Hi, Yesterday I took the challenge to (water) fast for 3days. Everything went fine until I couldn’t sleep from hunger and kept wide awake in bed till 4am and decided to eat a sandwich so i could fall sleep. Today I ate normally. But I’m ready to try again. Is it ok to break a fast, then starting it again? Or will your body be like waaewaeaeae? Thanks in advance kind redditors x
Sandwich—with bread? In my experience carbs in the feeding phase make fasting much harder. Your body isn’t used to burning your fat stores and is looking for it’s next carb hit. That’s hard to resist. I eased into it a bit more slowly, first going keto, then skipping breakfast (16:8) for a week, eventually working up to 42 hours, and even a 66.
When I first started trying 72 hr fasting, I failed again and again and again. I then started slow with 16/8, then 24, then 48, then 72, then 84, then 96 hours. Be kind to yourself, your body is going through an adjustment and it does become easier.
It takes time for you to mentally get used to fasting and to understand what your body really wants when you feel “hungry”. Sometimes you can satisfy it with hydration, electrolytes, and supplements. Insomnia can be a side effect of fasting too when your body taps into fat stores for energy. Be careful how late you consume caffeine as it can have more of an effect on you while fasting.
But yes, try again. Listen to your body, and learn from it.