Day 8: Monday, 09 June 2008

Only slept about 5 hours soundly last night. Woke up at 4:45 and couldn't get back to sleep. I finally turned on the TV and channel surfed for several minutes (lousy time of day to channel surf!), left it on The Weather Sleeping Channel and dozed until 8:30.

I'm just not with the program this morning, probably because of the lack of sleep. Case in point: I went back to my bedroom to get my glass of water and went into the closet ... as if that's where I keep my glass of water instead of somewhere handy like next to the bed. Sheesh. Negligible hunger, tho.

Because we're supposed to get rain this evening, I want to get the back yard mowed, so I'm going to do that before going to the grocery store. No point taking a shower only to get hot and sweaty an hour later. That makes this fast more like 7 1/2 days instead of just 7. If you count from the last food intake (June 1, around 6 pm), it's 8 3/4. I figure it'll be a little after noon before I get back from the store and poke some watermelon in my mouth (yum).

Morning Stats

weight: 145.2 lbs
bf: 31%
bp: 108/64
pulse: 57 bpm
bg: 87 mg/dl

Day 7: PM

Of all the days in my fast, I think this one was the easiest. Perhaps that a sign that I should continue on; however, I've decided to definitely break the fast tomorrow. I need to get back to running, and I have some projects around the house to do that require some sustained energy. I don't feel weak or tired or fatigued, but I just don't have a lot of get-up-and-go.

I need to go to the grocery store in the morning. Items on my list include watermelon, oranges, berries (probably strawberries since the others are all still way expensive), cucumbers, romaine, & tomatoes. Our Walmart is now a SuperCenter, so I expect I'll venture there to see what they might have that is out of the ordinary. I know they carry kale and other greens that the other stores in town don't generally have.

I'm very concerned about "losing it" when I break the fast. I tend to binge eat, not generally the eat non-stop for 2 hours kind, but the eat too much several times a day type than can go through a bag of Doritos in a day or two along with a half-gallon of ice cream in the same time period. Or it might be a whole box of Kraft Mac & Cheese in one sitting. None of these foods will be part of the next few days (or ever at all except social occasions without suitable alternatives).

I'll be glad to get back to eating. I've been pretty wary of telling many people I'm doing a fast, mostly because I don't want to put up with the "it's bad for you" crap without them having ever done any reading or research into the matter.

Day 7: Sunday, 08 June 2008

Now that I've made it to today, it'll be be easier to get through feeling hungry since I know I'm breaking the fast tomorrow. As much as I've been complaining about the hunger, one part of me wants to just keep going out of curiosity.

A couple observations about my morning stats: 1) my blood glucose is the second highest since I started the fast; 2) my body fat is still 31% (30% yesterday). Both of these surprise me, especially the body fat. I expected it to be 30%.

Time to go mow the yard, at least the front bit. It's not huge, but it's hot and I don't exactly have tons of energy at the moment.

Morning Stats

weight: 146.2 lbs
bf: 31%
bp: 110/64
pulse: 56 bpm
bg: 85 mg/dl

Day 6: Saturday, 07 June 2008

I slept well last night. Set the A/C on 76. If I cranked it down to 68, I'd sleep really, really well, but that's not going to happen. I remember that I dreamed last night, but I can't recall any of them to know if food was in there or not.

I'm still undecided about whether to break my fast today or not. I'm still feeling hunger pangs, but not as bad as last night. They do seem to get stronger as the day progresses. I wonder if my being fairly active during the fast instead of resting most of the time is contributing to the hunger pangs. I did park myself on the couch almost all of yesterday, though. Hmmm. I'd like to go seven days. I guess as an exercise in self-discipline I ought to just shut up about the hunger, do the seven days, and be done with it. I still feel fine, no side effects other than a slight coating of the tongue and a greater tendency to be light headed if I stand up to quickly.

Here are some links that better describe blood glucose and ketone body usage:

• Wikipedia article on famine response


• Bicochem course at Humbolt University


• Biochem presentation at University of Kentucky The slides with drawings are a bit much, but the other slides are good.

A few general information links about fasting:

• Answers.com


• Therapeutic Fasting


• Introduction to Fasting

Morning Stats

weight: 147.2 lbs
bf: 30%
bp: 104/64
pulse: 56 bpm
bg: 77 mg/dl

Day 5: PM

In an earlier post, I incorrectly implied that that when the body starts to burn fatty acids when stored glycogen is depleted, the brain still needs glucose as 100% of its fuel. The brain is able to adapt to partially fuel itself with ketones which are produced by the liver from the body's fat stores.

Hunger pangs are back again in full force. I'm seriously considering breaking the fast tomorrow. I just don't want to deal with them any more. I'll have to see how I feel about it in the morning.

Breaking a long fast involves eating small quantities of juicy fruit, like watermelon or citrus, every couple of hours during the first day. On the second day, it's more fruit: medium-sized every three hours. On day three, lettuce is added to the mix. On the fourth day, it's back to three meals a day with more vegetables added. Since I'm not doing a long fast (>2 weeks), I will probably be able to introduce various high-water-content foods earlier than were I doing a long fast. To get back to eating a wide variety of foods, my digestive enzymes will need to get back into full production. Since my fast wasn't very long, I'm guessing it shouldn't take more than 4 or 5 days, if that long.

After the fast, my plan is to eat a lot of plant-based, natural foods: vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and seeds/nuts, the latter in small amounts. This shouldn't be too much of a problem because I don't normally eat much meat, poultry, or fish. I was eating skim milk on my cereal in the mornings and an occasional light yogurt, but those are easily expendable. I've not decided if I'm going to add Diet Coke back in or not. Not drinking it means less money spent on it and fewer aluminum cans needing to be recycled. I think the Doritos aren't going anywhere. :-) I'll just need to relegate them to once a week (or less if I can stand it).

The Eat To Live book has some really appetizing, primarily vegetarian recipes in it. It also has example 7-day meal plans that are vegetarian and a 7-day set for non-vegetarian. The plan in the book focuses on eating very nutrient-dense, plant-based, natural foods, e.g. lots of leafy green vegetables, other vegetables, fresh fruits, etc. It definitely doesn't advocate Diet Coke or Doritos, but if I'm going to have a vice or two, they have to be better choices than cheese fries or ice cream.

Day 5: Friday, 06 June 2008

Last night was finally a decent night of sleep. The powers of A/C are wonderful. I have the thermostat set on 78, but to sleep really soundly, I probably ought to turn it down a bit more at night which isn't all that great for energy consumption.

A couple people have commented that they just don't have my willpower to do something like this. So far, I've found this to be a lot different than eating food and trying to stop eating certain things (like cool ranch doritos, for instance). Since eating anything at all is prohibited because any food would interfere with the therapeutic fasting process, it's easier in a way.

I'm going to make an analogy to alcoholism because it's the the only thing I can think of at the moment that at least closely conveys what I'm trying to explain. An alcoholic, from what I understand, should not drink even one drink or risk relapse. It's easier to stay clean by not drinking anything than it is to try to drink socially/moderately (1-2 drinks a day). I find this fast to be similar: it's somehow easier to not eat anything than to try to cut down or cut out the stuff I shouldn't be eating. Of course, at some point, I have to start eating again. I'll write more about breaking the fast later.

Sure, the first couple days were pretty hard, especially the end of the first day and the second day, but it wasn't as hard as trying to make myself keep running on a 14 mile long run when it's hot and I'm tired/fed up/cranky/irritable.

At least I'm not feeling ravenous this morning, just slightly hungry. It helps to keep myself distracted by reading or watching a TV channel without food commercials (!) or driving around for 3 hours in parts of the county without road signs or much hint of civilization looking for someone or even skimming & brushing the pool.

At least the weather forecast has changed to call for slightly cooler temperatures over the next week, upper 80's to low 90's instead of low to mid 90's.

Morning Stats

weight: 148.4 lbs
bf: 31%
bp: 114/65
pulse: 57 bpm
bg: 82 mg/dl

Day 4: PM

If the hunger pangs don't go away, I'm not sure how long I can continue this. I feel fine and am not particularly tired or weak or fatigued, but the feelings of hunger are pretty hard to ignore. Taking a nap helps. :-) Some possible side effects of a therapeutic fast are a coated tongue (I have that slightly), feeling light-headed (I have that sometimes normally when standing up too fast, especially from a kneeling position), nausea or vomiting (5% chance ... I don't have this problem), rash (nope), darkened and/or cloudy urine (nope), itchy skin (nope), and a "running" nose (nope).

My parents are home now, and I just returned from picking them up at the Evansville airport. I'm planning to stay at home all day tomorrow. It'll be a nice change from venturing out twice (or more) a day. I need to wash the car and get rid of the rest of the dust and dirt from the myriad of gravel roads I explored yesterday.

Day 4: Midday

Good grief! I'm so HUNGRY again. Cool Ranch Doritos and cheese fries with bacon and jalapenos are swirling around in my imagination. Add in some corn nuggets, fried mushrooms with horseradish sauce, .... argh!

We arrived back a little while ago from getting Granddad's pickup truck. Long trip ... about 5 1/2 hours total including a rest stop and a stop at the small outlet mall in Hanson, KY.

Day 4: Thursday, 05 June 2008

It was another less than optimal night of sleep. I'm going to just have to give up the ghost and turn on the A/C,especially since the next several days are supposed to be in the 90's. I don't remember if I had any food dreams last night or not, but I'm a bit hungry again this morning.

We're leaving in a few minutes to go retrieve Granddad's truck from Hopkinsville.

Morning Stats

weight: 149.4 lbs
bf: 31%
bp: 110/64
pulse: 56 bpm
bg: 80 mg/dl

Day 3: PM

This day certainly didn't go the way I figured it would. From a fasting perspective, it was fine. I was too busy putting 100+ miles on my car driving all sorts of back roads in Gibson County looking for my granddad to be thinking about eating. I think half the county was out looking for him. Turns out he somehow became disoriented when heading back to Princeton from the farm (which is north of Princeton) and ended up in Evansville (30 miles south). After apparently spending a large amount of time driving around Evansville, when he came to US 41, he went south instead of north. And he kept going south. All the way to Hopkinsville, KY which is about 120 miles south of Princeton. FInally he stopped at a gas station & told the guy there that he was lost. That kind soul called my grandparents' house (I'd just arrived there after driving all over)and told my aunt that Granddad was ok and gave her the details. To shorten the story, the prodigal grandfather has returned safe & sound. My aunt & I are going to get the truck tomorrow. The other aunt was on her way up from Franklin, KY to help look. She was able to detour to pick him up and bring him home. She's headed back home in the morning and will drop the first aunt and I off in Hopkinsville to drive the truck home. I'm just glad he's ok.

Whew! What a day! Little did I know when I left my house at 10 this morning that it would be after 8 when I returned.

The fasting is going well. I seem to have more energy and strength today than yesterday, and food hasn't been constantly on my mind. I did have another eating food dream last night, though, and the popcorn that aunt #1 popped while I went to my mom's to feed the cat and clean the pool sure smelled good when I walked back into my grandparents' house. I suspect the increase in energy is because my body has now converted to burning fatty acids in order to preserve as much protein as it can. The brain still requires glucose, though, so some protein will be used to make the glucose. I expect my body fat % to start to drop a little now over however many days I end up fasting.

Also, the headache is gone again. My parents return tomorrow night, so there's only one more day of plant/pool/kitty duty. Yay!

Day 3: Wednesday, 04 June 2008

It was another somewhat restless night, although not so much as Monday night. I woke up about 6 and turned on the TV to watch the weather & an episode of Third Watch and then dozed until 9. I don't feel as hungry this morning, but mild hunger pangs are still there. I have a slight headache, too.

For women my age, my body fat should be 20-25% to be considered excellent (20) or good (20.1-25). Moderate is 25.1-30. Overweight is 30.1-35. Obese is 35.1+. So, regardless of weight, I am presently considered overweight, although I think "over fat" is a better term since it accounts for fat versus just weight. I could have a bunch of muscle and be at 20% body fat and still weigh the same as I do now. Conversely, a thin person with little muscle and too much squidgy fat could be "over fat" without being overweight. Generally, they will also be out of shape even though they are thin. And, of course, the reverse holds true with regard to fitness: you can be overweight/over fat and be in pretty good cardiovascular shape ... good enough to run marathons and half marathons and the like.

I just now came across software called Optimal Weight 1.0 to calculate your optimal weight using height, weight, leg length, and ankle and wrist circumferences. Unfortunately it is PC-based and not available for the Mac. I'll go fire up my PC later and give it a go.

I am not a fan of BMI measurements because they do not take into account body fat percentages. BMI just looks at height and weight just as the old height-weight tables do. The only difference is that BMI uses a standard number that means the same thing for various height-weight combinations, e.g. a BMI of 31 means you're Obese I, regardless of how tall you are or whether you a man or a woman.

Check out this article for more information. For a ton of fitness and health screening calculators, check out ExRx.net.

Morning Stats

weight: 152.0 lbs
bf: 31%
bp: 112/66
pulse: 56 bpm
bg: 76 mg/dl

Day 2: PM

Today has seemed to just drag on and on and on. I'm still really hungry. The headache, however, has abated. Several times I found myself want to just give in and eat, but I want to see what tomorrow will be like ... and the next day ... and the next. Supposedly, the hunger pangs will be greatly diminished tomorrow. When I was napping this afternoon, I had a dream about eating. In the dream, I was also dreaming, and when I woke up from the dream in the dream, I had indeed eaten something. Instead of sleep-walking, I was sleep-eating in a dream. Was pretty weird.

My parents are out of town, so I'm looking after their place while they are gone. They return Thursday night late. Part of the duties are easy: take care of the cat. Check. No energy problems there. The other duties aren't so easy when one isn't eating: watering plants and skimming/brushing the pool. Only two more days to go, though. This afternoon I was definitely noticing a general lack of energy.

I read this book about fasting: Fasting and Eating for Health: A Medical Doctor's Program for Conquering Disease. The same author has a book called Eat to Live which I am currently reading.

Day 2: Tuesday, 03 June 2008

I slept rather fitfully last night. It was a little too warm in my bedroom, my head ached, and some of the aches that had been bothering me lately were out in full support of my head. What else aches? Mainly both of my collar bones on each end and the lower right side of my back. This means that sleeping on my side makes my shoulders hurt, sleeping on my back makes my back hurt, and sleeping on my stomach makes my back and neck hurt.

Aside from the aches, there isn't anything specifically wrong with me. I stopped taking budeprion xl (bupropion) around the middle of April and had none of the problems sometimes associated with stopping the medication. Perhaps as a consequence of being off the medication (or perhaps not), I've been having a lot of sugar cravings which is unusual for me. Normally, I'm more of a Cool Ranch Doritos or sour cream and onion potato chips sort of junk food person than a Hershey Kisses and Almond Joy person.

Running has been difficult lately, partly due to a lack of conditioning over the winter and early spring. Yoga has seemed more difficult, too. My general motivation isn't all that high, either. The extra weight I put on over the winter and early spring doesn't help my attitude very much either. I was around 148 most of last fall when I completed three half-marathons. A few days ago, I was at 158.8. Yikes. The extra weight makes running more difficult for sure. Given my height (5' 5"), I'd like to ultimately get my weight down to the 128-132 range.

As I sit here typing, it's 10:40 am. I'm pretty hungry but not quite as bad as yesterday; however, I REALLY, REALLY want a Diet Coke. My head still aches a bit, but not nearly as bad as last night.

Morning Stats

weight: 153.4 lbs
bf: 31%
bp: 113/70
pulse: 56 bpm
bg: 83 mg/dl

Day 1: Monday, 02 June 2008

I've never been one to run to the doctor or taking a drug for every little (or even large, for that matter) ailment, ache, or pain. I am, however, tired of feeling lackluster, tired of some niggling aches, tired of feeling crappy. So, what to do? Look around for alternative ways of feeling better. It started with books on relieving depression naturally which all sounded promising but generally involved taking a bunch of supplements. Then it was on to investigating eating more naturally which sounds best of all for the long run. From there, to jump start it all, I read about therapeutic fasts. Bingo! Good place to start for me.

Today is the first day of my first-ever therapeutic fast. A therapeutic fast means drinking only filtered or distilled water. It is a time to rest and relax with little physical or emotional exertion. It is a time to allow the body to heal or fix itself without also having to deal with the normal daily onslaught of work, heavy exercise, digestion, stress.

As usual, I woke up hungry. I really wanted my usual bowl of Kashi GoLean, skim milk, blueberries, cinnamon, 1/2 oz sunflower seeds, and a little Splenda, but I dutifully drank a glass of water instead. At this point, I was wondering how long it would be before my Diet Coke/caffeine-withdrawal headache would occur. It hit around 11:30 am and progressively worsened through the rest of the day into the night.

I was very hungry ALL day. I napped for a couple of hours in the afternoon just to take my mind off the hunger pangs. Toward evening, my energy levels were flagging considerably, and I felt tired and "down." And, of course, my head hurt.

Theoretically, the headache and hunger pangs should lessen over the next day or two.

Morning Stats

weight: 155.8 lbs
bf: 31%
bp: 117/75
pulse: 57 bpm
bg: 88 mg/dl