Recently I've been reading about the benefits of doing an extended water fast. There are apparently benefits when it comes to entering autophagy for cell repair, as well as increases in stem cell production in the a couple of parts of the body. I believe there is also some data to suggest that it increases sensitivity to insulin and does some lasting things to ghrelin and leptin levels. Many people also report clearer thinking, feelings of euphoria, and increased levels of focus after the first day of fasting.

After reading these benefits I decided to try a 72 hour water fast. Unfortunately, I did not feel almost any of the acute effects that were described in most all places that fasting is discussed. For both of the nights that I was fasted I woke up slowly and felt lethargic for a couple hours after waking. I had fairly severe brain fog throughout most of the second and third days. I was drinking electrolyte water, as is suggested (trying to hit 3g sudium/potassium and taking 250mg magnesium supplement/day), but when I drank that at a rate where I would be able to get all of the electrolytes in throughout the day I would have GI distress. I was only able to stomach about 1-2g of sodium/potassium per day

There were times where I felt the focus/energy that was described by other posters online, but it always came with an asterisk. I felt as though I was slightly detached from myself? Almost as through I was sitting inside my own mind/body and driving it as a third party. I will say that after the 18 hour mark I only felt hungry a couple of times. I did have a lot of thoughts about food, but those came from being very introspective about the fact that I was fasting more than anything else.

I want to believe that I did something wrong and thats the reason that I was not able to get the experience that it seems most others do; I would be willing to give it a second shot, but I want to try and figure out what could be improved.

Has anyone else here tried a 3+ day extended fast? What were your experiences?

I know it's a big deal right now, but I don't know much about it.

I sort of stumbled into it by accident because I don't feel safe eating at work right now, so most days I don't have any food until I get home around 4:00 to 4:30 PM. I'm also usually wrapping up my evening and in bed by 9:00 PM, so I end up with a roughly five hour window in which to eat. Last weekend I tried to follow it even though I was home and found it surprisingly easy to just not eat until that time, even though it was safe for me to do so and food was available.

I was already calorie counting prior to this, but I noticed the shift to not eating at work accelerated my weight loss a little bit. It's also way easier to come in under my calorie count when I don't eat for most of the day.

Because it seems like this is working (though granted, I'm in the very early stages), and because I don't really have a choice in the matter given that I can't safely eat at work anyway, I'm interested in learning about the do's and don't's of intermittent fasting. As a beginner to this, what should I know? I am mostly interested in just making sure I'm not doing any damage to myself or creating any potential problems that I don't realize, so safety is my primary concern. Weight loss is a secondary focus, though less essential because I feel like I've got that down with calorie counting. Any insights or resources you know of would be appreciated.

Hey everyone,

Intermittent fasting is a diet where the user fasts for either periods of their day for 10-16 hours or for set days throughout their week. As long as you don't binge eat and stick to your diet, it's a good option for losing weight. There's other science coming out from rodent testing concerning other potential benefits, though that's not always consistent for the effects on humans.

Check out this article for more information

So, any thoughts or experiences? Who else eats breakfast at 2pm?