The Silicon Valley execs who don't eat for days

This is interesting. Overall I had a pretty healthy diet prior to my start in fasting. I rarely ate things that contained sugar or no more than a very small amount, I did not drink carbonated drinks (although I drank green tea), but I LOVED CARBS. My go to snack was always Cheez It's or Chips. I did not eat more than a handful but I did that probably 2x a day. I also loved fresh fruit which is very high in carbs. To say that I felt Like I had been run over by a truck from the carb detox was an understatement. But it only last 3 days give or take but it was a miserable 3 days.

Now after years of regular fasting I have no troubles. If I overindulge during a non fasting period I pay for it with mild headaches but nothing like at the beginning. I think at the beginning i simply put my entire body a bit into shock and I was not prepared for the intensity of the headache and achiness. I stuck with it and am glad I did. Now it is very simple and works with my lifestyle really well.

Headaches at onset have various causes, some unavoidable (coffee withdrawal for many, carb withdrawal for most), some are (insufficient electrolytes or other nutrients).

Make sure you don't start with a vitamin deficiency, and add a little bit of salt to your drinking water.

I got started with a girlfriend, specifically. For the first month, we agreed to do the following:

1) No breakfast 2) Only coffee (no sugar, sweeteners) or tea during the day 3) Go out for dinner every night. No cooking. Don't eat to excess. We mostly went to different sushi restaurants and had different rolls every night. Under $40 for two. 4) Eat a healthy breakfast on weekends and maybe have some popcorn or nuts or whatever to balance out whatever nutrients may have been missed during the week.

It was the easiest diet I've ever tried. The first few days weren't rough at all, contrary to my expectations. The anticipation of restaurant food (as a reward for the daily fast) did a lot to keep my mind off hunger, or at least reframe it: restaurant food was a reward, and I wasn't hungry, I was maximizing my future enjoyment.

We also saved a lot of time -- no groceries, no dishes, no meal prep, aside from some egg dishes on Saturday mornings in bed.

After that first month, we were both down 8-10 pounds, and conditioned to fast... Importantly, we didn't feel as though our diet had cost us anything socially: we could go out every night and eat together, the meals were so important to us that we had genuine excitement about what was for dinner, and this by itself was a good topic for conversation while waiting for the sushi to arrive.

At the end of the month, we had both shifted from passivity towards more active-executive control over our daily lives, especially our diets. To go a day without food is nothing, now. If either of us ever need to lose weight, it has become easy: we can simply eat less until we reach a goal.

I do 2:5 (working week without food, eat only on starting friday night) very often (another one due next week), and I don't have headaches. Basically, I just don't stop coffee! I have one coffee in the morning to get a kick, and that's it.

For metallic taste in mouth the best is sparkling mineral water. Oh and I wear socks in bed, because I get cold (I usually never do!)

personally I don't like fasting just 2 days, you get the 'disadvantages' of fasting (hunger the first day) with very little 'advantages' (autophagy). I think that 3 days is a minimum for a good 'return on investment'.

How many kilometres did you walk and how much of the trail mix did you consume each day?

Thanks for this info. I forgot about the No Salt and Salt trick in water from my running days, but it really does work. Thanks for this reminder because hydration is really the key to success in fasting.