Back on February 14, 2017, I started a program of Intermittent Fasting, in conjunction with my Ketogenic diet.
At that time, I would fast 19 hours per day, and I would eat two meals between 2 PM and 7 PM each day. I did not “gorge out” or go wild with eating, but I did eat as much as I wanted. Truth is the amount eaten was actually less than I would have eaten during those meals regularly, just because I did not want more.
After a week or two, I found myself enjoying the Intermittent Fasting, and I decided to increase the Fasting to 23 hours per day, and I would just eat dinner between 6 PM and 7 PM, the rest of the day I would fast.
During the day on March 15, I decided that I wanted to do a 10 day fast with no meals at all during those days. So, I went for it. I did not eat dinner that night, and I was able to continue it for 10 days.
During this time, I got a lot of very positive feedback from people that I know online. I also got a good amount of negative feedback! Several people told me that I was crazy. I was going to the extreme. I had lost my mind. I was going to die. I was killing myself. I heard it all.
I understand that many people think that eating at regular intervals is something that our bodies need, that is how we have been programmed over the last 50 years or so. But, over thousands of years of history, people have fasted for long periods for many reasons:
- Religious Fasts (nearly every religion has fasting periods during the year)
- Forced Fasts due to no food being available (during the hunter/gatherer days)
- Many Animals fast for long periods (bears hibernate for months)
Dr. Jason Fung is probably one of the world’s leading experts when it comes to fasting for medical reasons. Recently, Dr. Fung wrote a book called The Complete Guide to Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate Day, and Extended Fasting. For this book, Dr. Fung had a co-author, Jimmy Moore. Both Fung and Moore do fasting. Jimmy Moore used to weigh 408 pounds, but now he is a normal weight. He did it through a combination of Ketogenic Diet and Fasting. Watch this interview with Fung and Moore:
I find both of these men very inspirational.
Through Fasting, I have found out a lot about myself. I can actually feel my body healing. I can feel my health getting better. My medical tests confirm that my body is healing and getting better. I attribute these improvements to fasting. I can see no other changes I have made that would have these positive effects on my health.
So, do you fear of fasting? I used to fear that I could not do it, I never thought I could fast even one day. But, actually, I find it quite easy! Little hunger is involved at all. No real cravings. So, do I fear of fasting? Do I think that it is going to kill me? No way. It is not going to hurt me at all, in fact, it is helping me get better!
Following your posts has been so informative!! Thank you, Bob!!
Hi Kate – Thank you very much! I certainly don’t claim to be an expert. I am just a regular guy who decided that I needed to make some massive changes, and I started researching into it a lot. Just passing along things that I have learned, and in most cases showing the videos of those that I have learned from.
Thanks, Kate! Glad you are learning like I am!
Filipinos interpret the word Fasting as Fast Eating Bob……
Ha ha. That is a good one!
Seems like you have more will power than most. Congratulations on your success.
Thank you Bruce. The truth is though, it’s not about willpower at all. It’s very easy to do.
Fasting and a keto style diet have been a staple for me for the past few years. People just don’t understand it and therefore fear it. Good job, Bob.
Thank you Floyd, congratulations to you as well.
I did fasting when i was in highschool & college age all the time then early 20’s when I’m in Vietnam. It is very effective and i feel good with it but now everytime i’m home in Sarangani i eat a lot.ðit also good to eat with family though and food is good. Not too much actually just normal eat but for me it’s too much cos I used to fasting all the time.
Bob Very inspiring. I think I’m going to try this as I’m on the heavy side. Should I go straight into the 19/5 starting out Bob? Doing a 19/5 having two meals between 2pm and 7pm (normal meals not diet meals) do you think that would show me good results? I don’t have any medical complications right now so I think I need to think about this ahead of time and not wait for complications (some hypertension though). Did you ever get headaches when starting to fast? I get those when I don’t eat for long periods of time, how did you overcome them?
Thanks Bob I’m really happy to see that in your recent photos I’m seeing DRASTIC changes and I’m glad your doing well! I’m pretty amazed to be honest.
Hi Alexander. What I would really recommend is doing a ketogenic diet, that is a high-fat low-carb diet. I will put your body into ketosis, which means that your body will learn how to start burning fat and there will be few carbs to burn. When you do that the fasting becomes very easy. For me, I really feel that’s the best way to go. Of course you have to choose what’s best for you too. When you convert your body from burning carbs to burning fat, you do go through a period of headaches and generally feeling bad for a few days, while your body’s making the conversion. After that though you feel great.
Thank you for the info. I was looking around to see if you had any blog posts besides this one as well. Keto seems like a good way to improve pretty much everything. Seems like this is a more “natural” state for the body when I think about it, back before the world got addicted to sugar and carbs. It’s going to be hard for me to give up the potatoes. If you could tell me a little more about your initial experience during the transition (Head aches and other symptoms of the keto flu) you went through i’d appreciate it.
It is hard to give up a lot of carbs, and potatoes are on top of the list! 🙂 But, it does not take too long to where it is no longer important to you and you will forget all about those potatoes! When you go full on Keto, eat very low carb you will experience headaches, muscle aches and such. They call it the “keto flu” and you will feel terrible. But, after that is over you will start feeling great. I find particularly when fasting that I feel so healthy, clear mind and the ability to think much more clearly. It is actually an amazing feeling. Also, while fasting you really get a huge energy boost! I feel better these days that I have since I was in high school! I am 55, so that is an amazing thing.
Sacrifice a little but like you said, you’ll feel like a teenager again. I’m down for that. I’m going to take your advise and do some research about what foods to eat/not eat. I’m going to try this TODAY. I need results and it feels good knowing someone I trust is getting those results. Thank you for the share. One more question if you don’t mind. Do I go full on keto + fast or do I get into ketosis first then go on the fast? I’m afraid of going into like some type of shock and and falling off the wagon is the reason I’m asking
Good luck to you, Alexander! You can always message me and I am happy to help you! I’m not a doctor, but I am living the life, and you are my friend, so just let me know if I can help. I would do the keto first for at least a month or so to get your body into ketosis before you start fasting. I feel that makes fasting much easier to do, and you should make it as easy as you can, that increases the chances of success! Good luck!
Thank you Bob. Today is the day. I’ll let you know how its going from time to time appreciate the support
Go for it, my friend!
Bob what does your typical diet look like now?
Hi Ron. Typical? Typically I don’t eat anything. I fast. On an average week I eat zero meals. Some weeks I eat one meal.