Fast Day 2: 7:45 AM Pacific Time

Physiology

I am in the last 6 hours of Day 2. Physiologically this means that my liver’s stores of glycogen are gone, and my body is shifting over to ketosis or ketone production – the use of fatty acids as fuel instead of glucose. This shift generally begins on the second day of fasting and completed by the third. In this interim period there is no glucose available and energy from fat conversion is insufficient but the body still needs fuel. So it accesses glucose from two sources. It first converts glycerol, available in the body’s fat stores, to glucose but this is still insufficient. So it makes the rest that it needs from catabolizing, or breaking down, the amino acids in muscle tissue, using them in the liver for gluconeogenesis, or the making of glucose. Between 60 and 84 grams of protein are used on this second day, 2-3 ounces of muscle tissue. By the third day ketone production is sufficient to provide nearly all the energy the body needs and the body’s protein begins to be strongly conserved. The body still needs a tiny amount of glucose for some functions, however, so a very small amount of protein, 18-24 grams, is still catabolized to supply it – from 1/2 to 1 ounce of muscle tissue per day.

Personal

Just had my morning checkup:  Lost another 1.5 pounds and I am now down 4 pounds from the start of the fast.  Blood pressure: 110/74

This is not going to be easy – I had a difficult evening yesterday. Very lightheaded and nauseous. They want me to drink at least 48 oz of water a day, and I was left with about 12 oz at 7 PM and had to force myself to drink. It made me quite sick. I took a 30 minute nap and felt a bit better and then watched a DVD (Hostage with Bruce Willis) until 10:30 PM. Fortunately, I was able to sleep well and woke up at 6 AM.

I am still quite lightheaded, but no longer nauseous and hoping today will be an easy one. My first experience with Ketosis. I am scheduled for a blood test at 9AM, and lectures at 10 AM and 2:30 PM.

That is all for now as I get ready to read 6 newspapers on line, catch up on the news and sports, and then get some sun.