
Six Days without Food: Hacking Your Mind to Make Do with Far Less - jdbentley
http://jdbentley.com/six-days-without-food-hacking-your-mind-to-make-do-with-far-less/
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fingerprinter
I'm going to jump right into the idea of fasting for 6 days and the
unfortunate reality that most people in our field(s) don't.

1\. know how to lose weight (really) 2\. know how to eat 3\. know how to
workout

Here, if you want to try fasting, which I do recommend, give this a shot.
<http://www.leangains.com/> or do the Warrior diet (one huge meal a day). A
16/8 fast is great. Heck, I sometimes even do an eat-stop-eat way and skip an
entire day after I had a cheat day.

If you want to lose weight, it isn't about a crash diet, it most DEFINITELY is
not about cardio and will never, ever be about low fat.

Here it is, in a nutshell, to lose weight and maintain decent muscle mass
through life.

Eat whole foods in these categories only. Veggies, organic/grassfed meats
(chicken, beef, fish etc), organic eggs. Some fruit (don't go nuts) and, only
if you tolerate it, very little dairy.

Some rules: every meal has protein, no exceptions. Fat is your friend. Carbs
from veggies and fruit only.

Now, exercise like this: Hard, very, very hard. And short. Think lifting big
weights in a complex manner like squats and deadlifts. If someone says you
should be doing front shoulder raises, run.....

And sprint...bike REALLY fast for a short period of time, or jump rope really
fast...something intense and short. Kettlebell swings in the 150-250 range
would be great.

Do that a couple of days a week (2-3) there are awesome programs out there so
don't think too much about this, rather just do it. 5x5 programs, strong
lifts, or even the leangains guide has some.

There are awesome ways to get lost in details in all this, but that is like a
10 minute guide that I wish someone gave to me when I was 14. It literally
took me this long to unlearn all the damage the high-carb, low-fat movement in
the 80s did to us.

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tptacek
I'm about as serious a high-quality protein advocate as probably exists in the
leaderboard for this site (neither "organic" nor "grassfed" are particularly
important adjectives for me, so much as "local" and "humane"), and I do not
understand what this has to do with diet and weight loss.

Do you actually believe you're more likely to lose weight eating organic
protein?

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troystribling
Here is an article summarizing research on the nutrition benefits of grass
feed vs. grain feed beef <http://www.bulletproofexec.com/grass-fed-meat-
part-1/>

~~~
tptacek
Omega-3's? That's the whole benefit?

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tremendo
Not having read the article provided, grass-fed beef has a much better fatty-
acid profile, and that does not necessarily mean "more O-3!" but rather more
likely, a lot less Omega-6, so the O-6 to O-3 ratio is closer to 2:1 which is
what we're (theoretically) better adapted to, rather than the ratio in grain-
fed beef, which can be as high as 14:1. Both types are "essential" as far as
we need to consume them, but they way our diet has been distorted of late,
with seed-oils and the "war" on saturated fats, the amount of O-6 we as a
population get of late is way out of proportion. In general PUFA are easier to
oxidize and possibly result in long-term degradation of health. Or you could
(over)simplify and just say, hey, I need to eat what I'm better adapted to,
and I would similarly insist that my food (the cow) also ate what it's
supposed to eat, and they are supposed to eat grass, not grains.

~~~
tptacek
You're kind of restating the premise of the comment that cited the research
paper.

In what appears to have been a carefully run study, under the best
circumstances, grass-fed beef provides a tiny fraction of the fatty acid
benefits of fish.

In other words: even if grass-fed beef has a better fatty acid profile,
"better than corn-fed beef" still doesn't mean "good source of healthful fatty
acids"; both grass-fed and corn-fed are poor sources. If you believe you need
a better fatty acid profile in your diet, take fish oil tablets or eat fish.

~~~
tremendo
I see you've left a multitude of comments in this post going on around the
same, yet it seems to my the angle you've taken is that you need _more_ omega
3s, and not for example that, compared to grain-fed beef, if you are going to
eat beef, it's qualitatively better, and to me it seems more important that
this way you'll get a lot _less_ omega 6 fatty acids, thus eating food with a
better fatty acid profile. To supplement O-3 for the purpose of fixing or
improving _your_ fatty acid profile (vs. that of the food) well, sure, but
it's orthogonal to the quality of grass vs. grain-fed beef. (Edited last
sentence)

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DanBC
I've known a few people with Anorexia Nervosa. Not just "skip a few meals,
look a bit thin" anorexia, but "detained in hospital against their will in
wheel-chairs with forced NG tube feeding BMI of 14" anorexics.

It's pretty scary that they describe very similar feelings as you do, and you
only did that for a few weeks.

Also, people with bulimia tend to be overweight exactly because of the cycle
of fasting and binging that you describe.

I'm pleased for you that you got a good result, and I'm grateful that you
stressed the riskiness.

~~~
jdbentley
When I started, I had already limited it to a short-term experiment precisely
because I was afraid of developing a fasting compulsion. I certainly don't
need to be swinging from one extreme to another.

The risk should definitely be stressed.

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baddspellar
Radical, one-time, short-term actions like this aren't lifestyle changes.
They're not sustainable, so they don't work in the long term.

If the author said he made sustainable lifestyle changes I'd have some reason
to believe he's won his weight battle. If he said he's been getting up an hour
early each morning for the past 3 months to walk, or has been learning how to
prepare tasty low-calorie meals and has kept that up for the past 3 months, or
has taken up cycling and has commuted to the office by bike every day it would
be a different story. I know plenty of people who've done these things and
successfully kept their weight down indefinitely.

On the other hand, I know plenty of people who've lost weight with short term,
unsustainable diets, and who gained every pound of that back.

~~~
jdbentley
I felt that the post concluded better at the end of the fast rather than
dragging it on, but since breaking the fast I've continued walking daily, I
lift weights 3 day a week, I'm eating far more fruits and vegetables
(especially apples) and I'm getting about 100g-150g of lean protein per day
(from chicken, turkey, occasionally beef, and protein shakes). My water habit
from the fast has carried over into everyday life. Lots of water, no sodas or
other sugary drinks.

The fasting wasn't the change I was looking for, but a catalyst for that
change. It put me on the right path.

~~~
baddspellar
Now that's what we're talking about! Good job.

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jmtame
Sounds like your body transitioned into ketosis during the third or fourth
day. You can know for sure by buying ketone test strips and drinking enough
water. I've tested out ketosis for myself and experienced some strange
effects: salad tasted better, but I had no cravings and no hunger; some days
all I had was an egg.

It's not a good idea to stay in ketosis for more than a few weeks, since it's
making your liver work harder to convert fat (rather than glycogen) into
energy.

~~~
JoshTriplett
You also don't want to stay in it too long because your body will start eating
muscle, not just fat.

~~~
driverdan
For fasting, yes that's true. For a ketogenic diet with adequate amounts of
protein, no it won't.

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JoshTriplett
I only mentioned it due to the topic of fasting. Yes, you can carefully
control the process to ensure you don't burn protein, but fasting doesn't do
that.

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kzkg
You should check you gallbladder for gallstones. They are often caused by
crash diets and can cause that kind of pain you described.

~~~
jdbentley
I had my gallbladder removed in February of 2007 after several attacks, so
thankfully it's not something for me to worry about. The pain I experienced
lasted only one day and I haven't felt even a hint of it since.

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user24
It's a very interesting, very different experience. I'm not sure what we can
take from it. I like the point about "I was so obsessed with the tool that the
house was neglected entirely", I feel there's some wisdom in there I can learn
from.

Thanks for sharing it, I'm just not entirely sure what to make of it.

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teyc
So true about what you wrote on feeling gratitude. One of the effects of being
hungry is feeling alive. You begin to exist because the drive needs you to get
off and eat.

One thing about being hungry is how unpleasant it is. And then how unpleasant
something unpleasant is. Then the desire to shake off the unpleasantness. If
you stay still, it becomes almost interesting to watch. One fathom long body,
the master of the universe, can barely hold 4 hours of food supply.

Humans can survive on a meal a day. Just like most animals. My dog _puts on_
weight on a meal a day. But somehow we have conditioned ourselves, through
surrounding ourselves with food beyond what we need.

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sambeau
I tried giving up eating for a week and it was a fascinating experience: if
you are curious, try it. It won't kill you and it probably won't harm you
unless you are already ill. It gives you an interesting insight into ancient
man and how well our bodies are made to cope with hunger and starvation.

The first day-and-a-half was the hardest I felt really hungry. Then suddenly
the hunger stopped and I felt great: really alive and full of energy. This
feeling remained for the rest of the week.

Originally I had intended to drink fruit juice but it gave me a terrible
stomach upset and I switched to water only (although I did have an occasional
glass of wine).

Somewhere around day two my fat started to melt and began to coat my mouth and
skin. I grew some huge spots (edit: pimples).

Day three I felt a little light-headed at times but was never tired: I had
read about the dangers of muscle-loss so I chose to visit the gym each night
and was swimming for up to an hour, too.

By day 5 I could have kept going without problem: I'm a big guy and could
easily do 40 days without food. I stopped only because I had a family
celebration to attend (and I'm not sure my mother would have approved).

I can't say I noticed much in the way of weight loss. I had read that you
normally lose about a pound a day (which may have been true). I'd been
drinking plenty of liquid so I didn't lose water.

The evening when I went back onto food was also interesting: the food tasted
different — more intense and satisfying.

The following days I felt great and had meant to repeat the exercise for a
longer period, but as I yet I haven't. No matter what anyone says, that first
day-and-a-half does not get any easier.

Some of the reported upsides that I cannot confirm from such a short diet are:
your digestive system shuts down very early and so it gets a rest for repair
(something that modern humans never manage but ancient humans probably did);
your gut flora also gets a chance to die-off a bit and regrow — we are a
forest of yeast and bacteria and some people think the occasional prune-and-
regrowth is healthy; your fat (especially your internal fat) starts to melt
and be burned up as fuel (this is a surprisingly kludgy process: it seems to
all go liquid at once all over your body). I can surmise that given a longer
period of time it would be beneficial to get rid of the stored fat (and other
chemicals stored in it—fat in animals stores feed flavours after-all). There
are reports that stopping, clearing out and restarting your digestive/fat/fat
storage/liver system can have other surprising health benefits most notably
with Type 2 diabetes; there are also reports of benefits to allergies and food
intolerances (again I can't verify).

My father has been discussing doing something similar with his doctor in the
hope of curing his Type 2 diabetes.

So, in summary, I found the experiment interesting, informative and fun and
would recommend it to anyone (with sufficient fat store) who would like to see
what it is like (and can get through the initial wall).

If you do: keep exercising so you don't lose muscle; don't eat anything as
then you will become hungry again; don't operate heavy machinery (and probably
avoid driving) as you _do_ get light headed; don't expect to lose a large
amount of weight in such a short amount of time; avoid fruit juice; don't
expect your world-view to change or for it to make you a stronger/wiser/more
spiritual person; do expect it to give you newfound respect for ancient man
and those forced to starve through drought and war.

~~~
mahyarm
The problem I have with fasting or reducing calories below maintenance is that
I have a really hard time focusing mentally on anything. I'm reduced to TV
watching. I can't program, study or do any other sort of mental work with any
sort of effectiveness. Any suggestions on dealing with this?

~~~
driverdan
Try switching to a ketogenic (ultra low carb / high fat) diet for a week or
two beforehand.

The reason you have no focus or energy is due to a lack of glucose (sugar).
When you fast your glycogen stores (carbs) will deplete and your body will
start running on fat. During the transition, before adjusting, you'll feel
slow, weak, and have trouble focusing.

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mooism2
This reminds me a little of giving up smoking. That was definitely mind
hacking. Obviously the endpoints are different (giving up tobacco forever
good, giving up food forever bad).

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RadioBellhop
Although it's great you have felt a sense of empowerment through this, extreme
measures I feel are never the best options. I guess it's how you define
extreme, but if you ever feel that urgency to rack up the degree of action,
ask around for help. Shit, in the right places even internet people are about
nice enough.

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einhverfr
Reading this blog I was reminded of Epicurius's statements (According to
Cicero) about the impact of fasting on smell and taste (largely exactly what
are described in that blog posting).

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RexRollman
Out of curiousity, what is the best way to end a multiple day fast? It would
seem to me that eating too much at once or eating the wrong thing would make
someone feel sick.

~~~
Loic
Start simply with water boiled potatoes, then carrots, then slowly things like
bread. My parents are doing a one week fast every year and this is what they
do. It takes time to go back to normal food as the bacteria in your intestine
need to grow again.

The first time you do a one week fast, do it with people who are used to do
it. In Europe you can find a lot of associations/clubs/whatever offering a one
week seminar to do it.

~~~
rudiger
What if you don't wish to introduce carbohydrates into your diet (à la
Paleolithic diet)?

~~~
guga31bb
There's nothing about eating paleo that forbids carbs. For example, many
eating paleo eat large amounts of sweet potatoes

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realschool
I did a 3.5 day water only fast a few years ago, I remember reading somewhere
that going longer then 3 days wasn't that safe.

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maeon3
If you fast, when you stop fasting you will gain 20 pounds because your brain
and body will be in "famine mode" and you will store everything to fat. Go
ahead and try it.

I've been hovering around 155 to 160 my whole life, that is until the day I
fasted for about 2 1/2 days, at which point I immediately started gaining
weight after. It's been a daily battle since to not overeat. My subconscious
mind says: "Eat, consume, gorge, because tomorrow there will be none" and my
conscious mind has to say "no".

~~~
johnyzee
As someone who fasts for a full month of the year, I can chime in. It is true
that you probably shouldn't do it for the weight loss alone, as you tend to
compensate, or over-compensate, once fasting is broken.

That said there are many other benefits, as acknowledged by the author. Most
people feel a heightened sense of awareness and clarity during fasting (the
opposite of the lazy feeling after a meal). There is a reason most spiritual
traditions include an element of fasting. Besides this there is a range of
proven health benefits (Wikipedia cites reduced risk of cancer, cardiovascular
diseases, diabetes, insulin resistance, immune disorders, slowing of the aging
process, and the potential to increase maximum life span).

Just like exercising, it is 'unpleasant' for the mind to be forced into, but
feels 'right' once you get it done and you actually grow fond of it in spite
of the hardship.

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maeon3
Hacker diet: <http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/www/hackdiet.html>

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nodata
Fasting is really bad for you. Does fasting even count as hacking?

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johnyzee
Fasting has real and proven health benefits. I have heard physicians state
that it is the single most benficial thing you can do for your health. From
Wikipedia:

 _Research suggests there are major health benefits to caloric restriction.
Benefits include reduced risks of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes,
insulin resistance, immune disorders, and more generally, the slowing of the
aging process, and the potential to increase maximum life span.[3] According
to Dr. Mark P. Mattson, chief of the laboratory of neurosciences at the US
National Institute on Aging, fasting every other day (intermittent fasting)
shows beneficial effects in mice as strong as those of caloric-restriction
diets,[4] and a small study conducted on humans at the University of Illinois
indicates the same results [5] According to the US National Academy of
Sciences, other health benefits include stress resistance, increased insulin
sensitivity, reduced morbidity, and increased life span._

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasting#Health_effects>

~~~
nodata
Calorific restriction is not the same as fasting. Calorific restriction is
eating less.

During fasting you will lack vital nutrients that cannot be stored by the
body. When you end a fast your blood sugar level will sky rocket, which is
also bad for you.

~~~
RexRollman
He didn't quote the full paragraph, which was about alternate-day fasting,
which is a form of calorie restriction.

