As some of you may remember, I've mentioned I've done fasting before, both for weight loss as well as to just reset my diet and food preferences. My longest to date is 21 days of just water.

Often times your stomach will shrink a little and do a little reset and rest that makes eating smaller portions more satisfying, thereby making it easier to lose weight.

Today is day 5 of my fast, and I'll be ending it for the weekend, but I think I'll be fasting on weekdays and eating on weekends from here on out. I know many of you will likely post your warnings, ideas and advice, but as I've fasted for decades and am well familiar with it and what my body does and doesn't like, the advice isn't necessary, nor will it be heeded. I know you're just being helpful because that's what awesome friends do.

My day is 8oz of cold coffee morning, black. 40-60 oz of water per day until my body adjust then it goes up to 80-100 oz. I wind down the day with 8 oz of black coffee again, sometimes decaf depending how I feel. Caffine is wonderful for keeping the engine going and burning additional carbs from the slightly increased heart rate. I don't take vitamins or supplements until day 5.

Day 1 - Weight 191.8 - Pretty hungry, no other issues
Day 2 - Weight 188.8 - Still a little hungry, no other issues, weight lost is water weight
Day 3 - No hunger, no other issues
Day 4 - No hunger, no other issues
Day 5 - Weight - 184.9 - Took vitamins 2 oz of light salt water, no other issues

Total weight loss 6.9 lbs. Much of this is water weight since eating less carbs means less retention of water. Based on my caloric needs, I've lost about 3 lbs. of actual fat. Once I'm adjusted to fasting again, I can start adding in light workouts, brisk walks or light jogging to keep muscles active and help from feeling tired.

I don't often fast longer than 5 days as your microbiome in your stomach gets somewhat off and the bacteria starts dying off. For long fasts you need to reintroduce some into your system and that's a bit of a pain in the ass. I will sometimes add an ounce of while milk to my coffee every other day just to keep bacteria and my biome intact, although sometimes this can reintroduce hunger pangs, but you just have to power through.

When I break my fast it will be with a couple of eggs in the morning. That reminds me I need to go get some! I eat them in the morning as your digestive system fires up and triggers some bathroom runs even though there's no way the eggs can go through you in 10 minutes, it will happen every time like clockwork! That's why you never break a fast at night or you'll be doing bathroom runs as you try and sleep.

After breaking the fast with a few eggs, I'll be sticking to chicken, beef, milk, eggs and other carb free foods to stay in ketosis, so reentering the fast after the weekend is much easier and the weight loss measurements will be more accurate without adding and losing water weight from eating carbs.

If you're new to fasting or are unfamiliar with it, I'd recommend doing lots of research first, then starting small. start with skipping a meal or two. If you're not used to it the low blood sugar may make you a little lightheaded or feel like crap. This is normal until your body remembers how to fire up the ketosis state. Once you can comfortably do this, you can do a few 24 hour fasts, and when that's comfortable you can extend them.

Once fasting if you start feeling really bad, lightheaded or miserable, feel free to eat, breaking the fast early. It's ok to listen to your body. Once you feel like your normal self again, give it another go. You will feel hunger pangs, so if that's your only "feeling bad" go ahead and ignore them, drink more water and keep on trucking.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask below, I will not however be adjusting my fast with suggestions as I know what works for me and so advice is unnecessary even though it's kind of you to offer.

Here is a light, simple read to get you started if you have interest. There are thousands of videos on YouTube or Rumble to guide you if necessary.

https://fitnessvolt.com/5-day-water-fast/