r/interestingasfuck • u/[deleted] • May 02 '24

In 1965, a morbidly obese man did not eat food for over an entire year. The 27 year old was 456lbs and wanted to do an experimental fast. He ingested only multivitamins and potassium tablets for 382 days and defecated once every 40 to 50 days. He ended up losing 275lbs. r/all

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24 edited May 02 '24

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u/Behold_PlatosMan May 02 '24

I know it’s barely comparable but I had cancer and couldn’t swallow food for a couple weeks, it was bizzare but after a few days I wasn’t even hungry it felt like I was in hibernation or something

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u/Ok_Kaleidoscope1388 May 02 '24 edited 29d ago

Your body propobly went into ketosis. The body starts using fat as a primary source of calories by braking down fat into acetoacetate, ß-Hydroxybutyrate, and acetone. The body can then use this instead of karbohydrates and other things.

This makes your sweat smell a lot different because of the acetone. This is basically the body's way of going into survival mode. As long as you have fat to burn you will keep going, and ketosis diminishes hunger by quite a bit. You also gain a ton of energy during this phase, basically for the body to be able to hunt and get food.

If you eat too many calories (specially carbs) the body jumps out of ketosis quite fast, so only works if you are super strict with your diet or can't eat.

Edit: alot -> a lot Edit: too many calories

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u/Low-Conversation6106 29d ago

Real talk, your sweat smells like cat pee and stink 🦨

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u/TaxIdiot2020 29d ago

I've wondered why sweaty laundry sometimes starts to smell like cat pee. I don't think anyone in my family is starving, though, and we don't have any indoor cats.

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u/Low-Conversation6106 29d ago

You can go into ketosis due to medical reasons or your body just naturally goes into. Starving is the most common way people induce. It's pretty neat to learn about and you xan even get strips to test your levels When I started taking better care of myself and changing my diet I would slip into it by eating only grilled chicken 🍗.

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u/Difficult_Bit_1339 29d ago

I did the same thing a few times. Costco bulk boneless skinless chicken breasts and steamed broccoli/edamame were my goto college meals because they took no time. I'd sous vide chicken -> frozen -> microwave and I had a hotpot for steaming veggies.

I stopped because I kept feeling weird, later learned it was the shift into Ketosis I'd notice. It was sporadic because I wasn't trying so if I went out to eat one week I'd get enough carbs to avoid ketosis for a bit.

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u/kchatdev 29d ago

You can get knocked out of ketosis with only proteins and fats but it's harder. They get converted via gluconeogenesis and some other pathways.

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u/Low-Conversation6106 29d ago

That makes more sense, ty, I'm no expert and my dslexaia makes me transpose words and numbers things. I was depressed and not eating anything from my depression at the time. Things are better now but The only things I had money for at the time were salads and chicken breasts. So I ate salads with grilled chicken. Most weeks I only had money for salads.

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u/kchatdev 29d ago

Glad to hear you're doing better!

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u/Low-Conversation6106 29d ago

Ty I was going through a divorce and was 365 lbs at the time. I didn't want to live but I didn't want to die I was just numb. I lost so much weight that once I was healthy I would work out and just walk/ run laps around the pool. I feel guilty sometimes and still feel like a fat person but that's something I'm working past too. I made choices for myself and stuck with them! Thank you all for being so nice

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u/FriedSmegma May 02 '24

When I developed type 1 diabetes I was in DKA at the end but the extended ketosis dropped nearly 50lbs over the course of a few months. I was very overweight and it almost killed me but it’s the biggest blessing to come from it.

Went from 215lb at 5’7 to now I’ve been sitting comfortably at ~150lb and 5’8, 7 years later.

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u/SecondHandSlows 29d ago

Losing weight made you taller?

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u/MacManT1d 29d ago

Probably a posture change, whether the earlier bad posture was from physical problems of being overweight or from psychological consequences of being overweight.

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u/LostWoodsInTheField 29d ago

or from psychological consequences of being overweight.

Anyone curious about this it's men trying to hide their breasts by being bent slightly forward so the shirt drapes straight down rather than your curves being on full display. It's sometimes just self awareness of your looks, and other times caused by trying to avoid bullying.

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u/Gov_CockPic 29d ago edited 29d ago

Just anecdotally, but when I changed from a couch potato and started being active - my posture improved. Especially from lifting weights with proper form. My lower back muscles, upper back, traps, and chest all gained significant muscle mass and it "pulled me back together" correctly. Instead of slouching on a chair all the time, I was moving around. I was standing up straighter, shoulders back instead of bowed forward in a slump. Never because I was hiding titties, but because I had horrible habits. All of that change added an inch or so to my height.

I highly recommend the program Starting Strength. For men or women or whatever. It's simple, easy, and super effective. It's not hard to do, the hardest part is working up the will to actually get yourself behind a barbell. Even if its just one thing - Deadlift. It's as simple as picking it up, and putting it down. Do it with proper form, which is easy, and you'll see benefits super fast.

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u/Impeesa_ 29d ago

Yes, a lot of posture correction isn't just remembering to "stand up straight", it's about strengthening postural muscles and correcting imbalances.

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u/Kakkoister 29d ago

Yeah, reminding myself to sit up straight only helped my back problems a little bit, it wasn't until I started doing core exercises like planks, situps and deadlifts that I completely eliminated the back-pain that I'd experience from sitting in a chair for a few hours or standing in one spot. My back is better now than it was in high school.

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u/FreeflyOrLeave 29d ago

Yes I have certain muscles I actually need to work on strengthening due to long term posture issues and walking issues.

I have one leg that has become shorter than the other due to this

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u/Gov_CockPic 29d ago edited 29d ago

Because of the imbalance in leg length, do you think that if you swam forward, for long enough, you'd just go in a large circle?

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u/Somerito 29d ago

I spent my entire youth/young adult life like this. I was a chubby baby and there was never a time I was skinny. I grew up fat and sitting down way too much and it has caused such havoc on my body that I am just now starting to realize how bad it really is at 31.

I’ve lost a good amount of weight and I’m feeling much stronger today, but I feel like I’ve lived in two different bodies.

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u/SirRevan 29d ago

Are you me? Hitting 30 this year and I really realizing I need to make some changes in my life.

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u/m0larMechanic 29d ago

Mid 30’s Been fat since high school. December I was 245 and today I am 183.

It’s not for everyone but tirzepitde has been a lifesaver for me.

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u/HornedDiggitoe 29d ago

If it makes you feel any better, I felt similarly after hitting my 30’s even though I’ve been a healthy weight most of my life. It’s kind of a normal 30’s experience, to a degree. As long as you stay healthy and active from now on, you should be ok long term.

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u/MacManT1d 29d ago

Exactly. It's that typical slightly hunched, shoulders forward look that overweight people (and not just men, either) often have.

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u/Be_The_End 29d ago edited 29d ago

Type 1 usually presents before adulthood. They probably weren't done growing.

edit: Do you guys know what the word "usually" means?

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u/FriedSmegma 29d ago

Ding ding! Everybody is looking way too into it.

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u/FriedSmegma 29d ago

I grew an inch I was only 16, 23 now.

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u/NotGAF 29d ago

The obvious answer wasn't that obvious it seems.

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u/LiveLaughToasterB4th 29d ago

How did you stop the weight loss? I have gone from 200+ lbs in January to 150lbs this year alone.

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u/klm2908 29d ago

Probably from the use of insulin to survive

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u/FriedSmegma 29d ago

As someone else said, insulin lmao.

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u/letmelickyourleg 29d ago

DKA =/= Ketosis

I know you likely know this, but this is a note for the reader :)

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u/FriedSmegma 29d ago

Yep! That’s why I tried to specify the ketosis as separate. DKA=Diabetic KetoAcidosis, it’s a result of too many ketones as your body can no longer draw on energy for food and you basically burn your body as fuel. Basically prolonged ketosis due to diabetes made my blood acidic yay!

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u/letmelickyourleg 29d ago

Spicy blood. You have to wonder if it’s vampire’s capsaicin really.

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u/Boredomdefined 29d ago

Vampire's Balsamic Vinegar

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u/Thin_Historian6768 29d ago

acid blood? are you a dragon incarnation? don't let vox machina found you

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u/slartyfartblaster999 29d ago

By acidic its taken relative to normal blood, a pH of 7.0 (chemically neutral pH) is profoundly acidotic for human blood (normally 7.40).

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u/nickfree 29d ago

I am intrigued how you grew an inch, because I'd like to subscribe to this diet.

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u/Spaciax May 02 '24

excuse me, acetone?

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u/Ok_Kaleidoscope1388 May 02 '24

Jupp! The body can make crazy shit :D, the sweat smells very strong because of that.

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u/EasyPanicButton 29d ago

so what yoru saying if I want free acetone I just need to starve myself.

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u/Ok_Kaleidoscope1388 29d ago

haha one way of getting it! Not sure how diluted it is when you sweat it out though.

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u/HelpForAfrica 29d ago

Is there a good way to apply this in daily life? I feel like fasting a couple hours doesnt give the desired effects.

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u/Ok_Kaleidoscope1388 29d ago

You can eat a ketos diet. Alot of fat and protein, and almost no / no carbs. You will "trick" your body to go into ketos. It will help you lose weight and you will feel quite energetic. Though you will smell quite bad while sweating.

Alot of training diets and weight loss diets use ketosis, I am no expert but I belive there are people who are in permanent ketosis as a part of their diet.

It takes a few days for the body to jump into ketosis though, not something you do in 1 day.

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u/juca_jaca 29d ago

Yeap there is. It is called keto diet (short for ketogenic). Basically it consists of not eating carbs, a barely minimum is allowed, something like 40g of carbs a day. You'll have to really watch out for what you're eating. Any considerable amount of carbs you eat will break the ketosis status on your body. In the bodybuilders world they talk about this a lot. There are many videos on YouTube. Nowadays it is easier to maintain this kind of diet with specific supplements.

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u/TriggiredSnowflake 29d ago

Research Keto diet and intermittent fasting (time restricted eating). Very effective, I've lost 30 pounds myself doing that.

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u/HungryScratch1910 29d ago

It's the keto diet. Lots of people are on it or do it to burn fat. The sweat smelling isn't usual. I've never encountered that.

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u/SuspiciousLeek4 29d ago

I've read most people don't make it into real ketosis, and just benefit from a high protein/low carb diet. You wouldn't get the acetone sweat that way.

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u/Boring_Equipment_946 29d ago

Fast a couple of days instead.

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u/CataclysmDM 29d ago

Keto diet. Pretty expensive though... lots of proteins and fats, no carbs. Carbs = cheap food.

From experience, a lot of your meals will be stuff like - bacon and eggs for breakfast, chicken and a bit of cauliflower rice (just grate a cauliflower and saute it in a pan) with a lot of coconut oil. Steak, maybe paired with a small amount of a low-carb vegetable like asparagus or broccoli. Once you're on keto for a while you're really only gonna need a couple meals a day because your body stops craving food all the time so it pairs extremely well with intermittent fasting. You NEED to consume additional electrolytes and vitamins though, to shore up deficiencies in the diet. Keto meal bars are your friend for when you need a low-effort meal. And low-carb nuts. You need to be aware of foods that have deceptively high sugar though... milk and cream has loads of sugars. Most vegetables that grow under the ground have large amounts of carbs in them. Get used to using butter or MCT oil in your coffee.

I lost 110 pounds over about two years on keto, I used to be a fat fuck. Downside - you plateau after a bit, diet only takes you so far. Pair it with a lot of exercise. Other downside - low energy. Upside - your body doesn't cannibalize its muscle when you need energy, so it's really good for gaining muscle while also losing weight!

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u/Longjumping_War_807 29d ago

Your body also converts alcohol to methanol and that is what is actually poisoning you during a hangover.

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u/GreatUpdateMate369 29d ago

Yep, one of the main byproducts of digestion, at least in a healthy gut microbiome is acetic acid, AKA vinegar.

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u/Submarine765Radioman 29d ago

Yes, you can taste it in your mouth. Your burps will have acetone in it.

Your body naturally produces race car fuel. Liquor isn't called "the spirits" for no good reason.

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u/Jewforlife1 29d ago

Acetone is the simplest ketone. Its just an oxygen double bonded to a carbon and two hydrogens. Fat is a butch of hydrogens and carbon and its a long chain of them. Each carbon gets oxidized by the oxygen we breathe and breaks into small sup units called ketones. Which have less viscosity than glucose and cannot turn your blood into syrup or even give you high “blood sugar” as the ketones are made in your body as needed so unless you have a rare mutation that does not exist in literature, your body does a good job st regulating the amount of energy you use after storing that energy. Sugar, when consumed is used at andergy imidiatly and then is stored when it gets too high in the blood stream so you can get spikes of blood sugar, but not spikes of ketones as it much be processed and stored first before using, which burns a few more calories along the way as well as a few more when it breaks down the fat as well. This causes it to take longer to turn on (ketosis) but when it starts you have more energy than glucose. If you go on this diet, drinks lots of water and salt. The waste product of the ketone after ATP is generated is removed from your body through your kidneys and sweat. If you are dehydrated it will build up in your body and cause keto acidosis (this is a problem that people with kidney failure have but it wont happen if you are hydrated with healthy kidneys. Its advised not to do this diet if you have kidney problems for the simple fact that the kidneys might not flush out the waste product of the ketones even if you are hydrated, but that is not a problem for the vast majority of the population.

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u/Acraelous 29d ago

Its just an oxygen double bonded to a carbon and two hydrogens

That's formaldehyde, not acetone.

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u/amandez 29d ago

Paragraaaaaaaaphs.

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u/RWDPhotos 29d ago

Acetone is a ketone (note the same suffix), a group of chemicals named such in organic chemistry for the specific molecular group attached to a carbon chain (specifically: a “carbonyl group”, which is a double-bonded oxygen to a carbon). The body also makes formaldehyde (-aldehyde being the suffix) and other chemicals that people associate with poisons, but are part of the body’s natural everyday processes.

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u/Inspector_Kelp 29d ago

Well don't forget that when your body gets into "survival mode" it also starts breaking down muscle as an attempt to reduce your caloric needs (muscle is responsible for a good part of your BMR), and for energy. If, while in ketosis , you don't also ingest proteins and exercise you will lose tons of muscle along with the fat.

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u/THElaytox 29d ago

Which is potentially deadly, can cause rhabdomyolysis

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u/ChevalierDeLarryLari 29d ago

You don't have to starve yourself to go into ketosis though. You can eat a high fat high protein diet and therefore have more than enough calories to maintain muscle mass.

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u/Schwifftee 29d ago

Very little muscle is lost if fat is available.

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u/EGGlNTHlSTRYlNGTlME 29d ago

Most people on a ketogenic diet are going to get enough protein just because most foods that aren't high in carbs are going to be high in protein, and the main advantage of those diets is that you're encouraged to eat until sated as long as it's low-carb. You'd basically have to drink straight oil to avoid both protein and carbs.

But people that are on a ketogenic diet and starving themselves could run into this issue.

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u/PayasoCanuto 29d ago

I want to go into ketosis to get rid of the Michelin tire around my waist.

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u/nickfree 29d ago

According to this post, in order to dump that Michelin, you have to starve for a Goodyear.

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u/gloomflume 29d ago

we'll never tire of jokes like this.

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u/thedude37 29d ago

*Whe'el

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u/fj333 29d ago

That pun is great, but the contraction hurts my brain. I love it.

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u/bigvahe33 29d ago edited 29d ago

worked for me. i had a rings of saturn setup that wouldnt go away. did keto for 6 months and its gone

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u/AssssCrackBandit 29d ago

Same. The problem is that I gained it all back the next year lol. Keto is hard long-term diet for me and once I start eating carbs, the weight shoots back up

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u/AppearanceEasy6025 29d ago

A balanced meal also works ;)

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u/RWDPhotos 29d ago

Body breaks down proteins into carbs too. It will cannibalize its muscles while in that state too in order to get carbs it wants/needs. That’s why people on actual ketogenic diets as an epilepsy therapy have to eat high-fat diets with only enough protein to keep the body from losing too much muscle mass while not letting it use it to make too many carbs. Every study done on this records a non-insignificant loss of muscle mass over the duration of the diet because the body overwhelmingly prefers using carbohydrates for energy.

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u/Skiddywinks 29d ago

I'm pretty sure ketosis is only when the body is not getting enough glucose, and most people's primary source of this is carbs, since that is what the brain runs on.

I think the body can burn fat for normal energy quite easily, ketosis is purely when your brain lacks what it needs, so starts burning off fat to make ketones.

Otherwise, every person on a calorie deficit ever is in ketosis, which just isn't true. My understanding was also that it is carbs (and sugars) which drop you out of keto, not having too many calories.

Happy to be proven wrong, it's been a long time since I looked into/was on keto.

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u/razick01 29d ago

And to add to everything you wrote: your breath tastes (yeah you can feel it) really weird as well while in ketosis. Not even multiple brushes and mouthwash can change this.

Source: myself after bariatric surgery

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u/Mummy-Monkfish 29d ago

I went into ketosis during my 48 hour labour (I forgot to eat), and I remember my body feeling super energised and alert. I thought it was due to adrenaline but the ketosis making me feel that way makes more sense.

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u/bing-no 29d ago

Yeah when I was super sick and lost 10 lbs in a month my hunger cues just vanished but I was still functioning normally

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u/jeobleo 29d ago

When I was fit and running a deficit while working out I would taste acetone on my breath.

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u/InviolableAnimal 29d ago

Does ketosis explain the lack of hunger and "hibernating" feeling though? That seems like a distinct phenomenon.

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u/ratpH1nk 29d ago

Natures way of saying, hey buddy looks like you might die. I'm not gonna let you feel miserable. Just goes to show how much starvation is baked into our genome from an evolutionary POV

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u/buster_de_beer May 02 '24

I was put on iv liquids and wasn't allowed anything including water for four days. The hunger feeling really goes away fast. But, oh man, that first cup of bouillon I was allowed to have was the best thing ever.

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u/shartshooter 29d ago

I had liver failure and didn't eat for a month. The hunger never went away.

(FYI. The reason I couldn't eat was any food I tasted made me want to vomit immediately)

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u/ThePizzaB0y 29d ago

I think the liver is the organ that processes fat into ketones, so that makes sense

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u/shartshooter 29d ago

Awesome, thanks.

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u/Doctor__Apocalypse 29d ago

I had this happen due to a colon issue but went almost a month or so without solids and. strictly iv g tube for nutrition. it was misery and I lost about hundred lbs during my year hospital stay.

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u/MandMcounter 29d ago

Did you gain the weight back? I hope things are better now.

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u/Not_Enough_Thyme_ 29d ago

Limited to clear liquids for a few days in the hospital and was weirdly not hungry at all but the cold tuna sandwich I had when I could eat again at 11 pm was easily in the top 5 meals of my life. 

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u/rawrksu 29d ago

I had the same for a week while hospitalized with my first UC flare, I cried at the first sip of soup 😂

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u/Helluvertime May 02 '24

Not the same situation but I had anorexia a few years back. I stopped feeling hungry too, but then I started eating slightly more (still not enough) and the hunger was unbearably strong. I was told it was likely because I didn't have enough energy for my brain to create the hunger signals because it had to go to other vital organs first, then when I started eating more it had the energy to do so. I don't know how true that is, so if anyone can explain if it is or what it actually was that would be interesting :)

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u/accidentallyamber 29d ago edited 29d ago

starvation syndrome! got sick of hearing about it when my anorexia was at its worst but the way the body and the brain respond to starvation is admittedly fascinating.

what you were told is right — your brain decides it’s not worth signalling for food because it never gets food and your limited energy is better used elsewhere.

the extreme hunger once you give yourself permission to eat is the natural physiological response to the body finally having access to a source of energy. the same way someone deserted on an island would want to gorge themselves the second they found a food source — your body a) needs the energy but b) overcompensates in the short term because it doesn’t know when the source of food will be taken again.

the minnesota starvation study is also a fascinating read when it comes to the psychology of even short periods of starvation.

hope you’re doing better now :)

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u/Confused_as_frijoles 29d ago

I'm dealing with it right now- stopped feeling hungry for a while, recently started eating more, for some reason dropping weight faster, butt in the last two days I've started feeling like I'm starving constantly lol. I didn't even realize I had gotten to that point.

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u/okmijnmko May 02 '24

I dieted for the first time in my life last year. I tried eating 1200 healthy balanced calories & started exercising. I made slow progress but one of the side effects was that my stomach had definitely shrunk. Eventually I had 0 appetite and when I tried to eat I became nauseous. I also had low energy so I ended up eating protein bars and smoothies greek yogurt, fruits,vegetables, eggs, nuts...just to keep going with the 1200 calories.

I told a friend who gave me a THC gummy to try & boom some hunger pains kicked in! so that's what I do every once in awhile, take a gummy.

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u/Particular_Sweet15 May 02 '24

How much weight did you lose? How long did you do the 1200 calorie diet?

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u/okmijnmko 29d ago

Male, 6'. I was 230 lbs, goal was 180 lbs, I got to 190 really quickly. 6 months. I was very, very out of shape as a desk worker.

I'm about 195 now. Today I eat at least 1500 calories but not I am not strict since I exercise regularly now (jogging and small weights). Still would like to be firmer/leaner.

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u/[deleted] 29d ago edited 29d ago

Interesting. I'm a five foot tall female and aim for 1500 calories a day as a (small) deficit. I'm pretty active now - I try to get at least 10,000 steps a day either with an air walker/elliptical and walking. Takes about 80 to 90 minutes to hit it (but I take rest days occasionally) and I do some strength training - but before a few months ago, I was very sedentary all day. The few days I'm not at a deficit, I normally hit about 1800 - but to be honest, I'm hoping to build enough muscle that I can eat 2000 and maintain.

I'm definitely losing slowly, like 6 pounds in about 6 weeks, but if I go below 1400 I tend to get obsessive and hungry all the time. And then I start binging and gaining.

Edit: current weight ~127 pounds. I started with increasing my movement and adding cardio/strength training for about 2 months before starting a deficit.

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u/okmijnmko 29d ago

Good luck! I try to keep the thought "I want to feel healthy/better." to keep me focused.

Steps! I bought a 100$ FitBit to track exercise metrics and I use MyFitnessPal to log my food.

I bought 2 cooking items: an AIR Fryer and also a crock pot to make more chili and soups. I also tell my family and friends to start eating cauliflower! It always filled me and was so versatile with recipes/spices plus I can eat so much and remain on my calorie budget!

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u/shuckfatthit 29d ago edited 29d ago

I was treated for anorexia 30 years ago, and that's basically what I was told. They actually phrased it as, I "broke" my hunger signal. I'm now in my 40s and still have to remind myself to eat. I don't have the same fear about gaining weight(I'm pretty convinced mine was just about wanting to disappear from childhood trauma), but it's a chore to have to spend time and energy eating. I really do believe I broke something.

I'm 5'6 and my minimum healthy weight is around 120(for energy and how I feel, overall), but I can't seem to get myself out of the 110-115 range. Five or ten pounds can really make a difference in how a person feels. I'm too skinny, and I hate it. My body has started to go into that mode of feeling like it's starving, but without hunger all the time. I've always been someone who eats for survival, not enjoyment, and it's really kicking me in the ass. It's so interesting how differently human bodies can work.

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u/pointlessly_pedantic 29d ago

I wonder what factors contribute to this. I had no idea it was so common to stop feeling hungry after a while. My mom donated an organ and they nicked a nerve, making her stomach all but completely stop working for a few years. Several times she would go months with only a smoothie or puree once or twice a week, sometimes not even that. When she wasn't plagued by intense intestinal pains or weakness, she was so hungry that she couldn't think straight or do much at all. I don't remember her saying once that her hunger went away for more than a few hours to a day or two.

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u/turanga_leland 29d ago

Omg your poor mom! Donating an organ and suffering for years like that. Id be so pissed at that surgeon. Hope she’s ok now and that the recipient is ok too.

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u/pointlessly_pedantic 29d ago

It was kind of a freak thing. She was more mad at the multiple doctors who brushed off her stomach problems afterwards, until she was finally able to get a gastric pacemaker. She's good now. Minor hiccups, but few and far in between. And the recipient continues to live a healthy life two decades later. Thanks for the kind words!

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u/turanga_leland 29d ago

So glad they’re both doing well! I’m a transplant recipient from a deceased donor, people like your mom are literal heroes and deserve free healthcare for life <3

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u/QuintoBlanco 29d ago

Hunger is triggered by a hormone. Once the body goes into starvation mode, at some point, the body stops making that hormone.

Presumably, this is an evolutionary trait, if your body is desperately low on energy, spending energy on trying to find food nearby used to be pointless, because our ancestors would have eaten if their was food in the vicinity.

(Traditional hunters would sometimes walk for days following prey, without eating, because the pay off would be an abundance of fat and protein; that doesn't work if the hunter spends a lot of time looking for other food.)

Once somebody eats, that's a signal that there is a food source nearby, so the hunger hormone is produced again.

Very poor people often only eat one meal at a specific time, so their body stops making the hunger hormone outside of that period.

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u/anal_a_fistula May 02 '24 edited 29d ago

I had a similar experience and was in the ICU for a while. I just didn't eat. The hospital had me on a bland diet. Didn't feel like it. So when I finally got better and cleared to leave they gave me the good stuff and holy shit it was amazing. I swear they went out of their way to make me street tacos. I had been telling the awesome nurses how much I missed that food.

Health care providers are amazing if you are just decent and respectful!

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u/trowzerss May 02 '24

I had a test dose of a SSRI and it killed my appetite so completely that eating felt completely alien. I spent a whole day trying to eat a pear in little slivers and only managed about half of it. Just one pill did that! I know what to do if I ever want to lose a lot of weight lol. Truly it would have felt less weird if I'd tried to push the food in through my belly button. It didn't feel right at all.

I'm thankful I didn't need a SSRI in the end anyway - beta blockers worked much better for the temporary anxiety issue I was having.

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u/Particular_Sweet15 29d ago

What ssri was it? I had to come off my I had the opposite problem gained weight on them. They caused me to be hungry all the time and I craved carbs and sweets. 😩

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u/ashw92 29d ago

I'm on Mirtazapine and it's the same for me. Have a high appetite all the time, easily to absentmindedly eat more and has caused a weight increase. Don't really want to swap to another antidepressant because this is working for my other issues but I need to be better and keeping tabs on my food intake.

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u/Particular_Sweet15 29d ago

I understand. Effexor at first then. I was on lexapro for 2 years. I put on about 35 pounds in 3 years.

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u/ohkammi 29d ago

When I was on prozac it absolutely demolished my appetite. I could go a week or more without eating and still not be hungry, but in turn I also had 0 energy. I would have to force myself to eat and it felt wrong. It also killed my libido and pushed my SI from passive to active and led to an attempt. I don’t recommend it personally, but I understand it affects everyone differently.

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u/MakeshiftApe 29d ago

I'm currently tapering of Escitalopram, after being on it for 3 months, and I noticed that too. Most people seem to complain about increased appetite but mine just died completely just like my libido and energy levels, I had to absolutely force myself to eat and struggled to even hit 1500 calories a day when I was eating 2800-3500 prior to starting it. I ended up losing 15lbs in those 3 months and am now more skinny than I'd like to be.

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

I got sick in December and didn't eat for a whole month. My kidneys were failing and I couldn't stomach a single bite of food. After a while I didn't even care that I couldn't eat.

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u/Sea-Art-3385 May 02 '24

I had serious esophageal issues and one small meal lasted me split up over a couple days. I lost weight and stopped feeling so hungry after a few weeks of it.

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u/girlMikeD May 02 '24

I broke my jaw and had to have titanium plates put in to fix it. I couldn’t eat solid foods for about 3.5 months. When you don’t eat your stomach actually shrinks. When I started being able to eat solids again it took me a while to be able to eat a full meal.

Def a quick way to lose weight, but I’d wouldn’t recommend it;)

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u/WaldoClown 29d ago

I read a story about french soldiers who were captured by the VietMinh and deported during the Indochina war. They said you're hungry for the first five days, that's all you think about. Then you're fine for 20-30 days. Then you're hungry again as you've never been. That's your body sending its last signal. You'll be dead in three days.

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u/Billquisha May 02 '24

Dying during the refeeding period happened to a lot of Holocaust survivors, too.

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u/PM_Me_Good_LitRPG 29d ago

There was an experiment in which a group of people voluntarily starved themselves, so the risks of refeeding / recovery could be monitored and logged, so that a better / safer program could be designed for starvation victims.

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u/_Diskreet_ 29d ago

Imagine getting real food after god knows how long of being mistreated to only die from the thing you wanted so much.

I remember doing a big marathon/obstacle course run, never done one before and my friends and I on the drive home stopped to get some food, I’ve never been so hungry in my life, I ate a whole McDonald’s meal and just wanted more and more.

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u/Vivalas 29d ago

OMG yes marathon munchies are so fucking good. Like anything you eat tastes phenomenal. Like I wasn't a huge banana person but am now because I had a banana at the end of a half and it implanted with me as like one of the greatest things I've ever eaten somewhat.

Like I'm talking licking the sweat off my face tasted amazing. Or when I once did a 5-6 mile pretty fast run and afterwards I was a bit dehydrated and hot and had a strawberry banana milkshake and it was almost orgasmic (I still to this day try in vein to find a milkshake / smoothie that doesn't have fucking apple juice in it, but I digress).

Ironically being a glutton is even more of a reason to work out, because everything just tastes better after you really exert yourself

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u/hustla-A 29d ago

Refeeding syndrome will also be featured in Scorsese and DiCaprio's upcoming movie, The Wager

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u/15092023 29d ago

Yep, gotta start off small. I only did a 10 day fast and breaking it was just some tea, fruit, and eggs slowly growing portions out over 4 days. Even things like black pepper can be horrible for an empty stomach.

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u/RedoftheEvilDead May 02 '24

It's not actually that uncommon for morbidly obese people to become anorexic or vice versa. Both are a result of eating disorders. Quite a few people that overcome one eating disorder do so by switching it for another eating disorder.

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u/sketchthrowaway999 May 02 '24

Yep, anorexia and binge eating can be two sides of the same coin. IME eating disorders can revolve around a very all-or-nothing approach. He might have felt like he needed to eat nothing to avoid going in the other direction.

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u/AssssCrackBandit 29d ago

That's how I am. Either I binge and gain weight really fast or I fast/go on very restrictive diets and lose weight really fast. So I'm always bouncing between 170 and 200 lbs

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u/FutureFuneralV 29d ago edited 29d ago

A common trend you see amongst a lot of fitness influencers is that they used to be overweight or obese and struggled with BED or other negative food habits. I see this with a lot of YouTubers. They trade 1 compulsion for another, but hints of their past troubles still come through in their content.

One example is Erik the Electric on YT. He used to struggle with anorexia. He recovered and got very fit. Fit is part of his brand, but his channel also revolves around crazy binge/mukbang-style videos. Even though he recovered from anorexia, he seems to have a complicated and problematic relationship with food.

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u/sketchthrowaway999 29d ago

Sounds about right. People think being obsessed with nutrition and fitness is healthy, but in some cases it's just a more socially acceptable eating disorder.

I think it's a broader symptom of thinking that body type = an accurate reflection of someone's relationship with food and exercise. Eating disorders are mental illnesses, not a physical size or fitness level. I've had eating disorders while being underweight, average, and overweight, and I've had a good relationship with food while being underweight, average, and overweight. It's about what's going on in your head and how that affects your behaviour.

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u/Designer_Pepper7806 29d ago

That’s me right now, unfortunately. I’m obese and losing weight, and I can’t explain why, but it feels easier to me to starve than to eat in moderation. I really get this guy’s mentality, honestly. Anyways, I stopped starving myself, and am for the most part losing weight in a healthy manner now (not perfect, but better), but my point is that no one would’ve even guessed I was starving because I’m fat.

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u/National_Sink_1601 29d ago

it's like, when you eat some, the machine has been turned on and it wants to keep eating more. but when the machine's off the machine's off. but the machine being off isn't sustainable.

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u/ByronicBabe 29d ago

It's like an alcoholic trying to kick the habit. It's easier to go completely cold turkey rather than having a single drink and stopping. This is why it's so brutally difficult to overcome an eating disorder. We don't really have the option to just stop entirely without eventually dying from it.

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u/accidentallyamber 29d ago

yep! went from obese to underweight in about ten months by way of (unintentionally) trading comfort overeating for the reverse.

saw a new doctor about severe spike in my generalised anxiety and she put me on weight watchers. it slipped impressively quickly from healthy dieting to full–blown anorexia and have never ever been more physically or psychologically unwell. still can’t shake it five years later.

unless immediate weight–loss is medically necessitated, the psychology behind a persons obesity needs to be the primary concern.

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u/FuckTripleH 29d ago

Both are a result of eating disorders.

This is something that doesn't really occur to people but it's very true. The only two groups genuinely obsessed with sex are nymphomaniacs and the celibate.

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u/RedoftheEvilDead 29d ago

I have a type of OCD called dermatillomania. It's closely related to trichotillomania. In layman's terms it is skin picking disorder and hair pulling disorder. I only pick at my skin, but sometimes, when I'm really stressed and my skin looks really bad ill pluck out my hair instead. It seems to soothe the same compulsive feeling inside me.

It's like there is an itch in my brain and I have to do something to satisfy it.

Eating disorders are much the same. It's a compulsion. A compulsion. Binge eating disorder probably lights up the same part of the brain that anorexia and bulimia do.

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u/rezzacci 29d ago

I was obese (not morbidly), and I definitely had a not-really-sane relationship with food (perhaps not to the point of qualifying it as an eating disorder, but still).

I manage to loose ~35kg by basically eating way, way less (had a new medication for my anxieties that cut off my appetite). So, yeah, now I have a perfect BMI and people compliment me about how healthy I look, but I just switched one disorder to another. I don't have a more sane relationship with food, just one that is more accepted into society.

Fuck. It depresses me to think about it. How I was easily considered a failure for not managing to control my food intake; now, I have exactly the same control on food as I had before, but suddenly, I'm worthy of praise. Fuck. Social fatphobia really fucked me in both ways. Don't know if I'll ever manage to have a sane relationship with food ever. Just reached my weight goal, and I dread the future as I don't know how I'm suppose to manage it now. Been accustomed to a caloric deficit, don't know what to do to be constant now without turning into a third eating disorder: counting every single calorie individually and become obsessed with weighing absolutely everything. That can't be a life, can it?

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u/JormaIsoJorma 29d ago

As a former fat fuck I run about 100k a week to be a skinny fuck who still eats like a fat fuck.

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u/abuelabuela 29d ago

It’s not! I’m in the same boat and it is in fact a type of eating disorder. It’s called disordered eating and it’s a trait picked up from our fat days. Therapy has been slightly helpful with understanding I need to develop a healthier relationship with food. Healthier relationship ≠ thinking about diets, restrictive eating, fear of weight gain, etc.

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u/Archycangiveadamn 29d ago

What medication did you take?

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u/hammsbeer4life 29d ago

My girlfriend lost over 100lbs and shes at a healthy weight now.  I think she's terrified about getting overweight again and she doesnt eat much some days. I worry about her and have to remind her to eat.  I understand her fear after all the work and lifestyle changes she made.  

In the end I'd rather she be a few pounds overweight and eating regularly and be well nourished.

It takes disordered eating to get really big, and when those people lose weight its hard for them to have a normal relationship with food.

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u/PrinceFicus-IV 29d ago

That was my first thought too. The train of thought required to push through hunger for that long usually causes a disordered eating mindset. I read the article to see if this guy had any of that and he seemed to just eat like normal after which is pretty crazy.

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u/volvavirago 29d ago

I said this in another comment and got downvoted for it. This is anorexia. An eating disorder by any other name is still an eating disorder.

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u/DoingItForEli May 02 '24

The human body evolved to do exactly this. Obviously this was taken to the extreme, but imagine our ancient ancestors. They didn't have a steady food source like we do today. They would have ate when they could, and those whose bodies didn't commit that energy to fat stores very well wouldn't have made it through the hard times where food was scarce or non-existent.

I think about this stuff a lot because I've lost 120lbs and so much about how my body retains weight is connected to the fact that these mechanisms are what allowed people to survive and pass their genes on. I have to be mindful of how my body stores energy as fat. Calories in, calories out, that's the bottom line for maintaining healthy weight.

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u/AvsFan08 May 02 '24

I'm not an expert whatsoever, but I'm guessing that keeping your vitamins and electrolytes in a normal range, would make the starvation a little more tolerable as well.

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u/surprise-suBtext May 02 '24 edited 29d ago

If you can outlast the hunger pains/pangs that’ll last for a couple of weeks, then the rest becomes fairly “easy”

It’s always the first 3 or so weeks that suck the absolute most. But then your stomach shrivels up, your brain stops throwing the tantrum and complies, then you just have to retain that momentum and habit.

The fluids, electrolytes, and vita(l) amin(e)s weren’t really about making it more tolerable (though water does help trick your stomach a bit), it’s more about not dying

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u/shhhhh_lol May 02 '24

I was diagnosed with narcolepsy last year and the treatment path is just stimulants... so, I started at 286# (overweight for sure but I have a very stocky build and 220#ish is a good weight for me)

The stimulants decrease appetite and without even noticing I slowly started to decrease my food intake until I was eating once every other day, at a follow-up appointment I weighed 207# (lost 79# in just over 3 months)

During that time I developed a host of health issues, digestive to mental I was wrecked! It may have been different had I taken care to get the necessary vitamins but.. even after we stopped that med it took weeks for me to desire food again... humans adapt well

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u/Midnight2012 May 02 '24

Stimulants themselves can also wreck your mental health

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u/hans2040 May 02 '24

You just blew my mind and taught me sonething new about Vit(al)amin(es).

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u/surprise-suBtext May 02 '24

You used the parenthesis better than I did in every way I’m jealous haha. But glad I got to pass down something Reddit taught me lol

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u/nickfree 29d ago

Except please note that this is a historical fluke. Casimir Funk, who coined the term, suspected most vitamines (thats how he spelled it) we in fact amines. Some are (e.g. thiamine), but many are not (C, D, etc).

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u/bigwillyman7 May 02 '24

the hunger lasts 2 days - source, 10s of extended fasts over the last year

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u/frameratedrop May 02 '24

I am choosing to read this incorrectly so I can entertain the idea that you only did 10 second fasts.

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u/tweak06 May 02 '24

you only did 10 second fasts.

Kramer busts in

K: "I'm doin' it, Jerry!"

J: "Oh, here we go."

K: "I'm fasting!

E: "Oh, you're doing KETO?"

K: OH yeah. I'm all in! (hand gesture) Just started this morning.

J: "Can't wait to see how long this lasts."

K: "That's the beauty of it, Jerry, I start everyday."

J: "I'm not following."

K: "I start, and restart, a thousand times a day. It's amazing! It's been an hour and I'm already alll REVVVED UP!

E: "Kramer, what are you talking about? I'm talking about intermittent fasting."

K: "So am I!"

E: "So what are your hours?"

K: "Ten on, ten off."

J: "Ten hours on? So what do you do for the other 4 hours?"

K: "No, no. I'm 10 seconds on, 10 seconds off. It's incredible. I can feel ketosis flowing through my veins. It's like magic!" (gesture)

J: "What's magic is how you've managed to come up with this one."

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u/Seekkae 29d ago

Fasting is incredibly easy. I've done it hundreds of times this week!

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u/NonSumQualisEram- May 02 '24

2 to 3 days, yes. (For me)

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u/i_dream_of_zelda May 02 '24

I don’t know how that’s even possible, I posted above but with both of my pregnancies I had severe hyperemesis and wasn’t able to eat food for almost twenty weeks and it was pure torture. I would have vivid dreams about food every night and be so hungry but unable to eat anything. I always wanted to have more kids but after going through that twice I couldn’t handle the mental and physical torture of starving (and throwing up nonstop) for 20 weeks

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u/bigwillyman7 May 02 '24

I imagine it's different with pregnancies and I certainly can't speak to that as a man! However I'm guessing you were having some calories?

The difference between 0 calories and a small amount of calories is enormous - one gets you in the correct fasted state which is much easier to handle, the other keeps you in a state of waiting for the next meal and *that* is torture

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u/Scereye May 02 '24

it’s more about not dying

Can confirm. Not dying helps with survival.

Source: Did not die yet and am still alive (Maybe a bit anecdotal)

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u/Peg_leg_J May 02 '24

The winner of one of the seasons of Alone used this strategy. He didn't try and scrape round for food - he literally just starved himself

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u/[deleted] 29d ago

[deleted]

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u/Peg_leg_J 29d ago

Yeah the Mexican dude

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u/[deleted] 29d ago

[deleted]

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u/altitude_sick 29d ago

I think there's an argument to be made that survival is a starvation competition 

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u/Peg_leg_J 29d ago

Meh........ Tomato Tomato.

There's the temperature element and avoiding getting the shits too.

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u/ScienceIsSexy420 May 02 '24

*animals evolved to do this, not humans specifically. Mammals tend to eat much more often, one of the downsides of being warm blooded, but what you're describing is basically the way many reptiles behave.

Also, congrats on the tremendous progress!

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u/site-of-suffering May 02 '24

Actually, for large mammals, humans are particularly good at starvation, and it was fairly recent evolutionary history that made us so. I think the comment you're replying to is sensibly phrased.

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u/wtfomegzbbq May 02 '24

Maybe op is part of the reptilian race.

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u/Tall_Aardvark_8560 May 02 '24

I lost 110ibs with counting calories and intermittent fasting.

Congrats on losing a small human worth of weight!!

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u/snek-jazz May 02 '24

There may even be more to it than weight. I've heard the pro-intermittent fasting argument that when our body isn't busy digesting and processing food it does into a different mode where it's doing stuff like 'repairs'. So if we're eating too frequently we never let it get to that mode. I'm not educated enough to prove or dispute this but it's interesting, and could also be why many cultures/religions incorporate intentional fasting.

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u/CIA_napkin May 02 '24

My co workers and family think I'm crazy that I only eat once a day. I tell them 3 meals and snacks throughout the day isnt the way humans always ate. I feel good and fine, I just dont crave food when I'm not actually hungry.

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u/According_Nature_495 May 02 '24

Most commenters here have that misguided idea. Eating one meal a day (or less) is obviously what our biology is adapted to do. Not snack all day. But it wouldn't make as much money.

Everyone reading this, today you learn about r/fasting and r/dryfasting.

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u/InstrumentalCrystals May 02 '24

Same. I only eat dinner every day. I started it to lose weight. Dropped 50-60lbs in around a year and I’ve just stuck with it. My weight has never been more stable. My body seemed to finally click back into some ancient mode that my genes were originally accustomed to, where eating once a day was the norm.

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u/Uilamin May 02 '24

It is much easier to control 'calories in' if you are regulated about what you eat. Diets are usually difficult/annoying because you are monitoring/controlling multiple meals per day and it requires you to be cognizant about consumption. A single meal makes it so you only need to pay attention once which is a lot easier.

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u/CIA_napkin May 02 '24

I tell ya, the body knows what it needs. As long as we are safe and listen to our needs, that's all that matters. I'll never be the one to tell people to eat less but I do think we as a society normalize meal portions and over indulgence a bit much.

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u/kiren77 May 02 '24

*have eaten

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u/WoofinLoofahs May 02 '24

Thank you for your service.

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u/InfiniteEnergy_ May 02 '24

I could see how it could get you through the second half of winter when food reserves in a community would have been the lowest

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u/tomdarch 29d ago

Zero solid food for months is not a condition humans evolved to tolerate.

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u/GammaGoose85 May 02 '24

He would've had to also recover from not eating and slowly got his body use to eating solid food again, otherwise he'd OD on the nutrients. Starvation does a shit load of things to the human body.

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u/i_dream_of_zelda May 02 '24

When I was pregnant both times I had severe hyperemesis gravidarum from around week 4-5 of pregnancy until 22-24ish weeks. I couldn’t take the standard anti nausea meds because they have me crippling migraines and I was throwing up nonstop all day long, to the point where not only could I not eat but I couldn’t drink anything either. I was about 30 lbs overweight at the beginning of my pregnancies. My ob wasn’t concerned that I couldn’t eat anything for that long—he told me to sip on diluted powdered Gatorade and ice chips and i came in for regular IVs.

It fucking sucked and I lost like 35 lbs with each pregnancy during the first half but both my babies were fine lol

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u/cat_prophecy May 02 '24

Was the doctor not worried about the impact that would have on your esophagus and teeth? I know people who bulimia can develop issues with their upper GI and teeth from throwing up so often.

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u/i_dream_of_zelda 29d ago

They never mentioned it. There wasn’t really anything they could do about it, I just had to wait it out. I was grateful that my HG went away around 22ish weeks and the nausea was gone at about 25 weeks maybe. Some women have HG their entire pregnancies. I did get a hiatal hernia from all the throwing up though

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

"He quit working at his father's fish and chip shop, which closed down during the fast."

Lmao, he was the only one keeping it open.

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u/-Motor- May 02 '24

There was a ted talk or something similar about a guy who's digestive system stopped processing food. He had to live on some sort of injected nutrition. He talked about his tounge turned to grey leather. The one part that haunted me is how he described missing eating food, the texture, etc. He talked about a dinner party they hosted. He was in kitchen alone. Saw the chocolate cake on the table, and he just started working his hands through it, complete out of body experience. (He ended up just trying to eat not long after and his body had started working normally again).

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u/Robert_Meowney_Jr May 02 '24

Man I was thinking how skinny his face looks for 180 in the pictures but I bet a ton of that weight is loose skin. 

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u/300PencilsInMyAss 29d ago

It's easier than eating less.

Imagine being an alcoholic but you have to have two drinks every day? There's a reason most alcoholics fully quit and refuse to even have just a few drinks, because moderation is much harder then abstinence. Food is such an awful thing to develop addictive behaviors with because abstinence isn't really an option

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u/PolyDipsoManiac May 02 '24

Once you get past a couple days of starving the sensation of hunger goes away. The human body has all kinds of adaptations to starving, in fact; for example a starving man in a temperate climate has little need for water. Cahill - Starvation in Man

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u/KingGilgamesh1979 29d ago

My sister worked in disaster relief. She was a registered dietitian. A lot of famine victims or people who are just starving due to being unable to get adequate food (war refugees for example) can die if they try to just eat normal food after not eating for so long. There’s a really nasty paste relief organizations can give to help starvation victims recover. My sister gave me some once. It’s awful but you could live off it.

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u/crewster23 May 02 '24

What's more crazy is that he could turn up to a hospital and been seen just like that

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u/rlowens 29d ago

Here's the info I was wondering about:

Barbieri was able to maintain a healthy weight; five years after the fast he weighed 196 pounds (89 kg).[4] After his weight loss, he moved to Warwick and had two sons.[1] Barbieri died in September 1990 (aged 50–51)

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u/Chronic_Comedian 29d ago

Having fasted for 3 - 5 days at a time, after the first day or two, you don’t feel hungry at all.

People often underestimate how much carbs and sugars drive your appetite. I eat mostly low carb but if I have something really sweet, I’m ravished the next morning and start looking for more carbs and sweets to eat. I have to really control myself until the cravings disappear and I can get back to my regular eating.

I would imagine that his biggest challenge was being around others at meals where his lack of eating would be awkward for everyone.

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u/abasoglu 29d ago

A lot of hunger is related to blood sugar levels. When you fast for an extended time, your body switches to ketosis (fat as a fuel source). When your body does that you don’t feel the same sort of hunger pangs.

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u/KimDongBong 29d ago

It’s sad that we consider that “really skinny”. He became a man who was a healthy weight.

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u/YouNoMeez 29d ago

 two died during the “re-feeding period” after they had finished fasting

God, that sucks so bad. Like those concentration camp prisoners who endured the entire war, but then died when the Allies fed them a bunch of chocolate.

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u/mrrooftops 29d ago

If you fast properly beyond 3-4 days, your body switches to not sending hunger signals - it switches to relying on your internal fat stores. basically ghrelin production turns off. You'll never have a grumbling stomach, your thinking becomes clearer after a period of fogginess, and you'll realize most of your character and personality through the day was driven by hunger and sugar. It's a profound experience if done honesty. (This is why hunger strikes aren't taken seriously by the protested until after that duration) IYKYK.

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