Experiences from my first 40 plus hour fast

Fasting is "simple" - don't eat. Drink all the water, green or black or other tea, black coffee you want. If you feel the need, take in additional electrolytes. My current fav is salt from the table shakers at HotShots, but I'm not above kosher salt from home.

Today I completed the longest fast of my short fasting life, 41.5 hours. Now second place is 29.3 hours. Here's how my time went.

On Sunday, we went to Maripat's Family Reunion Annual Picnic. Lovely people, all. I had a few beers, and ate a lot. A whole lot, of things that I'd not ordinarily see, let alone eat. When one fasts, one fasts, but when one feasts, one feasts. Yes, my BG numbers spiked, and yes, I shot them down with insulin.

On Tuesday, I went to dinner with a friend, who paid, BTW (thanks, Joe !!) at the Mesquite Grill. Mexican, very. Had a few beers, bean dip with queso and corn chips, carnitas. I left there very full, and it was 6:30 PM. Fasting started, I went to bed at my normal time. And yes, BG numbers spiked, and forced lower.

On Wednesday, I got up, went about my day, went for my shift at HotShots that night. I felt very very awake and clear headed. No issues, I think. I was getting grumpier as the night went on, but then again, the players wouldn't stop with the obvious net violations. While there, I only drank 2 of my usual 3 20oz bottles of diet cola, and I was eating tiny amounts of salt from the table shakers, to keep my electrolytes up. I was wide awake when I got home, and went to bed 2-ish. My BG numbers at bed time were normal.

On Thursday, I got up, eventually got 2 cups of coffee in, went to the weight room. My BG numbers spike, sometimes, after exercise. But, that's another story. Broke fast at noon. Started with about 20oz of vegetable juice, later about 3 cups of coleslaw, later a cup of faux crab salad, later an apple. Dinner is soon.

I expect to repeat this extended fast pattern for as long as I work at HotShots on Wednesday night. Hey, why not ?

People wonder how I 'feel'. I'm fine, bright eyed and bushy-tailed as always. Sometimes I feel more clear headed and aware than usual. My stomach doesn't seem to care, and I drink a lot of coffee and sparkling water. My weight has dropped from my ATH at 218, to a plateau at 201, to 199.5, to 195, to 200.5, to 194. I do not track my weight, and so long as it goes down over time, I don't intend to. When I get into the 170s, I'll start to change my patterns to maintain, and build even more muscle mass. But, that's a ways off.

Fasting is a 5,000 year old practice. I'm pretty sure it'll do well for me.

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