challenge "Fasting February" - National Fasting Month February Challenge!

[Joanna]

On 2/15/2025 at 4:55 AM, Scott F. said:

I am not much on making plans but I am planning to do a fast next week when I am on nightshift. I'm going to eat on Tuesday night and then Friday night.

The last time I fasted I was perfectly fine for 71 hours and at the 71 hour mark I hit a wall. The energy was fine one minute and totally zapped the next. I went form not feeling hungry at all to feeling completely empty, drained of fuel and really hungry. I thought at some point I would feel a drain or start feeling hungry but i was expecting it to be gradual no all of a sudden.

My plan is to take blood sugar tests before and after I eat Tuesday night around 8PM. Then every six hours or so throughout each night I am working (will sleep thru most of the day). 

At some point after that I plan to do another but either when I am off work or on dayshift to compare the differences. I don't make it to the gym when on night shift so I am interesting to see how I fair working out while on a fast. 

Scott

Keep us posted on how it goes.

[Mesa_John]

Before reading this, the wife suggested we go to 2MAD, starting today.  Her idea is to skip lunch, eating breakfast and dinner.  I suggested we skip breakfast, eating only lunch at noon and dinner at 6pm, fasting for 18 hours, true intermittent fasting.  She doesn't think she can do that while doing Carnivore.  So this week, we will skip lunch eating at 6am and 6pm.

Back when we were eating carbs, we did a lot of OMAD, so it is my hope she will adapt and adjust to skipping breakfast.

[Scott F.]

What works best is to use the plan that is best for you/your wife. If morning and evening work then go for that and if OMAD is a goal, then 2MAD can be one of the steps to get you there.

Although I still think I'm in the infancy stages of carnivore only having ~9 months eating this way, I have learned a ton in those nine months. I went in head first with no idea that carnivore was a thing until my son told me he was doing it. 

In the beginning I ate by the clock because we have all been programmed that way. Gradually, when the eating hour rolled around I was simply not hungry. I ate anyway because we are 'suppose' to and soon after that eating at certain times became a chore. I just morphed into eating when I was hungry and that turned into OMAD. 

The funniest part is that I didn't know OMAD was a thing, nor did I know it had a name. On this very board I was about to hit SUBMIT REPLY with "I don't eat OMAD I only eat once a day or so, and that usually turns into one meal a day". Then the little bell went off in my head and I looked up OMAD. I almost claimed the "Dumbest Post of the Month" crown. 

So mine just sort of got there naturally by eating when I was hungry. If I can get it copyrighted and maybe make millions, I'm going to coin EWH, Eat When Hungry. My only hope is that some other guy looks it up before he insists, he doesn't eat EWH, he/she only eats when they are hungry. LOL

best of luck.

Scott

[Mesa_John]

Great points and you are not the only one who has stumbled over acronyms!  hahahhaa

 

[Geezy]

I just fell into OMAD naturally because I only EWH.


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[Scott F.]

9 hours ago, Geezy said:

I just fell into OMAD naturally because I only EWH.


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I need you to make the EWH check payable to.......

Scott

[Scott F.]

Like I said, I don't do well with plans. There is this force from elsewhere that always seems to scrap my intentions (and al lot of times it is me)

I started the fasting tonight. I planned to go heavier on the red meat the last couple days but that ended up being pork chops the last two nights with about 8 eggs the last two days. I just finished off my last meal around 8:30 or so.

I shot myself in the foot as I bought a glucose monitor this afternoon and I mis-read the box. I thought I read ten test strips were included but they were not. I wanted to do a pre-last meal and post-last meal just to see and then track glucose levels along the way.

I stared at the ketone strips, my brain said pick them up and for whatever reason I walked away from the aisle and made my way to the register.

Instead of eating at 7, it was almost 9. Instead of getting some pre- and post- numbers I'm going to get nothing for tonight. I wanted to check ketones to see how they move pre- and post- but again, shot myself right in the foot.

I guess I can pick up in the morning and be 12 hours in. LOL

I'm not a good planner. They tell me we are having 4-6" of snow starting tomorrow. I sort of open the door in the morning and go from there. LOL

Scott

[Geezy]

1 hour ago, Scott F. said:

Like I said, I don't do well with plans. There is this force from elsewhere that always seems to scrap my intentions (and al lot of times it is me)

I started the fasting tonight. I planned to go heavier on the red meat the last couple days but that ended up being pork chops the last two nights with about 8 eggs the last two days. I just finished off my last meal around 8:30 or so.

I shot myself in the foot as I bought a glucose monitor this afternoon and I mis-read the box. I thought I read ten test strips were included but they were not. I wanted to do a pre-last meal and post-last meal just to see and then track glucose levels along the way.

I stared at the ketone strips, my brain said pick them up and for whatever reason I walked away from the aisle and made my way to the register.

Instead of eating at 7, it was almost 9. Instead of getting some pre- and post- numbers I'm going to get nothing for tonight. I wanted to check ketones to see how they move pre- and post- but again, shot myself right in the foot.

I guess I can pick up in the morning and be 12 hours in. LOL

I'm not a good planner. They tell me we are having 4-6" of snow starting tomorrow. I sort of open the door in the morning and go from there. LOL

Scott

The best laid plans of mice and men oft go astray. 

[Mesa_John]

I must admit, I have done a lot of intermetent fasting the past couple of years.  It certainly helped my health and I am a fan.  When I was eating carbs, I found it easy to OMAD, even 2 to three days in a row.

Today I awoke to the wife cooking the homemade breakfast sausage and scrambled eggs.  At 6am I ate two sausage patties, but could not eat the eggs.  Then I fasted Lunch, not eating dinner until 6:30pm.  I was hungry around 1pm and again at 4pm.  It was hard.....   

Tomorrow I will skip breakfast, but eat lunch at 12 noon and dinner at 6om, giving me 18 hours of fasting.

.........

[Scott F.]

I started my fast last night around 8:30 or so. I am basically 12 hours in and it is nothing more than a normal night shift. I had morphed into OMAD as of late I have been eating a lot more to hit protein targets. We will see what it is like tonight at around the same time after 24 hours. 

I got the glucose monitor going this morning. I'm at 113 which is my highest number I can ever remember. Prior to carnivore I would wake up early in the morning with numbers in the upper 80's to low 90's. I had a couple in the upper 90's over the years but never broke 100 til carnivore. 

I have seen some 105's here and there but this morning was 113. I will check it again this afternoon and then probably on the 12 and 24 hour marks going forward. 

I also bought some ketone strips to test along the way as well. 

I felt pretty good after the last 48 hour fast and the 71 hour fast made me feel better up until the last hour. I crashed but felt really good once I re-fueled/re-charged. 

We'll see,

Scott

[Geezy]

7 hours ago, Scott F. said:

I have seen some 105's here and there but this morning was 113.

Dawn phenomenon? 
 

7 hours ago, Scott F. said:

I also bought some ketone strips to test along the way as well. 

Realize that those only measure the extra ketones being excreted m, not what you are actually producing or using. 

[Mesa_John]

Didn't from 6pm'ish til 11:30am the next day, about 17 hours of fasting.  Noting that this is only day 7 on Carnivore, I was famished between 10-11:30am. 

Then here is the weird part.  After eating four hard-boiled eggs and four pieces of sausage for lunch, my body felt really bad about 90 minutes later.  I didn't feel like I was dying, but I sure felt like crap....  The wife said, go drink a bunch of water with electrolytes.  BINGO... 15 minutes later I felt great.

[Scott F.]

1 hour ago, Geezy said:

Dawn phenomenon? 
 

Realize that those only measure the extra ketones being excreted m, not what you are actually producing or using. 

Yep. As long as there is a trace coming out, I feel pretty good about what I am making and what I am using. 

I doubt I see a huge jump over the fast, but it will be interesting to see if it moves. 

The blood sugar could be a morning issue, but the only difference is that I was coming off night shift and been up since 3PM the previous day. 

Basically, I am tracking it just to see. I feel like I am in a pretty good place right now so I really don't think I should be rocking the boat. 

Scott

[Scott F.]

I'm making a chart and I will post it tomorrow night at the end of the fast. 72 hours will be around 8PM Friday night and I am not a big fan of eating that late. If I hit the wall like I did on my first 72 hour fast I will eat but odds are I will stretch it out til the following mid-morning. Time will tell.

I wish I had been able to check my blood sugar before the last meal and within an hour or so afterwards but that didn't work out. My first reading was 113 and I think the 'dawn phenomenon' played a role in that number. (I have never been over 100 prior to going on carnivore). The blood sugar has dropped each 12 hours since. 113-92-82-75. 

Learning as I go. I have always had 'lower blood sugar'. There are a lot of mornings (pre-carnivore) and had an anxious feeling, sometimes a little dizzy and sort of a use the wall to get down the hall approach to get my morning going. Usually that meant my blood sugar was around the 90 mark, give or take. I got my morning Mountain Dew and snack cake, and the sugar jumped into the mid to upper 90's and I felt fine.

This morning as I showed the 82 reading it caught me off guard so I took it again. Same thing. The difference? No carb and no sugars for months and my blood sugar is much more easily regulated. I am guessing I am somewhat deep into ketosis ( I am going to buy a meter just so I will know). Between ketosis, ketones, and probably being solidly fat adaptive I feel OK/good even though the blood sugar number is much lower that what has affected me in the past.

I think maybe I am just getting healthier.

Details to follow.

Scott

[Scott F.]

I made the 72 hour fast without issue. I didn't hit the wall like I did on the first attempt. It was actually fairly easy. My blood sugar tracked up and then down. The entire time I did not feel hungry and my energy level remained relatively high. This morning I had a really good workout after a 13 hour night shift, and being about 64 hours into a water fast.

I think the biggest difference between the two attempts is that I ensured I got plenty of salt. The last time I don't think I was as smart with hydration and electrolytes. 

Tonight, I ate some fatty country style pork ribs to break the fast. I didn't eat but a couple as I am not sure how the first meal will be on the empty stomach. 

My weight fluctuated a bit and ended up a couple three pounds lighter than when I started. Tonight at the end of the fast I hit 215 (from 306). I have not been at 215 since just after Navy Dive School in 1991. (soon after I started a long term relationship with Mr. Jim Beam. He was my drinking buddy for a bunch of years. The weight began to add up)

I'm starting to read more and more about the effectiveness of fasting for longer periods of time. Mostly what I have read is that on the Carnivore diet the thoughts are split on how effective fasting is when the carbs are already gone. Tons to learn I suppose. 

Scott

blood fasting.pdf

[Joanna]

Wow, I think 72 hours is quite an accomplishment! 

[Geezy]

So you’ve lost 91 pounds? I take it that’s since starting carnivore and not from the fast .
It’s fantastic either way.


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[Scott F.]

Yep. 91 pounds since last May. 91 pounds over the last 72 hours would a bigger whopper than any of my fishing or hunting stories. LOL

I do root cause analysis a lot at work. I then try to apply some of that thought process into things at home. 

Yes. The 91 pound is a result of the carnivore WOE. To get deeper, first off, the decision to go carnivore was knee-jerk and maybe even haphazard. Zero research or prep, just dove right in. Maybe not the best way to make a decision. But at some point, I decided this is working for me, then no longer needing medicine, then the weight continued to fall, the energy levels are better than they have been in many years, and I decided I need to maintain the course. 

With some reflection, I decided long ago to be fat and basically unhealthy based on my choices. As of late I "think" I am making better decisions. 

I'd also like to the board/forum and the posters. Reading others' experiences as well as sharing my own have helped me a ton along the way. 

Thanks.

Scott

 

[Geezy]

That’s fantastic Scott. I really like how you said that getting fat was your decision. Owning up to it is the first step to change.
Congratulations man, you are quite the inspiration.


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[Scott F.]

I am not sure about all that thanks. 

The fast went well. It was easier than I expected. The wall I hit the first time probably centered around salts/electrolytes and maybe even some hydration. I made it a point this time and probably could have went another day. 

I read a lot about autophagy, the HGH effects and especially the thoughts on it re-booting the immune system. Most of what I have read is that it is a better idea for non-carnivore eaters as by design it should lower, help control insulin levels. Most carnivores after time no longer have insulin control/spikes as an issue. I am sort of good in that area anyway but the immune system/immunoglobulin numbers are off, improving, but still off. 

I will do another one in a few weeks. I am trying to find information on the benefits of going past 72 hours. Maybe "is the view worth the climb after 72 hours?"  I will go from there. 

Scott