Recently I went back on strict Keto after a time period of regular daily cheating with carb-foods. Last Thursday was my 14th day on strict keto, and on impulse I decided to make it a fasting day.
I have had little success in the past with fasting for 24 hours or more. I just got too hungry, and broke the fast short of the goal. But this time it went more easily. After days of strict keto with no carb-cheating, I didn’t have a big appetite any more. I was surprised at how hunger-free the day was.
Dr. Jason Fung, in ‘The Complete Guide to Fasting,’ allows home-made bone broth as an allowed fasting fluid. I happened to have some home-made bone broth in the freezer, so I thawed it out at heated up 2 cups, one at breakfast-time, one at lunch-time. I would have allowed myself a third serving near supper-time, but I wasn’t hungry and wasn’t in the mood to bother with it.
In previous attempts to fast, about 2 to three pm was my temptation time. I told myself I was so good fasting so far, I really deserved to get myself a little something to eat. Usually a little something meant potato chips or some other carb-poison. This time, I continued not feeling hungry throughout the day, into the evening, and even until the next morning.
I was even tempted to continue the fast during the next day, but decided to break the fast anyway since I could always start a fast again on another day. The next day’s results on my blood sugar was a 110, which contrasts to the 127s I had been getting before the fast, and the readings in the 200s I had been getting on my frequent-cheat routine. Blood sugars stayed lower in the following days when I was back on strict keto.
Another thing that helped was listening to an old episode from Jimmy Moore’s former podcast, ‘Fasting Talk.’ I downloaded a lot of podcasts from that series and it helped inspire me to stick with the fasting. But, as I’ve said, this time the fasting wasn’t any effort, and it was a relief not to have to do the chores of cooking for myself and cleaning up after.
I think my frequent days of doing intermittent fasting, or ‘the no-breakfast plan’ was a big help. I was going 18-20 hours without food on a regular basis. Though when I went back on strict keto I did eat keto breakfasts, often a ‘bulletproof hot chocolate.’
Since I did not plan the fast, I hadn’t written down, for the Wednesday before my fasting Thursday, what time I quit eating for the day. I estimated it as about 6pm. When I added up the fasting time, it came to something like five minutes short of 40 hours of fasting. And all this without hunger or any desires for food!
I’m writing this now on Thursday the 12th of July, and I am once again beginning a fast. I felt good enough to do a long walk this morning (and got caught in a rainstorm I didn’t know was predicted), and I’m pretty confident I can keep fasting through today and perhaps through Friday as well. I can always eat the shrimp I planned to make for Friday on Saturday instead.
What about you, (the reader, assuming I have some/one)? Have you tried a full fasting day yet? How did it go?
Warning: If you are on diabetes meds, you MUST consult your doctor before going keto OR before fasting. You will probably need to reduce those meds. (I was lucky, my kidney doctor took me off all meds and said I could only use insulin, but never prescribed the insulin. So I’ve been using keto/fasting to sub for my diabetes meds.)
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