Water Fast for an Athlete

[Leith]

Hi there,

I've taken a year off of work and school to pursue professional athletics. I'm currently working with a coach and personal trainer 24 hours per week to achieve my fitness goals. I've made some major lifestyle changes, one being I cook all my foods from scratch. I weigh and document everything from the flour I use cooking my bread to my meal portions. I'm sticking to a regime of 20% fat, 30% protein, 50% carbohydrates.

Last night I had a moment of weakness and ordered / ate an entire 10" pizza, large caesar salad and some garlic toast. This prompted me to want to "reset", so I returned to my water fast which I have not done since I started my heavy training nearly 2 years ago.

I need to reduce my body fat by another 8% and was considering adding a 36-48 hour water fast to my Saturday / Sunday regime, which are also my off days. I would feast Friday night, stop eating at 8PM and break my fast on Sunday morning after church or Sunday evening, I'm unsure which. I return to training Monday morning.

My questions are-
Is this fast going to target fat stores or muscle stores?
Will this cause muscle loss?
How long does it take for the liver to deplete of it's glycogen stores?
What can I add to my water? Honey? Lemon? Raw Apple Cider Vinegar? Would any of those additives reduce the benefits of the fast?

I'm current 170 lb and the target is 160lb by the end of April. Calorie restriction on training days (5 days per week) is not really an option given I need those calories to stay moving.

Thanks for the help and suggestions!

[raw runner]

you should try seaweed because they are iodine rich and try to increase your tyrosine levels...you ll make more thyroid hormone t3 and you 'll lose waeight fast

but you should introduce yourself first man

[Aleesha Sattva]

and... you do understand that this is a raw food forum right?

[roboto212]

you're not going to benefit from a fast if you continue eating cooked foods.... you will simply go back to the way you were before...

[tashaleeministry]

sounds similar to what i was doing recently...fasting on weekends basically. i didn't like it because it was constantly in the "yucky" days of the fast, where you are still hungry, and i never got through to the "nice" part of it! i much preferred fasting every other day. but like you, i was doing the fasting on weekends because those were my "off" exercise days.

i have no advice for you though. :) i am curious where your ideas came from--is there a particular fasting book you read or have you done this in the past perhaps?

anyway, good luck with your goals. i am very interested to hear how it goes, as i am an athlete myself and had heard about people having great results athletically with water fasting but don't really know anyone.
and i just read some stuff about paul bragg being controversial, which was the author that introduced me to fasting...so now i don't know if what i have read about fasting is even correct or not. i did read online a little bit the other day though...

anyway, off on another topic. good luck to you!