fasting, Day 7: numbers

And here are my next-to-last stats for this fast:

Weight: 101 kg
BP: 129/78
Pulse: 74
Blood Sugar: 75

Probably about as good as one can expect after nearly seven days of fasting. (This is Day 7, so I haven't quite done a full seven days—not until 11 p.m. tonight.) I'm back to my "floor" of 101 kilograms; BP is still a bit high for the systolic, but nicely low for the diastolic. Pulse is about where it should be, but I confess I did some breathing exercises to help that along. Blood sugar plunged back down; again, I don't know why, although I have some guesses.

The price of all this effort is that I'm so weak that I decided to take the coward's way out and take off work today. So I called in sick; I think everyone thinks I got COVID. I had to assure my boss that the problem was just general weakness—no COVID symptoms like dry cough and fever and loss of taste. My American coworker is apparently getting tested for COVID today: his daughter goes to a preschool where one child got the virus, so it's a similar situation to that of my Korean coworker, who only just got back after three weeks of quarantine.

Has it been worth it, fasting like this? Right now, weak as I am, I'd say the answer is no. If I do an extended fast again, I'll probably limit it to five days. All the benefits of fasting that the experts talk about can be attained in five days, so going those extra two days just doesn't seem worth it, except as a matter of pride. As for those crazy folks who do 40-day fasts... well, God bless you, but that ain't for me, and in my current state, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't survive such a fast. Five days for me, or shorter fasts of 36 or 72 hours.

I'll check my numbers early tomorrow morning before I head out to the hospital for my appointment (appointments, really—11:10 and 11:50), and by late lunchtime tomorrow, I'll finally have broken my fast, preferably by eating something nasty. Meanwhile, since I've called in sick today, I have all day to shamble slowly about my kitchenette, prepping the rest of the components for the megaquiche. I have cheese to grind up, custard to make, and a pie crust to construct. Luckily, even though I'm weak, I have hours and hours in which to work, so everything will be done by tonight. Tomorrow, I put together and bake the quiche, then let it cool overnight. Am anticipating awesomeness.

I just need to survive today.