île de rêve
île de rêve won’t be found on any map. It is the country that lies deep within each of us that has the power to reset, renew, and restore our well-being. île de rêve is where we find the strength and inspiration to live our best life and where fasting flamingos, like us, are truly home.
It is so helpful to know that there are other people – real people – out there that are fasting and running into the same issues, questions that I am. Fasting is now gaining a lot more acceptance in society, but it still seems like a ‘weird’ thing to the mainstream. It’s nice to have somewhere to go where you don’t have to explain your reason for doing this over and over.
How We Began
The Fasting Flamingo hatched from a Meetup group.
Although it began with just a few members, within three months there were over one hundred people joining in. It became clear that there was a strong interest in the results fasting brings and also that there was not a lot of support for those living this lifestyle nor a great central clearing house of information.
Given how strong the community was getting, we decided to create this site to put all the good info and resources into one place and make it available to ALL.
We are so thrilled you are here— let us know if you have any questions.
A note from Katherine
As someone who has struggled with weight my entire life and a number of inflammatory conditions, discovering fasting was absolutely game-changing.
For me, one of the most powerful aspects of fasting was that I didn’t have to commit to any particular diet. At the beginning I didn’t give up anything — I ate exactly what I wanted — particularly those over-sized toffee and white chocolate chunk cookies.
What happened was, after I began fasting regularly, my food choices shifted. When you give your body a rest — letting it return to it’s natural state of well-being — you become acutely aware when you break that fast with something that shatters that well-being.
I’m now down over 35 lbs, and for the FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE, I am confident and feel amazing in my body.
Over the last three years, I have logged hundreds of fasts. I’ve done short intermittent fasts, over 100 forty hour fasts, and several 5+ day fasts.
I don’t have to do it perfectly;
fasting is the most powerful tool
I have ever discovered.
For the last seven years I have worked in the Healthcare Industry. Most recently, I worked for a kidney dialysis company. And, while the employees were wonderful and well-intentioned — truly trying to help patients, the industry shouldn’t have to exist. And, certainly not at the scale it does today.
The number one cause of kidney failure is Type II diabetes. And, what causes Type II diabetes? Insulin resistance. What’s the best way to REVERSE (not just mitigate) Type II diabetes? FASTING. Plain and simple.
I want us to get to the root cause of the chronic conditions harming and killing so many people around the western world. And, I believe fasting is a key part of this positive change.
The fact that the very thing that helps to cure us of obesity, Type II diabetes, and so many other conditions also reduces our tendency to over-consumption, which allows us to be better stewards of our planet. For me, nothing could be sweeter.
Thoughts? I’d love to hear from you!
The Team
Katherine Olaksen
Founder, fellow faster
Katherine has spent the last seven years in healthcare as a leader in Innovation, Operations Strategy, and Business Intelligence. She has her MBA from Cornell, where she specialized in Sustainability & Entrepreneurship.
She loves back country skiing with her dogs, watching “unlikely animal friends” videos, and is addicted to Audible.
Advisory Board
Dr. Ben Barthel, Ph.D
Biochemistry
Ben has been passionate about science since approximately a week after his birth. Always focused on improving human health, he was awarded his Ph.D from University of Colorado Boulder for developing new methods for treating cancer.
He followed that with his post-doctoral work on improving polio vaccine stability and deliver-ability. Since then he has worked for startups on vaccine formulation and discovering new therapies for muscular dystrophy.
His conviction in the power of a rigorous scientific method, makes him particularly passionate about rectifying the egregious lack of scientific-grounding in health policy, weight-loss treatment, and “wellness” trends over the last several decades.
The Original
Denver Meetup
A community of fasters
Beginning March of 2020, a group of fasters — ranging from the curious to the experienced come together each week via Zoom to support and learn from each other.
There are a wide-variety of reasons members choose to fast ranging from weight loss, reversal of chronic conditions like Type 2 diabetes, cancer remission, migraines, PCOS, prevention of Alzheimer’s, increasing lifespan, and so many more — everyone is welcome!
