This is a post I wrote about my plan to celebrate the first “Jackie Day,” my new, personal holiday to mark the day I began coming back from the near-dead.
I wound up fasting for a week, and did the same again in 2021, but with fireworks! I plan to do it again in 2022.
It is a bit difficult to explain to someone who hasn’t done one how freeing fasting actually is. A couple days in, I start to feel really awesome and get tremendous energy. And there’s the vacation from shopping, cooking and doing dishes that frees up so much time.
It’s a very lovely thing to walk into your kitchen for a cup of coffee, realize you haven’t done dishes for days, and the only thing in your sink is cups!
August 2nd was my 1-year anniversary and I decided to celebrate with a long fast, so the last time I ate was Saturday evening. And I have my doctor’s permission to fast over a week (Dr. Fung says not to go longer than a week without medical supervision).
When I met my new PCP Monday, she had suggested if my edema acted up, I could take a half dose of lasix every other day. I had some issues in July when it was really hot, but they’re mostly resolved. Anyway, her instructions for an extended fast are:
- Don’t take lasix when fasting.
- Keep taking electrolytes.
- Check bG.
- Check BP.
- Stop if anything weird happens and notify her.
So I have open-ended permission! 😉
OK, well given the longest I ever went was 11 days, I don’t suppose she imagined she was giving me permission to go a month or anything ridiculous. I’m not going to be stupid.
Anyway, my BMI is still on the higher side of “overweight,” so I’m good to go for a while; it is relatively safe for me to go longer than a week with those rules in place.
I don’t plan to go any particular length of time though, not even necessarily a week. I’ll decide as I go along.
During most of this year, I’ve eaten a Ridiculously Big Salad for four days and fasted three days a week. That’s my weird “normal.”
I wanted to go more this time for several reasons: my weight has stubbornly refused to go below 180, the whole edema thing coming back in July bugged me, rereading what I wrote during my first fast I remembered I felt best after the third day, and most importantly, I wanted to CELEBRATE my anniversary.
And it seems a good time to teach myself that I can celebrate without food, even keto food, being involved.
So… today is day 3, which almost doesn’t count since I do 3 days normally anyway. And I will do what I did during my first extended fast, when I ran across Amanda’s idea that one should decide today what one will eat tomorrow. This psychological trick takes the temptation out of decisions.
So… tomorrow I’m fasting; coffee with minimal MCT oil powder and stevia, electrolytes, water, possibly a snow cone with a stevia-sweetened syrup (Jeanne gave me some sassafras extract last weekend, so I might try it.)
I’ve no tags for this fast as no one is invited to join me unless you have a doctor’s note. 😉
Caveat: While Dr. Fung did say no one should go over a week without a doctor’s supervision, looking back, I don’t consider her supervision sufficient.
This physican knew significantly less about fasting than I do; few doctors do.
Unless your health care provider is specifically educated in fasting, I’d not consider their support enough.
After my first, initial 11-day fast, when I didn’t know any better, I’ve never gone longer than a week.
