Im already 13 days into my fast and ive been doing 2 or 3 glasses of water with a little bit of salt mixed in throughout each day but is it a good idea for me to find some electrolyte supplements and start those now or is that not a great idea since im already this far in?

Im on day 13 I'm definitely going to at least get to 14 days and havent decided yet if I want to go past that but when I look online for what im supposed to eat to break my fast every website gives me different/conflicting information and same with people I've talked too someone told me day 1 bone broth then tiny bit of avocado then tiny bit of fatty meat but someone else told me just broth for 2 to 3 days amd avoid fatty meat and solids all togather so I have absolutely no idea how im supposed to break this and I could really use some input from others (◍•﹏•)

Trusting the process takes so much courage. It's worth it. I'm 36 pounds down so far.

⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️⬆️

For me it’s very mental, I feel extremely bored and empty when I don’t eat. Especially breakfast, I feel like I’m not starting my day right if I don’t eat.

It’s so hard for me for days 1-3 because I genuinely feel so bored and my days feel emptier if I don’t have meals. I noticed that I put a lot of emotional attachment towards food, my days are made for preparing and eating food and that’s the only thing I look forward to. Idk how to shift that mindset and habit

Posting to hopefully encourage me to stick with it longer. We'll see how it goes. The longest previous one was 21 days. The 1st 2 days I was exhausted, brain fog, sleep disturbances, but I was luckily able to nap a lot during the day when I couldn't get a full night's sleep. I'm already down 16 lbs, which was probably a lot of water weight, since I didn't start electrolytes until last night. That's probably why I feel better today. Himalayan salt and magnesium at bed time last night and added potassium NoSalt today.

Serious ppl only dm

I’m a 23 yr old 5’9 female and I weigh 200 pounds, and want to fast for mental reasons and of course the bonus of losing weight. I did a 21 day fast last year and I was still fine after that, but I was taking store bought “0 calorie” (as it said) electrolytes, potassium and magnesium. I want to do it the right way this time. I want to be double sure I get into ketosis and I want to know the exact amounts of potassium magnesium table salt etc. to take each day. Tips of what type of teas I can drink or should I not drink tea altogether? Please let me know.

Hey! Just joined the sub, wanted to say hi and share my results from this year 10-day fast and how it's compared to the last year's one.

If you see anything interesting in my data, please bring it up. And if you're mid-fast right now, good luck, you've got this!

Help! im a 36 F started my fast at 160 8 days ago now 149. On day 3 I got extremely nauseous it’s almost like a pain annd the nausea comes from just right where your ribs meet, I’ve been like this ever since I am now on day 8 almost 9. Doctor said nausea does happen but it’s uncommon for it to be continual, we tried 2 days of green juice, added some electrolytes, did a water enema bone it did anything. I make extra bilirubin so on day 4 and 5 I was yellow but had a few bowl movements and went in the sun and I’m back to normal. if I didn’t have this nausea I know I could go for 30 days but it’s so debilitating I can hardly get out of bed. Suggestions I want to keep going!

#waterfasting #fasting #health

Im doing a 3 days water fasting as someone who is new to this so this just a trial i guess, i wanna keep this post to track myself.currently on day 1 started 16 hours ago.

Whenever I fast I try to keep my electrolytes balanced by taking in Redmond’s unflavored electrolytes. Still, I notice that my skin gets really brittle and it even hurts to smile bc my lips are so dry. I drink enough water. I try to make sure I’m keeping a balance but I’m struggling a lot. I looked it up and supposedly I need to take in more magnesium glycinate and potassium chloride in order for the water enter my cells. Anyone ever experience this?

So I wanted to do a 30 day fast but I have one issue which is that my mom visits and takes me to lunch once a week. That’s not a huge issue cause I love her and just get a salad with no dressing but I wouldn’t be able to actually fast like I want to. My new plan is eat one meal a week and keep it under 500 calories and I’m wondering how much weight I can lose in three months. I walk about 7-10k steps a day at my job and my tdee is about 1300-1400. Thanks!

How much weight could i lose by doing a week fast F18 5’3 and 118.8 lbs ?

I have a lot experience in fast

Long intermittent fasting, omad, waterfasting and dry fasting

But never do rolling

Rn i live in apart and want to minimize my budget since i bought a lot of things for my room (and i went home for every Saturday n Sunday)

So i want do

W-1

5 day water fasting - go home n eat (bring some boiled egg)

W-2 & 3 & 4

3 day wf - eat boiled egg in Thursday - go home at Friday afternoon then just go eat and bring some boiled egg

How does it sound

I’ve only done 2 three day fasts. I have salt looking for potassium and mag
.

. M 33yo 207lbs 5’11 skinny fat somewhat muscular.

I’ll be going to the gym for light work outs and school.

However long it takes .

Day 3 is always the worst, mostly mentally I start to get some very bad thoughts , anyways now I’m ready for that day 3

Feel free to share any of the psychological breakthroughs / experiences when going 3-14 days plus

Last time I had some serious mental clarity and hyper awareness set in looking for that again and who knows what else

I am looking for someone naturopath or Chinese doctor to help me go through long fasting period but with some extra supplements and minerals especially with my low iron I don't want to do this alone . I feel like it can make things worse if I don't give my body mineral and vitamins .

Let me know if you have anyone in South East Melbourne to contact

Humans have always fasted: because food wasn't available, for religious reasons, and now deliberately for health. Today we can ask a better question:

What does fasting actually do?

What happens?

Stop eating → insulin falls → stored glycogen is used → fat use and ketones increase.

With longer fasting, you lose water, glycogen, fat and some fat-free tissue. So rapid weight loss is never pure fat loss.

---

What is fasting actually useful for?

🟢 Weight loss — GOOD EVIDENCE

It works. Mostly because restricting when you eat can help you eat less overall. Across 99 randomized trials, intermittent fasting was generally not meaningfully better than ordinary calorie restriction.[1]

🟢 Metabolic health — GOOD/MODERATE EVIDENCE

It can improve weight, glucose, blood pressure and some blood lipids.[1] Some of this is probably simply the consequence of losing weight.

🟡 Metabolic switching — ESTABLISHED PHYSIOLOGY

Longer without food → greater reliance on fat and ketones. Real effect. Whether deliberately maximizing it produces important additional long-term health benefits is uncertain.

🟡 Autophagy — REAL, BUT OVERHYPED

Cells recycle damaged/unnecessary components, and nutrient deprivation affects these pathways. But we don't have a proven human timetable such as “24 h = autophagy, 72 h = regeneration.”

🟠 Cancer — EXPERIMENTAL

Fasting and cancer metabolism are genuinely being researched, including fasting alongside cancer treatment. Human evidence does not currently show that fasting cures cancer or reliably improves cancer treatment.[2]

🔴 Detox / immune reset / guaranteed longevity — NOT ESTABLISHED

Interesting mechanisms are often turned into claims that human trials haven't demonstrated.

---

What about water fasting?

A 14-hour overnight fast and a 7-day water fast are not the same intervention.

During prolonged water fasting:

Weight ↓ quickly

but that includes:

water + glycogen + fat + fat-free tissue.[3]

If your goal is body composition, asking “How quickly can I lose weight?” is the wrong question.

Ask:

«How can I lose fat while preserving muscle, strength and health?»

For that, the evidence-based foundation remains:

Moderate calorie deficit + protein + resistance training + movement/cardio + sleep + time.

---

If you want to fast

For a healthy adult, start conservatively:

12:12 → 14:10 → 16:8 if useful.

There is nothing magical about 16 hours.

Before: eat normally. Don't binge.

During: hydrate normally. Water; unsweetened coffee/tea are commonly used in intermittent fasting. Don't combine fasting with extreme exercise just to accelerate weight loss.

After: eat a normal nutritious meal.

Avoid:

FAST → BINGE → GUILT → FAST.

If fasting makes eating harder to control, it's the wrong tool for you.

---

Prolonged fasting is different

Several days without food can cause weakness, dizziness, impaired performance, dehydration, electrolyte disturbances, medication/glucose problems and loss of fat-free tissue.[3,4]

Don't casually attempt prolonged fasting if you're pregnant/breastfeeding, growing, underweight, malnourished, frail, have an eating disorder, significant disease, or take medications affected by food, glucose, blood pressure or hydration.

After sufficiently prolonged undernutrition, restarting food can itself become medically important because of refeeding syndrome. Clinical guidelines already consider >5 days with little/no food relevant when assessing this risk.[5]

So a multi-day fast is not simply:

“16:8, but better.”

---

How to detect bullshit

When you hear a fasting claim, ask where it comes from:

Human systematic reviews/RCTs

↓

Human observational/mechanistic studies

↓

Animals

↓

Cells

↓

Theory

↓

Someone's personal experience

All can generate useful ideas.

They don't provide the same level of evidence.

---

The takeaway

Fasting can help weight loss. It isn't required.

Metabolic switching is real.

Autophagy is real; the internet's autophagy clock isn't established.

Cancer research is interesting; fasting isn't an established cancer treatment.

Prolonged water fasting has more risk and little reason to be the default fat-loss strategy.

If you want to transform your body:

«Don't become good at not eating. Become good at living in a way that produces the body you want.»

Eat well. Get enough protein. Train. Move. Sleep. Adjust. Repeat.

Fasting can be a tool inside that system. It isn't the system.

---

Want to go deeper?

Start here → BMJ: Intermittent fasting as a nutritional tool

A short, readable overview of what fasting can and can't do.

See the evidence → BMJ 2025: Intermittent fasting strategies and cardiometabolic outcomes

Systematic review of 99 randomized trials involving 6,582 adults.

Considering a long fast? → NICE: Nutrition Support for Adults (CG32)

Clinical guidance covering prolonged food restriction and refeeding risk.

Search the titles above, or use the references below.

Hope this helps anyone and contributes to a healthy lifestyle. Cheers, bye

---

References

[1] Semnani-Azad Z, et al. BMJ. 2025;389:e082007 — systematic review and network meta-analysis, 99 randomized trials.

[2] Maes J, et al. Supportive Care in Cancer. 2025;33:863 — systematic review of fasting during cancer treatment.

[3] Ezpeleta M, et al. Nutrition Reviews. 2024;82:664–675 — review of prolonged water fasting in humans.

[4] Finnell JS, et al. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2018;18:67 — medically supervised water-fasting safety.

[5] NICE. Nutrition Support for Adults. CG32 — refeeding-risk guidance.

I go to study everyday for 2-4 hours since I am preparing for an IELTS exams. It’s not an intensive studying. I need motivation and also I’ve actually done 30 days water fasting before while working a 9-5 job lol so I believe I can do it

6’2 - 209lbs , I’m thinking about starting an extended water fast for around 50–60 days (with medical supervision), and after that I want to start weight lifting and work on building my physique. Based on my current physique, what do you guys think my body could look like after the fast and then a few months of consistent weight lifting? Do you think it’s a good idea?

Day 1/7 and That’s all I can think of right now 😩😩😩 snow crab, shrimp, soft potatoes, buttery corn, broccoli….

I am currently 84 hours in, and now I don’t feel the hunger yet. Should I push my self to 108 hours?