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*? ;)