I admit, I was really skeptical before starting all this fasting stuff that fasting was any different than CICO, after all, I figured if I’m not eating that’s basically just not putting in calories, so what’s the difference? Turns out there is a difference and it’s called autophagy and it’s awesome.
About a month ago I went on a business trip that I ate way, way too much on, and I basically decided to get back into fasting as a way of speedrunning that weight off, but I’m honestly more impressed with the non-weight related benefits. I started off dooing 16 and 24 hour fasts but worked up to rolling 36 hour fasts quite comfortable after a week or two. After about a month here’s the cool stuff I noticed:
The weird skin-colored mole that’s been on my chin for a decade has shrunk to the point of being basically gone. It was always one of those things only I noticed but it always drove me crazy. About 3 or so weeks into the fasting I noticed it was starting to flake up a bit and while I can still see it some days, it seems to be on the way out.
There was an always-slighty-crusty circle of flaky skin below my lower lip that was always a bit red, not only is the weird gross skin gone, but it’s back to being flesh colored.
I’ve been struggling a while with recurring cysts in my earlobes, they would usually swell up about once a month and leak clear fluid, and even when they would go back down I could always feel the “seed” of the cyst rolling around in the lobe, waiting to swell back up. I’d talked to doctors a couple times about this and their response was always “oh put some cream on it” which never worked. Around the same time I noticed the chin lump going away I managed to actually pop the one in my left ear (gross I know, and yes I know you’re not supposed to try and pop them) and the one in my right ear was completely gone. Neither one has returned and I haven’t had a flare-up since which is amazing because this has been an on-and-off issue for like a decade.
While I have been impressed with the weight loss I think I actually like the autophagy and random improvements even more because it’s kind of a cool surprise. In general my skin is a lot less red which is important when you’re a pretty pale ghost of a human. I don’t imagine it’s a solution to every problem but I’m honestly really jazzed to see what other improvements I notice. I just finished my first 48 hour fast and I feel incredible. I can’t wait to see how the end of the year compares to now.
What kind of non-weight stuff have you seen?
I feel more focussed and I have more energy. The biggest change has been to my sleep, which is probably why I feel more focussed and have more energy.
I mainly do IF with a few longer ones thrown in. I’m working up to one 72 a month but I’ve also totally changed up my workout routine and I’m naturally waking up earlier which means I’m sleepy earlier which means I’ve had to change around many daily tasks. I’m letting all that become more routine first. I have a couple of autoimmune things I’ve been trying to address for a few years. I’ve noticed a big improvement in one, slight improvement in the other and no improvement in the most serious one. I’m hoping longer fasts will help because I’m at the “I’ll try anything” stage.
totally normal basically your body gets rid of things it thinks it doesn’t need the only problem some things will take longer than others
your skin change, I have seen lipomas shrinking, I think the more important thing is your mental attitude changes