Ziggy, have you tried a 48 hour+ fast yet? I'm trying to reboot my immune system (and activate stem cells) and I'm at around 36 hours so far. The kicker? I've done two heavy lifting sessions in the first 24 hours. First was 4 hours in, the 2nd was at the 20-22hr mark. It's not for the faint of heart though. Definitely noticing some very slight fat loss so far and possibly muscle. Anyway, if you have a shitty immune system (like me since I'm always training heavy) or injuries (like my discs) you may want to try a reboot as well.
BTW, the study I'm referencing:
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-06-fasting-triggers-stem-cell-regeneration.html
I noticed that you discussed 16/8 and even 24 hour fasting but that's really not enough if you want to really reboot things. It will help your insulin levels of course but to really shock your system you need to make the body think it's at a risk of true starvation.
Ziggy, have you tried a 48 hour+ fast yet? I'm trying to reboot my immune system (and activate stem cells) and I'm at around 36 hours so far. The kicker? I've done two heavy lifting sessions in the first 24 hours. First was 4 hours in, the 2nd was at the 20-22hr mark. It's not for the faint of heart though. Definitely noticing some very slight fat loss so far and possibly muscle. Anyway, if you have a crappy immune system (like me since I'm always training heavy) or injuries (like my discs) you may want to try a reboot as well.
BTW, the study I'm referencing:
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-06-fasting-triggers-stem-cell-regeneration.html
I noticed that you discussed 16/8 and even 24 hour fasting but that's really not enough if you want to really reboot things. It will help your insulin levels of course but to really shock your system you need to make the body think it's at a risk of true starvation.
No, definitely chugging water, i'd reach dangerous levels of dehydration at my intensity + volume. Around the 42hr mark it was tougher to do things like even take a shower. Of course I intentionally hurt my back by squatting amrap after 5 sets and then pulling 405 for 10 singles (with a slight disc injury that put me out for past 5 weeks & shouldnt be pulling at all). I'm happy to report that today my back pain is a lot less, to a surprising degree (I was limping yesterday and can walk fine today with slight disc pain). Also, my cough from a cold last week is completely gone (was coughing a lot yesterday since wbc count was obviously low). Going to see how the back feels tomorrow but this could be benificial for athletes who rely on a lot of calories per day like I do. And ones who get injured at least once a year pushing the envelope.Are you doing no water as well?
I have SIBO, which is basically a messed-up gut (small intestine doesn't want to absorb food). I go through 2-week antibiotic rounds that basically nuke the small tube, but you can also do stuff like the elemental diet (3 weeks) or an extended fast (36 hours+), which does a similar thing in terms of resetting your digestive system (supposedly). I fast at least once a month from everything for 24-hours, but I'll have to try a 3-day trip sometime...
Ziggy, have you tried a 48 hour+ fast yet? I'm trying to reboot my immune system (and activate stem cells) and I'm at around 36 hours so far. The kicker? I've done two heavy lifting sessions in the first 24 hours. First was 4 hours in, the 2nd was at the 20-22hr mark. It's not for the faint of heart though. Definitely noticing some very slight fat loss so far and possibly muscle. Anyway, if you have a shitty immune system (like me since I'm always training heavy) or injuries (like my discs) you may want to try a reboot as well.
BTW, the study I'm referencing:
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-06-fasting-triggers-stem-cell-regeneration.html
I noticed that you discussed 16/8 and even 24 hour fasting but that's really not enough if you want to really reboot things. It will help your insulin levels of course but to really shock your system you need to make the body think it's at a risk of true starvation.
It's not bad if you don't workout during that time frame, in fact I would say it's probably easy if you are comfortable with 16/8 splits. Working out twice was tough. I do feel better than before. For the past couple of days I've been coughing up clear phlegm which was either remnants of the cold or my immune system killing more shit (or both). One other interesting thing I noticed: a mole that I have in the armpit region used to be black. Now it's very light brown and looks smaller, like 2/3 the size of what it was before. I bet the fast really fucked it up. Strength-wise I repped 5x5@225 last night so lost over 10lbs on my bench (was at 235 last week pre-fast) but that is to be expected after losing a few pounds. My injured back seems to be healing nicely, saturday it was painful to walk and last night I was able to do a set of 10 back hyperextensions holding a 45lb plate. Today I don't have the usual "looseness" of the disc either.I have not but something is definitely up with me. I got sick again last week (as well as the week before) so I haven't lost jack shit for fat in basically 2.5 weeks. Immune system is definitely on alert though, I had a fever of 101, then followed by a temp of 96.4 which is almost more alarming to me.
Not sure if I could mentally go 48 hours with out food, that sounds pretty extreme. 24 I could probably do, as I've gotten up to about 18-19 hours before no problem, with heavy training included.
It's not bad if you don't workout during that time frame, in fact I would say it's probably easy if you are comfortable with 16/8 splits. Working out twice was tough. I do feel better than before. For the past couple of days I've been coughing up clear phlegm which was either remnants of the cold or my immune system killing more shit (or both). One other interesting thing I noticed: a mole that I have in the armpit region used to be black. Now it's very light brown and looks smaller, like 2/3 the size of what it was before. I bet the fast really fucked it up. Strength-wise I repped 5x5@225 last night so lost over 10lbs on my bench (was at 235 last week pre-fast) but that is to be expected after losing a few pounds. My injured back seems to be healing nicely, saturday it was painful to walk and last night I was able to do a set of 10 back hyperextensions holding a 45lb plate. Today I don't have the usual "looseness" of the disc either.
Since you are getting sick so much, now is probably a good time to do 48 hrs while your system is stressed. Not sure I would do more than 1 workout though - 1 in the first 12 hours isn't going to hurt anything. Then again I don't know what your blood pressure is like and if you're on meds so you should ask your doc if that's the case.
My bp is usually low, generally it's around 115-120/ 60-70.
As far as meds go, I am on Zoloft and typical multi vit, fish oil and Vit D3. My doc would NEVER advise I do this. He chastised me when I told him I do a 16/8 fast, lol.
Then again, I did recently find out he went to med school and "Universidad de *foreign name*" but is a white guy... Ie he was a retard and could only get into some shit foreign school. I had a physical recently and he didn't even put his hands on me.
I also have somewhat low bp, especially in the mornings before the body wakes up.
I would advise that you just go and do it. Forget doing it in a clinical setting nor consulting a doc. We evolved to be tough, man. And that includes not eating for a long period of time. For example this study: kids healing faster without food than with it while in critical care.
http://m.medicalxpress.com/news/2016-03-children-intensive-recover-faster-nutrition.html
BTW I will also add that do NOT take vitamins. For some reason, antioxidants fucks up the process by absorbing that extra molecular electron which triggers the process to make new cells. Just something I read, if I have time to find the study I'll link it.
One of the other benefits you will notice is being able to fit into pants a size smaller that you couldn't fit into before. Pretty cool stuff!