Something that’s just crossed my mind.
I haven’t tried an extended fast yet, but I’ve been doing 16:8 when I can. The thing is, sometimes I’ll be having a particularly low stretch, and dont want to eat a damn thing, so I figure, why not try to turn it into a fast? The thing is, I’m worried that I won’t properly take care of myself (with vitamins and electrolytes etc.) and just consume nothing.
Any advice on what might be helpful?
Go for it. Sub 48 hours (actually longer) your body has plenty of stored food, vitamins, etc. I find the hardest part is getting colder before acclimatizing to a longer fast (digestion burns a lot of heat!). A pinch of salt here or there is easy to add.
Explore your body, see how it responds, and try to be reasonable as you push yourself to new limits.
It seems that the bacteria in the gut that tend to pump out the neurological agents (neurotransmitters and precursors) that push us towards depression don’t handle fasting well, and my depression has been less difficult as I’ve kept fasting (anxiety, not so much, but I have other things going on I think complicates this).
I’d say try it and just make sur eyou have little bits of salt easy to get to
OMG the first couple of times I did an extended fast I couldn’t sleep for days. Crying like a crazy person, up all night with anxiety….miserable. It gets better though. Every fast is easier emotionally. We hold hormones in our fat cells and when they go its released into our bloodstream.
For me personally, I just kept in mind that it would get easier and kept going. It really leveled me out overall, if that makes sense.