Having a rest from the plenty. Fasting 3 days each quarter. 🍔

Resting from the onslaught of plenty.

The absence of a daily need is felt quickly. Sleep, water, toilet breaks, shelter, food, showers, coffee, a 4G connection — their absence is noticed, quickly. Many of these, however, are deceptive daily needs. Food is a deceptive daily need. We have convinced ourselves we need it every day, yet in its absence we quickly realise, we do not. To remind myself of this I like to remove food for a period every quarter. Nearly all religions have some form of fasting or abstinence from food — Ramadan in Islam, Lent in Christianity. Their reasons for why differ, but they all instill discipline, stoicism and joy in the simple. I like all of these things.

I see my fasting as a reset. A chance for my body to have a rest from the onslaught of plenty, a chance to reset my understanding of what is needed, a chance to remember the pure joy of nourishment… And a chance to lose ~1kg of excess body fat. 

My style of fasting is water fasting (no-calories) for at least 3-days, with my record being 5-days. I prefer this style as you burn lots of fat, it is challenging, but it isn't torture. This style of caloric restriction also suits my personality. I am an all or nothing person. I don't do moderation. If you give me chocolate, be prepared to say goodbye to the entire bar. 

Other than resetting and challenging myself, the philosophical and spiritual benefits appear to be clear, and there is some evidence that it is good for you. There also isn't any real reason to suggest that it is bad for you. But I'm not here to get bogged down in the validity of cancer-killing arguments nor insult your intelligence with a convenient narrative that contains the words "cave", "ancestors" and "designed to". Instead this is how I do it.

To conduct a fast, I first begin by choosing a week. This week must not have too many major social engagements, as social engagements usually contain calories. Starting on Day 1, I cut out all carbs. I go as Keto as possible, eating only chicken and lettuce leaves basically. Day 2, I continue this, with dinner of Day 2 being my final meal as this allows me to sleep through the first part of the fast and it means you can have a big dinner to break your fast. My goal is to get into Ketosis before the water fast begins. Upon waking, I drink ~1 litre of water. I keep my water intake high during the week, attempting to drink between 4-7 litres of water per day. 

As Day 3 continues, I notice the onset of hunger and the usual sugar crashes, however with my two days of preparation, these are weak, and I find myself already entering into Ketosis. I use the strips you can purchase on Amazon to check when I reach Ketosis and periodically confirm I am still there. There is no reason for this other than to confirm my observations.

Over the day I drink tea and water with a few drops of lemon juice to mix up the flavour. I would drink black coffee, but I usually pair this with a week off from coffee. The first day of no calories is the worst for me. I usually try and just get to bed early to get it over and done with. This is why the fasting once per week doesn't work for me. I think it is just repetitive torture every week with minimal fat burning and quite a disruption to normal socialising. Also writing a blog post on 3 days of fasting is 3x better than a blog post on 1 day of fasting.

Day 4 see's me continue a normal life. This is where I begin to realise how much of our time is dictated by food. If you try and be social, the first suggestion is often to consume calories. Need a break from work? Go consume some calories... I agree to socializing but refuse to torture myself by catching up in a restaurant. Instead, I suggest a walk. I also do a light work out. I find working out fine, I obviously don't try and set any PBs, but I don't notice a drop off in performance. However, I do believe I have an increased recovery time required.

Day 5 is my decision day — here I decide whether I want to go for another day or two. By Day 5 I am usually 1-2kg lighter (mostly water weight), feeling normal but would really like a burger. I decide what I am doing in the morning whether I am going for a fourth day. If I leave it to 6 PM that night to decide when I could be eating my first meal — I will fail. My discipline is not strong enough to withstand the offer of food. On this day I eat some dietary fibre and/or pop a multi-vitamin. Unsure whether it does anything but would rather not find out.

Assuming I went for another day, Day 6 is the day I break my fast. I try to make it a small event. Celebrating with a few other people at a restaurant or with takeout. Cooking whilst mid-fast is torture, so I prefer to eat out. If I'm feeling particularly stoic and disciplined, I will keep it a simple, healthy meal. But I am only human and if someone mentions ribs and ice-cream, try and stop me.

I keep a simple log every four hours: weighing myself, judging my energy levels and judging my focus (1 to 4 scale), accompanied with a simple summary of the previous four hours. Every fast is a bit of an experiment, and I log random observations. Here are a few from my previous one. The final morning weigh-in see’s me 2kg lighter.

"Threw some salt in my water, feel a fair bit better after that might do this once a day." Day 3 (first day of no calories)

"Woke up, almost forgot I was fasting for the first two hours." Day 6

After the fast, my appreciation for food is immense. Everything tastes better, and I am full of energy and gratitude. After a couple of days, my weight bounces back up from a combination of water and food being in my system. Sometimes my baseline stays below my average for a little while, sometimes it doesn't. My rough calculation is every 3 days of not eating will burn 500 grams of fat for me (75kg active male).

My overall approach to fasting is to not expect too much from it, but relish in the small challenge and enjoy the reward. I don't expect to wake up with Hugh Jackman abs, fortify my body against cancer and achieve inner-peace. I see it more like going to the dentist, but instead of food tasting weird after, it tastes amazing.

I hope to take my fasting to the next level by doing it with a group of friends. I love the idea of breaking bread with a group of friends who are famished and have just overcome a challenge together. I also would like to explore the history and different ways cultures fast. A style like Ramadan is one that I would like to try, especially with my version of the 5-prayers each day. I have no plan for it other than every now and again, pressing the reset button feels good.