Male, age 39, 180cm 5”11. Started my first ever fast on Monday at 89kg (196lbs). Today is Saturday at 85kg (187lbs) and i’m feeling lethargic and experiencing heart palpitations. You’ve guessed it, i didn’t consume proper electrolytes.
I started on Monday with zero knowledge of how to water-fast properly. Found this subreddit on Tuesday. Order Epsom Salt MgSO4 dan Potassium Salt KCl on Wednesday. Orders arrived on Friday and today (Saturday) marks my first day on consuming my first salt cocktail. Here is my recipe, can anyone check?
-Table salt (sodium) 2tsp
-Potassium salt (KCl) 6 gram (¾ tsp)
-Epsom Salt (MgSO4) ½tsp
Diluted in 500ml water. Too salty, maybe it should be 1L of water, consumed throughout the day.
BW target is below 80kg (176lbs) as that should be the ideal Body Mass Index for my height, so i am still about 8-10 days away from my target. I will see this evening if i am better after my salt intake. If not i might have to surrender tomorrow. sigh Any suggestions so that i can continue fasting?
Hey, that’s what I did in my first week+ fast! I just stuck it out and went to 12 days or so, but in hindsight I probably should have just started over later. My next fast (maybe a month later) was a solid 14 days that went great because I kept up with electrolytes.
I’d see how I felt tomorrow. If it’s not at least a bit better, just try again in a week or so.
I’m on day 14 and feeling great, but I also had issues early on. I tried just using pickles for electrolytes and that didn’t work out so well, lmao. My sleep went to shit by day 4 and days 5-6 I was also lethargic af, but I started taking my proper electrolytes mix and an mg supplement sometime around then and my sleep restored instantly. Then my energy levels gradually improved until day 14 (today) where I’m feeling 100% again. The energy levels are definitely due in part to your body adapting to using fat as fuel, but I’m sure electrolytes also play a role.
Though I want to point out that I never felt nauseous or dizzy, and if you do it’s definitely cause for concern. Might be time to break your fast, especially if it persists, then try again after a few days so that you do it correctly from the start.
Update: today is Sunday, my last day if i am going 7 days fasting. I am feeling much better. Only slight dizzy but overall so much better than yesterday. It’s either the salts working or i just had the keto-flu. Could not tell the difference from reading the symptoms. Plan to end the fast today and redo it properly next Monday.