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Hour 13 of my fast: No big deal so far, but then I often have an early dinner and no breakfast so it's not that different from my routine.

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Fast Hour 15ish: A little lightheaded. Glucose, my brain cries. Give me glucose!

I'm not sure if and how sleeping affects glycogen metabolism, but all other things being equal and assuming I have a fairly fatty liver 15 hours seems about right for hitting "the wall". Exit glycogenolysis, enter ketogenesis! Also gluconeogenesis, which I'm not as thrilled about.

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Fast hour 16: Now is when I'd normally eat my first meal of the day. I'm conditioned, psychologically and physically, to expect food now. It's odd. Even though I know I'm fasting, I found myself reaching for my wallet to figure out what I'm spending, and where, and I actually got up from my desk before stopping myself. Our food-culture conditioning is strong and on a very, very deep and basic level. Skinner's rats and Pavlov's dogs have got nothing on us, boy howdy.

I feel hungry. Though that, of course, is ludicrous. I feel an effete first-world missing-a-meal version of hungry, not actually hungry. Not too-poor-to-eat-until-payday-hungry, which I've been, or starving-hungry, which I haven't.

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Fast Hour 18: There's the muscle weakness I was expecting. Glycogen all used up. Bye bye, glycogen, bye bye!

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Fast hour 18.5: Ah, there it is. Gnawing headache begins. Everything smells like food. Muscles feel weak and sore. This is where we start to have some trouble.

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Fast hour 19.75: The headache fades in and out. I really really want to eat something. The lightheadedness is persistent and troubling. I actually feel weird when moving my head. My eyes are taking just a split-second longer to focus than I'm used to, my reactions just a split-second delayed. It's like I've got a wad of cotton baffling insulating me from the sensations of the world, or a DVD with the audio track just a touch out of sync with the video.

Also I'm starting to feel cranky and impatient. Very impatient. Like waiting for a webpage to load is making me unreasonably angry.

Also, heartburn.

(no subject)

Fast hour 20.5: After a pint of hot coffee, the headaches have faded, and I'm feeling sharper. Still ravenously hungry.

I thought I was getting all feverish and hot, but it turns out they've got the heat turned up really high today.

(no subject)

Fast hour 21.75: Oh god I want a churro. Or a taco. Or a taco, then a churro, then ten of their friends.

All I can think about is food. Like, even more so than usual.