength training, it is just the diet that I am not too focused on. So, shouldn’t I simply remain in a calorie deficit diet and quit weed, limit alcohol intake, and workout? It surely sounds like a healthier way to lose weight, although slow and requiring long-term discipline and dedication.

Anyway, I have been going to the gym during the fast and have been running 3kms on the treadmill daily in addition to light cardio exercises. Will be skipping the cardio today cause I already feel quite weak. Might just do some regular walking.

I think I will be breaking my fast today when I hit the 90 hour mark, cause today is quite hard compared to the first 3 days.

Cheers and happy fasting!

I’ve been trying to get back into fasting, and have been struggling a lot. I used to be able to fast for 3-7 days at a time (I once even fasted 9 days). However, now I struggle to do more than 1 day.

I’ve gained a lot of weight recently, and this could really kickstart my weight loss. Though I’m drinking mainly water, I’m also drinking diet sodas and sugar free Gatorade. All zero calories.

Today has been easy so far. I’ve been keeping myself busy, but I know I’ll struggle when I’m trying to sleep, and all I could think about is the food sitting in my kitchen.

Hey everyone

I haven’t set myself an actual target, I just started fasting. I’ve done a few short fasts in the past, and once a 10 day one involuntarily (I was quite ill)

I started at 125kg (I’m obese I know) and i haven’t decided how long I’m going to fast for. I want to reach 1 month and I’m being careful with electrolytes and not over working myself. I’m lucky I work from home so aside from showers and light walking in the apartment I’m asleep in bed a lot.

The hunger isn’t great to sit with, I’ve resulted to just sleeping and chugging water as often as possible. Sleep has been a bit broken today (I sleep 4-5 hours, wake up for a few hours, then sleep another 2-3) and I know it’ll get a bit worse but I’m going to stick to it.

I ate a meal of steak and vegetables before I started fasting, I didn’t do that intentionally and I kind of wish I started on an empty stomach. I’m barely shitting which is rare for me but I can still feel a bit full from my last meal…

Just wanted to share :)

Hey! I’m a 28 y/o F measuring 1m65cm 85kg I tried plenty diets even going to a nutritionist helped me losing only 3kg (in a month) I want to give water fasting a try, I’ve tried once fasting for 3days but the last day was so hard and wasn’t able to finish the last hours (such a shame)

Now I’m motivated, I’ve seen some of your transformations in here and it’s totally crazy

I want to try fasting for 14days since I’ve started eating less for one week, skipping meals.. feeling ready to start on Saturday then rest 2 weeks and then restart the fast (I think I can lose more weight like this not sure about it though!)

What would you recommend me? what are electrolytes (is it salt, please don’t laugh at me)

wish me luck and give me any tips or advice that could help especially that my fist experience was bad since I felt hunger all the time!!

Hey guys! I am about an hour and 30 min away from my first ever fast and it's going to be 24 hours total. So proud of myself. Originally I was doing 6p-3p but then 3 pm hit and my boyfriend bet I couldn't do 24 hours and nothing fuels me more than proving a man wrong so here I am!

Can't wait to eat lol

I have been feeling low energy and god I have been waiting and waiting to lose 10 kgs before iSTART MY LIFE

Someone please motivate me

Growing up in my culture it was more normal than not for families to skip breakfast entirely and supplement it with a bigger lunch or early dinner. To this day I still don't eat breakfast unless I have a physically strenuous activity planned. It wasn't until about a year ago that I'd learned about intermittent fasting, it's benifits, and that I'd unknowingly been partaking in it my whole life.

I've been diving more into the world of multi-day fasting and have heard extremely mixed opinions from experts detailing whether women should or should not fast. I understand that there is no 'one size fits all' answer but the research seems fairly well-rounded and solid when it comes to the benefits of fasting for men. Something that seems to be lacking for women.

Instead of continuing to absolutely driving myself bonkers with all the differing opinions, I want to hear your personal stories and experiences! Women, What role has fasting played in your life? Why is it important to you? How does it impact your life both physically and mentally? How do you do it and what are your tips?

So I know i commented on a post saying I needed to push harder with fasting with longer fasts, not just only eating dinner. (Its easy for me to fast all the way through work being at a boring office job) But the whoosh finally came after being about a month and a half commiting to this, and I was 231lbs this morning. My highest was 240lbs in the morning with it being up to 243lbs throughout the day. I havent seen that 231 in like a year or more. I thought just dinner wasn't working....it seems like it is but nothing wrong with pushing harder some days for health. It seems like as long as I dont go absolutely crazy with dinner (i tend to eat a lot in this one meal as i find it comforting to eat a variety after my job.), this will continue to be a fruitful way of living.

Hey folks! Since weight and fat loss is the primary goal of extended fasting for many people, I want to share updated charts of the data I collected from multiple fasters. Weight or fat loss is on the vertical axis, the number of fasting days on the horizontal axis.

As you can see, the spread is wide - a 7-day fast gives anywhere from 7.5 to 15 lb of weight loss, and a 10-day fast from 12 to 23.6 lb. Fat loss varies less, but it still varies. Fat loss is what actually matters - the rest of the weight loss is lean mass (water, glycogen, gut content and some muscle protein), and most of it comes back during refeeding.

I hope this helps set realistic expectations. If you tracked your weight and fat loss during an extended fast, share your numbers and I’ll add them to the charts.