I like the 20:4 structure a lot but I started to feel unwell late last night and started to eat salt directly which made me feel better immediately. I was peeing so often I could not sleep and woke up for good at 4am. Ive never gone to the bathroom so often in my life. The urine was clear, yes I drink a lot of liquids.
At about 7:00am I decided to break the fast and I feel better.
When fasting I drink propel powder with electrolites, and broth but even that doesn’t seem to help with the salt loss. I also took Magnesium tablets.
I figure I need to increase my sodium intake starting tonight. Have actual salt directly. I countedthe calories and had eaten enough ( about 1600 calories ). It wasn’t the calories.
In the past ive done protein diets which had a similar effect but not as quickly and dramatically as IF. When the salt “broke” that’s when I ended up stopping the diet… I really want to keep going with IT as long as I don’t feel unwell.
I am going to try increasing the salt intake and if it doesn’t work I will have to do shorter fasts:(
Yeah you might want to ease into a fasting window if 20hrs is drying you out. I started with 16hr fasts & now at 18hrs. It’s Important to supplement potassium as well since it follows salt down during fasting. I definitely had a problem with keeping up with electrolyte in the beginning but now 2 months in I no longer need to aggressively supplement on a daily basis but I’m currently on my weekly 48hrs fast and I’m going often. I pop potassium pills (15 a day at times) and also eat salt and drink plenty of water. Bathroom trips are inevitable during these two days but the salt, potassium, & magnesium are so necessary to be able to keep going!