At What Point Is It Dangerous?

[Guest Sunshine]

My mom is telling me that I should do it again because I'm FAT. She's right. Its the only thing that seems to work sometimes. Oh... and I'm not a kid. I'm 38 so its not like m body is still growing.

When I do stop, after a few days it feels like I have MORE energy, and like I am better connected with everyone. I worked it out on paper and theoretically it looks like I should be able to go for like 2-3 months without eating.

So if I take vitamins (how do you get them to stay down?), drink plenty of water, and feel like I have energy, what is the problem with fasting for a few weeks?

I need to loose weight and just biking and running is not enough. I brought my calorie intake down to 1200 a day while riding 30 miles and still managed to ADD 2 pounds. I have to do something. Fasting works and so far, I haven't been able to find anything else that does.

Why is it such a big deal to go without eating AFTER puberty is over? Its not like bone growth is still going on. I even snagged someone's glucose meter and check my blood sugar. After 2 weeks it is still in the 95 - 100 range.

On March 1st, if I I haven't found a way to make the diet and exercise effective, I'm going to go on another long fast. This time I'm holding until I drop 30-40% of my body weight. If it makes me thinner, how can there be something wrong with it?

[Sally]

How can it be bad?

Let's just start with the fact that the human body was designed to take in food on a regular basis, and therefore it is not good for you.

If you gain weight while exercising and eating only 1200 calories then there is something else wrong usually it is thyroid but I am not a doctor so you might want to check with one about this - your metabolisim is off and you need to find out what s causing it.

Please find out what is wrong.

Love ya,

Sally

[Guest i is Sam :-)]

I'm sorry hun but if you have to ask the question "what is wrong with not eating for 3 months?" then you need to see a doctor of some sort.

And btw just because you aren't growing any bigger, doesn't mean you don't need to maintain your body, we replace absolutely every cell in our bodies, some like the skin very quickly, other things more slowly, your entire body is a different model about once every 10 years.

Now look at the size of a vitamin pill

Look at the size of your body

you reckon there is enough raw material there to keep your body in good repair? food gets turned into cholesterol which in turn is then used to make just about every cell in you body as well as a bunch of other very important things.

there is a lot more to it than just raw calorie content. and if you fast for any real length of time your body will shut down. The key to loosing weight is to keep your metabolism high, if your's isn't for some reason go see a doctor, a nutritionist, a personal trainer etc.

Oh also a lot of vitamins and minerals require certain other things to be metabolised, like for instance you only absorb a few percent of the calcium in skimmed milk because you need fat to metabolise calcium.

[Guest Donna Jean]

Honey.....I agree with Sally.....

With your caloric intake and the exercise you're getting, something should be going down...

See a doctor...Please............OK?

Huggs and LUCK

Donna Jean

[Guest nymphblossom]

I have fasted one day each week for the past 25+ years as a means to spiritual and physical well being and have had the chance to talk to my doctors and others who practice fasting. It it not recommended to EVER fast beyond SEVEN DAYS CONTINOUS and no more than TWO TIMES A YEAR. Even when fasting, most people have a piece of fruit or glass of fruit juice at regular meal time to help stabilize blood sugar levels.

Blossom

[Guest sarah f]

Please see a doctor Sunshine. There is definately going on there if you are doing that much and not losing weight. Like Sally said it could be a thyroid and without help there is nothing you can do. If you fast and lose weight, you will be right back to where you are at if there is a real problem going on. It never hurts to get checked out. When you are exercising you need to take in food so that your body doesn't store up what you already have.

Love,

Sarah F

[Guest Sunshine]

Wow... y'all jumped on that. I was coming back on the say that I changed my mind and am going to start the fast now instead of on the 1st but ok, ok... I get it. I'll wait. Its just....

Whenever I talk to a doctor, they just tell me that I'm fat (the word they use is obese) and need more exercise.

30 Miles on the bike, 3-5 miles walking / running... oh yeah... I'm lazy... <screams>

I have an endo appointment on the 9th for HRT stuff. I'll bring up the weight question when I see her.

I'm not going to wait until the 1st... not sure what I'm going to do... its not like this is an emergency. Its just fat.

Plan for today:

- Breaky: Slimfast shake with a shot of espresso (190 cals, and like drinking a vitamin except it stays down)

- Wii fit for 30 - 40 mins.

- Snack: Fiber Biscuit 60 cals

- Lunch: Can of Campbell's Select Harvest Light Soup (100 cal in entire can)

- Exercise: 2 mile walk

- Snack: Other Fiber Biscuit from the pack (60 cals)

- Dinner: Salad mix (with dressing) ( ~ 90 cals)

- Exercise: Bike or run (run if raining, bike if dry) for 2 hours

...then pass out and do over again. (500 cal total for day)

This is a typical day from the past week and it is doing nothing. I was adding meat before (an extra 400 - 600 cals), but since I didn't see any weight loss I am dropping the meat this week.

Fasting is actually easier than eating like this. At least when I fast, after the first week I stop being hungry. I'm tempted to start smoking again just to give the hunger something to focus on that I can satisfy.

[Guest Donna Jean]

Fasting is actually easier than eating like this. At least when I fast, after the first week I stop being hungry. I'm tempted to start smoking again just to give the hunger something to focus on that I can satisfy.

NO........NO........NO!

You CANNOT smoke while on HRT!

The risk for blood clots is too high...especially being overweight....

Don't even think about that, Honey....

Look, I lost a lot of weight a few years ago...

Know what I used to keep from munching?

Sugarless gum ...Lots and lots!

Try it, but do not smoke!

HUGGS!

Donna Jean

[Guest Sunshine]

Thank's for the feedback.

My friends kind of beat me into eating more... I'm up to 1200-1500 kcals a day now.

My weight is going down. SLOWLY... but it is going down.

[Guest NatalieRene]

Thank's for the feedback.

My friends kind of beat me into eating more... I'm up to 1200-1500 kcals a day now.

My weight is going down. SLOWLY... but it is going down.

If you don't eat your body will store all the food you eat as fat, slow down how fast it burns through fat, and in turn leave you feeling tired all the time. Basically it thinks you have a food shortage and is trying to wait the shortage out in hopes that more food will come. You need to eat and exercise. You want calories get a full days calories. Just stay away from fried, greasy, sugary foods like first and foremost fast food and junk food. Eat salads, fruit, vegetables, and drink plenty of water. Stop drinking soda if you're drinking it now. You don't want to eat or drink anything with high fructose corn syrup because the body just turns it into fat because it can't break it down.

[Guest NadineB]

Ok I know we are not supposed to promote things here but I just have to tell you about weight watchers. It is no dieting but learning how to eat again, I have lost 20 lbs since the beginning of the year. I started at 302lbs. I am not hungry, just eating sensibly and increasing my work outs from holding down the couch to cycling and walking. It seems to work for me and I am what is referee to as lazy.

As for starvation it is very bad. It makes your metabolism decrease and any intake you do have it converts to fat for the lean times. You also increase risk of blood problems either clotting or anemia. Nutrient imbalance can cause heart failure, kidney and liver failure. Can and will cause GI problems including ulcers and esophegeal erosion. Ever seen anyone with a hole in there throat where there is a little pipe they breath through. Then increase in teeth decay, weaker bones. Then a condition known as rabdomyalitis, where there is so much toxins from tissue break down that your body can't clear it. Very very painful body aches,morphine doesn't even help, this also leads to cardiac arrest. I can promise you by starving yourself you won't be able to have hrt. I am glad your latest post says you are eating but I just had to tell you a few of the dangers of starvation. Please pm me anytime, I would love to be a support for you to help you become a skinny you the healthy way.

Luv Nadine

[Guest Sunshine]

Please pm me anytime, I would love to be a support for you to help you become a skinny you the healthy way.

Luv Nadine

Thank you for the offer. I think i might just take you up on that.

In a bit of irony... I just got back from my first Endo appointment in a couple of years. I could not have my labs drawn because I wasn't fasting. <sigh>

[Guest Elizabeth K]

Hee hee - ironic about the labs - they really mean - having eaten in the last 12 hours - so they can get a good reading on your blood sugars.

Fasting? I did it all wrong. I got a trememdous amount of criticism. Basically, we are omniverous - and eat meat as well as vegetables and fruit. Carniverous animals fast all the time. It part of their cycle. Animals who eat fruit and vegetables eat all the time with no set times, usually when the food is available or they are hungry. Taking a clue from how nature works, we should probably eat more often - but avoid constant intakes of meats. We should probably not fast completely - but suppliment periods of low food intake as we go - fruits and vegetables.

I am not a physician. I use the words "probably"- you may notice. You need to be supervised before you embark on something completely new to your body's accustomed routine.

Dieting seems to be a process of re-balancing. If you are constantly gaining weight, you need to do something that is effective for you - probably reduce caloric intake, fat intake, carbohydrate intake - or more exercise - or perhaps a combination of all that. Your body will tell you if you are doing something correctly after about two weeks, when it gets accustomed to what you are doing to it, differently.

Rules of thumb*

Never lose over 1 pound per week

Never concentrate on fad diets - not for extended periods of time

Resolve yourself to a maintenance diet - one where you NEVER gain or lose more than 2 pounds, which can be fixed immediately.

Dont binge - ever!

When dieting - buy EXPENSIVE and good tasting foods, things that you look forward to tasting.

Know you have cravings! If you have to have chocolate for example - work it in - but take some other item of equal fat or calorie content out.

NEVER eat 'empty' calories (chips for example) - spend you calories on something you absolutely love like a frozen cherry yogurt!

Know that carrots and beets are full of sugar, that the dressing on salads have the worst calories - research every food type and know what does what

Know that so called 'fruit drinks' have more sugar in them than coca cola!

ALWAYS read the sugat content - and then the 'serving size" - you should never exceed 8 grams of sugar per "full serving" - full serving being what you intend to eat or imbibe.

And - DON"T stay away from the scales - weigh with exactly the same amount of clothes on, at the same time of day, with your feet and posture located as consistantly as possible Sort of ignore the actual weight shown - it isn't always accurate - your doctor's scale is the only one accurate - BUT the plus or (hopefully) minus you see every day IS accurate.

And know fluctuations can be caused by water retntion - so don't be dismayed. Just keep tabs to see a quick gain quickly goes away.

So this may or may not be fasting in a technical sense.

I hope this helps

Lizzy

*Rules of thumb?

What does that mean? Never chew your nails? Avoid errant hammer blows? Don't get caught sucking yout thumb? WHAT!!!

[Sally]

Here is the true story about weight loss - it is not independent from your emotions.

OK, let me explain a bit about weight loss.

If you lose a lot of weight very quickly on a diet plan - you reach the new level and use the maintenance plan for a while then you just gradually inflate to bigger than before.

My sister did that with one of the diet centers so much weight loss that they wanted her to do an ad for them - the food that they sold was expensive and tracking everything became a pain so since she had not developed any new eating habits she gained it all back in a very few months plus 15 extra.

I had taken a lot longer losing a little less weight but I kept it off for about three years before my depression really kicked in again and then I gained mine back in a few months with about 10 extra.

My weight gain was tied to my depression - I am dealing with that now as I lose weight and the end result will be better eating habits a healthier me.

Try it - you have nothing to lose but the weight.

Love ya,

Slowly Slimming Sally

[Guest Sunshine]

The weight is coming off. Its soooo slow though. 1-2 pounds .... plateau .... another pound.... wait wait... <grumble> 9 pounds

On the other had, I am feeling a LOT stronger in a lot of ways.

All of the biking I've been doing is making me feel like I can almost fly sometimes. Now when I am seeing bumps in the road, I'm jumping them. Wheeeeeeee..... <pumppumppumpPUMPPUMP.. bump... jump... whamm... wiggle pump pump.....>

My clothes are a little looser, I'm using smaller holes on the belt, and my muscle definition is starting to come out. The saggy parts are becoming steel beams, esp in my legs and arms.

Oh... and my stomach is deflating, kind of gross actually... its the only part that is not getting better. Am I going to need surgery to get rid of the tummy flab afterwards or does that go away after a while?

9 pounds down... 97 to go (by the charts).

[Sally]

If you don't lose the weight too fast and do some ab work - it should go away as the weight does.

Good luck and keep it going the way you are.

Love ya,

Sally

[Guest Peetey]

Oh... and my stomach is deflating, kind of gross actually... its the only part that is not getting better. Am I going to need surgery to get rid of the tummy flab afterwards or does that go away after a while?

I speak from experience on this... Its going to have to do mostly with the condition of your skin. Secondly it is going to depend on how rapidly the weight is lost (like Sally said). The faster you lose the harder it will be for the skin to -keep up- I lost 150 pounds when I was 18 and my skin kept up nicely with the weight loss; however, losing any weight at the age of 26 (ugh) results in a little bit of loose flab. The younger you are the more chance itll stretch back, but you can use vitamin E oil if your skin has lost a good amount of elasticity. Rubbing the vitamin E oil into your skin will help, but Its not magic so be prepared for a few stretch marks (every woman needs a couple anyhow ).

Hope I could be helpful