OT: I am starting a fast tomorrow

[stephenmarklay]

I am going to fast for 7 days. Sunday through Sunday.

I have fasted before but it was very long ago.

I have a couple of reasons for the fast but the main reason is a tribute to my dad who I watched suffer with cancer and finally pass two weeks ago.

I posted this on my Facebook page as to my explanation:

********
I have decided to give cancer a symbolic middle finger.

On Sunday I am going to stop eating. That is the day my dad went into the hospital for his last battle. I am not going to eat until Sunday morning next the day that cancer took him from us.

My meal on Sunday morning that breaks the fast will be a celebration of his life. It will be grand. I might even have a little champagne.

Why fast? Many forms of cancer need sugar to survive. Denying the cells of sugar stresses them and eventually they will die off. People with cancer may be able to use this coupled with their treatment to give cancer a one-two punch. Studies show that periodic fasts can help the body rid it itself of damaged cells and regenerate healthy ones once eating is resumed.

Take that cancer.

*********

I do know that ketosis is not a sure fire way to kill or cure cancer but at the very least it has shown some benefit to some people with some cancer.

I am going to do this every year over the same week that my dad was in the hospital. I am not religious but he was and remembering his suffering and courage will give me the strength I need.

I am really looking forward to this week.

[Louis]

Sorry about your father, and all my condolences.

I don't know anything about the science of fasting vs cancer, but I think I understand why you're doing it, whether it's good for you or not.

Good luck with the fast and I assume you'll be thinking about him as you're doing it.

Not to get too sidetracked by the details of it, but what will be you be drinking?

Louis

[stephenmarklay]

Sorry about your father, and all my condolences.

I don't know anything about the science of fasting vs cancer, but I think I understand why you're doing it, whether it's good for you or not.

Good luck with the fast and I assume you'll be thinking about him as you're doing it.

Not to get too sidetracked by the details of it, but what will be you be drinking?

Louis

Louis, I will be drinking a lot of water. Normally, you get a lot of water with food so I will be conscious to drink a lot. I am also going to drink some black coffee. the last time I quit coffee cold turkey my vision got blurry. No kidding :)

[gasman]

My condolences about your father passing. Best of luck with the fast.

[summilux]

I've done a five day fast two years ago. No food or caloric liquids. Keep drinking lots of cool water. It'll help. For me, the first two days were the toughest. After that I pretty much lost interest in food and eating. That was a pretty cool experience. In 5 days, I lost 10 lbs. I think 5 lbs of that was fecal material since it came back within 2 days of resuming eating.

I got pretty irritable so let your friends and family know.

Condolences on your father. Good luck.

[stephenmarklay]

I've done a five day fast two years ago. No food or caloric liquids. Keep drinking lots of cool water. It'll help. For me, the first two days were the toughest. After that I pretty much lost interest in food and eating. That was a pretty cool experience. In 5 days, I lost 10 lbs. I think 5 lbs of that was fecal material since it came back within 2 days of resuming eating.

I got pretty irritable so let your friends and family know.

Condolences on your father. Good luck.

Thanks for the tips. My wife is going to do a 5 day starting Tuesday. We will be supporting each other. I am going to try and keep really busy so as not to think about food.

[SamIAm]

some good info here.

http://paleoleap.com/long-fasts/

Especially as it relates to ending a fast.

Some caution is advisable on how you end a fast of this duration.

[Climb01742]

Aside from whatever the best mechanics are for lasting, I think this is a really admirable idea. Bravo. I'd be curious how you'll feel at the end. Would you mind doing a follow-up post afterward to share how it went and what you felt during and at the end? Good luck and peace for your father.

[stephenmarklay]

some good info here.

http://paleoleap.com/long-fasts/

Especially as it relates to ending a fast.

Some caution is advisable on how you end a fast of this duration.


Thanks, I read through it. I might get some mineral supplements but 7 days is not that long so I am likely ok.

[summilux]

One benefit was that my sense of smell became incredible on day 4-5. A lasting benefit of my fast was a new "relationship with food". On day 4, I was making a greasy eggs, bacon and english muffin breakfast for my family and I thought, "meh, it's only food". That was pretty cool.

An obvious downside was that aerobic activity became impossible. Anything more strenuous that a walk or a leisurely spin is impossible.

Libido also vanished.

Keeping busy is a good idea.

[Avincent52]

I'm so sorry about your father. I've been through it and I can understand.
I did a similar short fast in memory of when my wife had a miscarriage.
I did that for several years rather quietly. There was an awkward moment at work when my friend/boss "treated" us by ordering dinner from a very fancy restaurant-- An American Place-- and I, the biggest foodie, and the biggest eater-- took a pass on dinner entirely.
You're doing the right thing, but, of course, monitor your health.
Your father wouldn't want you getting sick.

[stephenmarklay]

Thanks everyone. I will post about how it is going this week. So far so good. I'm not hungry YET :)

[Geeheeb]

You might want to check our bp as you go along too. Hope it goes well, and I really respect your reasons for doing it.

[rnhood]

I fall into the camp of celebrating someone's life, not so much putting myself in misery over it. But we are all different, different strokes for different folks. Nothing wrong with taking differing approaches and I wish you well.

[guido]

Sorry to hear about your father Stephen. You will be in my thoughts.

[stephenmarklay]

I fall into the camp of celebrating someone's life, not so much putting myself in misery over it. But we are all different, different strokes for different folks. Nothing wrong with taking differing approaches and I wish you well.


I am in your camp actually. My stand is against cancer and what it did to him. Its not misery at all. In some way I feel I am taking up the battle for him when he no longer can. I look forward to asking him for strength.

After the fast I plan on a celebration and a feast :)

[jmagruder10]

Sorry to hear about your Dad. I once did a juice fast . V8 , Fruit Juice , I mainly did it to help jump start a diet. I kind of over did it around 12 days and I also was doing a lot of riding at the time and I remember a few moments I just felt pretty bad , but I lost some weight real quick. It was not has hard to resist food as I thought it would be. remember Drink LOTS of water. Good luck and we all will be thinking of you .

[stephenmarklay]

I figured I would give a little update periodically.

So far its been about 40 hours since I ate last. Yesterday was good. I never felt hungry per se. I was a little low energy (sluggish) but managed to go to the gym and lift some weights with my wife and rode my MTB bike about 5 miles to get a movie. I felt a little melancholy. I was mourning my loss of food :)

I slept well which was a concern. I felt good this morning so I did a shorter endurance ride 2.5 hours. Slow -16mph average. But actually when I am riding slow normally on that route its only 16.7mph average. It felt really good and I sped up the second half.

Black coffee and tea get me through the day it seems. I am fine with that. I also put a little essential oil on my upper lip to give my senses something to do :hello:

So far so good.

[redir]

I don't think it's a very good idea to exercise but none the less good luck that's a long time. I've gone a couple days before and that was enough :0

In the winter often times I'll go one day a week, usually Thursday, with a 24 hour fast.

[BlueFly]

I also put a little essential oil on my upper lip to give my senses something to do :hello:


Although I have not fasted, I am a frequent user of Peace and Calming...... :)

Good luck!

[tv_vt]

Best to you and your wife. If you're both fasting, be careful of being cranky to each other this week!

And as Sam said, be very slow when ending the fast. Champagne probably not a good idea that day. That is the time when you'll really need the self-restraint. May take a few days before you're back to your normal diet.

Are you planning on doing a regular work week, or taking some time off? Could be a challenge maintaining your normal routine. Don't feel hesitant to take naps, do some reading, and keep a low-stress schedule. Trying to stay super-busy could be counter-productive.

Enjoy all the free time you'll have. When I've fasted, the amount of extra time I have due to not having to prepare meals and clean up afterwards was really surprising.

Are you planning on keeping a journal of any kind? Could also be a nice way to use the time.

All the best,

TV

[stephenmarklay]

I don't think it's a very good idea to exercise but none the less good luck that's a long time. I've gone a couple days before and that was enough :0

In the winter often times I'll go one day a week, usually Thursday, with a 24 hour fast.

I think I am going to try some one day fasts over the winter too.

I am going to go by feel. If I feel like riding or whatever I will otherwise I won稚.

[stephenmarklay]

Best to you and your wife. If you're both fasting, be careful of being cranky to each other this week!

And as Sam said, be very slow when ending the fast. Champagne probably not a good idea that day. That is the time when you'll really need the self-restraint. May take a few days before you're back to your normal diet.

Are you planning on doing a regular work week, or taking some time off? Could be a challenge maintaining your normal routine. Don't feel hesitant to take naps, do some reading, and keep a low-stress schedule. Trying to stay super-busy could be counter-productive.

Enjoy all the free time you'll have. When I've fasted, the amount of extra time I have due to not having to prepare meals and clean up afterwards was really surprising.

Are you planning on keeping a journal of any kind? Could also be a nice way to use the time.

All the best,

TV

Great thoughts and ideas. I have thought about writing down how I feel so I will start today.

I have low key week so its ok. I only want to be busy enough to keep my mind off of food. Naps for sure and sleeping a lot if possible. I know my self restraint is severely limited when I don稚 sleep. I should say my discomfort level changes.
For instance if I am really tired from not sleeping I can稚 do intervals on the bike.

I have am starting two books. One is on foraging plants in the Pacific Northwest. :crap:

[stephenmarklay]

Well I am about 3 days into this now. The good news is that tomorrow will be past the half way point :hello:

Today I woke up a bit weaker. I am feeling the effects for sure. Nevertheless my wife and I went out on a hike today. We kind or got a little off the beaten bath so it was a little longer than I was thinking. I think we hiked 2 hours or so maybe 5-6 miles. I just can稚 sit around. It was nice to be out and I got to try a new backpack I bought. That was great.

I am hoping for some physical and mental strength tomorrow.

[Louis]

I have am starting two books. One is on foraging plants in the Pacific Northwest. :crap:

"Into the Wild" ? I thought that was in Alaska? ;)

[harrison]

very sorry to hear about your father. good luck with the fast, reminds me in a way of the custom of sitting shiva. sounds cathartic to take some time, literally and figuratively, from your day-to-day and allow yourself to be thoroughly emotionally entangled with a person you've lost.

[in_version]

This is inspiring, and still active. A great chance to practice some meditation too. I wish you well.

[stephenmarklay]

Fasting update!

Today I decided to end my fast. I only made it half way 3.5 days. I refuse to slow down and I was getting weak. I don稚 think it was a health concern at all but I did not want to have 3.5 more days of the walking dead! I was just itching to do things but I only had so much energy.

I started this to honor my father who had to deal with fatigue as a normal part of his life and suffering at the end. He was a strong man with, god willing, a desire to carry on and get healthy. Cancer denied him of this.

There are other benefits of fasting too. One is weight loss (not my goal this time), as well as reseting your relationship with food. Both of these can also help with modern disease. I am convinced I don稚 need as much as I normally consume and the extra just adds stress to the body. I did slow down but managed to bike and hike and lift weights for over 3 days without food.

The other reason I did this was to bring attention to fasting or the more modern intermittent fasting. Both can be a way to strengthen your immune system and stress cancer cells. I will absolutely do this again. There are no guarantees in life. People are dealt a bad deck and that is there destiny. However, I for one will not let that discourage me. I refuse to take diseases like cancer and diabetes lying down.

Thank you everyone for the kinds words going into this. It was a very positive experience for me. I am not disappointed at all with my failure to go the full 7 days, I think I still achieved what I wanted to achieve.

[VTCaraco]

At all sorts of different levels.
:beer: :banana: :hello: