16 minute video that covers a LOT of good information, including restrictive dieting, paleo, and fasting.
Fasting is not to lose weight in most cases; It's about overall health.
Same thing for the restrictive dieting. Life feels better away from the "three squares a day."


https://youtu.be/PKfR6bAXr-c

Interesting video..... I've cut back to 2 meals a day for about the last 6-7 years --- I get alot of crap from my family about 'how bad that is for you - you need 3 meals at x,y and z o'clock'. Many times, I'll only have one meal a day just because I'm not hungry.

I fall victim to insulin/sugar crashes when I have a breakfast of mostly carbs and sugar --- cereal and fruit, doughnuts or other crap like that --- a massive 'crash' ~3-4 hours later where I get all shaky, sweaty and dizzy --- not fun and the only way out of it is to eat NOW. I find that if I have fats and proteins (eggs and sausage), it I don't have that problem. I've been finding that limiting the sugars and carbs helps alot, but sadly, I love me some good breads and pasta and potatoes --- I don't plan on being all militant about it.

The worst thing is the drunken late night gorging --- all bets are off at that point --- bag of doritos -gone, bag of cookies - history.

Just happened across this thread, late to the no-eating party, but I too have occasionally fasted numerous times through the years. In varying lengths from just a few days to my longest at 2 weeks, it can be helpful with lots of things. I'm sure that there are people whose bodies won't react well to it, but most generally healthy people will do just fine, and many people struggling with various health issues have seen improvement or cure from them via fasting. Googling the benefits of fasting will yield the typical wide spectrum of results that sum up to YMMV....

I've done fruit-only, juice-only, and water-only. Any kind of fasting, that isn't followed by binging, is usually good. Personally I have found that the most benefit comes from going water-only and past a few days, when your normal system runs out of fuel, shuts down, and switches to metabolizing your body's fat. For this type, watching what you eat leading into it can be really helpful. For me, yogurt, fruit, and juices, were good for a couple days leading in. You don't want your body working on red meat going into a longer fast. It can be hard when your body is running out of fuel in your gut and starts to switch to metabolizing fat. Weakness, some shakes, dizziness can all be part of it - especially if you're dumb like me and walk into the local mall at the food court entrance right by Cinnabon at the worst part of the craving stage. I got dizzy and my entire body literally shook with a craving when the full force of fresh Cinnabon hit my nostrils! But the craving really does go away for the most part, I was really surprised. I was able to work my regular, not-too-physical job at the time, I slept well, and could have kept going beyond 2 weeks except that I had some physical/sports activities I needed to prepare for that required me to give it up.

I read where some doctors believe that your body is actually very smart about what fat it metabolizes. They say it will target fat that contains all sorts of nasty stuff we have stored in our tissues - pesticides from our food, etc, and that can be one of the benefits of fasting, a cleansing on a whole different level. I did experience some strange, but thankfully very short, dizzy spells in the first few days after my body switched over to fat metabolization, and they included some affect to my vision. Some say that's your body metabolizing junk stored in your fat. But that went away and only happened a couple other times on subsequent fasts.

Your whole digestive system gets cleaned out and gets to rest. Your stomach shrinks and you feel fuller sooner. Your taste buds come back alive and you need less seasonings on your food. Some people have had allergies, both food and environmental, go away after a longer fast. Lots of good benefits to it, and not many downsides if you don't have specific health issues that don't agree with it. If you're a truck driver hauling hazmat, that is a very different situation to consider that would at best take perfect planning around your weekend/time off. But most people can live their normal lives and fast for up to 30 days, living on the fat stored in our bodies!

That was a helpful write up, thanks Chip!
I want to get to one month water fast... Haven't tried the fruit or juice only. I was under the impression that adding fruits or juices stops your body from reaching ketosis.
I hadn't heard about the "No red meat before the fast" information... That's good info! I like my red meats.
I loved the Cinnabon story... Probably not so funny at the time, but kind of funny from a distance. Felled by the scent of pastries.
Sweets and other sugary items disagree with me. Now, if I were to walk by meats being cooked, I can easily picture a caving in of my willpower. hah Not really though, because I kind of like to test myself already that way. If I really want it, I put it off. In the middle of a fast I like to watch the Dread Princess cook meals, especially meats, to kind of test out how much "force" that has on my willpower.
The only time that I have "caved" was when I tried to do too much hard labor at the wrong time... The 2nd and 3rd days, maybe the 4th day too - I need to turn down the labor for those days. I knew that, but the work came up unexpectedly. Gah. I dislike messing up a schedule.

This is a bit extreme, but it shows that the human body can handle a lot more than 30 days.

https://youtu.be/pR64wOmDlxI
https://cristivlad.com/total-starvation ... ood-study/

Liver cleanse is also good.

Ever want to know how many little stones are in your liver?

I'm not perfect, some red meat, dairy and caffiene gets in my five day cleanse, but I still have some stones that come out at the end of Day Five. The end of Day five is the hardest and you feel sick but the bad stuff is coming out of you.

https://www.globalhealingcenter.com/nat ... tep-guide/

Yes, the length you can fast really is determined by how much fat you have to burn. It's been many years since I actually did any research on fasting, but the liver cleanse reference above also mentions not eating meat before the cleanse. IIRC, the general concept is that the normal digestive process involves a fairly constant flow of food coming in that pushes stuff through your gut. When fasting there is no new food coming through so what's in there stays for quite a while longer, maybe even until the end of the fast. Anything that isn't completely digested could end up sitting in your gut, putrefying…. So I try to think of what will be "clean burning" fuel before I fast, and it's different for different people. Yogurt and cottage cheese have always worked well for me, but dairy is often on the list of foods recommended to avoid for pre-fasting, no idea why. I will probably try prepping with (whey) protein shakes before my next fast, whenever that is. Not any time soon, LOL! But I may try the liver cleanse thing, we'll see.
Good luck on your digestive health quest. I'd be interested in a follow up if you do try a longer fast.

Great thread. Great encouragement here. Keep the information flowing. I want to add a few videos to this thread, just need to find them again.
I have found that an easy way to begin fasting is to just take Sunday off from eating every other week. Water only for me has worked great. Just a start, but it really does help your body get rid of anything extra in the gut. The difference in my digestive system is noticeable to me.
I also try to put off breakfast until 930am, and stop eating by 6pm. Not even drinking beer after 6pm. This has been the most beneficial in my opinion. I feel much lighter and energetic eating this way. I can tell that my body is burning more fat as well as burning everything that I have consumed before adding more on top of it.

"avoid unhealthy foods such as meat..." hmmm.

"...and at night flush your liver using a combination of 1 tablespoon of Epsom salts and ¾ cup of extra virgin olive oil"

Wait a minute... you're supposed to chug down 3/4 of a cup of olive oil and epsom salts?

I think I'd rather be water-BOARDED than do half of the cock-a-mamie (sp?) things y'all are up to.

IT WORKS.

Epsom salts is a laxative and the later drinkage of Olive Oil (I take grapefruit juice with it) pulls out the contaminants. Epsom salts tastes like hell, I try to avoid it hitting my tongue. The Olive Oil is like 30W Motor Oil. But for some reason I keep coming back to it (like feeling better and seeing the junk come out of me).

But the directions clearly state (adjust your times accordingly):
7pm 8 oz of water with 1 tbsp Epsom Salt (chug it).

8:30-9pm (or so) 6 oz Olive Oil (cut with grapefruit juice) (chug it)

Go to bed and feel like hell

Wake up and get it all out. Hear the little stones in your toilet. Wake up feeling better know that concentrated garbage is out of you.

Last night is like being sick. Not fun. NO PAIN NO GAIN.

For the squeamish, just try Oxy-Powder from Amazon and see all the junk that pulls out.

I'm not perfect, I have to eat some red meat (try for bird if you can), some dairy, some coffee. But I am getting better and better each time I go thru this. Go to Costco and get an Organic Salad. Buy some organic vegetable soup for supper. Get some organic fruit.