First 36 Hour Fast - Confused

Hi there, my name is Adam James and I am a Type 2 diabetic.

I've just done a 36 hour fast. Yesterday I ate nothing and drank water and spent 5 hours walking in the hills.

I'm a bit alarmed because I woke up an hour ago and now I'm hungry. Does anyone else find that they get hungry after not eating for 36 hours? Is it something to do with nutrition?

Also, I can't remember where I parked the car and I've lost a sock. Is that normal?

Well after having a small breakfast things are returning to normal, my head has stopped spinning and I've started to think clearly, which is nice. Some detective work has revealed that my car is parked where it has been every day for the last 12 months, and the other sock is on the other foot, which I'd forgot to check.

I have to say that fasting is not as horrendous as I used to imagine, months ago.

In terms of 'feeling deprived', which is something to avoid if you want to be able to incorporate something into your life long-term, it's not so bad. It's on a par with a VLCD in terms of feeling "I really wish I wasn't having to do this", but science says fasting is better for the metabolism, especially if you don't go on for more than 3 days.

I was actually very surprised that I was able to incorporate quite a lot of physical activity into a 36 hour fast. It was pretty strenuous walking - 3 'big hills'. Starting up the first hill I felt very slow and sluggish, but by the time I was coming down it, I felt perfectly normal. The second hill was then fine. I really didn't want to do the final one by the time I'd driven to it. My body was definitely feeling things by then. But I just kept chugging up it, ignoring the light-headedness, and again, on the way down I'd started to feel fine.

Frankly I've done the same 3 hills on a full stomach and sometimes found it equally hard. Some days your body works better than others.

I've only done 2 real fasts now (ignoring the idea of having the last meal early so there's a big gap to breakfast). The first one was 24 hours and involved being at home. This one involved a lot of exercise and being away from home. I think I preferred this one for both psychological and biological reasons. Exercise does make me less hungry, plus I wasn't sitting by my fridge all day with food calling out to me.

Some of the benefits of fasting are psychological I think - if you can get through it, it helps to make you realise just how little the body needs to fuel it, plus it gives you a confidence boost in terms of feeling you have self-control - something I struggle with as I love all food and rarely 'feel full'. It also made me really savour breakfast this morning. Bacon, egg and a big flat mushroom with a toasted slice of hi-lo bread. Total about 5g carbs. I started on the mushroom and even just that was lovely.

My scales tell me I've lost about 2kg in one day as well. It must be all water of course, but any improvement in "the numbers" is a good psychological boost.

bulkbiker said:

Did you have any extra salt? That is sometimes a cause of dizzyness when fasting. The 36-48 hour window is where the hunger pangs are at their strongest at least for me that's when I would have some consomme type soup with some butter melted into it. But well done for doing it and for getting the "control" feeling. Must be time I did another...

Click to expand...

No, no salt. Probably would have been a good idea since I was also sweating a fair bit going up the hills! I'll bear that in mind next time.

The lightheadedness came and went and wasn't too bad overall, I don't think it was worse than the first time. It didn't get worse throughout the day.

This morning, though hungry, I have to say I felt as though I could carry on fasting. The hunger levels and lightheadedness were no greater than the various 'waves' yesterday. I did think it would be a good idea to have a salty breakfast though, and build up to longer fasts later if need be.

This fast was actually unplanned. I'd intended to just do a ton of walking, not eat a lot, and then fast the next day to give my body a long period where it could slowly regulate bs levels without exercise or food getting in the way.

But when I woke up it was bucketing it down, so I almost delayed the plan. Then I got annoyed and decided to carry on regardless and get it all done ASAP, even if it means spending all morning getting soaked and not getting any nice views on the hills. I made sure I finished walking by early afternoon, so my body would have a chance to settle down without either food or exercise before I went to bed.

The sense of control is good after having done it, both in terms of making myself do something regardless of foul weather, and in stopping myself from doing something in spite of hunger

set-in-stone said:

@AdamJames - well done to you. I would love to do a long fast beyond the eat at dinner, and eat again at dinner the next day. Just too petrified I might keel over at work.
Home with fridge and food calling out to me would be really hard

Click to expand...

Thanks. I have to admit I am still quite pleased about it a few days later!

I know what you mean about both the work thing and the being at home next to the fridge thing! I couldn't do my job (which is purely mental problem solving while sitting in front of a computer) properly the way my head gets on fasting so far. That may improve. But in spite of my brain not working, I'm amazed at how my body can keep going while fasting. Walking turned out to be perfect - it's a gentle enough activity that I could go on for hours, it reduced my hunger and it kept me a long way from my fridge!

If walking is an option for you I'd definitely recommend giving it a go.

AloeSvea said:

Thanks for that @AdamJames - always good to have a giggle over our trials and tribulations in the pursuit of insulin sensitivity and properly regulated blood glucose . Fasting has a funny side indeed.

And all the power to you if you really did go hiking for five hours! And it is one of those very real things that physical activity makes you hungry. We would be a funny kind of animal if it did not. (Well - funnier than we already are! !)

I'm one of those folks who probably has very highly functioning hunger hormones, so I feel hunger keenly, and it does not drop or go 'low-key' during any stage of any kind of semi-starvation regime in the pursuit of good health. And I have done every kind of fasting imaginable in order to try and knock the last stubborn vestiges of insulin resistance and other blood glucose dysfunctions on the head! And hunger for me, does not ever go away.

Anyway, what I have found, over the last three years of intermittently fasting, and intermittent fasting, is that it certainly gets easier. Much. I think back on to the first three-day water fast went on six months after diagnosis, and it bears no resemblance to how I experience my fairly regular three-day fasts now. MUCH easier to bear it all now. My body is in much better nick, I guess. And I can tolerate the hunger much better. But the hunger does not go away.

I can only do physical exercise or activity on day one of a fast, ever - due to lack of energy, by the way. And I am a normally physically active and fit person. Just a heads up on the range of 'normal' out there.

And the worst side effect of consecutive-day fasting is not really being able to mix with other human beings (other than my nearest and dearest) - no way! To say emotion and moods are raw, and close to the surface during periods of days of not eating is a huge understatement. (I will add that I don't come in to the forum either during such periods to have a wee chat .) So I absolutely could not no-food water fast whilst working in close proximity with other folks.

Click to expand...

I find that during walking and most exercise I lose my appetite. But if I have a big day of walking, it increases my appetite in the next day or two.

Good to hear that fasting gets easier, as I am currently working out a plan to try for a month and it involves a lot of fasting!

I know what you mean about having to stay away from people during things like that, including this forum where there's a lot of talk about food

Gork said:

I have realized that when I don't eat, I do not miss food and am not hungry. Once I eat, almost anything, anything goes. It is like I cannot stop. Never feel hungry though, even after 24 hours. Then, if I feel weak, a good meal is in store.

I can go all day without eating especially if I am away from food. I teach two mornings a week so I get up, go to class, get out around 1pm and am not hungry. The longer I wait to eat, I don't have any drive to eat. Once I have dinner, it is all out cleaning out the refrigerator. If I deliberately not purchase food to have in store, it is obsession to eat all night and sleep is prevented.

I go to sleep, all seems to get reset and I wake up not interested in eating until I eat something. It starts all over again. I recall going 36 hours or so once in a while.

For a while there, I would come home from the University and sometimes my tenant has cooked leaving the sink full of dished (I do have a dishwasher) and the stove oily. He eventually cleans it all up but not before I have lost any interest in preparing anything. After about a week or so, my glucose levels have leveled off, I have lost weight, and three months of it, my A1c is mid 6 or so. We finally had a talk about it and now I am back to my unhealthy cooking and A1c is out of control again. Go figure....

Click to expand...

I can relate to some of that. I get the all-or-nothing thing when it comes to what I would call "toy foods", i.e. foods which give a lot of immediate gratification because they taste so nice.

I've realised I can't "classify" the type of foods that have that effect on me. It's not just carby foods or "bad foods" like cake for example. I just learn which foods I find addictive, and avoid them. For me, trying to develop a healthy relationship with food is finding food which varies from "tolerable" to "quite nice", and avoiding food which is "extremely moreish"! "Extremely moreish" combined with the fact I rarely feel full is a dangerous combination.

david1241 said:

Hello.Adamjames .I found when i went on 24 hour alternate fasting diet.It was the best thing i have done so far.I got rid of my type 2 diabetes ,and lost over 3 st.of unwanted lard,in a short time .After a time ,i found i lost the desire to be snacking all the time.I did feel hungry at times.That hungry feeling went as well.I can take food or leave it.Before ,I was having all my meals plus snacks >i was eating ham sandwiches snickers bars .Get some nuts.Etc.I can now eat what i like with no adverse effects.I can survive on one meal a day,if i wanted or nothing at all.Apart from feeling very much better All my many complications have cleared up ,Even the arthritis in my left hip is much better.My legs no longer feel like they are chained together.Keep up the good work You may find you are able to rid yourself of diabetes.I have been totally free of diabetes for 12 months now.I didn't realise how **** i felt before.Information Dr Jason Fung Utube.Good Luck.

Click to expand...

That's good to hear, and well done you!

Yes I've been reading a fair bit of Fung recently. He could do with pressing "spell check" occasionally but at least he makes a lot of sense