The longest Iāve fasted is 24hrs. This week my husband is going on a work trip and I want to do a 5 day fast since I wonāt have to make dinners while heās gone (I always make the kids separate meals because theyāre picky but no āadult dinnersā) š Anyways, if anyone has any tips for my first extended fast Iād be super appreciative!
Only eat one meal per day up until you start. If you are starting tomorrow, only eat once today. The body needs to acclimate. Keep a jar of pickles in the fridge for when you want to throw it all away and order š; instead, just eat a pickle or 2. Plan for failure and you will succeed.
I tend to do OMAD but as of recent, been going on a multiple day fast with electrolytes and more. Strangely, I donāt get hungry throughout the day but for some reason, once night time hits and itās two to three hours before bed time, that rush of cortisol kicks in. Andrew Huberman has stated as one theory that this goes back in time during our days of survival and more. According to him and obvious predispositions, weāre more vulnerable at night due to occurrence of sleep and more. Forgot exactly why that rush of cortisol happens an hour or two before bed time but he made a great explanation for it regarding our days of survival in order to keep us alive. Just get through that peak in cortisol the first day, second day, and itāll all get better after that hopefully. Take some magnesium (glycine) in which dampers cortisol whenever you feel stressed, take some electrolytes, and power through. You got this!
Pickle or olive juice are great to sip when you get weak. Stevia is the one sweetner that wont break a fast so Stur water enhancers are a life saver. Watch tons of videos of the health benefits of fasting. It keeps me morivated! Mortons lite salt in every beverage for electrolytes. Keep a list of cravings as they come and promise yourself you will eat it when the fast is over. You donāt have to eat it later if you donāt want to. Day 3 is amazing so try to take a walk or excercise! Itās like drugs. Lol Good luck!
Hunger is generally a challenge at the end of day one and beginning of day two. While artificial sweeteners wonāt break a fast, they do create hunger cravings. I recommend avoiding this if able. Bone broth less than 50 cals or pink salt for sodium will help your light headiness, headaches and energy level. My wife and I are on the evening of day three. Tomorrow and the next day should feel good as weāre primarily burning fat by then. For context, weāve been doing these for six years. Theyāre great for a lot of reasons. Good luck!