Answers to Questions About Fasting and Atkins.

by Robert Buran
(Reno Nevada)

I cannot say exactly how much water I drink because I do not measure it. But I do force myself a little to drink extra because I once developed a blood clot from dehydration and so I would rather error on the side of a little extra water. I add a little lemon to the water and this tastes very good when you are fasting and it makes the water easier to drink.

When I first started fasting over a year ago I weighed 260 pounds and was really fat. For the first three days I would weigh myself every two or three hours because I usually would drop a pound every two or three hours.

But now nothing like that happens and I am happy to weigh myself when I get up on the morning following fasting the previous day.

I know that when I am fasting that I will weigh about 5 pounds less than when I am not fasting. That is because when I am fasting my intestines are pretty empty. It is perfectly normal to weigh at least five pounds more when you are not fasting and this is going to be the case regardless of the diet you are on.

Your body will retain somewhat more water on a high carbohydrate diet than a high protein diet associated with Atkins.

I weigh myself now only when I fast. But please understand that I probably fast for 7 to 10 days, on and off, every month. I keep a fasting weight loss diary on my computer and if I complete a day of fasting the next day I record “DAY 1” the date and my weight. That is how I keep record of my weight.

If I weighed 207 pounds on August 1 and August 1 was a DAY 3 and I weighed 202 on September 6 and September 6 was also a DAY 3 then I figure I have lost 5 real pounds of fat. I do not worry about the fluctuations in between nor do I worry about water retention which is really poop retention and is quite normal.

I have had no problem going directly from fasting to a high protein diet. I always avoid most carbohydrates and seldom eat more than 40 grams a day. Most of this comes from onions and a few, very limited vegetables and an occasional handful of grapes.

My favorite foods for breaking a fast are soft boiled eggs and stewed (slow cooked in a crock pot) chicken thighs and legs with a little tomato and onions.

I also love coffee with whole cream (no carbohydrate). I like salt on my meat and I do not attempt to restrict that. I am 66 and my blood pressure is typically 100/65 and I walk 3 to 5 miles a day.

If you fast regularly you are usually a little bit hungry and if you are hungry any food tastes delicious. I love this simple diet and I really do not crave other things. Eskimos used to subsist on mostly boiled fish and they were healthy and thought their fish was delicious three times a day.

I have never heard of Donner meat and so I had to Google it. Donner meat is a mixture of inexpensive meats. But if there was criticism it was that it was high in fat, but if you do not eat carbohydrate you need that fat for energy.

Like my stewed dark chicken meat Donner meat is inexpensive and I did not read anything about fillers that would add carbohydrate. Donkey flange, camel toes and turtle necks rolled into a meat flavored substance sounds fantastic coming off a week of fasting!