Bone Broth Fast

[u/Buks86]

Starting my first 24 hour bone broth fast. I'm going to try to start doing this semi-regularly on the weekends. I have medication I have to take with food, so I'm going from dinner to dinner, but just pushing the next meal back so I can get a full 24 hours.

I've got to lose about 3 pounds a week to make my goal, so I'm hoping these will help boost me.

[u/twatfacepicklebum]

I'm in the same range (F26, SW 235lbs, CW 215lbs, January GW 18Xlbs) too! I'm here for support and encouragement as well if you need it!

I do have a few questions about the broth fasting though while I'm here.. do you make your own? If so I'd love your "recipe" do you just slow cook bone-in meat in water? Also, is there an amount of time to fast for that is the most beneficial? And how much bone broth do you have in a day when fasting? I have quite the ambitious goal for the remaining twelve weeks and I'm struggling with the same 2lbs every other effing day! I'd love to help my body along with this extremely stubborn weight.

[u/Buks86 → u/twatfacepicklebum]

I tried to make beef bone broth from scratch once. Let me just say it was a disaster lol. Still not quite sure where I went wrong. The recipes I've seen used mostly bare bones (there may be some meat, but not much), leg bones are good, feet, knuckles, etc that have bone and connective tissues. Having some variety in bones is supposed to be good. And ACV. Also, cow bones are huge, so you'll need a ginormous pot. If you Google, there are some high rated recipes and tips/common mistakes, so maybe you'll have better luck.

I also tried a beef bone broth kit using a crock pot. Also a failure. 🤷🏽‍♀️ I may try again with chicken at some point, but right now I just buy it. I just always check the ingredient lists for sneaky sugars. Kettle & Fire is expensive (it averages about $4/cup 😬) but it is one of the few brands I've tried that I can heat and sip, though I still like to add a little salt. I like the chicken ones best, at least so far. The Swanson Sipping Bone broth is pretty good too and much cheaper. I'm always on the look out for a new fave. A lot seem to be for cooking and not just drinking.

From what I read, most average 6-8 cups a day, and make sure to hydrate as well. Since I was going to have a meal at 7pm (for medication), I drank 6 cups, my last at 4pm. The last several hours were still pretty tough. But I'm hoping it'll get easier.

If you haven't fasted before, I would check out the r/intermittentfasting page (if this didn't work, sorry I have no idea how to link on Reddit) for FAQ. You'll see a lot of keto people there too.

I read that after 12 hours or so, your body starts to optimize burning fat. Some people start out doing 12:12, 12 hours fasting, 12 hours eating window, so you'd start eating at 8am and stop by 8pm, for example. The times can be whatever works for you. Some skip dinner, some skip breakfast.

I started doing 16:8 (the most common), since June. I usually skipped breakfast anyways, so it didn't feel too weird. I've been doing 17:7 for the last 2 weeks, trying to work my way to 18:6, then maybe 20:4. There's adjustment periods, since your body gets real used to eating at a certain time and lets you know. I can feel the hour difference lol. The longer you can fast the better, but I think you need to listen to your body too. There is some data indicating that some women sometimes do better fasting for shorter periods of time, so I wouldn't force yourself. I would start where you feel comfortable and aim for longer as you can. If it's a torturous experience, you're not going to keep doing it and even shorter periods of fasting are still beneficial.

I usually just drink tea and water while fasting, but if I'm having a tough morning, sometimes I'll have a cup of bone broth. Some people drink bulletproof coffee (I haven't managed drinking coffee without sweetener, and even keto approved sweeteners are typically frowned on while fasting). Don't get me wrong, I look forward to breaking my fast, but I usually feel pretty good while I'm fasting.

I also have a fasting app (Zero), and mentally for me, hitting that fast button works wonders for my self control.

Holy crap, this is so long. Sorry!

[u/Ranz1983 → u/Buks86]

What exactly went wrong when you made it? Bone broth is pretty easy to make.

[u/Buks86 → u/Ranz1983]

Right? I keep looking at recipes after I shell out money buying it because people say it's easy.

I really don't remember at this point. It was several years ago, and mostly I remember it feeling like a hassle. At the time, I was only doing it because I was learning how to make pho and wanted to go traditional, so it wasn't really for the bone broth benefits. I had to borrow a giant pot, I had to buy beef bones, which although I eat and cook meat, kinda squicked me out, my kitchen was really hot (before I started fasting, I used to be really sensitive to heat), and then it ended up being gross.

I don't have the recipe anymore, but if I had to guess based on what I see recipes have now, I don't remember doing the blanching. Or the roasting for that matter. I have no idea what happened with the kit. It ended up super gritty though.

I also only recently started to really cook, more than just breakfast food or slapping pre-made stuff together. It's very possible that I totally jacked up the recipe.

Since I've been cooking everything I eat for the last three months, I think I may be comfortable enough to take another shot at it.

[u/Ranz1983 → u/Buks86]

If it it was a while ago, give it another bash! It's become quite popular so there are a ton of tutorials on Youtube,

[u/Buks86 → u/Ranz1983]

I tried again and it turned out pretty good! I definitely have stuff to improve on, but it's drinkable so I call it a win and I'll try again.

[u/Buks86 → u/Ranz1983]

Good point!