I have been doing Ketosis (carb cycling every 1-3 weeks..)and intermittent fasting (16/8 and for the past few days 22-24 hour fast) for the past 7 months, and will be trying a 3 day water fast over the 3 days.
Has anyone else doing Keto and IF done this before? Was it of much help if so?
So I finished my 3 Water-fast.. so here are my thoughts on it
Day 1 - Energy levels were fine, i didn’t really crave food neither was I hungry. There was one point when I was taking a nap and I felt really weak, but other than that it was good. Sleep was okay.
Day 2 - Energy levels were low, and I felt like my blood pressure was low too. I still went over for about an hour walk during my lunch hour, and it was okay. I got hungry here and there but it went away fairly quickly. I however did have a bunch of cravings for food, but that’s mostly because of all the food that was lying around in the house. Sleep was okay.
Day 3 - Energy levels were much better when I woke up. I had a really good sleep as well. I felt like I could continue for another day or two, but honestly just didn’t because I didn’t want to miss out on gym.
Overall, I think I dropped about 2-3 lbs. I think most people usually lose more, but since I have already been doing Ketosis and Intermittent Fasting for so long, I lost the bulk of my water weight a long time ago. My body did seem a lot more leaner. After my first night of eating, the following morning I only gained about 0.5-1lb.
It was a good experience, helped me with being mentally strong and I will definitely do it again when the time is right.
I found water fasting easy after doing keto and IF because the body is already used to burning fat for energy. Its just the routine of eating that makes it difficult because your mind is telling you, “we usually eat something at this time” or “I should be chewing something,” that becomes the real issue of the fast.
Yes, it is very beneficial. You could do these 3 day fasts monthly if you wanted. I, for a time, would fast 3-5 days during each week and have a keto feast on the weekends (going by some of Fung’s advice), but I’m pretty sure doing so for a couple of months had slowed my metabolism a bit. I injured my hand and took a break from fasting (not diet, though) for a few months- and it seems to have bounced back.