I just attempted my first full fast and was able to make it over 80 hours before suffering from severe electrolyte deprivation. I have started fasting again and am now completing the second full day.
I have ordered fasting salts so that I can consume as appropriate, however I am still struggling a bit with depression. When I last broke my fast and ate an entire meal (of vegan dumplings, brussel sprouts, avocados, and lots of salt)- I felt amazing. For the entire following day It was like I was extremely energetic, manic, joyous, and felt fantastic. Now I am once again starting to feel depressed, anxious, lethargic, etc…
So I have realized that I am basically stuck in depression as my body adapts to fasting. It is not being caused by anything else. As soon as I eat it goes away. I am okay to let it run its course for the most part- but I don’t want this to affect my relationships or my ability to do things.
What can I do?
Eating and cooking are fun for a lot of people, and after I did a longer fast I noticed that even planning what to eat, be it ordering prepared food or picking ingredients at the supermarket, is fun to me. Then there’s also how those things can ingrained with your social life if you eat/cook with friends and/or family.
I don’t know how much that applies to you, but eating is a big part of our lives and depriving ourselves of it can be very harsh, that’s just natural and not necessarily something that you should try to solve. I don’t think you should try to get into consecutive days of fasting with a very specific time frame, I think you should every day evaluate how you’re feeling (physically and mentally) and try to understand your limits. If you’re feeling horrible when fasting for very long periods of time then don’t torture yourself, just do shorter fasts more often until you reach your goals. 3 days of fasting may not seem like much since you having a few people here fasting for weeks, but it’s already a lot.
I don’t think there are quick solutions to psychological problems, and I can’t even say if this is a problem since it’s not clear if you actually have an unhealthy relationship with food.
Anyway, what you’re trying to accomplish and for how long to you want to fast?
There’s a fair bit of research to substantiate an inverse correlation between a vegan diet and emotional health. As in, those that consume one are more susceptible to emotional issues.
It’s obvious that it could never prove to be causative given the nature of depression, anxiety, PTSD etc., but you might consider alternatives. It may not be the fasting causing the depressive episodes.
There are a couple of things that it could be. With fasting you do rewire your biological machinery, so it does take time for the turn over and adaptation of your cells. Also, as unsexy as it might be, it can be carb addiction as well. Sugar and refined carbs do ramp up your dopamine pathways, and coming off sugar , etc. is like detoxing.
It takes time :)