Happy New Year everyone. Today I am posting Kay Polt's Experience through her 5 Day water fast. I asked Kay to write up her experience during the fast so that our readers can see how Kay felt. Now let me tell you Kay is a BEAST. She has been doing Keto for some time now and she is always ready to experiment on her self before helping others. You can find her page on Facebook called Kay's Way and she will post some of her recipes. Please read her Experience and Thank you Kay for sharing. 

Five Day Water Fast Experience

This is the 2^nd 5-day water fast I have done, the first one was in August.  In a water fast, I stop all medications and supplements, and only drink water, topo chico, hot water, and an occasional hot herbal tea.  No coffee, no broths.  My prescribed medication is for blood pressure, so I monitor that and during fasting my BP drops so it’s actually better to not take the pill because otherwise it could drop too low.  (Fasting and medication is something to discuss with medical professionals, don’t look to me for advice on that point.)

Background: I’ve had some high stress at work the past 4-5 months, but especially the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas, working until 8 to 11pm most nights often getting home at midnight, to get a project successfully completed.  My workouts went from suffering to non-existent.  Since Thanksgiving the only exercise I’d done was the Pico de Gallo 100 and the Mission Half Marathon.  With that big project completed, I’m expecting my stress levels will go down, and I need to get back into my nightly workout routines.

Day 1: I decided to indulge in some of the “Christmas Cheer” of breads, cookies, cakes, fruits, etc in the week or so before Christmas.  I was trying to not over-do it, but definitely not Keto. This was the first time in 18 months that I had eaten sugar.  I’d eaten carbs before occasionally, but not sugar.  I woke up sick Christmas morning with a headache and nausea.  Not sure if it was a bug or if it was the result of too much ice cream on Christmas Eve. The headache may have been caffeine withdrawal, as I did not have any that day. I ate a pear in the morning, hoping to settle my stomach but it didn’t help. I only had water throughout the day, trying to not get dehydrated. I spent the day mostly napping.  That evening I threw up two or three times, and I started to feel better.  This was the start of my 5-day water fast.  Initially I had planned to do a 3 to 5 day water fast between Christmas and New Year’s Day, so I just started a day early. 

I didn’t measure or track anything that first day, I spent it moaning on the sofa being a bad patient.  Thanks to Rolando for fetching me things and putting up with me in general.

Day 2: No workouts. I weighed myself.  I haven’t been on a scale in many months.  I didn’t want to look at the number and it was about what I had feared.  I felt a bit off/weak that day, kind of like you do the day after being sick.  But the headache was gone, and I felt well enough to go to work.  I got about 3 hrs of sleep because I had slept so much the day before that I was awake until 3am.  My ketone blood test showed I was in mild ketosis so that was happy news. 

Day 3: I got a good night’s sleep.  Weight down 2.8 lbs. Went to work.  I felt a little better, it was an easy day at work.  Stress levels were down this day which was a nice change of pace. My glucose was up in the morning test but dropped throughout the day. I left the office and drove to visit with my buddies at Bicycle World to get away at lunch time.  

I learned about a new measurement: the Glucose Ketone Index (GKI).  Formula is (glucose ¸ 18) ¸ ketone = GKI. It’s said to be a better measure of your metabolic state than just the Ketone number.

GKI > 9: Not fat burning, no ketosis

6 – 9: Low level ketosis, good for weight loss, maintain optimum health

3 – 6: Moderate / functional ketosis, good to improve insulin resistance

1 – 3: High ketosis: good for type 2 diabetes, obesity, periodically each year for disease prevention

< 1: Therapeutic ketosis: treatment of epilepsy, cancer, periodically each year for disease prevention

https://www.headsuphealth.com/blog/featuresself-tracking/tracking-the-glucose-ketone-index/

Based on the GKI, I found out that Wednesday night into Thursday morning I was actually not in ketosis even though my ketone level suggested low level ketosis.  I suppose that I bounced out because I was still transitioning back into ketosis and my body was adjusting.

I had a few hunger pangs in the form of stomach growling, but for the most part I wasn’t really hungry.  In the evening I felt the beginning sensations of a cramp in the back of my calf, so I took some electrolytes in the form of Celtic sea salt and NuSalt (for potassium).  The sensation went away.

I didn’t do any workouts, I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea or not, and I just took it easy in the evening.

Day 4: Weight down 1.8 lbs. I felt fine.  I was busy at work; some stress came back but was manageable.  I worked through lunch, and didn’t have time to do a mid-day blood test.  No workouts.  I took the Celtic sea salt and NuSalt in the morning and the evening. I went to packet pickup for Saturday’s 5k.  I did a lot of walking at work, and my bad knee was sore and I felt it starting to swell.  I also discovered the ankle on the other leg was also hurting – that was a new one for me.  Not sure why, maybe because of the work shoes?  I had a bout or two of mild growling stomach but nothing too bad and easily manageable.  Hot water helps curb appetite if needed.

Day 5: Got a decent night of sleep and was up early to get ready for the Resolution run 5k in Mission. Weight down 0.8 lbs.  I took Base Salt before I left the house, and again before the race started.  I was a bit nervous about running the 5k.  Last time I did a 5-day fast, I did a bike ride and after 8 miles had to call someone to come get me as I got light headed.  But that was a hot day and I wasn’t hydrated enough.  But I did pack a U-Can bar in my race belt just in case, which I never needed.  It was a chilly morning, threatening to rain, but only a few sprinkles showed up.  The run was not my best but then I have not been training at all.  I ran with my knee braces and that helped my knee, although the knee was giving me twinges during the race.  After the race a group of us went for breakfast, and I had a couple cups of hot herbal teas while they ate.  I felt really good after the race.  I think doing the exercise was very helpful. It seemed to kick my ketones up. Exercise is said to increase glucose and it did seem to do that too. But my GKI finally got below 2 for the first time, due to the increased ketones.  I had a small hunger pang in the evening but I wondered if it was just the anticipation of breaking the fast the next day.

Day 6:  Felt good, but looking forward to 9:30 when my 5-day fast would officially end and food could be reintroduced.  Had a reasonable night’s sleep, although I woke up a couple of times. Weight down 2.6 lbs. Overall I lost 8 lbs from day 2, and I’m guessing another 2 lbs from the first day, so maybe a total of 10 lbs down.  Glucose lowest number I’ve seen since I started tracking. Ketones up more.  Went to Yoga class and it was a great workout for stretching and core and relaxing.  Had a topo chico with the girls before heading home.  It was 11:00 before I was able to eat.  Breaking a fast has some guidelines of what to eat to make sure you don’t ruin the benefits and don’t upset the stomach.  So I had soft foods, cottage cheese, blackberries, and soft cooked veggies. I took a probiotic to put the good stuff back into my gut.  I had some bone broth with added collagen and apple cider vinegar (ACV) in the evening.  I feel good.  My stomach feels good.  My legs feel good.  I’m looking forward to some eggs, raw veggies, nuts and a salad tomorrow.  The 3^rd day I’ll reintroduce meats, seafood, and cheeses.

Going Forward: My plan is to follow intermittent fasting (I.F.) going forward. That’s going to be an effort for me.  I’ve been stress eating the past 4-5 months and snacking.  IF is restricted feeding times, and snacks are a no-no. But I have to do it to get myself healthy.  I’ve been doing some reading with Dr. Daniel Pompa and I like what he’s saying about mixing it up so I’m going to study his methods some more. https://drpompa.com/ His website has lots of good information on fasting. He has “Fasting for a Purpose” Facebook page.