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      "body": "<html>\n<p>The results this week are <strong>really</strong> exciting!!</p>\n<p><strong>TL;DR</strong></p>\n<p>After dropping about 5 lbs during my first 5-day fast, I dropped another 9 lbs in the second week!!! &nbsp;I'm feeling great and super excited about reclaiming weights I haven't been since college! &nbsp;The access to this success I think is as simple as calorie restriction, leading to fat burning.</p>\n<h2>How Much Did I Stick to my Plan</h2>\n<p>Check on my post a week back for details about my first 5 day fast.</p>\n<h3>Measuring My Weight</h3>\n<p>The electronic scale in the house was broken, and given how long it had sat unused, I decided not to replace it. &nbsp;So I do not have daily weight data. &nbsp;However, I have 3 legitimate data points now... The Friday before this second fast, I weighed myself in the gym and weighed in at 161 lbs. &nbsp;This was while still fasting and was on the morning of the fifth day. &nbsp;One week later, on the fifth day of Fast #2, on the same scale, with the same amount of clothes on, I weighed 152 lbs!!!</p>\n<p>I was actually so looking forward to weighing myself that I weighed myself on the way back from the shower with only a robe on: stepped on the scale, set the 150 lbs big weight and then went to adjust the smaller weight on top (as I always do) and realized that the scale hadn't moved!!! &nbsp;Without my normal clothes and shoes and full pockets, I was <strong>under 150 lbs</strong>!!! &nbsp;I was so surprised, I thought momentarily that I forgot how to use a scale. &nbsp;I rechecked it numerous times. &nbsp;I then got dressed and re-measured and got the results mentioned above.</p>\n<p>The last really valuable data point is... how much did I weigh after going back to eating and after eating carbs, ie. how much did I weight once I regained any water weight and had food in my digestive system? &nbsp;I stepped on a friend's electronic scale and weighed 156 lbs!!! &nbsp;I haven't weighted that little on a full stomach in so many years I can't even remember.</p>\n<p>Needless to say, these are <strong>very</strong> encouraging results. &nbsp;After two back to back, weekday 5 day fasts, I'm down what I estimate to be about 10 lbs. &nbsp;Especially the way I did the second week, I'm super excited about now knowing how to drop so much weight in such a short period of time.</p>\n<h3>What I Did During this Fast</h3>\n<p>I'll have to stop calling them fasts because as I'm about to explain, this is really just becoming a very, very calorically restrictive diet. &nbsp;But the caloric restriction is so extreme, it helps me to think about it as a form of fasting.</p>\n<p>Generally, this fast was like the first 5-day fast: I generally at my morning near-zero-calorie smoothie and then drank water, coffee, tea, and low-sugar kombucha the rest of the day. &nbsp;The main difference, which I planned for this fast, was simply eating a small amount of keto-appropriate food when the hunger became nagging. &nbsp;That happened between 1 and 3 times in a day. &nbsp;I had visited a polish deli the prior weekend, so I had head cheese and smoked sausage in the fridge. &nbsp;So my \"snacks\" were a tiny square of head cheese or an inch-long piece of sausage. &nbsp;This tiny amount of food a few times a day was <strong>plenty</strong> to kill off the worst of any hunger I had. &nbsp;It also had the benefit of making the food taste <strong>amazing</strong> because of how infrequently I was eating. &nbsp;I have never savored a single bit of food more, that I remember, in my life.</p>\n<p><a href=\"http://i65.tinypic.com/140hy09.jpg\">Pic of head cheese snack</a></p>\n<p><a href=\"http://i63.tinypic.com/2lx81v4.jpg\">Pic of sausage snack</a></p>\n<p><img src=\"http://i63.tinypic.com/2lx81v4.jpg\"/></p>\n<p><img src=\"http://i65.tinypic.com/140hy09.jpg\"/></p>\n<h3>How I Deviated from my Plan</h3>\n<p>I wanted to take in enough fiber to keep my digestive system passing food. &nbsp;From what I've read, leaving food in your intestines for extended periods of time isn't great for you. &nbsp;So I said I would take 2 - 3 servings of psyllium husk per day. &nbsp;I stopped this mid-way through Day 2 because it didn't seem to be keeping things moving. &nbsp;Fiber like psyllium husk is a binder; it forms gel when mixed with water. &nbsp;I guessed that this was only one piece of the puzzle. &nbsp;I assume honest to goodness roughage was another piece... actual large pieces of whole vegetables.</p>\n<p>The lowest calorie source of roughage I could think of was cabbage, which I conveniently had in the fridge. &nbsp;So I got out the food processor and processed half a head of cabbage into pretty small pieces, only adding a little apple cider vinegar (maybe 4 or 5 Tbl for the entire half a head of cabbage). &nbsp;This was surprisingly not terrible to eat and was a lot of volume for very little calories. &nbsp;Unfortunately it turns out that my digestive system apparently needs a <strong>lot</strong> <strong>more</strong> than just psyllium and cabbage to get the job done. &nbsp;I'm thinking that in the future, I'll preload the fast with quinoa and oatmeal the day before I fast, which I'm hoping will help to move things along early on before the fast stops everything. &nbsp;Similarly, on the first day I eat, I'll likely eat nothing other than quinoa and super-low calorie, high roughage veggies: braised greens, brussel sprouts, broccoli, etc. just to get enough volume to make up for not eating for days. &nbsp;I think doing this in a more planned, methodical way and not rushing things, I will also avoid the discomfort I had Saturday, which I think was largely attributable to stuffing myself with as much roughage/volume as I could. &nbsp;It may just take however long it takes to get things moving again.</p>\n<h2>What's Next</h2>\n<p>Given the results I continue to be getting, I'm going to continue to severely restrict calories the next few days. &nbsp;Thanksgiving is coming, and I'll likely eat a full meal at Thanksgiving dinner, but outside of that, I'll be eating tiny amounts of protein/fat as the hunger sets in. &nbsp;I will also get back to reading the rest of Fung's book, given I resorted to experimenting before I was done with chapter 4 and have plenty more to read in the book. &nbsp;My sister has also mentioned some of the details of intermittent fasting. &nbsp;So I will tend toward eating in a shorter time window, for instance, eating only between 5pm and 10pm should be super easy, and if I can close that window a little more, I'll consider that. &nbsp;At the moment, I'm mainly focused on being fat-burning and calorie restricted. &nbsp;When I can land myself below 150 lbs with food in me, I'll be done with the weight loss phase of this experiment and start to get much more interested in what fasting might look like as a life style.</p>\n<p>As always, leave your comments and success stories in the comments below if you're so inclined. &nbsp;I'd love to hear other people's experience.</p>\n</html>",
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      "title": "Fitness: Zero to Strong, despite zero motivation",
      "body": "<html>\n<p>This is the story of how I went from a completely sedentary professional desk sitter to working out nearly *every* morning, feeling great, looking forward to what I'll achieve physically in the future.</p>\n<p><strong>TL;DR</strong>: if you're an over-achiever (and you know you're one if you immediately are thinking of how little you accomplish and have examples on the tip of your tongue of those who are so much more productive than you), the secret to getting yourself working out might be to do almost nothing.</p>\n<h2>The Back Story</h2>\n<h3>Who I Am -- the state of affairs</h3>\n<p>I used to do tons of yoga. &nbsp;I manage my diet really well. &nbsp;So no one ever thinks I should be dieting or working out. &nbsp;They also think I'm fit. &nbsp;However, I know better: I'm a software engineer, and I never use my body. &nbsp;I know what it is to be strong, and I know I haven't been that in years. &nbsp;So about a year and a half ago I started dealing with how I was going to get strong again.</p>\n<h3>A Little Bit About Me and How I Approach Things</h3>\n<p>I'm a coach (life coach, personal coach, etc.). &nbsp;I've coached thousands of people over the course of more than a decade on every sort of personal and professional challenge you can imagine. &nbsp;In yet, here I was *stuck* when it came to working out and being fit. &nbsp;However, I have <strong>great</strong> mental tools from my years as a coach, so I went to work applying those tools. &nbsp;This story is about the mental/psychological journey I took to go from never working out to working out every morning and loving it.</p>\n<h3>Where I started</h3>\n<p>I could not get myself to work out. &nbsp;Not weekly, not daily, not occasionally. &nbsp;Not running, not weight lifting. &nbsp;Not in the gym, not at home, not outside. &nbsp;Not sports, not classes, not workout tapes. &nbsp;I had <strong>no</strong> interest in working out in any way, ever. &nbsp;And as I said, I sit at a computer all day and am approaching 40. &nbsp;Not moving at all, every day is just not sustainable, and while I'm approaching 40, I don't <em>feel</em> old at all. &nbsp;I certainly wasn't going to be one of those people who neglect their health until it becomes a real problem.</p>\n<h3>The Goal</h3>\n<p>This varied a bit, but generally, the first priority was nothing more than \"start working out\". &nbsp;I wanted some basal level of fitness. &nbsp;Feeling strong and proud of my body would be a great next step. &nbsp;And when I felt optimistic, I dreamed of having some of the muscle mass and tone I had in college.</p>\n<h3>Strategy</h3>\n<p>First I went to Tim Ferris and took an MED (Minimal Effective Dose) approach, ie. what is the best, shortest, most effective workout program that will reach my goals? &nbsp;That way I would spend such a small amount of time working out that it wouldn't matter how little I wanted to. &nbsp;Unfortunately, my desire <strong>not</strong> to workout was larger than I had anticipated. &nbsp;Not only that, my solutions were all at least 30 minutes at least a few times a week. &nbsp;And over the course of a few months of choosing and trying different workouts with less and less time in, trying to trick myself into wanting to workout, I was left very rarely ever working out.</p>\n<h3>Mental Tactical Interlude</h3>\n<p>When facing any problem, there are 2 directions you could go, regardless of the circumstances or strategy or mindset:</p>\n<p>&nbsp;1) Set a goal and [fill in strategy here, such as \"be displined\" or \"participate in an accountability group\" or whatever], ie. do what it takes to fulfill on the goal. &nbsp;The unstated presupposition there is that you're not already reaching that goal, which further implies that at this moment in time, you're not very well mentally/physically constructed to fulfill the goal. &nbsp;You've unfortunately got to find a way to fulfill on the goal despite yourself, which leads us to the second path.</p>\n<p>“To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom.” &nbsp;-- Socrates</p>\n<p>&nbsp;2) As the Ancient Greek saying goes, \"Know thyself\". &nbsp;Get to know yourself: &nbsp;your inclinations, your habitual thoughts, what your current brain wiring makes you prone to, the limitations of your physical or financial environment, etc., and design an approach that *embraces* all that instead of tries to work around it or clobber it.</p>\n<p>It as after I embraced the second approach that I started getting results... &nbsp;What did I realize about/admit to myself about where I was? &nbsp;It really all came down to: &nbsp;I hate working out. &nbsp;But I used to <strong>love</strong> yoga, so I knew that that wasn't the whole story. &nbsp;So I inquired deeper: &nbsp;What <strong>about</strong> working out sucked for me? &nbsp;It felt shitty. &nbsp;I felt stiff and never had the <strong>energy</strong> to workout. &nbsp;It was never invigorating. &nbsp;I rarely felt better afterward. &nbsp;It never dawned on me that that's not how it was when I loved doing yoga so much... yoga was very invigorating. &nbsp;It just hadn't been recently. &nbsp;So I started focusing on <strong>how I felt</strong> while working out. &nbsp;After all, my stated goal was to be healthy and <strong>feel good</strong>.</p>\n<p>I dug a little more and found my sometimes-mischievous over-achiever brain causing trouble: &nbsp;every time I worked out or even sat down and envisioned my next MED workout idea, that voice in my head was in there thinking for me... things like \"well you'll have to do at least this much of that\" or \"that won't be enough; you'll have to do this other thing also\". &nbsp;That thought process had me reliably design a pre-conceived notion of what my workout had to look like, and--invariably--my requirements of myself were harsh enough that enacting the workout led to being exhausted or hurting and always... hating working out. &nbsp;But it wasn't working out I hated; it turned out it was how <strong>hard</strong> I forced myself to workout, right from Day 1 of a new workout.</p>\n<h3>The New Plan: Take It Easy</h3>\n<p>So after months of inquiry and trial and error, I finally realized that maybe all these rules and minimum requirements were the cause of me hating working out. &nbsp;So the new plan (which scared the shit out of my over-achiever brain because it seemed so insufficient and lazy) was this:</p>\n<p>Do what you feel like doing and no more. &nbsp;You have to do something, but no more than is comfortable or enjoyable. &nbsp;If you do 3 pushups and feel shitty or tired, just stop. &nbsp;If you feel like running and half way down the block you feel like not running any more, stop running. &nbsp;If you don't feel like doing a <strong>real</strong> version of the ab exercise, do some lesser version of it. &nbsp;It doesn't matter. &nbsp;The goal is to do <strong>something</strong>, <em>enjoy it</em>, and preferably do that daily.</p>\n<h3>Personality Check In</h3>\n<p>You know you're an over-achiever if you currently hate me and think I'm lazy. &nbsp;But if that's you, read on, because the results speak for themselves... and I highly recommend you try this yourself.</p>\n<h2>How It Went Down</h2>\n<p>I started off around 7 or 8 pushups. &nbsp;I could do that much pretty reliably without feeling shitty or avoiding them. &nbsp;Immediately my brain tried to add in another exercise (\"You should be doing abs too\"). &nbsp;I caught it in action and reminded myself that 8 pushups a day every day would be 8 * (7 days/week) * (52 weeks) = <strong>2912 pushups</strong>!!! &nbsp;It would be <strong>amazing</strong> to end the year having done that many pushups! &nbsp;Abs might come later, but not now. &nbsp;Don't screw with what works, I told my brain.</p>\n<p>So all I did was pushups, for a month or two. &nbsp;<strong>Very</strong> quickly, I was doing 15-20 pushups every morning. &nbsp;Now we're talking 15 * 7 * 52 = 5460 pushups a year!!! And I was doing them damn-near every morning and not hating it! &nbsp;<strong>This</strong> was progress! and the first progress I had had in this area in a long time.</p>\n<p>I didn't always want to do pushups, and I couldn't always do as many pushups as I had done the day before. &nbsp;All of that was just a practice in noticing my mind's opinion about how \"little\" I was doing. &nbsp;The more I caught that thinking and not honor it as true, the more I could focus on choosing a path that would remain enjoyable. &nbsp;Within about 2, maybe 3 months, I was up to 25 pushups, and I felt <strong>good</strong> doing them as well as after I was done. &nbsp;And I was <strong>excited</strong> to see how many I could do each morning. &nbsp;This excitement, of course, led to my brain trying to run with its thinking, \"ok, what about the abs you haven't been doing?\" &nbsp;\"You've got this whole push-up thing, but you should be doing something for your back.\" &nbsp;\"You're stopping at 12 pushups today? &nbsp;How the hell are you going to get anywhere stopping at 12 pushups after doing 25 yesterday?!\"</p>\n<p>I kept paying attention to that part of my brain as it essentially tried to sabotage my daily workout by making it harder or invalidating what I <strong>did</strong> enjoy doing. &nbsp;I kept keeping true to my plan of only doing what felt good. &nbsp;Now about 5 months have passed. &nbsp;I plateaued around 25 pushups, which I can pretty reliably do every morning. &nbsp;While 25 pushups ever day is awesome for me, I ended needing a week or two to really come to grips with the fact that it's fine that I plateaued there. &nbsp;25 pushups is awesome... 25 * 7 * 52 = <strong>9100 pushups a year</strong>.</p>\n<h3>The Best Outcome</h3>\n<p>Most notably, I began feeling more vital, sometimes even what I might cheekishly call \"spritely\". &nbsp;This vitality was what I was most scared of when I lost. &nbsp;I had never felt so weak that I just didn't want to work out at all. &nbsp;Now, that vitality had returned, and working out had become easy again. &nbsp;In retrospect, I think I circumvented that period that most people go through when they start working out again after a long time out of the game... that hard period where every workout sucks for a few weeks until you whip your body into a minimal level of fitness. &nbsp;I skipped that by just letting my body warm up to the idea slowly and at a pace that didn't make it a miserable experience. &nbsp;This boost in vitality unexpectedly led to doing a static ab exercise spontaneously one day. &nbsp;I just suddenly, one day, wanted to add that exercise. &nbsp;Of course, right there to chime in was that over-achiever part of my brain, which I had to ignore again; it was yelling about the number of reps and how long I held the pose for and whatnot. &nbsp;I just noticed it and told myself to keep going at whatever pace was comfortable.</p>\n<p>The static ab exercise was hard enough (and unpleasant enough), that I backed off to Tim Ferris' \"cat vomit\" ab-suck-in exercise (only as many reps as was comfortable). &nbsp;This exercise is less stressful/more comfortable.</p>\n<p>Next, I spontaneously started doing a tiny bit of cardio because I felt so vital that I really felt like getting the blood flowing. &nbsp;Now, to be clear, we're not talking about 20 minutes on the treadmill or a half hour run. &nbsp;We're talking about jumping, for no more than 2 minutes... simple, short, comfortable.</p>\n<p>After about a month and a half of pushups, ab-suck-in exercise, and cardio, I felt so good that I was ready to tackle pull-ups. &nbsp;Now pull-ups are just plain harder. &nbsp;Lifting my entire body weight is just harder. &nbsp;I can do 2 or 3 pretty comfortably and a max of maybe 8, but the mental resistance was pretty high. &nbsp;So I assured myself 2 or 3 was plenty.</p>\n<p>This almost brings us up to the present. &nbsp;I'm now doing the following quite happily and pretty consistently, damn near every day:</p>\n<p>&nbsp;- 25 pushups</p>\n<p>&nbsp;- 2 sets of 3-6 pull-ups</p>\n<p>&nbsp;- ab-suck-in exercise (5-10 reps, 8-10 seconds each)</p>\n<p>&nbsp;- 2-ish minutes of \"cardio\"</p>\n<p>&nbsp;- and about half the time, rows, using one of those over-the-door strap setups.</p>\n<h2>And Now?</h2>\n<p>I feel like I'm living the dream. &nbsp;I am now \"that guy\" who just gets up and works out every morning. &nbsp;I <strong>rarely</strong> miss a day, and I feel <strong>great</strong>. &nbsp;I very rarely get sore while sitting/working. &nbsp;I rarely have any kind of stiffness or soreness. &nbsp;My posture is improving bit by bit. &nbsp;I've even started to focus on different aspects of my workout with the purpose of impacting my posture.</p>\n<p>I'm proud of what I've accomplished, and most surprisingly, I'm <strong>very much</strong> looking forward to what I'll achieve in the future. &nbsp;I'm super confident that my stats will only get better, <strong>and</strong> I'm so happy with my current stats, that there's no over-achiever rush to get wherever the hell I'm going. &nbsp;In fact, I <strong>love</strong> the definition of mastery as a journey of infinite length: &nbsp;sure you'll get good at something along the way, but the master doesn't stop; she continues to explore, grow, and be in the inquiry of what's next.</p>\n<p>So if you're not working out and you know you should and you <strong>really</strong> don't want to, just do something. &nbsp;Then <em>keep</em> doing something. &nbsp;It really doesn't have to be more complicated than that.</p>\n<p>I'd love to hear your thoughts and stories. &nbsp;Please post them in the comments below.</p>\n<p>To Your Health!</p>\n</html>",
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      "title": "Fasting: My First Foray -- a personal case study",
      "body": "<html>\n<p>Standard disclaimer for topics like this: <em>I'm not a doctor; this isn't medical advice. &nbsp;Please don't act on anything you read here as if I know anything. &nbsp;Please also consult with your doctor appropriately before altering your diet significantly to ensure your health while doing so.</em></p>\n<h2>My Interest in Fasting</h2>\n<p>First a quick definition I'll elaborate on below: when I say \"fast\", I mean no eating. &nbsp;no calories. &nbsp;Just water and no-calories drinking, as well as some supplementation. &nbsp;More to come on that...</p>\n<p>I am always looking for the next paradigm that needs breaking. &nbsp;We grow up with a pile of mindsets that are wrong or incomplete or deleterious. &nbsp;We get them from our friends, TV, our parents, high school, fashion magazines, etc. &nbsp;I am hungry to find and break such paradigms I didn't realize I ended up stuck with. &nbsp;Not eating for numerous consecutives days was completely mind-bending to me, so I decided needed some of my attention.</p>\n<p>I have played with diet for many years and gotten tons of juice out of the idea of altering the *mindset* around eating, namely learning to differentiate the idea of eating because I'm physically hungry vs eating because I'm bored. &nbsp;With these clearly distinct, one stops eating excess calories. &nbsp;What better way to gain tons of clarity on this point than just not eat?...</p>\n<p>As I read the book that got me considering this seriously, I was completely fascinated by the admittedly mundane angle of the budgetary and time savings of just not eating all week. &nbsp;Think how much you spend on eating in a week. &nbsp;How much money do you spend? &nbsp;How much prep time as well as simply time eating? &nbsp;What if you got *all* of that back? &nbsp;For better or worse, that thought captivated me.</p>\n<h2>Let's Catch You Up to the Present</h2>\n<p>I just completed a 5 day fast (basically just water and a daily multi-vitamin), and I'm about to do another one. &nbsp;I figured I'd share my experience so others could see that this is working and be encouraged to try this themselves. &nbsp;Personally, I wouldn't have trusted the process if it weren't for my sister, who had already been fasting and who agreed to fast with me.</p>\n<p>I began by reading The Complete Guide to Fasting, which I still haven't finished, on recommendation from my sister. &nbsp;I've now completed 3 fasts, that I will detail below. &nbsp;Then I'll share some thoughts, calculations, guesses, results, and future plans (another fast this coming week).</p>\n<h2>Fast #1 -- 2 Meals</h2>\n<p>I started off simply skipping breakfast and lunch one day. &nbsp;I found this relatively easy. &nbsp;I felt relatively little hunger most of the day and was happy to eat dinner. &nbsp;I simply kept my mind focused on my work, and sipped coffee or tea throughout the day.</p>\n<h2>Fast #2 -- 2 Days</h2>\n<p>Next, I did a 2 day fast. &nbsp;The first half of both days was pretty easy (as with my first fast), but the latter part of the second day was a bit rough. &nbsp;I felt pretty hungry and resorted to complaining out loud--to my house, at large--how hungry I was... the dog was not impressed. &nbsp;But I knew that (at least intellectually) that fasts never killed anyone, so I was determined to just be hungry. &nbsp;I knew I could make it to the third day. &nbsp;The only concern I really had about being hungry was trying to sleep while hungry. &nbsp;Surprisingly enough to me, this was never a problem.</p>\n<p>The second fast, however, while not completely comfortable was an extraordinary experience for me. &nbsp;See, as I read the book on fasting, it started to dawn on me that it was completely possible to not eat all day. &nbsp;This is a *very* unusual thought in American culture. &nbsp;We're told to eat 3 to 6 meals a day, never skip a meal, etc. &nbsp;So to just not eat for an entire day at a time and feel generally fine was shocking to me. &nbsp;So while that second day was not my favorite, I was *very* excited to try a longer fast. &nbsp;Many people I've heard from about fasting say that the third day can be rough, but that after Day 3, things get much easier and you can spend long periods of time with no hunger. &nbsp;That idea blew my mind, and I really wanted to see for myself.</p>\n<h2>Fast #3 -- 5 days</h2>\n<p>As I said, I had the benefit of my sister fasting with me for Round 3. &nbsp;We agreed to fast Monday through Friday, and we agreed to eat dinner Friday to celebrate. &nbsp;Just so we're clear exactly what I mean, let's take a moment to get specific about the nature of the fast.</p>\n<h3>What I Mean by \"Fast\"</h3>\n<p>I drank no-calorie drinks (water, tea, black coffee), kombucha in limited quantity, which was chosen to be only a couple calories per glass. &nbsp;On average, I had 1-2 cups a day, for a total of no more than maybe 12 grams of sugar per day, and there were days when I had none. &nbsp;I took a multi-vitamin every morning. &nbsp;And I have a specific dietary need for beets; something in them addresses a deficiency I easily develop. &nbsp;So every morning, I had an otherwise no-calories smoothy of 1 or 2 beet pieces (small chunks), hemp fiber, and kelp powder (predominantly for minerals). &nbsp;It certainly didn't taste great, but it ensured I was getting the nutrients that keep my body happy and contributed a very small number of calories.</p>\n<p>I ate nothing at all: no meals, no snacks. &nbsp;If I was *really* jonesing for something, I would eat a dietary fiber gummy that I happened to have around the house, which was like 10 calories. &nbsp;In retrospect, this could easily have been replaced with some kind of sugar free gum or something. &nbsp;However, the more I got into the diet, the more it sunk in that the less I ate, I think the less my body craved.</p>\n<h2>How Things Went</h2>\n<h3>Day 1</h3>\n<p>The first 2 days were pretty similar to my first 2 experiments, except that the hunger kicked in kind of hard for parts of Day 1.</p>\n<h3>Day 2</h3>\n<p>Day 2 I had some hunger but nothing terrible.</p>\n<h3>Day 3</h3>\n<p>Day 3, as promised, was *rough*. &nbsp;I woke up early and was nauseous, very uncomfortable, too hot, then too cold, sometimes at the same time. &nbsp;I also had a head experience that wasn't pain (like a headache) or dizziness, but just a mild lack of clarity, maybe describable as a *very* mild dizziness. &nbsp;My legs were a bit weak, and I eventually decided it felt like a mild flu. &nbsp;I don't believe it was any kind of actual flu, but it did have me spend until about lunch in bed and feeling terrible. &nbsp;I ended up taking the day off from work.</p>\n<p>The feeling mellowed out just after noon. &nbsp;The intense negative symptoms went away, and I spent the entire rest of the day with mildly weak legs and that mild head experience I described earlier. &nbsp;That night, I woke up in the middle of the night and had trouble going back to sleep, so I worked for a couple hours before going back to sleep. &nbsp;I kind of feel like my body and mind were so happy to be back to feeling human that I couldn't waste the feeling sleeping... &nbsp;Regardless, Day 3 was not my favorite.</p>\n<h3>Day 4 and 5</h3>\n<p>Day 4 and 5 were pretty easy. &nbsp;I felt really good physically. &nbsp;I worked out both days. &nbsp;The only thing I started to change these last 2 days was that I added fiber. &nbsp;The book and people I've spoken with had said pretty consistently that I'd continue to go to the bathroom despite not eating anything. &nbsp;That was *not* happening at all. &nbsp;So I started taking psyllium husk in water. &nbsp;Normally a single serving plus an hour or so works reliable for me, but in this case, I took 3 servings over the course of about 12 hours and that still hadn't produced anything. &nbsp;So it's definitely on my list for the next fast to be taking in 2 to 3 servings of fiber every day from the start.</p>\n<h2>Overall Experience of Fast #3</h2>\n<p>I loved the fast. &nbsp;The hunger was never bad enough to hurt or really take all my attention. &nbsp;When it was there, it was just a nagging feeling, kinda like a *really* dull headache, where it doesn't interfere with life, it just gnaws at you after hours. &nbsp;When that gnawing got worst, I spent some of that time designing the meals I would eat on the weekend after I started eating again. &nbsp;I got *really* excited about some of that, and that was a great distraction from the hunger.</p>\n<h2>Getting Bored Without the Activity Called Eating</h2>\n<p>Generally I'm a pretty busy guy. &nbsp;I don't watch TV. &nbsp;I don't get bored. &nbsp;I've got a lot of things I can't wait to do, and so I had plenty of things to focus my brain on instead of the hunger. &nbsp;One evening, however, I had nothing planned and nothing on a task list that I was jonesing to get to. &nbsp;I walked down from my room and thought, \"Well, I've finished my work for the day, and I'm not eating... now what?!\" &nbsp;In that moment, my brain short-circuited, and I felt as if working and eating were the only 2 activities I could come up with! &nbsp;After laughing at myself and walking the dog, I picked a project I had been wanting to work on and started working on it. &nbsp;I found that the fast was a phenomenal way to get me über clear about what I'm up to in life because any free moment that wasn't already accounted for led to me running into the two default activities: working and eating. &nbsp;Obviously work as a default activity leads to burnout, and eating as a default activity was part of what I wanted to gain much more facility with. &nbsp;This challenge also forced me to get clear on what I wanted to do for *leisure* and ensure I had a plan to do those things.</p>\n<h2>The Weekend After</h2>\n<p>Friday night, I went out to a restaurant I had dreamed of ever since mid-day on Day 3 and ate a phenomenal meal. &nbsp;I ate slowly and paused numerous times to ensure I didn't get sick, given I didn't know what to expect from my body. &nbsp;Afterall, I hadn't eaten anything in a week! &nbsp;I even set a timer at one point to ensure I was allowing enough time to pass before eating more. &nbsp;Generally, I was *much* more conscious of eating and wanted to eat much less. &nbsp;The rest of the weekend, I ate a few other things I had really wanted to eat, but I found I quickly felt over-full nearly every time I ate, and it started to have me look forward to my next fast, because of all the feelings I had on the fast, that lethargic, over-full discomfort is a feeling I had most and never felt during the fast.</p>\n<h1>The Physical Results (not scientifically assessed)</h1>\n<p>I didn't measure weight at the beginning of the diet, so take this with a grain of salt, but the last day, I weighed in at 161 lbs, which I haven't weighed in a *long* time. &nbsp;I've been \"trapped\" between 165 and 168 lbs for many many years. &nbsp;I also definitely looked a bit thinner.</p>\n<p>My guess at what's happening during the fast, and some interesting math</p>\n<p>If you're not familiar with ketogenic diets, I'll leave that to you to read about. &nbsp;I'll refer to it here, assuming you know or can go find out... When you don't eat anything, my understanding is that you'll first use glycogen, of which you have about a 48 hour supply. &nbsp;Once that's used up, you'll start burning fat instead of carbohydrates as a source of energy. &nbsp;Once you're burning fat, you can now burn your own body's fat as a source of energy (this is how you can go for days not eating anything and still have energy).</p>\n<p>Now, let's do some math. &nbsp;Remember, I'm no doctor. &nbsp;I've experimented a *lot* with diet and nutrition in my life, but that doesn't make me an expert or even well educated about anything I'm about to say, but I have studied a lot, and the following is pretty basic: First, to burn a pound of fat, it takes burning 1600 calories, which--if you've ever used a treadmill that shows you number of calories burned--you realize takes a *lot* of working out to burn.</p>\n<p>Second, if you don't work out at all, there will be some minimum number of calories you need just to get through a day, even if you're sitting most of the day. &nbsp;Most people probably require at least 2000 calories a day. &nbsp;So let's say conservatively (and to make the math trivial) that you need 1600 calories per day to get by. &nbsp;That would mean--once your body is burning fat--that you're burning (at least) a pound of body fat a day, which roughly correlates with my single weight measurement... about 5 lbs in 5 days.</p>\n<p>So my view after this experience, is that I'd rather deal with a week of mild, nagging discomfort to drop 5 pounds in a week rather than spending weeks of sustained dieting with meal planning and measuring and prepping and eating. &nbsp;Even with all that, I haven't been able to get below 165 lb. &nbsp;So hitting 161 lb in 5 days--without that even being a stated goal--is *really* exciting to me.</p>\n<h1>The Next Fast</h1>\n<p>I've decided to dive right in with another 5-day fast. &nbsp;Here is my design for this next fast, based on my experience and understanding of what's going on here.</p>\n<p>Fast #2 will look a lot like Fast #1, except for a couple very minor changes.</p>\n<h3>Change #1</h3>\n<p>Given my understanding of the keto/fat-burning aspect of this kind of fast, I will eat a *tiny* amount of food if the hunger lasts for more than 2 hours, just to kill the nagging nature of the hunger. &nbsp;What do I mean by tiny amount? &nbsp;A chicken wing. &nbsp;Or a bite of meat. &nbsp;Or a spoonful of something. &nbsp;Nothing that could remotely be considered a meal or any significant source of calories, just something that is keto and *something* to kill the nagging hunger feeling. &nbsp;If I don't feel hunger, I don't eat. &nbsp;If I don't feel hunger for more than 2 hours, I don't eat. &nbsp;If I feel hunger, eat something tiny, and continue to be hungry, I don't eat more.</p>\n<h3>Change #2</h3>\n<p>I will have 1 serving of fiber 2 to 3 times per day every day of this fast. &nbsp;Food, particularly meat, needs to move through you. &nbsp;It's no good to have it sitting in your intestines for extended periods. &nbsp;So I will aim to consume fiber until I'm regularly visiting the bathroom, the way I would when not fasting. &nbsp;I'm guessing this will take 2 to 3 servings a day. &nbsp;I will increase that dosage Day 2 if needed, and I'll space these out throughout the day.</p>\n<h3>Change #3</h3>\n<p>I will measure my weight every morning so I have some legitimate data.</p>\n<p><br></p>\n<p>Wish me luck!</p>\n</html>",
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