I am fasting this weekend. I’ve talked about fasting & my experience with it on the podcast – I even did a 5 day fast a couple months ago. I was incredibly unsure of my desire and ability to complete a 5-day fast but it was one of the best experiences I’ve had in any health pursuit.
It gave me a valuable new perspective on hunger and taught me important lessons about sleep, rest and hydration. I felt absolutely amazing after the 5 days.
I won’t be doing a 5-day fast this time, in fact, I’m not quite sure how many days it will be (but not 5).
I’m starting this afternoon, after lunch, and I’m doing it for a few reasons:
- I feel like it (this is really the most important one)
- it’s a rare weekend without obligations, which makes it easier
- I want to work through my stored muscle & liver glycogen (more on this on Saturday’s podcast, episode 331)
- to reduce inflammation
I ate breakfast this morning (balsamic glazed chicken with cherry tomatoes) and I’ll eat again after my workout.
Once the fast begins, I’ll stick to a SMALL amount of black coffee and lots of water. I won’t have any MCT oil or bone broth. That is simply my preference.
Today’s workout is pure endurance – I much prefer strength but I’m grateful for diversity and opportunity to work on areas of weakness.
It was pretty dang exhausting:
105 cals on the airdyne bike
2000m row
105 cals on the airdyne bike
The lactic acid burn in my quads during those bike rides was INTENSE. I am really glad that one is over but I’m psyched that it kicked off my fast because I sure tapped into that muscle glycogen!
(Glycogen is the storage form of sugar in your muscles. Your muscles have a limited storage space for dietary sugar. Once that storage space is full, and your limited liver storage is also full, any excess sugar gets converted to & stored as fat. Once in the muscle, however, glucose can’t leave the muscle. It has to be used by the muscle tissue. Your muscles lack the enzyme to release the sugar from the muscle tissue. It can only be used to fuel activity.)
On the food front:
I shared with you guys that I had grilled balsamic glazed chicken & cherry tomatoes this morning and my last pre-fasting meal after my workout. As tempting as it is to “eat all the things” before a fast, that would make the fast much more challenging as cravings would be through the roof and hunger would be less stable.
So, I made myself a super huge salad with grilled salmon, avocado and some macadamia nuts.
I spent the rest of the afternoon drinking lots & lots of filtered water.
That will be my last meal until I break my fast. Stay tuned!
PS: If you’re new to these posts, listen to this podcast episode to get the scoop on what changes I’m making in my life and you can start back at my first daily post here.