Fasting for Health: Days 2 and 3 of a 7 Day Water Only Fast for Autophagy

Here are some notes I’m taking for my 7 day water only fast that I’m doing for my health.

Day 2 of my water only fast looked something like this:

Fasting glucose: 60 mg/dL

Ketones (BHB): 5.5 mmol/L

GKI: 0.6

Weight: 127.6

Mood/Energy/Other Notes: Mood was kind of blah. Energy was low. I actually went for an easy run around Lady Bird Lake, but by the time I passed the bat bridge by the Hyatt Hotel, I felt fatigued, regretting my decision to run. I ended up walking back to my apartment completely out of juice. At night, I felt unusually cold. (I usually run hot.) Felt so tired I ended up sleeping around 8pm.

Day 3 fasting stats:

Fasting glucose: 62 mg/dL

Ketones (BHB): 5.8 mmol/L

GKI: 0.5

Weight: 126.4

Mood/Energy/Other Notes: Mood fantastic. Energy high. I even busted out five commandos, three chin-ups and two pull-ups at our apartment gym this morning, feeling like a badass in a gym teeming with only young-ish men. (Not bad for an almost 48 year old woman!)

I felt almost euphoric today as I went on a walk, shortly after the sunset, just marveling at the beauty that is the city of Austin. Colors seemed to pop. (Not LSD-vivid, but unusually richer than normal.) All of my senses were heightened. I usually have a nose that barely works, but I could pick up the scents of body odor, sweet flowers wafting through the air. Even the mint tea I sipped evoked a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Istanbul to visit my stepdaughter, who was living there several years ago. I couldn’t believe how decadent, how pleasurable the tea smelled and tasted. It made me realize how the simplest things in life are sometimes the most beautiful, such as sipping hot mint herbal tea or going for a walk while taking in the sights, listening to beautiful wistful music (my favorite music in the world are sad songs, which surprisingly cheers me up), and the simple bliss of moving my body, feeling the breeze against my cheeks. I was even able to grocery shop and cook breakfast and dinner for my kid today, not feeling anywhere near sorry for myself, fasting. I’m really enjoying not having to eat and cook for myself (or my husband, who is out of town for work), having more time to do what the heck I want!

So far, per my fasting timer on my Heads Up app, I have fasted for 73 hours and 5 minutes, with 94 hours and 53 minutes to go.

I’ve got this!