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Ask HN: Are You Fasting?

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Re: Ask HN: Are You Fasting?

#21

Post by henearkr »

jstx1 wrote: post #17
henearkr wrote: post #7

I have tried multi-day fasting several times. Painful to start, but it feels OK in the middle of it, and it feels great after it's finished (works best when immediately followed up by a keto diet, I recommend a vegan keto one, to avoid nasty things). Below 48h of fasting, you don't enter ketosis, so you miss out on many benefits. But never stop drinking water througout any type of fasting.

What do you even eat on vegan keto? What’s left when you get rid of animal products and carbs - nuts and plant oils?

On the fats side, yes exactly, plus avocado.

But you forget easily that keto is not eating only fats. You can take reasonable amounts of proteins too (lentils, soy...), tons of fibers (salad, cabbage, celeri, any leaves basically), ...

Re: Ask HN: Are You Fasting?

#22

Post by henearkr »

orbanlevi wrote: post #14
medo-bear wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Below 48h of fasting, you don't enter ketosis, so you miss out on many benefits. We are all different, but I am pretty sure you can enter ketosis after 18-20 hrs fasting

Yea, I read the same, and what about autophagy? (As I know you can enter it after 26-30hrs fasting)

Autophagy as in "eating your own proteins" starts when you have no more fats in your body... That takes weeks usually, unless you are already exceptionally skinny.

Until then, it's autophagy as in "converting adipose tissue into energy stores", so you're safe. And I don't think we use "autophagy" for this meaning.

Re: Ask HN: Are You Fasting?

#23

Post by hactually »

I do 72hrs from Sunday to Weds night (I finished 10 mins ago!).

Instead of food I hit the gym or walk the dog. My work is improved IMO - I'm faster, more alert and find it easier to problem solve and focus. I'm a CTPO for a finance and payments company so if it was a negative, I'd know pretty quickly.

Happy to connect/chat about it -- even if it's for accountability

Re: Ask HN: Are You Fasting?

#24

Post by ChrisRR »

hactually wrote: post #23

I do 72hrs from Sunday to Weds night (I finished 10 mins ago!). Instead of food I hit the gym or walk the dog. My work is improved IMO - I'm faster, more alert and find it easier to problem solve and focus. I'm a CTPO for a finance and payments company so if it was a negative, I'd know pretty quickly. Happy to connect/chat about it -- even if it's for accountability

Is that with limited food in those 72 hours, or no food at all?

I sure hope it's the former!

Re: Ask HN: Are You Fasting?

#25

Post by throwaway92700 »

hactually wrote: post #23

I do 72hrs from Sunday to Weds night (I finished 10 mins ago!). Instead of food I hit the gym or walk the dog. My work is improved IMO - I'm faster, more alert and find it easier to problem solve and focus. I'm a CTPO for a finance and payments company so if it was a negative, I'd know pretty quickly. Happy to connect/chat about it -- even if it's for accountability

How long have you been following this for? What's your motivation?

I've been following a similar schedule (72-96h during weekdays, social activities permitting), primarily for weight loss, but I'm surprised with with how productive I feel compared to normal or even time-restricted eating.

Re: Ask HN: Are You Fasting?

#26

Post by throwaway92700 »

henearkr wrote: post #22
orbanlevi wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea, I read the same, and what about autophagy? (As I know you can enter it after 26-30hrs fasting)

Autophagy as in "eating your own proteins" starts when you have no more fats in your body... That takes weeks usually, unless you are already exceptionally skinny. Until then, it's autophagy as in "converting adipose tissue into energy stores", so you're safe. And I don't think we use "autophagy" for this meaning.

Autophagy refers to a "recycling" cellular process: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autophagy

Re: Ask HN: Are You Fasting?

#27

Post by medo-bear »

henearkr wrote: post #19
medo-bear wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Below 48h of fasting, you don't enter ketosis, so you miss out on many benefits. We are all different, but I am pretty sure you can enter ketosis after 18-20 hrs fasting

Your liver has a ton of glycogen that it has to go through before being depleted and starting ketosis. It takes between 18h and 24h to deplete the liver, but that is without taking in consideration the contents of the GI tract! There are plenty of carbs and proteins in the GI tract at any time, and that takes around 1 day to digest too. So I don't know how you managed to shortcut all of that, but I'm extremely intere…

I am just parroting back what I read online. When I diet I am pretty strict and full on about it but I dont take ketosis measurements

My weight loss IF diet is 20:4. Keto is just raw or cooked food including raw healthy oils. I completely avoid risky foods marketed as keto friendly.

Once optimal weight is achieved I switch to 16:8 and swap keto for mediteranian diet

Re: Ask HN: Are You Fasting?

#28

Post by jstx1 »

henearkr wrote: post #21
jstx1 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you even eat on vegan keto? What’s left when you get rid of animal products and carbs - nuts and plant oils?

On the fats side, yes exactly, plus avocado. But you forget easily that keto is not eating only fats. You can take reasonable amounts of proteins too (lentils, soy...), tons of fibers (salad, cabbage, celeri, any leaves basically), ...

Plant protein comes along with carbohydrates, you can only have so much until it's not keto anymore. Fiber, schmiber - you need calories and protein to live.

Re: Ask HN: Are You Fasting?

#29

Post by nvilcins »

I've been doing intermittent fasting for years now, on a not-so-typical schedule: first meal late in the day (5PM-ish) and the second (final) one within a couple of hours.

What I love:

* Total mental clarity during the first half of the day, can focus fully on work or life responsibilities without a single thought about food.

* Freedom to not have to organize the day around food (making choices, planning logistics, "wasting" time). Pays off big time when traveling.

* Never inconvenienced or slip into grumpy mode when for whatever reason I don't get food.

* Eating a lot of high-quality home-cooked food - as I love cooking (when I have time) and I don't depend on eating out / ordering food / quick-prep meals as much.

* Bonus: great ROI of the occasional first alcoholic drink of the day (on a more or less empty stomach). Not a health advice!

Re: Ask HN: Are You Fasting?

#30

Post by haspok »

henearkr wrote: post #18
haspok wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vegan keto might be the worst to recommend after fasting, the best / easiest to digest are fats, so a quality broth to break the fast without breaking your digestive tract is what works for me. But I agree that after a multi-day fast keto just comes naturally and easily.

I don't know why you are saying this, like there are no plant-based fats? There exists so many plant oils, olive oil, nut oil, etc. Avocado is also almost only fat. In meat-keto, you'll eat saturated fats, maybe heated fats, read meat maybe too (bad for CVS), most probably a ton of sodium... no thank you.

How do you eat olive oil, for example? Don't tell me you pour it in a glass and drink it :) Typically people eat it with raw vegetables (ie. as a salad), which is very taxing on a digestive tract that has just been cleared of gut bacteria. Fiber is your biggest enemy in this specific case.

Saturated fats are not the enemy, but I guess I won't convince you of that. Red meat? That's the best. Heated fats??? Yes, it's a broth, it will be cooked for hours, if not days... I usually make it with bones of beef, and very little salt, definitely not a ton. Also, because it is bought as raw meat / bones, no other preservatives are added. Another question could be what that poor cattle had been eating, quality meat is certainly not cheap, and you need to pay attention to where you buy it.

Another option is chicken broth, that's more protein though, and no bone marrow.

Either way, the first sips of broth after a week of fasting taste like heaven, and you also don't need a lot (maybe a deciliter?), still you will feel completely full and well fed. I love this feeling!

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