Notes from the March 2017 7 Day Water Fast (work in progress)

(as per title, this is still a work in progress, so there may be updates)

I'm thinking I'll try and do a 7 day water fast every quarter.
Again, around 180 hours.

Why?

Improving iinsulin sensitivity
https://intensivedietarymanagement.com/fasting-physiology-part-ii/

Stimulating autophagy
https://intensivedietarymanagement.com/fasting-and-autophagy-fasting-25/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3106288/

Immune system support - can eliminate old white blood cells and replace them with more effective new ones
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1934590914001519
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1550413115002247


"Rules" for this fast
- water, black coffee, tea only ... coffee being important, IMO, for caffeine's ability to mobilize fat ... that being said, no caffeine after 3pm, so as not to keep me wired all day
- (mostly) no supplements, no greens powder
- only supplements I took were electrolytes, to ensure I didn't get depleted

• mornings (after waking up and taking stats)
• ~2 Tbsp ACV, ~2 Tbsp salt solution, with water
• ~400mg magnesium bisglycinate powder (I forgot to check my notes, so I forgot to add the ~1 tsp Vitamin C powder, and didn't have straight potassium on hand (didn't want to empty caps again - didn't want the fillers))
• evenings (before bed)
• ~2 Tbsp ACV, ~2 Tbsp salt solution, with water
• ~2 tsp unflavoured magnesium citrate (the kind w/ calcium, potassium and other stuff), ~1 tsp Vitamin C powder

Last meal finished around 2am 2017/03/05; so assume digestion ended around 5am (~3 hours for the stomach to empty)

Date	Time	BG	Ket	Wt	BP	Pulse
2017/03/04	18:25	5.9	0.9	82.7	n/a	n/a
2017/03/05	14:40	5.8	0.4	n/a	n/a	na
2017/03/05	23:35	4.7	1.3	82.1	126/76	87
2017/03/06	09:20	4.6	1.4	n/a	n/a	n/a
2017/03/07	09:40	3.7	3
2017/03/07	23:20	4.3	3.2	80.4
2017/03/08	08:56	4.2	3.1
2017/03/08	23:50	4.6	3.9	78.9
2017/03/09	09:00	3.8	3.9	78.1
2017/03/10	01:15	4.1	3.9
2017/03/10	08:30	4.3	3.7	77.5
2017/03/11	01:50	3.7	4.1
2017/03/11	10:20	3.7	3.8	77	108/73	89
2017/03/12	12:20	3.6	5.2	77.3
2017/03/12	09:45	4.2	3.8	77
2017/03/12	19:20	3.8	5.7
2017/03/13	09:20	4.6	3.4
2017/03/13	22:30	5.8	1.7
2017/03/14	09:10	5.2	2.6
2017/03/15	08:55	5.4	1.8

General observations ...

• Tuesday was surprisingly tough - perhaps the toughest night I've had since the first time I ever tried fasting.  Strange - I thought I would have been used to this by now.
• I had a more noticeable low level of hunger Tues/Wed/Thurs/Fri than in previous extended fasts
• Saturday was an interesting day.
• Strength training was interesting ... more tiring than usual
• Marathon training afterwards was even stranger.  I had to work *hard* to get my heart rate up to around the MAF limit - so more like 60/40 run/walk instead of mostly walking ... and as a result, was feeling tired after ~5k, so ended the day there.
• Slept well Saturday night, thought not as long as I would have liked - lost an hour due to Daylight Savings Time, and had to get up early-ish for me on a Sunday.  Despite that, I was feeling great all day.  No low level hunger, and this was while I was running around through all the grocery stores and Chinatown getting re-stocked!  I even thought about keeping the fast going.  However, I thought this time around it would be prudent to end it as planned.

Given I broke the fast Sunday evening, no real point in "fasting" on Monday before strength training.
So, regular eating until Wednesday morning, then back to the regular routine, with IF.

Next extended fast will be sometime mid-May ... and this time it'll be 7+ days ... I'll see how I feel, and may go as long as 14 days!

-tak