| | Water Fasting

Are multivitamins,electrolytes, and water a good mix for a six month or so fast?

I'm 33, female, 5'6 and 184 pounds. The lowest I have ever been was 144 pounds, and that was 3 years ago. I got to that weight by intermittent fasting for 9 months(eat, skip). However, my goal weight has always been 120. I'm tired of looking at this obese girl so I want to try again and stick to it. When I did just water fasting(no vitamins or electrolytes) I barely reached seven days because I felt lethargic. I read it was because vitamin deficiency. However I also read I lose electrolytes by not eating. These are what I've been taking. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Equate-Mu...Count/24681615 The supplements I have. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Spring-Valley-Magnesium-Tablets-250-mg-250-Ct/40775785 https://www.walmart.com/ip/Spring-Valley-Potassium-Caplets-99-mg-250-Ct-2-Pk/12169291 My plan: Starting tomorrow I will not eat anything(not vitamins or minerals) until Thursday. Then I will take two multivitamin gummies, and dissolve my one potassium and one magnesium pill in water and drink. This I will repeat for six months or until I reach my goal weight of 120. Whichever comes first. Also if this way of fasting becomes two much for me I will just stop doing the vitamins and minerals and drink Powerade Zero with no food of course. Once I reach my goal weight I will go back to intermittent fasting. If I do need to switch to a juice fast would Pedialyte do instead of Powerade? How are my goals for weight loss?

Answer

Your current and goal BMI

> I’m … 5’6 and 184 pounds

This is a BMI of 29.7.

> The lowest I have ever been was 144 pounds

BMI 23.2.

> my goal weight has always been 120

BMI 19.4.

My thoughts

99 mg of potassium is way less than the recommended daily allowance. It’s unwise to risk developing a potassium deficiency, since people can die from running out of potassium.

Powerade Zero is a poor source of electrolytes; I’m not sure whether or not it’s possible to survive on Powerade Zero alone. Also, I doubt that it contains a complete set of vitamins and minerals.

I’m not very familiar with Pedialyte.

Your goal weight is very low. 150 pounds might be ideal; that way you’d have some extra protein stores which you can call on in case of illness. 125 pounds would be a reasonably-safe minimum for you.

A six-month fast is definitely not a wise idea. Even if you’re in a hurry to lose weight, it’s still safer to slow down somewhat, and to alternate periods of fasting with periods of eating.

You might want to read my safer-fasting guide and to try to revise your plan, to make it safer.

Multivitamins

> multivitamin gummies

Gummy multivitamins tend not to be very complete, and the ingredient claims are often inaccurate. (Source.) They’re probably okay for people who don’t have any medical reason for wanting to take multivitamins.

But fasting is a medical reason for wanting to take multivitamins. So it would be wise for you to take tablets, if you’re able to swallow tablets, since they work more reliably than gummies.

You can order some Equate brand women’s multivitamin tablets from this link.