The Food Thread

F Me In The Brain said:

nicknyr15 said:

F Me In The Brain said:

Yep, water only.  Been doing it for years.  Sometimes it is easy, sometimes it is not.

May I ask….
why did you start?
what’s the biggest difference you notice that keeps you doing it 4 times per year? 

Does it get any easier after the first 24-36 hours?

Amazing speaker in a monthly exec group i participated in years back.  2017 i believe. 
He listed off ways that you could impact your body and this was one i hadn't heard much about.
(Since then intermittent fasting became popular and many others i knew started doing fasting of a type, daily.)
5 day water only fasting was a way to clear out many of the things your body was keeping in storage but we dont really want or need.
Mitochondrial health is a basis for why I still do it.

(Sleep habits / tracking was another thing I became sort of obsessed with.)

Other reasons include resetting my eating habits -- eating for comfort, eating as convenience,  eating as emotional response - these are all things that I get a mental reset on by going 5 days without food.  It is a good mental discipline exercise. 
I need to eat to fuel my running efforts.  When training for marathons or long races it looks different than nornal....but there are ways to get your protein in a given day (or carbs if endurance training) without going crazy.
I laugh when normal people say they are "starving"
No. You are uncomfortable.   People who are without food options are starving.   We can go a month without eating.

Day 3 is usually the hardest.  Sometimes it actually becomes painful.  I continue running during these but sometimes I need to keep it slow and short...and cut out other exercises.  For me it is about watching my heart rate.
If I get too dizzy or get a headache that wants to drive me nuts, there have been times when I stop short.
Day 4 and day 5 are usually much easier.

Most times, though, it is fine.  Uncomfortable,  but an excellent practice of willpower.  

Cooking dinner for your family and sitting down to drink water while they eat it sucks.  Lol.

Some people find it odd.  Most are curious.  I travel constantly but it really ends up being no different than when I share about why I am not drinking with them that month, or why I need to get up at 4am to run 15 miles around a random city before we head out for our meetings.
Just another story.

51 yrs old and food will help me be strong at 81, not hurt my goals.
I belive this helps me.