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Summary
On episode 28 of 40+ Fitness, Coach Allan sits down with Jimmy Moore, a health podcaster and best-selling author of Keto Clarity and Cholesterol Clarity who lost 180 pounds and came off cholesterol, blood pressure, and respiratory medications.
In the third part of their conversation, Jimmy details his move from routine intermittent fasting into extended, multi-day fasts under the guidance of nephrologist Dr. Jason Fung, including a 17.5-day fast that dropped 19 pounds and 100 points of cholesterol.
The two also cover the mental hurdles of the first few fasting days, how to safely break a long fast, and why fasting gets so little attention from the medical and food industries despite its results.
Links
- https://livinlavidalowcarb.com
Key Takeaways
- Jimmy pushed past intermittent fasting into extended, multi-day fasts. After building comfort with 16 to 24 hour fasts on a ketogenic diet, he consulted nephrologist Dr. Jason Fung and began attempting fasts lasting a week or more to address stubborn insulin resistance left from his 410-pound past.
- His 17.5-day fast dropped 19 pounds, more than the math predicted. Dr. Fung's calculations suggested he should lose roughly half a pound of fat per day; losing more than double that rate signaled how insulin resistant Jimmy still was.
- His cholesterol dropped 100 points in 17.5 days, faster than statin drugs typically manage. His HDL dipped only slightly, which he attributes to eating zero dietary fat during the fast since HDL tends to rise with saturated fat intake.
- Extended fasting improved his gut health as a side effect. He believes the fast killed off harmful gut bacteria, leaving his digestion and elimination noticeably better afterward.
- Days two and three are the hardest part of an extended fast. Jimmy says if you can push through the initial hunger of days two and three, the fasting gets progressively easier from there.
- Coming off an extended fast requires easing back in, not a big meal. Dr. Fung recommends a small snack, like a handful of nuts or a small salad, about 30 minutes before a full meal to get blood flowing back to the stomach and avoid shocking the system.
- Allan and Jimmy argue fasting isn't promoted more because there's no money in not eating. Between industry incentives and a culture saturated with food, fasting as a free, powerful health tool gets little institutional support.
- Whether to fast first or get into ketosis first depends on your goal. If the goal is shifting from sugar-burning to fat-burning, fasting can accelerate that shift; if you're already fat-adapted through a ketogenic diet, extended fasting becomes easier to sustain.
“There's no money to be made in not eating.”
Jimmy Moore
Another Episode You May Enjoy
Episode 175 – Fasting for weight loss with Dr. Jason Fung and Jimmy Moore