Last spring I did a 5-day fast with my good friend ELA from On Air with Ella. I did it out of curiosity as I had never done an extended fast.
It was definitely hard but I learned a lot & built up a ton of confidence in myself.
I shared my experience episode 310 of the podcast. That’s probably a good episode to check out if you have questions about fasting.
It’s been nearly 100 podcast episodes since then and I’m fasting again, starting yesterday. It won’t be a 5 day fast, but I’m planning for at least 3.
Why?
I feel a strong need to detox.
It’s been almost 2 weeks since my procedure to remove & freeze my eggs. There was about a month of various (intense) hormone treatments before that and the post-procedure recovery was a lot more challenging than I expected.
I had serious digestive challenges after general anesthesia that left me feeling super sick for over a week.
My breasts are still huge (my bras don’t fit) and sore.
I can physically feel that my uterus & ovaries are enlarged.
As I said: I need to detox.
It’s totally cool if fasting isn’t for you – it’s definitely an extreme approach and for most of my life it wasn’t for me, either.
Eating clean consistently needed to be my focus before I would even consider dipping my toe into the world of fasting.
However, since I eat clean very consistently and understand the signals of my body, I feel comfortable with short fasts every once in a while.
I’m not doing it for weight loss and I have no expectations of outcomes, which is part of how I decide if it’s a good idea for me to fast.
(If I was doing this because I wanted to drop 5 lbs fast, that would be a huge red flag to not do it and I wouldn’t.)
…
A very common question about fasting is “what can you eat?” There are a million ways to fast and all that matters is how you choose to do it. How I’m choosing to do it isn’t “right” or “wrong”, it’s just what I’m choosing to do.
I will drink black coffee & water. Don’t worry, I understand that coffee has toxins. I’m drinking it.
I’ll add some salt to my water after workouts because yes, I am continuing to workout.
I’ll avoid calories in all forms (MCT oil, bone broth, kombucha, etc).
My fast began late yesterday afternoon & so far I feel good (but it’s early).
I’m hungry, but it’s not significant. I’ve had moments where I really, really wanted to eat but I know I’m stronger than any urges or impulses.
My focus is good – that was my biggest struggle with my fast last spring. I felt like it was really hard to focus on work. I haven’t experienced that, yet.
I felt great through my workout, too. That doesn’t suprise me, though, since I wasn’t even 24 hours into the fast when I went to the gym.
It was a pretty tough workout!
“Ball Hogs”
AMRAP 20:
Teams of 2:
3 Wall Balls (20/14)
3 Kettlebell Swings (53/35)
3 Calorie RowNext round is 6’s, then 9’s, etc…
Partners complete full rounds
I felt a little hungry after the workout so I stopped & got a coffee and felt pretty good after that.
As with every food choice I make, I’m really paying attention to how I feel. If I start to feel awful, I’ll eat. It’s that simple. And I’ll definitely end the fast on Sunday at the latest because I’ll be down on the Cape for the Patriots game!
After you listen to episode 310, let me know if you have questions!