5 ms·

I did a 60 day water only fast, minor electrolyte supplementation, and a handful of vitamins & other supplements later in the fast. Lost 80 lbs in 60 days, kep

I did a 60 day water only fast, minor electrolyte supplementation, and a handful of vitamins & other supplements later in the fast. Lost 80 lbs in 60 days, kept off around 60 of it for 3+ years. Here's my spreadsheet log.[1] Note this is NOT how I would do things now. I'll be around for the next hour or so and do my best to answer any questions, if I don't catch you, my e-mail is my username here at gmail. [1]https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VjOINqshBNPpiUuxHgn2aNwJ8LXIB98FFquXOONgx_4/edit?usp=sharing https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VjOINqshBNPpiUuxHgn2...

lmilcin 5y ago
How was your muscle mass and health after this? Any other side effects? I lost 30kgs over 12 months in 2013, half of it through intermittent fasting over period of 3 months. I have also fasted for 2 weeks once (not during that year).
- TimSchumann 5y ago
  > How is your muscle mass and health after this? Literally the best I've felt in recent memory was day 61 after I started eating again. Muscle mass was fine, I'm sure there was some decline in muscle mass, but I wasn't working out excessively during the fast. Mostly just long walks. I'd guess no more muscle mass than just sitting in front of a computer and not moving. I leveled out around 225/230 post fast and I was able to deadlift 450 for 3x reps within weeks of starting to eat again. > Any other side effects? Completely re-calibrated sense of taste post fast, probably partially due to a much healthier gut microbiome -- though I have no way to back that statement up. Massively heightened sense of smell during the fast too. Focusing seemed easier when running on ketones. Long term, it took a while until literally everything didn't taste obscenely sweet.
  - DrPhish 5y ago
    One of the warnings I read going in to my own (only 10 day) water fast was that it can have a detrimental effect on the muscle mass of your heart. Did you observe any decrease in cardiovascular function?
  - voisin 5y ago
    Did you have your blood work done? Any data you can share there?
- wyager 5y ago
  I would expect some muscle mass loss from a long-duration fast because your liver needs to consume protein to synthesize some sugars for the small number of cells that require sugar (e.g. red blood cells). I think consuming a bit of yeast (as Mr. Barbieri did) is probably a good idea to prevent your body from catabolizing muscles.
  - lmilcin 5y ago
    I believe biggest sink for glucose are portions of brain that cannot use ketones for fuel. As to yeast -- that's right, that is exactly the point. Rather than eat yeast extract which is basically proteins and nothing else, I would take a look at a small amounts of broth in daily diet. It is possibly safer (people can survive on broth alone so small dose of it daily shouldn't be a problem) and it tends to contain a lot of useful stuff for the organism. It is not strictly zero calorie diet but I think if your aim is health this is probably for the best rather than seeking ideal of zero calories.
    - wyager 5y ago
      What parts of your brain can’t use ketones?
  - TimSchumann 5y ago
    I mean, I probably have/had a lot of junk proteins floating around in my blood stream, walls of my blood vessels, scar tissue, etc. (Warning -- speculation on my part) I may have lost absolute muscle mass, but glycogen is a bunch of that mass, and my muscles had none of that by day 60. My feeling was something along the lines of -- sure I lost some muscle mass, but it was a small amount and relative to overall mass lost and the other health benefits of not being obese. Also, subjectively, I feel like I lost little to no actual strength.
    - lmilcin 5y ago
      I think part of this can be explained by lost mass in general as you no longer need to lug that fat around with you, making it easier to move around and generally feel better at least for a time before body accommodates.
gautamcgoel 5y ago
How would you do things now?
- TimSchumann 5y ago
  Two major mistakes I made on that fast. 1) I was drinking too much water. During the early phases I was up to 5 to 7 liters per day, now I keep it around 3 to 3.5 liters unless I'm on my feet or sweating quite frequently. Too much water can be just as bad (or worse) than not enough. 2) Doing salt only (probably combined with the excess water intake) was demonstrably stupid. Now I supplement sodium/magnesium/potassium every day on an extended fast. I personally shoot for around 3k/2k/1k mg daily of each of those. Do not take them all at once, they'll go right through you. Remember 3k mg sodium is roughly 7k mg table salt. Avoid Magnesium Oxide, shoot for Chelated Magnesium or Magnesium Citrate, they have much better bio-availability. This may seem excessive for electrolytes, but I think it's a good starting point regardless of body size, and the solution to it being 'too much' is 'just drink water'. One Minor mistake -- I'd keep my diet much less full of junk leading in to the fast. That 60 days started over an argument with my significant other about about weather to cook two pizza's or one, and beer was involved, so... let's just say I didn't have the cleanest of slates going into the fast the next day. Other than that, I'd take better notes, journal more, and test my bloodwork more frequently -- both with my ketone meter and in a lab by professionals.
  - nemo1618 5y ago
    What form did you take your supplements in? If the goal is to spread out the dose, sounds like powdered would be better than pills?
  - brodouevencode 5y ago
    I assume you've heard of snake juice then? Is that recipe, in your experience, decent?
    - voisin 5y ago
      For those not aware, Snake Juice is a recipe used by a prominent YouTube host who likes to do the drill sergeant routine in whipping people into shape, so is quite divisive. Here’s the recipe: For 2L water: 1tsp potassium chloride (NoSalt / SaltFree) 1/2tsp Himalayan pink salt 1tsp sodium bicarbonate (Red Mill. Not processed Arm & Hammer) 1/2tsp magnesium sulphate (Epsom Salt. West Point. Must be Food Grade)
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

lmilcin 5y ago

How was your muscle mass and health after this? Any other side effects? I lost 30kgs over 12 months in 2013, half of it through intermittent fasting over period of 3 months. I have also fasted for 2 weeks once (not during that year).

TimSchumann 5y ago
> How is your muscle mass and health after this? Literally the best I've felt in recent memory was day 61 after I started eating again. Muscle mass was fine, I'm sure there was some decline in muscle mass, but I wasn't working out excessively during the fast. Mostly just long walks. I'd guess no more muscle mass than just sitting in front of a computer and not moving. I leveled out around 225/230 post fast and I was able to deadlift 450 for 3x reps within weeks of starting to eat again. > Any other side effects? Completely re-calibrated sense of taste post fast, probably partially due to a much healthier gut microbiome -- though I have no way to back that statement up. Massively heightened sense of smell during the fast too. Focusing seemed easier when running on ketones. Long term, it took a while until literally everything didn't taste obscenely sweet.
- DrPhish 5y ago
  One of the warnings I read going in to my own (only 10 day) water fast was that it can have a detrimental effect on the muscle mass of your heart. Did you observe any decrease in cardiovascular function?
- voisin 5y ago
  Did you have your blood work done? Any data you can share there?
wyager 5y ago
I would expect some muscle mass loss from a long-duration fast because your liver needs to consume protein to synthesize some sugars for the small number of cells that require sugar (e.g. red blood cells). I think consuming a bit of yeast (as Mr. Barbieri did) is probably a good idea to prevent your body from catabolizing muscles.
- lmilcin 5y ago
  I believe biggest sink for glucose are portions of brain that cannot use ketones for fuel. As to yeast -- that's right, that is exactly the point. Rather than eat yeast extract which is basically proteins and nothing else, I would take a look at a small amounts of broth in daily diet. It is possibly safer (people can survive on broth alone so small dose of it daily shouldn't be a problem) and it tends to contain a lot of useful stuff for the organism. It is not strictly zero calorie diet but I think if your aim is health this is probably for the best rather than seeking ideal of zero calories.
  - wyager 5y ago
    What parts of your brain can’t use ketones?
- TimSchumann 5y ago
  I mean, I probably have/had a lot of junk proteins floating around in my blood stream, walls of my blood vessels, scar tissue, etc. (Warning -- speculation on my part) I may have lost absolute muscle mass, but glycogen is a bunch of that mass, and my muscles had none of that by day 60. My feeling was something along the lines of -- sure I lost some muscle mass, but it was a small amount and relative to overall mass lost and the other health benefits of not being obese. Also, subjectively, I feel like I lost little to no actual strength.
  - lmilcin 5y ago
    I think part of this can be explained by lost mass in general as you no longer need to lug that fat around with you, making it easier to move around and generally feel better at least for a time before body accommodates.

gautamcgoel 5y ago

How would you do things now?

TimSchumann 5y ago
Two major mistakes I made on that fast. 1) I was drinking too much water. During the early phases I was up to 5 to 7 liters per day, now I keep it around 3 to 3.5 liters unless I'm on my feet or sweating quite frequently. Too much water can be just as bad (or worse) than not enough. 2) Doing salt only (probably combined with the excess water intake) was demonstrably stupid. Now I supplement sodium/magnesium/potassium every day on an extended fast. I personally shoot for around 3k/2k/1k mg daily of each of those. Do not take them all at once, they'll go right through you. Remember 3k mg sodium is roughly 7k mg table salt. Avoid Magnesium Oxide, shoot for Chelated Magnesium or Magnesium Citrate, they have much better bio-availability. This may seem excessive for electrolytes, but I think it's a good starting point regardless of body size, and the solution to it being 'too much' is 'just drink water'. One Minor mistake -- I'd keep my diet much less full of junk leading in to the fast. That 60 days started over an argument with my significant other about about weather to cook two pizza's or one, and beer was involved, so... let's just say I didn't have the cleanest of slates going into the fast the next day. Other than that, I'd take better notes, journal more, and test my bloodwork more frequently -- both with my ketone meter and in a lab by professionals.
- nemo1618 5y ago
  What form did you take your supplements in? If the goal is to spread out the dose, sounds like powdered would be better than pills?
- brodouevencode 5y ago
  I assume you've heard of snake juice then? Is that recipe, in your experience, decent?
  - voisin 5y ago
    For those not aware, Snake Juice is a recipe used by a prominent YouTube host who likes to do the drill sergeant routine in whipping people into shape, so is quite divisive. Here’s the recipe: For 2L water: 1tsp potassium chloride (NoSalt / SaltFree) 1/2tsp Himalayan pink salt 1tsp sodium bicarbonate (Red Mill. Not processed Arm & Hammer) 1/2tsp magnesium sulphate (Epsom Salt. West Point. Must be Food Grade)

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]