Slayer
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For my 500th post, I decided I might as well write a high effort thread in order to balance out my autistic shitposts, so I'm going to be talking about an area I'm familiar with, fasting. Please note that I am not a doctor and this is not medical advice, so if you end up looking like a malnourished sub-Saharan African child, I bear no responsibility. Talk to your real doctor to see if you're medically fit to fast. Also, DO NOT FAST IF YOU ARE DIABETIC. If you have diabetes this should be obvious, but you're practically begging for severe hypoglycemia if you try this.
Understanding Calories and TDEE
The most basic concept for weight loss is calories in vs calories out. If you eat less calories than you burn, you'll lose weight, which is called a caloric deficit. Eating more calories than you burn is called a caloric surplus. In order to find out how many calories you burn in a day, you'll need to calculate your Total Daily Energy Expenditure, or TDEE. Use this site to find it:
tdeecalculator.net
Knowing your TDEE is less important for water fasting since you're not going to be consuming calories at all and will always be in a deficit, but it is important for intermittent fasting and other normal methods of weight loss.
Biology of Fasting & Important Health Info
In addition to maximizing your caloric deficit, when you fast, you're aiming to put your body in a state of ketosis. Ketosis is a metabolic process where the body begins to burn fat for energy in the absence of carbohydrates. This is why the ketogenic diet states that you should avoid all carbs. Being in ketosis too long can sometimes lead to side effects like kidney stones and a non medically recognized set of symptoms known as the "keto flu" which I will describe later.
Your insulin levels will drop on a fast. This will result in a loss of water weight when the kidneys begin secreting water (and subsequently electrolytes and sodium) through urine. You lose the most electrolytes within the first 5 days of a fast, but your body will begin to retain them after this point. For short fasts, you need to drink lots of water and replace electrolytes. This can be done with sugar-free Gatorade, or a drink called "snake juice", which is a mixture of water, sea salt, potassium chloride, baking soda, and sulfate salts.
Supplementing sodium is important. During a fast, find a way to consume 500mg (1/4 teaspoon) of salt a day. Usually this is done through drinking salt water which is then flavored with something like lemon juice so it doesn't taste like rotten ass cancer. You can then supplement with sugar-free Gatorade to take care of the other electrolytes.
Types of Fasting
There's 3 main types of fasting:
- Water fasting
Abstaining from all calories, but you can still drink water and other calorie-free beverages.
- Dry fasting
Abstaining from all food AND water.
- Intermittent fasting
Abstaining from food for a set window of time, then eating in a separate (shorter) window of time.
NEVER DO DRY FASTING, it's retarded for a multitude of reasons that I won't go into. Water fasting (for a reasonable amount of time) and intermittent fasting are both safe and effective methods for weight loss.
Which type of fasting should I do?
This depends on your level of commitment and how quickly you want to see results. Water fasting will yield quicker results than intermittent fasting, but it much harder psychologically and physically. Your body might not react well to extended water fasting at first, so for a complete beginner, I recommend doing intermittent fasting or a short water fast (no longer than 24 hours) just so you know what abstaining from food feels like.
How to Water Fast
While not eating might seem like a simple thing, there are some other important aspects to consider. Firstly, you need to get your 500mg sodium as I described above, and you need to drink a lot of water. You also need to know how long you're going to fast for; setting a definite goal makes it easier to achieve. For your first time, try going for 24 hours. As you gain more experience, you can go longer, but I don't recommend going longer than a week. The results you'll get won't be worth how awful you'll feel.
After your fast is over, you must now carefully plan on how you're going to eat in the days following your fast. This is known as "refeeding", and it is almost as important as the actual fast itself. Pigging out on junk food will not only erase all your results, but can result in a dangerous condition known as "refeeding syndrome", which is a result of rapidly elevated levels of insulin, glycogen, and nutrients following a malnourished state. Refeeding syndrome generally only occurs in individuals who have been fasting for extended periods of time, but slowly reintroducing healthy food will preserve your weight loss results. You WILL be tempted to eat as much as you can, but don't do it.
You might be wondering if you should exercise to even further accelerate your weight loss, but I don't recommend it for water fasting. You're going to feel like dog shit during your first fast and your body will not be accustomed to running on limited fuel, especially if you're exercising.
How to Intermittent Fast
Intermittent fasting has two components, the "fasting window" and the "feeding window". There are many variations on the length of time for each. Common approaches include:
-16/8 Method
Fasting for 16 hours and eating for 8.
-Alternate Day Fasting
Eating for one day, then fasting the next.
-OMAD
One meal a day, or a 23/1 fast:eat ratio.
-Spontaneous Meal Skipping
Self-explanatory & requires the least effort and planning
Try experimenting with all of them and see which one produces the best results for you. Remember that intermittent fasting is much more sustainable long-term vs water fasting. Many people do it without even knowing when they skip breakfast. You don't have to worry about refeeding or replacing electrolytes either.
Another key component is ensuring that you're eating in a calorie deficit. If you eat above your TDEE, you're going to gain (or in some cases maintain) weight no matter what feeding windows you're operating with. Eating in a calorie deficit can be accomplished from not only eating less food, but from raising your activity level. Light cardio or resistance training is recommended with intermittent fasting, that way you can eat more food.
The Keto Flu
The keto flu is a name for a non-medically recognized set of symptoms that occurs in some people who are in a ketogenic state, although the actual cause is not known.
Symptoms include:
-Headache
-Nausea
-Brain fog
-Irritability
-Difficulty sleeping
-Constipation
You may or may not experience it (I did) and there's nothing you can do for it that doesn't involve eating something. Personally I think a lot of it is just a natural result of the sudden stop of nutrient intake and change in gut biome associated with fasting, but I've never tried a ketogenic diet so I can't speak on that.
Closing Thoughts
Fasting is not easy, and you will be tempted to quit. The cravings will begin to get unbearable the longer you go, but the prize at the end is worth it. There are several apps available that help you track how long you fast and your calorie intake. Seeing exactly how long you have left to your goal helps tremendously in achieving it. Weight loss is the first looksmax you should ever do, you'll never know what the bones in your face look like if they're covered in a layer of fat.
Of course there's other ways of losing weight, but fasting is quicker and I think a better test of one's determination and level of commitment.
Happy fasting.
Understanding Calories and TDEE
The most basic concept for weight loss is calories in vs calories out. If you eat less calories than you burn, you'll lose weight, which is called a caloric deficit. Eating more calories than you burn is called a caloric surplus. In order to find out how many calories you burn in a day, you'll need to calculate your Total Daily Energy Expenditure, or TDEE. Use this site to find it:
TDEE Calculator: Learn Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure
Use the TDEE calculator to learn your Total Daily Energy Expenditure, a measure of how many calories you burn per day. This calculator displays MUCH more!
Knowing your TDEE is less important for water fasting since you're not going to be consuming calories at all and will always be in a deficit, but it is important for intermittent fasting and other normal methods of weight loss.
Biology of Fasting & Important Health Info
In addition to maximizing your caloric deficit, when you fast, you're aiming to put your body in a state of ketosis. Ketosis is a metabolic process where the body begins to burn fat for energy in the absence of carbohydrates. This is why the ketogenic diet states that you should avoid all carbs. Being in ketosis too long can sometimes lead to side effects like kidney stones and a non medically recognized set of symptoms known as the "keto flu" which I will describe later.
Your insulin levels will drop on a fast. This will result in a loss of water weight when the kidneys begin secreting water (and subsequently electrolytes and sodium) through urine. You lose the most electrolytes within the first 5 days of a fast, but your body will begin to retain them after this point. For short fasts, you need to drink lots of water and replace electrolytes. This can be done with sugar-free Gatorade, or a drink called "snake juice", which is a mixture of water, sea salt, potassium chloride, baking soda, and sulfate salts.
Supplementing sodium is important. During a fast, find a way to consume 500mg (1/4 teaspoon) of salt a day. Usually this is done through drinking salt water which is then flavored with something like lemon juice so it doesn't taste like rotten ass cancer. You can then supplement with sugar-free Gatorade to take care of the other electrolytes.
Types of Fasting
There's 3 main types of fasting:
- Water fasting
Abstaining from all calories, but you can still drink water and other calorie-free beverages.
- Dry fasting
Abstaining from all food AND water.
- Intermittent fasting
Abstaining from food for a set window of time, then eating in a separate (shorter) window of time.
NEVER DO DRY FASTING, it's retarded for a multitude of reasons that I won't go into. Water fasting (for a reasonable amount of time) and intermittent fasting are both safe and effective methods for weight loss.
Which type of fasting should I do?
This depends on your level of commitment and how quickly you want to see results. Water fasting will yield quicker results than intermittent fasting, but it much harder psychologically and physically. Your body might not react well to extended water fasting at first, so for a complete beginner, I recommend doing intermittent fasting or a short water fast (no longer than 24 hours) just so you know what abstaining from food feels like.
How to Water Fast
While not eating might seem like a simple thing, there are some other important aspects to consider. Firstly, you need to get your 500mg sodium as I described above, and you need to drink a lot of water. You also need to know how long you're going to fast for; setting a definite goal makes it easier to achieve. For your first time, try going for 24 hours. As you gain more experience, you can go longer, but I don't recommend going longer than a week. The results you'll get won't be worth how awful you'll feel.
After your fast is over, you must now carefully plan on how you're going to eat in the days following your fast. This is known as "refeeding", and it is almost as important as the actual fast itself. Pigging out on junk food will not only erase all your results, but can result in a dangerous condition known as "refeeding syndrome", which is a result of rapidly elevated levels of insulin, glycogen, and nutrients following a malnourished state. Refeeding syndrome generally only occurs in individuals who have been fasting for extended periods of time, but slowly reintroducing healthy food will preserve your weight loss results. You WILL be tempted to eat as much as you can, but don't do it.
You might be wondering if you should exercise to even further accelerate your weight loss, but I don't recommend it for water fasting. You're going to feel like dog shit during your first fast and your body will not be accustomed to running on limited fuel, especially if you're exercising.
How to Intermittent Fast
Intermittent fasting has two components, the "fasting window" and the "feeding window". There are many variations on the length of time for each. Common approaches include:
-16/8 Method
Fasting for 16 hours and eating for 8.
-Alternate Day Fasting
Eating for one day, then fasting the next.
-OMAD
One meal a day, or a 23/1 fast:eat ratio.
-Spontaneous Meal Skipping
Self-explanatory & requires the least effort and planning
Try experimenting with all of them and see which one produces the best results for you. Remember that intermittent fasting is much more sustainable long-term vs water fasting. Many people do it without even knowing when they skip breakfast. You don't have to worry about refeeding or replacing electrolytes either.
Another key component is ensuring that you're eating in a calorie deficit. If you eat above your TDEE, you're going to gain (or in some cases maintain) weight no matter what feeding windows you're operating with. Eating in a calorie deficit can be accomplished from not only eating less food, but from raising your activity level. Light cardio or resistance training is recommended with intermittent fasting, that way you can eat more food.
The Keto Flu
The keto flu is a name for a non-medically recognized set of symptoms that occurs in some people who are in a ketogenic state, although the actual cause is not known.
Symptoms include:
-Headache
-Nausea
-Brain fog
-Irritability
-Difficulty sleeping
-Constipation
You may or may not experience it (I did) and there's nothing you can do for it that doesn't involve eating something. Personally I think a lot of it is just a natural result of the sudden stop of nutrient intake and change in gut biome associated with fasting, but I've never tried a ketogenic diet so I can't speak on that.
Closing Thoughts
Fasting is not easy, and you will be tempted to quit. The cravings will begin to get unbearable the longer you go, but the prize at the end is worth it. There are several apps available that help you track how long you fast and your calorie intake. Seeing exactly how long you have left to your goal helps tremendously in achieving it. Weight loss is the first looksmax you should ever do, you'll never know what the bones in your face look like if they're covered in a layer of fat.
Of course there's other ways of losing weight, but fasting is quicker and I think a better test of one's determination and level of commitment.
Happy fasting.
