Fasting Post Pig-Out Session

 

Having a holiday feast is fine and doesn’t have to end your diet goals or send you careening off the rails for weeks. I am taking the next day to fast back to ketosis as quickly as possible and get back on track. After eating to my heart’s content yesterday, I ended the night with a full glass of water and about an hour of stretching and some crunches. It wasn’t going to undo the binge-style eating, but it centered me and helped me sleep better perhaps.

I thought about my goal last night for today which is an attempt at fasting with only coffee, mct, and water. I am about to go for a long walk and then test my keto levels for any signs of progress.

As the day progressed I was back in ketosis quicker than I thought. I drank a green tea with MCT oil and butter to help ease into the evening without dinner, but it made really nauseous. I ended up drinking a protein shake with no sugar and about 100 calories. I sipped on water and fell asleep hungry. I am looking forward to food today. That was my first successful fasting test, usually I cave by lunch –so there’s that.

The term that is most commonly used is intermittent fasting and there are more ways than one to use this approach. Typically I like the one that works while I sleep. The trick is not eating past 6 o’clock then sleeping as long as possible,  and breaking the fast with a late breakfast like a normal human being. Some doctors and nutritionists swear by a monthly 3-5 day fast and there are always the more extreme ones as well. The important thing to remember is that the people fasting are doing so in an extremely controlled manner with careful attention paid to their supplements, electrolytes and water intake. Additionally, they test their ketone levels, blood, urine and whatever else these uber-obssessed types like to measure. It’s not just starvation and see what happens; fasting requires some level of research and the consultation of a doctor when you become more interested in the practice.

But for the average person a day to give your body a break and boost back to where you want to be on a keto diet seems harmless to me and something that I would only recommend post holiday diet crash. But hey, that’s just me and I like to eat. I do as a general rule try and have dinner before 6 and eat around 9 am after my morning bulletproof coffee which I have first thing. This is working really well when I don’t stray from the routine. 🙂

Find out more about fasting from Tim Ferriss in his book, “Tools of the Titans,” he interviews really smart and successful people on his podcast and then gives us the notes in this handy book.