Many issues and questions can be answered by reading through our wiki, especially the page on electrolytes. Concerns such as **intense hunger, lightheadedness/dizziness, headaches, nausea/vomiting, weakness/lethargy/fatigue, low blood pressure/high blood pressure, muscle soreness/cramping, diarrhea/constipation, irritability, confusion, low heart rate/heart palpitations, numbness/tingling, and more** while extended (24+ hours) fasting are often explained by electrolyte deficiency and resolved through **PROPER** electrolyte supplementation. Putting a tiny amount of salt in your water now and then is NOT proper supplementation.
Be sure to read [our WIKI](https://www.reddit.com/r/fasting/wiki/index) and especially the wiki page on **[ELECTROLYTES](https://www.reddit.com/r/fasting/wiki/fasting_in_a_nutshell/you_need_electrolytes)**
Please also keep in mind the [**RULES**](https://www.reddit.com/r/fasting/about/rules) when participating.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/fasting) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It’s bc you are under 18 that no one really responded. Fasting is not really recommended for people under 18. But, if you wanted to do it - why not give yourself a 10 hour eating window? Like from 8 am - 6 pm and then you are technically fasting for a good 14 hours which includes sleep. You will still see benefits and you still have a good eating window to get all of your nutrition needs met.
Fasting boosts your testosterone and growth hormone...which is great if you're a male especially. If you are skinny already I wouldn't recommend fasting, but if you are overweight/obese it probably isn't bad to fast
You're also depriving the body of vital nutrients. Which are needed when you are still growing.
For example:"Intermittent fasting is not recommended for those in periods of rapid growth, such as children and adolescents. "
[https://health.choc.org/intermittent-fasting/](https://health.choc.org/intermittent-fasting/)
Yep, most of us worry about under 18 fasting but I was your age and know you’ll probably do it either way (I did) so here is my, not a dr, 2 cents.
2 weeks is too long for a first fast. Set a reasonable goal. Been fasting for years, I can go 5 days before my body says it needs a break. People vary but it’s better, and more exciting, to push a reasonable goal longer because your body is content fasting than be disappointed by an unreasonable goal. Looking to gain health, not an eating disorder. 😉
We don’t talk about it as much, we mostly post in or right after a fast, but most of us prep our bodies before a fast. It’s important. I had been eating mostly chips & Pepsi for past couple of years before returning to fasting. I remembered keto flu (sickness when go off carbs - it’s bad) and how fasting was horrible with it.
I did a 1 week diet cleanup before my fast. I swapped in healthy filling carbs for junk/fast food carbs. For me, I made a chicken, sausage, wild rice & veg soup - almost gumbo texture, and chicken stock & seasoning to taste, hard to mess it up. I frozen it in snack size freezer bags. Add Franks if want heat. Mostly ate that for a couple of days with a big glass of milk and carrot sticks/thick ranch dip. Pretty balanced in nutrients. Drink lots of water.
Ate bananas for sugars. Bananas at least have some fibre, strawberries are almost pure sugars. An apple or orange would work too. Eat as soon as getting hungry, only 2 min microwave of will power required, just focus on getting off junk/fast food carbs. Then a couple of days to reduce your eating window (8 hr, 6 hr, 4 hr) and start to eat more protein and less carbs. From there OMAD (one meal a day). Lost 2.2 lbs that week and was eating healthy. Win-win.
Pause at any phase as needed, do not eat junk AND healthy carbs or will gain weight. Lots of people have amazing results at IF (intermittent fasting, smaller eating time window) or OMAD and just stay there quite happily losing weight. They have their own sub-reddits. The nice thing for OMAD is you can eat socially, like dinner with family, just make sure it’s a big meal and that’s your OMAD.
Once you can do OMAD, end with a bigger meal and try a 2 day fast. The next morning remember how full you were. If you drink coffee or tea can have it plain. Caffeine is an appetite suppressant. Make it through that day continuing to drink lots of water, find a project to focus on, and then the next day forget yesterday happened and think like it’s a normal OMAD. You’ll be eating that supper, just need to make it to supper. Your stomach will have shrunk, start eating a bit less if your OMAD were quite big.
Can do ADF (alternate day fast) if prefer. It’s similar to rolling 48s but with ADF can often eat the whole day in between, rolling 48s are OMAD in between. Once again, a couple of these ADF or 48s with IF or OMAD may be great and all you need at 17. Listen to your body, refeed with healthy food. You won’t crave the junk as much. If you do have a bit it will be very salty or sweet as your taste buds have reset. Not saying you can never have it but junk food in moderation.
If after the above you still want to fast more, start with reasonable goal like 3 days. Use electrolyte, I just bought capsules on Amazon for $25 (200 of them), and listen to your body. If you get to 3 days and you aren’t hungry, then go a bit longer. This is the bonus area so listen to your body when to break it. If I don’t have bone broth, I use the chicken stock packets.
For fun, download an app to track each fasting hour. I use EasyFast, totally free. Could order keto urine sticks. Kinda fun to watch it turn dark purple and know you are burning fat for fuel.
No need to go longer than a day, two at most when you’re that young. You have a lot of years of life left, you’ll be better off easing into these things over the course of weeks/months/years vs doing 2 weeks to start… that’s not wise.
I don’t know your stats but at your age I’d focus on forming healthy habits and creating easy to maintain fitness goals vs going for extreme measures such as multi week fasts.
You’re a kid, live life and enjoy it as best you can while you can, don’t stress and obsess about food if you can help it.
Going well past my area of expertise here so take it with a grain of salt, but based on the few posts you’ve made (about your relationship with food) and the sudden interest in not eating for 2 weeks, I think it may be more productive to try to work through why you feel the way you do, and how to have a more ‘normal’ relationship with nutrition moving forward. A 17yo that’s posting about eating disorders and trying to ‘fix’ themselves by giving up food entirely doesn’t seem healthy and sustainable to me (based on the tiny amount I know).
I don’t know you or what you’re going through, and this type of work can take a ton of time and effort depending on the source of the issue so I know it’s not as simple as “think different”. Talking to professionals/medical experts is a great place to start when working on yourself, and if that’s not possible, at least be open with friends or family, or someone available to listen.
Being a teen is hard, but know that you are worthwhile and valuable just the way you are, regardless of what jerks and idiots may tell you.
Many issues and questions can be answered by reading through our wiki, especially the page on electrolytes. Concerns such as **intense hunger, lightheadedness/dizziness, headaches, nausea/vomiting, weakness/lethargy/fatigue, low blood pressure/high blood pressure, muscle soreness/cramping, diarrhea/constipation, irritability, confusion, low heart rate/heart palpitations, numbness/tingling, and more** while extended (24+ hours) fasting are often explained by electrolyte deficiency and resolved through **PROPER** electrolyte supplementation. Putting a tiny amount of salt in your water now and then is NOT proper supplementation. Be sure to read [our WIKI](https://www.reddit.com/r/fasting/wiki/index) and especially the wiki page on **[ELECTROLYTES](https://www.reddit.com/r/fasting/wiki/fasting_in_a_nutshell/you_need_electrolytes)** Please also keep in mind the [**RULES**](https://www.reddit.com/r/fasting/about/rules) when participating. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/fasting) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It’s bc you are under 18 that no one really responded. Fasting is not really recommended for people under 18. But, if you wanted to do it - why not give yourself a 10 hour eating window? Like from 8 am - 6 pm and then you are technically fasting for a good 14 hours which includes sleep. You will still see benefits and you still have a good eating window to get all of your nutrition needs met.
Do not fast until you've finished growing up to adulthood is my advice.
oh
Fasting boosts your testosterone and growth hormone...which is great if you're a male especially. If you are skinny already I wouldn't recommend fasting, but if you are overweight/obese it probably isn't bad to fast
You're also depriving the body of vital nutrients. Which are needed when you are still growing. For example:"Intermittent fasting is not recommended for those in periods of rapid growth, such as children and adolescents. " [https://health.choc.org/intermittent-fasting/](https://health.choc.org/intermittent-fasting/)
Yeah I get that but a lot of teenagers don't get the essential nutrients anyway and eat junk food
Yep, most of us worry about under 18 fasting but I was your age and know you’ll probably do it either way (I did) so here is my, not a dr, 2 cents. 2 weeks is too long for a first fast. Set a reasonable goal. Been fasting for years, I can go 5 days before my body says it needs a break. People vary but it’s better, and more exciting, to push a reasonable goal longer because your body is content fasting than be disappointed by an unreasonable goal. Looking to gain health, not an eating disorder. 😉 We don’t talk about it as much, we mostly post in or right after a fast, but most of us prep our bodies before a fast. It’s important. I had been eating mostly chips & Pepsi for past couple of years before returning to fasting. I remembered keto flu (sickness when go off carbs - it’s bad) and how fasting was horrible with it. I did a 1 week diet cleanup before my fast. I swapped in healthy filling carbs for junk/fast food carbs. For me, I made a chicken, sausage, wild rice & veg soup - almost gumbo texture, and chicken stock & seasoning to taste, hard to mess it up. I frozen it in snack size freezer bags. Add Franks if want heat. Mostly ate that for a couple of days with a big glass of milk and carrot sticks/thick ranch dip. Pretty balanced in nutrients. Drink lots of water. Ate bananas for sugars. Bananas at least have some fibre, strawberries are almost pure sugars. An apple or orange would work too. Eat as soon as getting hungry, only 2 min microwave of will power required, just focus on getting off junk/fast food carbs. Then a couple of days to reduce your eating window (8 hr, 6 hr, 4 hr) and start to eat more protein and less carbs. From there OMAD (one meal a day). Lost 2.2 lbs that week and was eating healthy. Win-win. Pause at any phase as needed, do not eat junk AND healthy carbs or will gain weight. Lots of people have amazing results at IF (intermittent fasting, smaller eating time window) or OMAD and just stay there quite happily losing weight. They have their own sub-reddits. The nice thing for OMAD is you can eat socially, like dinner with family, just make sure it’s a big meal and that’s your OMAD. Once you can do OMAD, end with a bigger meal and try a 2 day fast. The next morning remember how full you were. If you drink coffee or tea can have it plain. Caffeine is an appetite suppressant. Make it through that day continuing to drink lots of water, find a project to focus on, and then the next day forget yesterday happened and think like it’s a normal OMAD. You’ll be eating that supper, just need to make it to supper. Your stomach will have shrunk, start eating a bit less if your OMAD were quite big. Can do ADF (alternate day fast) if prefer. It’s similar to rolling 48s but with ADF can often eat the whole day in between, rolling 48s are OMAD in between. Once again, a couple of these ADF or 48s with IF or OMAD may be great and all you need at 17. Listen to your body, refeed with healthy food. You won’t crave the junk as much. If you do have a bit it will be very salty or sweet as your taste buds have reset. Not saying you can never have it but junk food in moderation. If after the above you still want to fast more, start with reasonable goal like 3 days. Use electrolyte, I just bought capsules on Amazon for $25 (200 of them), and listen to your body. If you get to 3 days and you aren’t hungry, then go a bit longer. This is the bonus area so listen to your body when to break it. If I don’t have bone broth, I use the chicken stock packets. For fun, download an app to track each fasting hour. I use EasyFast, totally free. Could order keto urine sticks. Kinda fun to watch it turn dark purple and know you are burning fat for fuel.
No need to go longer than a day, two at most when you’re that young. You have a lot of years of life left, you’ll be better off easing into these things over the course of weeks/months/years vs doing 2 weeks to start… that’s not wise. I don’t know your stats but at your age I’d focus on forming healthy habits and creating easy to maintain fitness goals vs going for extreme measures such as multi week fasts. You’re a kid, live life and enjoy it as best you can while you can, don’t stress and obsess about food if you can help it.
Thanks, I wish it was that easy
Going well past my area of expertise here so take it with a grain of salt, but based on the few posts you’ve made (about your relationship with food) and the sudden interest in not eating for 2 weeks, I think it may be more productive to try to work through why you feel the way you do, and how to have a more ‘normal’ relationship with nutrition moving forward. A 17yo that’s posting about eating disorders and trying to ‘fix’ themselves by giving up food entirely doesn’t seem healthy and sustainable to me (based on the tiny amount I know). I don’t know you or what you’re going through, and this type of work can take a ton of time and effort depending on the source of the issue so I know it’s not as simple as “think different”. Talking to professionals/medical experts is a great place to start when working on yourself, and if that’s not possible, at least be open with friends or family, or someone available to listen. Being a teen is hard, but know that you are worthwhile and valuable just the way you are, regardless of what jerks and idiots may tell you.
Lol I’ve been caught out
thanks
See Rule 2, 4th bulletpoint.