I started with making sourdough bread back in 2010 when a neighbor gave me some of his starter. I’ve kept that going ever since, with him having kept it going since the mid-1970s. During the COVID lockdown when the sourdough bread making thing was taking off people kept asking me how to start one. The thing is, I never started one from scratch. I decided to do it, document it, and post about it on my blog to help people. As I see now I did the first two parts but never actually documented it here. This post remedies that, albeit almost four years later. Below you will see the source of the program I used, the overall theme of it, how the process unfolded for me, and my first bake with it.

Phase 9 of this year’s Goal Accountability is now in the books as well. The novelty of keeping the exercise being dialed in is now gone. I’ve manaed to keep that dialed in for another four weeks straight. There was some falting, both planned and unplanned, in the other metrics though.

A third full Goal Accountibility Phase since my reboot is now in the books. I’ve continued to build on my previous three periods of momentum even as I have had more perturbations to my schedule. I’m thinking of making big plans beyond the baselines here, specifically with respect to my cardiovascular training. However I don’t want to self sabotage by having those loftier goals cause me to stumble and bring the whole house of cards down.

With enough time to capture a couple of weeks of data after the fast, it is now possible to take a look at what the results were from the fast as well as to discuss how I felt about it overall and potential tweaks for the future. This is the final post in this series for my first go of this fast. The usual disclaimer applies though. I am not a doctor, trainer, dietitian, nutritionist, or any other expert in any related field. I’m talking about my amateur and anecdotal experiences here and none of this should replace expert medical advice.

You can find the other posts at:

• Recipe for the transition in/out day soup
• Description of the My Longo Inspired Cancer Avoidance Fasting protocol
• Fasting Day 1 Journal
• Fasting Day 2 Journal
• Fasting Day 3 Journal
• Fasting Day 4 Journal
• Fasting Day 5 Journal

I’m finally getting around to writing about the end of my fast. First up is the highly nutritious, low sodium, 100% plant based soup that I ate throughout the day on the two transition days:

I’ve now completed two full Goal Accountability phases after my health reboot in springtime. I had enough confidence in my ability to maintain momentum even with more challenging requirements for each of my metrics. I definitely maintained my momentum but there were more stumbles than before as a consequence of that. Even with those stumbles my grades for the past four week phase were pretty solid.

Today is the final day, the transition out day, of the five day “Longo Inspired Cancer Avoidance Fast” . I didn’t sleep well at all. While I technically got more than seven hours of sleep it was pretty fragmented I’m down a yet another 2.5 pounds. My night time heart rate looked normal as does my heart rate variability and my morning blood pressure. Like the previous days I woke up feeling a bit hung over and dehydrated but once I started having some decaf coffee and water I felt much better.

Today is the third and final “real” fasting day of the five day “Longo Inspired Cancer Avoidance Fast” . I definitely woke up feeling more brain fog than yesterday and this time I got plenty of sleep. I definitely felt more dehydrated when I woke up too. No headaches or anything like that though. And as I’m sipping my morning cup of coffee I’m feeling less of both. I’m down a bit over another 2.5 pounds. My night time heart rate looked normal as does my heart rate variability. Even though it hasn’t been awful I’m glad today is the last “real” day of fasting too and tomorrow is a transition day.

Today is the second “real” fasting day of the five day “Longo Inspired Cancer Avoidance Fast” . Yesterday’s first “real” day of the core of the fast is documented here . Today is just more of the same. Whether I end up using the electrolyte powders still remains to be seen. I had a little brain fog this morning but nothing atypical for not getting enough sleep and waking up too early. I woke up feeling slightly dehydrated and hung over as well. After a morning cup of coffee all that feels gone though. Weight compared to yesterday is down over 5.5 pounds. My nighttime heart rate minimum was down a few BPM but nothing I don’t see in normal variations. Heart rate variability is still looking good. So beginning of the second day is starting off strong.