| | Water Fasting

How long is safe to continue?

I am 6’ 2”, male, and currently 178 lbs on day 5 of water fast. I started at around 186 lbs.

The only thing I am alarmed about is that I was keto before starting the fast so I shouldn’t have that water weight loss at the beginning of the fast right? So it seems like I am losing weight a bit fast.

I have also had some carnitine during the fast and some ice baths which may accelerate weight loss (highly recommend this last one if you can tolerate it, pairs well with fasting).

Any thoughts? Thanks

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Answer

Water weight is still going to come off. If I’m in ketosis, I typically drop a few pounds in the first couple days, too. Actually this last fast went in after 6 days keto, I’m almost 90h in and down 7lbs as of right now

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I’m only 5’11 but also male, 39 and hover between 160-180lbs. This kind of weight drop has been as consistent as the \~5-6 I put back on a couple days after starting the refeeding. And if I go into a fast dirty (carb heavy), that loss looks more like 12-15lbs in 4-5 days

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My thoughts? Don’t worry unless you feel off. It’s at least been a perfectly normal and predictable drop for me in that timeframe anyway. Good luck with your fast\~

Answer

Slight correction. Keto does not deplete all your glycogen, but most of it. Fasting depletes your glycogen even further to none, so you will have water weight loss. Said another way, fasting is more intense than keto.

For reference, I am 9 days into a fast, SW 251lb CW 233lb = 18lb lost. 29M, 6’1.

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