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Fasting, Day 2

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I did a 24 hour fast yesterday, having eaten Friday night and not eating on Saturday until the evening. I think I managed about 900 calories around dinner time, eating slowly from about 5:30 until about 8. Around 8, I started again.

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The cornbread was disappointing. Flat, not flavorful. I'll try again with a better corn meal.

The fasting has totally f'd with my ability to eat. I was full after about 500 calories. Ugh.

One thing I tried while I was training for my climb was to take advantage of your liver's glycogen storage capacity. Your liver can only really store and effectively convert 12-14 hours worth of glycogen into glucose. After that, your body starts to use amino acids and triglycerides from stored body fat. So as a more sustainable approach to fasting, try a 16-hour fast instead of a 24-hour fast. Eat dinner at 6, and then nada until the next day. Have nothing else until a late breakfast, early lunch kind of thing. You get to sleep for half of your fasting period of 16 hours, and during the last few hours of your fast your body is using stored fat and some aminos to power you. I was also power-hiking in the mornings to accentuate the effect. For me, the psychology of a 24-hour fast is just too brutal. I found that if I could cram all my eating into about 8 hours from early lunch to dinner, I could make it work.

How does a 16 hour fast different from normal eating schedules? First meal of the day at 11, dinner at 6, done. Doesn't seem to be any fasting, though.

The "cram all my eating into about 8 hours from early lunch to dinner" part feels like a normal day to me. What am I missing?

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