2019 Fast 3.0 - Dry Fast Day #4

89 hours into the Dry Fast - 68.65 Kg (151lb)
My Dry Fast is proceeding well so far. Yesterday I felt so normal that I couldn't believe myself I was Dry Fasting since 3 days. I went to the gym after work, I didn't do any strenuous exercise, just brisk walk on the thread mill, a bit of exercise for my legs and a good stretching. It was a gentle workout I would say, but I felt I needed to move in some way; I'm always sitting at my desk - so sedentary is not good for muscle sparing.
I didn't do any enema yet, but I'm planning to do it this afternoon, I have somehow a feeling that something is sitting in my colon that need to be removed.
This coming Thursday and Saturday I have to work at the banquet hall; there, I always eat so much, so late at night; there's so much free food that I always feel wasting all that goodness for nothing. But this time around I would need to bring my own plastic containers and save that food for home, bringing it to my parents - although I know they won't eat it and most likely I will throw it away.....such a waste. They're picky like small children!
Today I have a bit of dry throat, I feel it's still too early to feel thirsty, I hope this sensation will go away soon, because I want to achieve my 200-hours goal this time around. My sleep is not affected so far, which is good - I hate when I can't fall asleep at night. I'm wondering why my throat is so dry, I never experienced this dryness in my previous Dry Fasts. I guess every fast is different from another. This morning my Ketostix was showing only 40mg/dL - the ketone levels in my urine are very low, considering that I had no food and no water for more than 80 hours. Maybe my ketones are used to boost the energy in my body? I read somewhere that when the ketones are used as fuel, the concentration shown on the ketostix tends to be lower. I guess I will have a proof of that in the next couple of days, checking if the ratio changes or not. To be honest I didn't see much of a change in my weight, no matter what the scale says, I don't see myself getting thinner. I usually can tell when I'm losing weight, my face looks skinnier, my big belly slims down, and even a bit my large hips. This time is not yet happening, well after all it's just 3.5 days into this Dry Fast. Maybe after 5/6 days I will see some improvements in my appearance.
So far I'm peeing with an almost normal frequency, but definitely the amount of urine is very little. This morning my urine was a lot and it was extremely dark, like more than usual healthy colour, but I think it's normal since I'm not drinking any water - not sure if this is a sign for healthy Kidneys filtration or the opposite?

Water Fast - Day #13

Tuesday – Water Fast Day #13
10:00 AM
Today begins my 13^th day of this Fast; I would say every fast is different from another, in the way I feel, the way I lose weight and also the way I drink. So far I feel very good, the high feeling of the Ketosis is fully in and I feel very energetic. I’m going to the swimming pool every other day and I hope I keep on doing it, it’s a very light exercise but helps me a lot with the mood and how I feel in general. This morning I did the terrible mistake of taking some vitamins all together, I was almost throwing up after 10 minutes. I will never do it again, that’s it, when fasting I cannot take any supplement; I just hope my lack of electrolytes will not force me to stop the fast further during the next weeks.
One new thing for this fast is that I’m drinking instant decaf coffee with a couple of drops of stevia; it is not affecting my Ketosis – which is still constant at 80mg/dL – and I would say even the weight loss is not hugely impacted; unless I Dry Fast I never see large losses on a daily basis anyway.
Yesterday I was trying to do some estimation, in terms of time, on how long I should fast to reach my weight goal; well the “estimation” was definitely depressing, it might take 60 days or more! I’m just concerned that I would be in the middle of my refeeding process for my January vacation South; I would like to avoid it though, since I will want to enjoy my trip without thinking on how my asleep stomach feels – ok, mostly because refeeding means that I need a bathroom trip every time I eat or drink something. Well I guess the weeks will tell how long this Fast will need to last.
The weight loss is very slow, some days I lose just 200gr, some others a bit more; but as long as I am in Ketosis I guess I’m ok. I don’t really care what the scale says, because I can see it in the mirror how I look, how my clothes fits; it doesn’t fit anything yet so I’m not losing much; but it’s been only 12/13 days so I’m not complaining.
My tongue is heavily coated, and my mouth has the usual bad taste; if I drink coffee it tends to go darker of course, but I can still feel the tick coating; I hope it will get better with the days.
Another thing I noticed this time around is that my period started and took so long before it ended; somehow when I fast the hormones get messed up and I guess my period too; but I think it’s also a chance of cleaning so it’s not a negative thing after all.
Yesterday was a busy day for me, I had to do lots of errands so I walked a lot around during lunch time, plus I went to the gym for half hour in the pool and 10 minutes in the sauna. Moving and exercising helps me a lot with my weight loss, and till I have such a great energy I should take advantage of it and try to be as much active as I can, because as soon as I stop and lye on the bed to “rest”, I will not find again the same energy.

Water Fasting and Exercise

I started to go to the gym again since last week and I really didn't want to stop for my 3^rd Water Fast, so I have planned on keep on going, trying to listen to my body if I feel good or too weak to exercise. This morning I took really 20 minutes and went upstairs for a quick walk on the treadmill and few reps for my abs, it was late though so I left pretty soon to start to work. For some reason I don't enjoy waking up early in the morning anymore, not sure if I'm having a lack of Vitamin D lately, I should take some blood tests after this fast.

I did some researches regarding exercising during a fast, mostly are referring to the IF – Intermitting Fasting, which is a different thing if compared with Water Fast. I do believe that for prolonged Water Fast – like more than 15/20 days – it's almost impossible keeping an exercise regimen, too weak to barely walk so not in discussion strenuous activities. But overall for short fast I don't think is so negative keeping a moderate physical activity, without going crazy obviously. One thing that I found though, that was interesting, is that in terms of body response a fast is very similar to a workout, for the glucose level and things like that, the body reacts similarly; I'm not a doctor though so I can't comment on this for sure, what I believe though is that we should always listen to our bodies, without stressing it too much. Even in the past men were supposed to have strengths to hunt and get food, those strengths might have been required in situations when food was scarce so similar to a fast.

I didn't feel going more than those 20 minutes today though, I will try again tomorrow early in the morning – since I have an interview during lunch time I won't be able to take the usual break, but as long as I do a decent workout in the morning I am happy; I still have the lactic acid in my legs from Sunday class!