I’m a 47 year old male, 6,0/305 and am in hour 40 of my first 48 hour (black coffee only) fast. I have done 20:4 off and on, but without a lot of commitment. I started up again this week and was reading some posts and decided to give it a try. I think I should have spent more time in 20:4 before jumping into this.
I was feeling great yesterday until late in the evening and started to get a low-grade headache. I made sure to drink lots of water with electrolytes and went to bed at a reasonable time, and I am not hungry, but I just feel “off” today. It’s almost like a how I feel after a really long road trip of flight. This does feel like a challenge, but I will be honest I am not loving it.
Maybe I just need to get used to it. My plan was to do a 48 hour fast twice a month.
I’m looking forward to dinner =)
Will get home and have some almonds, celery and hummus while I cook and tonight will probably be steak and a big salad.
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Curious about others who might have had a similar experience. Will I get used to it? I don’t mind being a little foggy for a day if it’s part of the challenge to get healthy. It just helps me to set my expectations right.
I believe a lot of what you’re experiencing can be eliminated with consistency in fasting as well as what types of foods you’re eating. So yeah, get consistent with food, fasting times, and even your sleep habits.
Also keep in mind that it isn’t easy to do what you’re doing. You’re doing great tackling this head on. Keep your eyes on the prize.
Good luck!
Former black coffee and water faster. Male 40, a pot of mud dark coffee a day.
Fasting is a lot easier without the coffee for me. I’m on hour 106. It takes time, like anything else worth the effort; but it does get easier.
In the beginning hour 18-26 was the toughest, now hour 48-56 are tough. Keep pushing. The hunger passes.
Just started slightly longer fasts in the last several weeks. First one was really tough but they get easier, maybe by the knowledge that you know you can do it (because you have). I’m currently in hour 20 of 48 now.
I’m currently alternating 4 OMAD days per 48 hour fast. Getting through the 48 makes the OMAD days feel like a treat.
I had pretty bad headaches when getting used to OMAD but not so much on the longer days. My surprise has been that my heartrate has been up to 10bpm slower during day 2 at rest, and it has moderately trended down my overall heartrate over the last few weeks. Blood pressure is staying about the same as previously. From everything I’ve read, the only cautions are if your heartrate significantly speeds up.
Be cautious what you break your fast with, and try to be at home in case you have an unexpected digestive upset. I did the first time.
Everyone’s results will be different here, but my first few have resulted in 4 lb losses over the starting day, and then it takes 4 OMAD days of slight gains to “recover” water weight and get back to the lowest weight again. That’s why I’ve kind of randomly picked 4 days of OMAD as my period between longer fasts.
Good luck!
67 hours right now. And I feel great. I plan on 72 but I want to go longer. Refeeding last time was good. I just ate 1/2 avocado and small piece of salmon. I learned my lesson when I ate too much after a refeed.