How long do you let a fast go on? page

[Shelly6]

My sister passed away last week. Since then I have had no appetite. I've been drinking coffee and milk (FF) and ate about 3 little cubes of cheese a day or so ago. How long do I allow this to go on before I do something about it? I haven't been forcing the issue. I've lost about 8 pounds but I'm assuming it's mostly water weight. (I had that vanity weight I wanted to lose, but *not* this way ). Any ideas?

[unchatenfrance]

I'm sorry for your loss. Can you make yourself eat one meal a day (or at least the calories' worth of a meal in some form or another)?

[primalrob]

I'm sorry for your loss.

as far as eating goes, you can listen to your body. if you're not hungry and not having any trouble operating--physically--then your body is getting it's fuel from somewhere else. it's moments of famine like this that the body stores body fat to begin with.

but, even if that mechanism exists, i don't think you should be living in that extreme. it's not just your body that needs fuel right now, it's your brain too. you have some grieving to do, and i'm a big believer that grieving isn't just something that happens to you...it's something you have to actually do. you should be sleeping, you should be spending time with others, and you should be moving...even if it's just take a walk by yourself to spend some time with your own thoughts and feelings. food makes all those processes more efficient. hide your scale and focus on the parts of you that aren't so easily measured.

[Mourne]

You don't "have to" eat the regular way.
You eat mostly 3 meals a day because you just have the habit of doing it, an intermittent fasting protocol like 24h or 16h is just great stuff for breaking that habit and make you feel like you should.
Longer fasting periods have their own benefits.. (check fasting connection, great articles up there) the only thing is.. this fasting period you are talking about has some psychological ground, be careful with this my friend in not exceeding it.

About your loss.. well, i prefer not to say anything.
I find it is the maximum form of respect to not say any word, some times feelings cannot be matched with words.

[murf73]

Don't worry too much. When you get hungry, eat. I'm so sorry about your sister.

[bdilla]

You don't "have to" eat the regular way.
You eat mostly 3 meals a day because you just have the habit of doing it, an intermittent fasting protocol like 24h or 16h is just great stuff for breaking that habit and make you feel like you should.
Longer fasting periods have their own benefits.. (check fasting connection, great articles up there) the only thing is.. this fasting period you are talking about has some psychological ground, be careful with this my friend in not exceeding it.

About your loss.. well, i prefer not to say anything.
I find it is the maximum form of respect to not say any word, some times feelings cannot be matched with words.

Hmm. Nice name.

[Shelly6]

You don't "have to" eat the regular way.
You eat mostly 3 meals a day because you just have the habit of doing it, an intermittent fasting protocol like 24h or 16h is just great stuff for breaking that habit and make you feel like you should.
Longer fasting periods have their own benefits.. (check fasting connection, great articles up there) the only thing is.. this fasting period you are talking about has some psychological ground, be careful with this my friend in not exceeding it.

About your loss.. well, i prefer not to say anything.
I find it is the maximum form of respect to not say any word, some times feelings cannot be matched with words.

I'm worried this is purely psychological. Occasionally I am HUNGRY. Monday morning I felt panic-attack-ish and tried to eat something and I just kind of spit it out. Food is just nasty right now.
I'm able to do day to day things and more (go to work, etc) but I think a lot of that is from living on coffee.
It's been a week since I've ate anything "normal" which is really strange because I tend to swing the opposite way. I would happily eat until I felt physically uncomfortable.
It's just...strange.

[eKatherine]

It is psychological. But that's normal, and it's okay.

You aren't really on a true fast if you aren't eating because you're not hungry.

[Drumroll]

The milk with your coffee, if you are drinking enough of it might be enough to break the fast technically speaking.

But more seriously, sorry for your loss. That sounds horrible.

When I fast (long-term at least) I never have a set period I plan on letting it go for. I simply fast until I either a) feel hungry again (and you have to learn what TRUE hunger is to know this) or b) I feel crappy because of a bit of a nutrient deficiency that needs to be corrected with food.

Sometimes this means the fast is merely for a day or two, sometimes I feel great for even longer. It all just depends.

[JennGlob]

When I initiated my divorce several years ago, I was much the same way. Lost 15 lbs very quickly. I was even happy about the divorce, so I think it is normal to pass on food in times of sadness and stress. You'll get it back, give yourself time to mourne. Sorry for your loss.

Jennifer