7 Day water fast COMPLETED!

[B & B]

Been here on FOFC since back in the Skydog's patriotic undies days. Knowing that most folks of this forum are older, like myself, had my reservations about doing this is the first place. Never gone further than 36 hours intermittent fasting before so this was a big step up.

Actually, got to 7 days and said, why not more? Pushed it yesterday to the 200 hour mark and ended up right at 205 hours. Just ate my first meal about 10 minutes ago in fact.

Never been on any health or cross fit message boards even as a guest. Just not my scene, but been here for a long time as I said before. Contemplated posting to Reddit but thought better of it.

Learned a lot about what was done correctly and the mistakes made along the way. Wanted to share if anyone was interested or thinking of trying something similar.

[JPhillips]

That's impressive. What led you to wanting to do this? WHat do you think you learned/experienced?

[Passacaglia]

Wasn't there someone like 20 years ago who had a thread asking people if they ever tried to fast as long as they could just to see how long they could do it? I was hoping that was you, but based on my searching, doesn't seem like it.

[Ksyrup]

I've been doing IF for 15 months now, but I have no interest in fasting that long. Mainly because I work out 6 days a week, so fueling is important. But mainly because I've accomplished what I set out to just doing a daily IF routine.

[CrimsonFox]

Does it like reboot your metabolism and such like they say?

[Brian Swartz]

I don't know who 'they' is, but no it doesn't. Fasting has either no benefits compared to the same level of calorie restriction without the fasting, or so small amount that it's not scientifically measurable.

[B & B]

Originally Posted by Brian Swartz

I don't know who 'they' is, but no it doesn't. Fasting has either no benefits compared to the same level of calorie restriction without the fasting, or so small amount that it's not scientifically measurable.

Simply not true. Went into a significant long term state of Autophagy which was the reason for the extended fast. Feel free to look up 'fasting autophagy' as there are dozens of medical opinoins and doctors takes on what that does for your body.

Metabolism reset ? I dont think so, but mine has always been sluggish and would settle for just close to normal.

Was burning the candle at both ends, avg 5-8 miles a day on top of the fast without a noticeable dropoff. Hell, on the 7th day I played 18 holes. Typically fairly sore (back, hamstrings) after a round cause play so infrequently and you use muscles not normally strained. Next day the soreness was less than half than in the past.

Wouldnt go about this just for the weight loss but did weigh in before and after. While it was a pretty significant difference, pretty sure at least 4-5 lbs was water weight. Amazing considering I was avg 2 gallons a day.

[Brian Swartz]

Originally Posted by B &B

Simply not true. Went into a significant long term state of Autophagy which was the reason for the extended fast. Feel free to look up 'fasting autophagy' as there are dozens of medical opinoins and doctors takes on what that does for your body.

It absolutely is true. Autophagy has specifically been studied, and there is no difference for autophagy between a period of eating with a fasting window and a period of eating without the fasting window if you equate calories. Restricting calories, not fasting, is what increases authophagy.

[B & B]

The fact that you are talking calories and theory. Enough. Youre entitled to your opinion Brian.

You haven't done this.

You are speculating at best,

Just a regular poster trying to reach out to the community.

[Brian Swartz]

Scientific studies are not speculation.

I actually have done extended fasts myself in the past, though it's not something I do any more. But anecdotal evidence is inferior to controlled human trials.

- YouTube

This is a video by Layne Norton, PhD in nutritional science among other qualifications, talking about a study on fasting. The autophagy part starts about the 10-minute mark near the end of the video. There are multiple other studies showing the same results vis a vis autophagy linked in the video description.

There are still many things about the human body we don't understand, but in cases like this where there is clear evidence, it's not a matter of 'personal experience', 'everyone has opinions', or 'speculation'. We have reliable data telling us what's going on.

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by B & B

Simply not true. Went into a significant long term state of Autophagy which was the reason for the extended fast. Feel free to look up 'fasting autophagy' as there are dozens of medical opinoins and doctors takes on what that does for your body.

Metabolism reset ? I dont think so, but mine has always been sluggish and would settle for just close to normal.

Was burning the candle at both ends, avg 5-8 miles a day on top of the fast without a noticeable dropoff. Hell, on the 7th day I played 18 holes. Typically fairly sore (back, hamstrings) after a round cause play so infrequently and you use muscles not normally strained. Next day the soreness was less than half than in the past.

Wouldnt go about this just for the weight loss but did weigh in before and after. While it was a pretty significant difference, pretty sure at least 4-5 lbs was water weight. Amazing considering I was avg 2 gallons a day.

Well it was Brian talking so I just ignore him

And obviously I was speaking in vague momery terms about something I couldn't quite remember the details of. Autophagy was indeed the term I saw. There were levels like after THIS many hours THIS happens and after THIS many hours THIS happens, etc. I know "reset your metabolism" doesn't mean anything. Would be something you hear on Fox news or something.

[Toddzilla]

I, too, used to like to jump into threads where people talked about personal accomplishments or important milestones and just shit all over them for no other reason than to try and make myself sound smart.

[Brian Swartz]

?? Nobody did that here. CrimsonFox asked a question. I answered it. Then the OP decided to argue with me about it, which is their prerogative. I provided evidence for my stance.

At no point did I 'shit all over' literally anything they did. I didn't say fasting, in general or for seven days, was a bad thing.

But also, if I was doing something that somebody thought was a bad idea, I'd want them to tell me. That's not the situation here, but that kind of honesty is a whole lot better than someone cheering me on while I did something bad. I.e., if I discussed a plan or outcome of undereating/malnutrition I hope people wouldn't just be all like 'great job, way to stick to it' or ignore it. I hope they'd respect me enough to point out 'dude, you're damaging your body by doing that, it's a really stupid idea'.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by B & B

Wouldnt go about this just for the weight loss but did weigh in before and after. While it was a pretty significant difference, pretty sure at least 4-5 lbs was water weight. Amazing considering I was avg 2 gallons a day.

Congrats.

You left out the most important data … how much did you lose lbs/pct?

2000 base cal daily burn. 3000 cal deficit = 1lb. 2000 x 7 =14,000. 14000 / 3000 = 5lbs ‘ish + water?


… and how bad was the hunger/cravings? Did it settle down after day 2-3?