I messed up my refeed (doh!)...
I ended my fast several days ago in the middle of day 19. My first three days of refeeding were uneventful. Started out with three
oz. of papaya every two hours on day one; four
oz. of cantaloupe every three hours day two and moved on to steamed zucchini day three. It's day four that I started fouling up. I was trying to be mindful of advice a fasting doctor gave me to ensure that I be fully out of ketosis before introducing any protein into my diet. Well I had used a ketone stick that morning to test my urine and it showed that I was no longer in ketosis (have learned since that those sticks are notoriously inaccurate). Anyway, it was mother's day and the boyfriend wanted to treat me to a restaurant meal. Thought I'd be OK introducing a little fish into my diet that day. I had a seaweed salad, various baked veges (broccoli, cauliflower, etc.) and some white rice (brown rice wasn't' an option at this restaurant). Everything was also smothered in teriyaki sauce and I shudder to think what kind of chemicals that concoction contained. I didn't feel bad after the meal. On the contrary the full meal really got my appetite going and from that point forward I started eating a little too much with too many varieties of food (all healthy food, just a little too much and not always the best combinations). By about day two of this I woke up one morning with a face distorted by edema. My gut was distended and my legs and ankles so swollen I felt the skin stretching. Clearly I harmed myself. I capitulated and called my doctor yesterday (after a few days of this fairly severe edema). He sent me to a lab for blood work and plans to give me an i.v. drip today of what I'm guessing will be some electrolyte formula. I'm really upset with myself. I read so much on the subject I really should have known better. I was a little taken aback as to how overwhelming my appetite became after I started refeeding. I'm pretty self-controlled (been an every-other-day faster for 16 months now), but I simply kinda lost control of myself and messed up my refeed. Not sure what kind of advice I'm looking for from the board, except to ask if anyone else suffered severe edema from poor refeeding (hadn't read about it before). Please keep your comments nonjudgmental - I'm already feeling badly enough about my mistakes and I do get it, but kind-spirited insights would be really appreciated.
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