7 Day Fast Journal – Day 4 Over half way home

* If you have already read this post, you can skip to the middle for daily updates.

7 Day Fast (attempt) began Sunday night, 4/17/11  at 8pm … finished 15 oz of grass fed ground beef and cheese.

I will attempt to fast for up to 7 days (one week). By the way, I’m a Type 2 Diabetic who successfully self treats his diabetes with meal plan and exercise. Read about me here.

I am going to update this post each day on my progress so check back periodically to see how it goes… if you are interested.

WHY in the … HECK am I doing this???

1) To test my blood sugar during the fasting period. I want to see how my body responds while fasting…. especially my blood sugar.

2) To test physical and mental responses to an extended fast. Strength, energy and endurance response. As my body burns fat for fuel … I want to see the affects it may have on my physical abilities not only DURING the fasting period but immediately after as well.  So if there is a drop off during the fasted period… does it rebound quickly?

**NOTE:

I do some crazy things and admittedly I do take risks but I am also careful and rarely push the envelope too far. I will be careful and should my blood sugar start going too low (sub 60) or should I ever feel faint etc … I will end the fast.

I like to explore and experiment…. but I also like living. :)

I have fasted for 24 hours several times … but never longer.  I perform intermittent fasts 4-5 days a week, typically for 16-21 hours. You can read my post on Intermittent Fasting here.

** I’ve read of others who have fasted for more than a day before that’s not that uncommon and I had thought about trying longer fasts but it wasn’t until I read this article by Jimmy Moore that I decided to go for a week. Thanks JIMMY! :)

 

FASTING DETAILS

Allowed Items for Consumption:  Water, Coffee (Black), Tea, Coconut Oil and Ghee (Clarified Butter)

My Consumption Goals:

1st Day / 24 hour : Nothing but water and coffee  (continued as long as possible)… DONE. Barely made it. I know fasting is ‘mental’, no matter what the deadline … the closer I get the more FAMISHED I become.     First 24 hrs … black coffee and water.

2nd – 7th Day:  Consuming only water, coffee, tea, coconut oil and ghee.

 

Blood Sugar Readings

 

———–Early AM——-Noon——-Early Evening——-Late Evening

Day 1 ——- 93 ———– 93 ———— 85 ——————-81

Day 2 ——- 79 ———– 76 ———— 75 ——————-66

Day 3 ——- 74 ———- 70 ————- 66 —————— 69

Day 4 ——- 53 ——— 74* ———— 57

* Note: With the low of 53, I read several times and received readings of 57, 68, 74 and after 15 mins of Kettle Bell Swings… a 79! :)

Daily Exercise –

Since my plan is to eat only Coconut Oil and Ghee for a week, I am curtailing my “heavier lifting” until after the fast if over.

Day 1 – Energy level is fine and I’d expect it to be.  Performed 30 minutes of light exercises including jumping jacks, sit ups, air squats,  combo curls, presses and tricep work.

Day 2 – Started Off this morning with 200 easy paced jumping jacks. For lunch completed 60 sit ups and 10 jump burpees … felt a little light headed so I stopped.

Early afternoon, felt much better and completed 75 “Palms to the floor” Air Squats in about 10 mins. Not pushing myself … just getting the heart rate slightly elevated.

Day 3 – 30 Sit Ups Early and 60 45lb Kettle Bell Swings pre-lunch. Felt good too, I would have done more but I did not want to affect my Blood Sugar too much.  Completed 60 more Kettle Bell Swings after ‘dinner’.  :)

Day 4 – When I awoke, I was not expecting to do ANY exercise today with a Blood Glucose of 53 but as my BG improved… so did my spirits. At noon at did 191 Kettle Bell Swings in 15 mins. I’ve done 300+ before so this was not a record but not too shabby. I took longer breaks in between sets to cool down to the 70% of maximum heart rate range.  Achieved 80%+ of Maximum Heart Rate on each set. (Sets were 20-30 reps)

I went low again in the evening, so I will not be doing any exercises tonight.

 

 

Daily Commentary:

Monday, Day 1 :

7:30 am – Woke up still feeling sated (full) from dinner. Protein and fat truly do keep you sated much longer than grains and fruits etc which cause blood sugar spikes and then the accompanying crashes. Eating those foods are why people feel hungry every 2-4 hours.

4:00 pm – Feeling very hungry … just realized…that’s #winning! :)

7:30 pm – As soon as 24 hour period was up I slowly ate 5 TBS of Coconut Oil with Black Coffee and water. Sated for NOW! :)

Tuesday, Day 2:

6:30 am – woke up feeling great (no difference), energized… ALIVE … THRIVING!! :))  Overnight Fasting Blood Glucose = 79. My BG is trending lower but I’ve had OFBG as low as 73 before, so far from worrying at this point. :))  I am not sated, but not hungry… content. :)

12:30 pm – BG is 76 … keeps inching lower. Feel great, not hungry but as I explained to someone, “I could eat.” :) After light exercise… felt a little light headed but feeling fine.

 

Wednesday, Day 3

6:30 AM – feeling good but ‘groggy’ from a lack of sleep…. but that’s normal for me, that is not due to the fast.  I woke up at 2 AM and had difficulty going back to sleep after that.

8:00 AM – GREAT News!!!

a) Cooked my wife breakfast and LUNCH, consisting of BACON and Round Steak… did not eat a bite! … did NOT even lick the skillet…although I did think about it. :)

b) Went to bed with a blood sugar of 66 … a little concerned what it would be in the morning, ALAS! The body did it’s job…. Blood Sugar Stabilized and woke up with a 74!!!! Woot!!!

Thanks to Gluconeogenisis, Lipolysis and KETONES … I am ‘good to go’!!! :)

8 PM – as noted, did not sleep well. Combine being tired with lower BG than I am used to and I’m dragging. I was hungrier earlier but a coffee with Coconut Oil and Ghee took care of that. :)

Thursday, Day 4

7:30 AM Felt pretty good actually… until I tested blood sugar and read 53 and 57 … not sure how to continue. :(

12:00 – due to the encouragement of Friends on Facebook… I ‘held out and held on” … after eating/drinking more coconut oil with coffee and began feeling much better. :)  Actually preformed some intense X. :)

5pm – I have been feeling low since 4 pm or so. I’ve read twice and it was confirmed, most recent was a 57.  To combat the low blood sugar, I ate more Coconut Oil and drank more coffee. This worked earlier in the day… fingers are crossed again. :)

 

 

 

Here is my Diabetes Warrior Info:

My Diabetes Meal Plan ( a true diabetes diet, not like most of those promoted by American Diabetes Association)

How I Play