Exercise and fasting and my bony self

[spacebug]

So, an idea of doing a short juice cleanse/fast type of thing was bantered around by a few friends. None of us have done anything like this and were thinking of trying it out. This is solely in the "hey, maybe we should try that" stage- no specific plan or start date has been suggested, so I'm just starting to research.

While this is an interesting idea to me, because I've never done it and because of a few other things, I'd be a little worried about it.
I take yoga once a week and train with derby, sometimes pretty hard, for two hours usually three other days a week. This means I'm exercising quite a bit- more than the other people who'd be doing this with me, at least. In addition to that, I have a pretty really naturally high metabolism and I've always been really thin; I'm at least mildly hungry a lot of the time as it is and can be pretty sensitive to when my blood sugar levels drop. I worry that if I fasted, it would be easy for my caloric intake to not be high enough for me to be healthy. Or maybe it wouldn't be that big of a deal if we only did this for three days and I took it easy for those three days? I'm not sure.

Because the girls on my derby team are generally more athletic and knowledgeable about this kind of thing than I am (my captain is a yoga instructor, others play or have played other sports, etc.), I asked them via an email list if they had any thoughts on this. The one response I got was that in her opinion, I should definitely *not* fast and that I should, in fact, do the opposite, and drink protein shakes and work on building muscle.

Hmm. While I have no desire to be a beefcake, this is also an interesting idea. Left to my own devices, my diet is probably really weighted on the carb end.

What do you think, livejournal?


Oh, man. I'm not becoming one of those crazy exercise/health people, am I?

Shit.

Comments

[lexinatrix.livejournal.com]

It all depends on your goals. I can see why the derby ladies would encourage strength training, because it aligns with being a higher-performing derby girl. I did a bunch of weight training when I was playing rugby. I wasn't beefcake, but I definitely did better when I had more/stronger muscles.

Fasting is usually a temporary thing. Bodies are remarkably resiliant. 2 weeks of fasting is not likely to harm your body. 2 weeks every month for several months probably would. Considering your physical activity, you may need to supplement with more vitamins, or broth/juice additives to give you more protein to burn during exercise.

If you're uncertain, can you fast after derby season ends, when you have fewer demands on your body for energy?

[spacebug.livejournal.com]

Hmm. We'll probably actually have a reasonable break for the holidays... but then it's the holidays. Who wants to fast *then*? ;)

[ande2713.livejournal.com]

i think you could probably do a weekend cleanse and be ok, but I wouldn't go more than a few days without sufficient protein considering.

and if you worry about blood sugar, just drink a juice with more natural sugars to help you out.

[birdfigment.livejournal.com]

What would a cleanse thing like that entail? If you could put soy powder into your drinks I think you'd be okay for a few days, but I'm not sure what's allowed....

[pied-piper70.livejournal.com]

I could see doing a fast for either cleansing out toxins in the body or for spiritual purposes...but to fast just for the sake of fasting seems not a good idea, especially when you are in the midst of some heavy physical activity...

You want to build muscle and maintain energy, not take it away...

[springbok1.livejournal.com]

I have problems with blood sugar levels too, and I've actually found a diet with higher protein and lower carb levels to keep my levels in check for longer. I do fast for religious reasons once a year, and I always do better when I have plenty of proteins going into the fast. But everyone's body is different.

I do recommend protein shakes/smoothies though. Not the kind you buy in stores, but the kind that you make yourself. You can get yogurt and protein powder at the grocery store/co-op, and then play around with the types of frozen fruits, veggies, flavorings, and other supplements you want to throw in. For a sweetener, I use honey. All of the commercial protein shakes I've tried have been way too sweet, in a sort of aspartame-y way, so I really like being able to control the level of sweetness myself, and I don't mind the extra calories from the honey.

[denaballerina.livejournal.com]

*begin opinion*

there is no scientific proof that fasting or cleansing detox diets do any good for your system.
also, i think you are excersicing WAY too much to attemp something like this, your gonna feel WAY shitty, which would suck.
also again, girls have a REALLY hard time becoming a "beefcake" and since your bodytype is pretty much the exact opposite of that, i don't think you have any need to worry. gooooooooo protein!

*end opinion*

[burnunit.livejournal.com]

DO THE MASTER CLEANSER
Sure, you're breath will smell like ass (not the good kind of ass, either) but you will be One with the master.


seriously though
Fasting during times of intense, demanding physical activity like a contact sport, are contraindicated. Your body needs food and protein and carbs during such times and fasting would do more harm than good-- your recovery times would be really longer and you'd increase risk of injury because your body would be protecting itself a little bit from the fasting, and putting the additional demand on it to "fix my aching joints and bruised areas" could cause problems.

Fasting isn't inherently bad, but your derby gals are partly right-- during the season at least, you should focus on strength and increased protein intake. While I don't buy the "high protein diet" deal, and generally speaking, Americans eat way more protein than they have to (literally pissing their excessing protein intake down the drain), but some kind of protein every day is good for you. It's not necessary to get it from the traditional American source (i.e., meat), but protein is necessary to survival, doubly so if you're engaged in more intense activity.

imho, a proper fast or cleanse would mean a pretty serious deal--maybe not the master cleanser, per se--but my experience with cleanses/fasts means we're talking no proteins or solid foods. So no on the soy powders, etc. Total purgation of junk from your system through pure liquids and citrus juices. that's why it's temporary--you're cutting out the things you'd normally eat and surviving on the bare minimum for a brief period.

My only concern is, you weigh like 38 pounds and have the metabolism of a barn swallow. Don't fast for more than a weekend the first time you do it. 3 days max.

[jodi.livejournal.com]

protein!

(and go ahead and become a health/fitness nut. not enough people think about what they are putting into their bodies.)

Spacebug's $.02 psychoanalysis!

[spacebug.livejournal.com]

Yeah... 'cept I have weird associations with health-nut tendencies 'cause my Dad is/was one to an arguably unhealthy extreme. His exercise addiction was (I think) a main manifestation of other problems. So, while I wanna be healthy and everything, I feel hypersensitive to the fact that I can get or could be getting unduly wrapped up in it, and I don't wanna.

Re: Spacebug's $.02 psychoanalysis!

[jodi.livejournal.com]

ah, i see. baggage with no love handles

[thaadd.livejournal.com]

I think if you really want to 'cleanse' your system, you ought to do so by eating unprocessed (no additives a 3rd grader could not pronounce) food for a bit, and drink a bunch of water. I seriously don't think that you should lower your caloric intake during your normal derby etc regime. So if you do go ahead and do a fast of juice (which in and of itself, is simple sugars, which can give energy) you should make a careful note of how much calories you are drinking, and make sure it's nigh constant intake, because the digestion rate is very quick.

My biochem class I took last spring was weighted towards the nursing students, and we focused alot on the successive metabolic pathways (from most preferred, simple sugars and semi-broken down small proteins) that the body will go through. If you don't GIVE your body protein, it'll TAKE it. That's muscle mass, and it leaves biochemcial scraps, which get peed out.

[spikenheimer.livejournal.com]

i think instead, you should just eat steaks for a week.

;)

on a more serious note, i think you'd be better to increase bulk up a bit for derby rather than not. of course it really depends on what it is you want to do. i know that if you were had a bit more mass you'd have an easier time as a blocker and might survive falls a bit better. that being said, you made the team already so you have enough goin on that you don't ncessarily need to bulk up. i would think in a more short term dietary goal scenario you need energy and burst energy for skating. a dietician should be able to tell you how your diet approaches these goals and how a juice fasting would impede / harm it. my concern for you would be if the during fasting the type of rigor you go through from derby causes your body to start metabolizing muscle mass that would be bad.
anyways, doesnt derby cleanse enough of your toxins out through bruising??!?!

[jmutate.livejournal.com]

Instead of drinking whiskey try switching to vodka.

[hexagonalcarbon.livejournal.com]

I don't know about you, but I am not able to do physical work without being full of food.

I found just socializing or lying around the house without food could easily be done for more than 24 hours, even without juice. Intense mental activity, like reading wikipedia for hours does give me a headache though.

My observation has been that people who talk about the "cleansing" of "toxins" never mention which toxins they hope to get rid of, why, where they came from, nor how they will be cleansed. Radon, LDL cholesterol, lead, botulinum toxin, unfriendly e. coli, and carbon monoxide all respond differently (or not at all) to fasting (or anything else). Don't fast as a pseudo science medical procedure. Fast because it's interesting.

[dangerdhotrod.livejournal.com]

i wouldn't want to fast until a break in excercise. but then i also don't see a three day fast as that big a deal either. it doesn't seem like your body is going to totally cannibalize itself in that short amount of time. just wait until derby is over to be sure.

and i also bet that if you started pigging out and drinking smoothies before bed you'd totally start seeing a difference in your muscle-ly ness. with lots of activity like you're getting the eating / smoothie kind of thing shortly before bed works really well for building muscle.

[spacebug.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think I'll try to start doing that. I love smoothies anyway, and drinking those before bed, especially right after derby when I'm really hungry, would be a lot better than drinking beer...

I think this means I have to go buy a blender, since I don't know what happened to mine since convergence...