Post your workout today

[shavenferret]

SvennoJ said:

shavenferret said:

So, i'm starting dry fasting today.

We hear people talk about how much they can lift, or how hard they can punch, but what about the inverse of that? Do you focus on lowering the weight or retracting your arm? The inverse of lifting might be thought of as fasting. I'm starting doing a couple dry fast days ( nonconsecutive) per week........ dry fasts are supposed to help with autophagy more, and help with the sympathetic nervous system b/c i'm always stressed, and also help increase dopamine so i'll hopefully get more motivated so that the juice is worth the squeeze and i'll actually go out get 'er done.

I kinda naturally fast during the day as I've always had morning nausea / no appetite and then don't eat until 4-5 pm. That works since I use Cannabis to sleep and before falling asleep I have breakfast at midnight. Basically living on 2 meals a day.

Does it reduce stress? The Cannabis does lol. But I do drink plenty fluids throughout the day, tea mostly and a cafe mocha in the morning. Not drinking at all during the day doesn't seem like a good idea, careful with headaches.



I got my stress relief and plenty dopamine today. It's finally above 0, +4c with the sun breaking through here and there. I put on my running shorts and just got back from a 3.2 hour, 27 km run. My legs are burning but I feel good, relaxed, happy. It was quite the workout as most of my run was on the trails. Melting packed snow either from people walking or snow mobiles. It's like running on the beach, energy sapping, every step sinking in. Hence taking over 3 hours. But only one chance today, next it will be too slushy and mud on still frozen ground.

The sun peeking out is my motivation to go. But generally, just the knowledge I'll feel better after exercising is enough to get motivated. Just some days are really hard to get going, those especially dark grey winter days, ugh.

Does fasting reduce stress?  yes, no, probably somewhat depending.  Ultimately though, i expect it to help more as weight is lost.  As they say, Rome wasn't built in just one day.  During the short term ( like a day or whatever) fasting increases cortisol.  But after that, cortisol drops and you start getting more of the "spiritual" effects of increased realization, closeness to a higher power, etc etc etc.  Fasting can also help decrease weight and inflammation, both of which increase cortisol.  As your organs start feeling better, your cortisol can drop.  

Your parasympathetic nervous system gets stronger with fasting.  This is the "brakes" of your central nervous system, or the rest and digest phase.  So that in itself, should decrease cortisol and help you sleep better. 

I feel a bit more stressed right now, but also things like memory, clarity, and motivation (the emobiment of dopamine i guess) are better today...... i'm also much calmer.  So it's a mixed bag.  I expect cortisol to decrease after i lose say 10 pounds or so because everything (like liver/heart/kidneys, mitochondria, etc) will all work better.  This fasting stuff should help with that. 

And stress is the reason why i'm cutting back on cardio and increasing things like yoga, weights, and kettlebell training.  But excessive cardio can jack up that cortisol, and cortisol gets higher as we age so eventually we'll have to figure out some way to keep that in control.  

Last edited by shavenferret - on 24 February 2025