Every time that I am around this point, my body is just done. Day 5 is hard. Day 6 is impossible. I am fine before that. It’s constant nasuea, vomitting, and weakness. I can’t really keep much water down. Drinking water leads to vomiting, which makes it hard to stay hydrated and keep electrolytes. I can deal with the hunger and I naturally intimitent fast without thinking about it
I just walked to a gas station not too far away to get something to end the fast and I almost fainted coming home. I had to sit down to make it.
My body fat percentage is not close to low enough for that to be a concern and I am mostly fasting to lose weight.
Anecdotally on this subreddit it seems like a 50/50 split if you believe people. ie. 50% of us thrive and get a mental and physical energy boost once they hit full ketosis past day 3. The other 50% like you and me are the opposite and get progressively more lethargic, weak, brain-fogged post day 3 after we hit full ketosis. 6 days is my absolute limit too. That 50% just decide to do rolling 48’s and 72’s instead.
TBH of its weightloss you’re after anyway, Rolling 48/72’s will likely rack up more fasted days in a 2 month period for example than long 21 dayers. Reason being that the person doing 21 dayers probably needs another 3 weeks of eating to rebuild motivation and resolve to start another. So in a 2 month window they might rack up 4 weeks or 28 fasted days. Whereas someone doing rolling 72’s that can easily keep them going the whole same 2 months racks up about 40 fasted days…all the while getting to eat every third day instead of going weeks without food….and we don’t need to overly stress about electrolytes….or refeeding syndrome.
I don’t understudy the fascination with fasts beyond ~36 hours. I do OMAD every day. Occasionally lengthen to back to back 36s (to have breakfast in the middle). It drove weight loss and I’ve maintained 3.5 years.
In the 14-23 hours fasted window (from waking to near eating time), I’m in ketosis, burning body fat. My energy is outstanding. I can hike for hours without stopping or even slowing down. Run 5k or 10k. Strength train. I refer to this as the Goldilocks zone. I love living the majority of my life in that zone.
But fast forward 24 hours, waking ~36 hours fasted) - the second day - it’s not nearly as rosey. I feel sullen. I can exercise but the joy in it is gone and performance suffers. The 3rd day exercise is the last thing on my mind. Bad headache and lack of sleep dragging me down. Breaking the fast provides no real joy. It takes a few days to feel normal again doing OMAD. I only did it once.
I’m glad I pushed to 72. Call it a bucket list thing. I could do it again, but it’s not something I relish. I ask myself what is the appeal? What is the health benefit I am missing? It does come with s sense of accomplishment. But I’m at a loss to really see benefit beyond that “I did it” feeling. Maybe the deeper autophagy was beneficial. But with OMAD I’ve been in autophagy north of 7000 hours in the last 4 years. Not sure getting deeper for 36 hours is has a tremendous effect. (But I’ve done it - so I got that benefit now.)
I respect those that do long fasts. I feel like they get something very worthwhile. But for me, Omad every single day of my life is life enhancing, health enhancing, and the perfect lifestyle to enjoy the joys that food and an active lifestyle have to offer. With none of the cravings and obesity of the frequent eaters.
I’d been giving thought to doing a 100 hour fast. Nice round number. But more and more I’m asking why. Interested in hearing others motivation. If it’s just weight loss related - I’m not interested. I’ve got that covered with OMAD.
Well it sounds like your body is telling something and you are not listening.
If your goal is weightoss those long fasts are not going to cut it.
Roll 24 to 48hrs are more sustainable
Most people miss that the refeed is as important as the fast. If you have a 2 hour eating window don’t eat for the entire 2 hours. Eat within 30 to 40 minutes and go back to fasting. Same with 6 hr window. Eat. Stop eating. And do your 2nd refeed within the 6 hr window.
A feeding window isn’t a license to eat for 2hr or 6 hrs, not if you want better health and weightloss