I have been doing short 22 hour fasts a few times a week this year, but I just haven’t been able to find the mindset to do a longer one, and generally stick to 16 or 18 hours. It keeps me around the weight I am at, but doesn’t compromise my focus during a workday. I have to take medication for my ADHD but even then, fasting longer is a mental challenge I prefer to take on a day with no obligations.
But the holidays and food have been creeping up on me with gifted food and parties, so I’m going to try and buckle down for a longer one before a work function tomorrow where I honestly don’t want to miss out on the food. This isn’t my first 48 hour fast (I did one a few years ago just fine, though boy did it keep me awake at night!), but I am at about 20 hours right now and somehow this time I feel like I am doing ok.
Thoughts on it… I had only a bowl of poke salad/sushi/tofu (with very much protein) yesterday and very little carbs, and that has made today much easier when usually I would be losing my mind about now in the morning with racing thoughts/distractions/being ansty that even my meds can’t handle. I just feel alert, and only had a few hours sleep since last night I was just too awake.
How many of you guys have ADHD and can still fast without doing keto at the same time? I can’t seem to do it. It’s either short fasts and allow carbs (which isn’t very effective and creeps up against the benefits), or cut carbs and do longer fasts. I keep trying to do both but my body gets mad, lol.
In my experience 36F with ADHD, no meds only therapy. Implement a fasting protocol was game changing in my treatment, the excessive sugar in my diet was altering my mood and concentration. My longest fats was 7 days and actually I’m in OMAD and fast one day every 14 days. The ratios are 40% fats 30% protein 30%, and I eat around 1800cals a day. The carbs make my brain fussy and very distracted if I eat them in outside my eating window. I would recommend you to break your fast with proteins and fats to slowly increase your insulin, and later complex carbs. I know is hard to keep a routine because we bore easy, but you need the confort and the predictability of a diet that helps your brain. Also most of ADHD people have natural bouts of energy that varies around the day and eat in that time could be troublesome because all the energy the digestive system need to process food, and that’s detrimental for your focus. Experiment with the right ratios of macros and even if you doubt it, fasting is easy for people with neurodivergency, our brain tend to forget easy the thinks that are not in our sight. I change my usual commute to work because a bakery was near and I couldn’t control myself around pastries. Hope it helps! Happy holidays!