When I come off a fast, I drink a protein shake, then wait a half hour before I start eating carbs.
Is this the proper way to do it?
Is there a better way of doing this? / Should I wait longer?
Yes, having a ‘starter’ of easy to digest protein is generally what I have seen recommended, and works for me.
If you’re experimenting with longer fasts, then you may want to head over to r/fasting where refeeding is a more significant topic.
Depends on the length of the fast.
If it’s a daily type fast like 16:8 or 20:4 you don’t need to do anything special. Just eat.
Multi day fasts you might want to ease into eating with something light first.
I’ve done a handful of 72 hour water fasts. Came off them with lots of different things and have never had any issues at all:
Monster 34oz ribeye — f*cking glorious and amazing
Bottomless air-fried shrimp coated with zero carb pork panko “breading” — almost brought a tear to my eye, they were so good
2lbs 80/20 ground beef, salted and seasoned to taste, ate it sizzling hot right off the cast iron — if everyone got to eat that for dinner, there’d be no more war
For the length you’re doing I just ate a regular meal, generally low carb. I guess most days I had snacks of nuts or cheese while getting dinner ready and cooking, then a regular dinner of meat with veggies, sometimes roasted potatoes.
I think it maybe just depends on the person. I’ve been doing OMAD for a few weeks and I just jump in with my meal with no issues. I’ve also done a couple of longer fasts of around 36-40 hours and again I never did anything special when I broke my fast.