Me and @AleksiHalsas are doing a 5-day fast, 13 to 17 July. If you want to jump in, there's still time to try out shorter ones before liftoff!
(For an easy intro to fasting, see p. 4 onward here: )
(For an easy intro to fasting, see p. 4 onward here: )
@AleksiHalsas Day 1: Attended goddaughter's birthday party. Good times drinking black coffee in the middle of 🍰🎂🍡🥐🍪
@AleksiHalsas Day 2: Lots of walking. No hunger yet, as expected from a 3-day fast two weeks ago. Keto slips indicate body went to ketosis somewhere between 37 and 42 hours since last meal.
@AleksiHalsas Day 3: Tried the gym, deadlifted two reps of 135kg, which is the same as last time I went almost a month ago -- subsequent exercises were pretty poor but not horrid. Eating a little salt was amazing. Surprisingly, could code a bit (normally fasting kills my detail-orientation).
Day 4: Entering new territory fasting-time wise. A few fleeting hours of extreme relaxation I haven't felt before except under influence. Didn't replicate later, as awesome experiences have the tendency to do.
Day 5: Woke up a bit nauseous, but it passed shortly. Day was business as normal. From the way I feel, couldn't tell if I fasted 1 or 5 days. Not being new to my mind's trickery, spent substantial effort noticing and not getting sucked into fantasies of break-fast foods.
Breaking fast with breakfast after 5 days, 6 nights and 126 hours. Tuna, shrimps, mayo, meat and cheese. There is an unfortunate amount of sugary treats in the house, very easily rationalised into consumption. Urinal ketones still present 4h after initiating sugar craze.
Somewhere between 4-6 hours from carb OD, urinal ketones (and #ketosis) gone.
General reflections:
- Hard to say if cognition was better or worse, as I tried to patch up damage from self-inflicted sleep deprivation and slept like normal people for a change.
General reflections:
- Hard to say if cognition was better or worse, as I tried to patch up damage from self-inflicted sleep deprivation and slept like normal people for a change.
- #Meditation-wise, day 2 felt like samatha was impossible and metta much easier, but this hypothesis was promptly falsified and couldn't distinguish between ease of samatha, metta and shikantaza during other days.
- Right now, 8h after breaking fast, feeling very energetic after a bit of exercise.
- Mood has been quite good the whole time, but it might be a remnant of an amazing summer school I took just before starting:
- Mood has been quite good the whole time, but it might be a remnant of an amazing summer school I took just before starting:
- All inference of these experiences must be couched in the fact that this is not the first time I'm fasting (also tried out a 21-day zero-carb once), although I've never done a continuous water fast this long.
- Looking forward to doing a 6-day fast within 2 years, and a 7-day fast within 4! Many thanks to @to_your_point and @AleksiHalsas for completing this with me 😋
(in case you're wondering, that's not a four-factorial)
(in case you're wondering, that's not a four-factorial)
@to_your_point @AleksiHalsas Fun story: During his hardcore ascetic time, they say Buddha fasted for 49 days eating just one grain of rice a day.
Fun fact: The world record in fasting is 382 days. (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…)
Fun fact: The world record in fasting is 382 days. (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…)
