LFMF: Bad Fast Day

Day 111, Fast Day #48

I am alive! I've just been blogging less furiously recently as I am in the last month before my wedding day now, so I am rushing to get all kinds of things done. Both my mother and future mother-in-law are staying at my apartment tomorrow for the bridal shower this weekend. On top of that, Zach is out of town for work, so I will be spending most of my evening cleaning tonight.

My routine has been pretty steady the last few days. I'm still restricting calories every other day down to 400-500 calories typically (minus occasional extra feast days for social events) and still eating what I want every other day. This past Sunday I did a 18 hour total fast (minus a cup of black coffee in the morning) and then went to a BBQ party that evening. I am putting in an extra feast day this Saturday for my bridal shower, which works out because otherwise I would have had to put one in next Wednesday anyway for a fondue/making wedding decorations party.

I weighed in this morning and I am holding steady weight-wise at a 23 pound loss. After measuring myself today, I discovered that I lost another inch from my hips. The new totals for inches lost are 2 inches from my hips, 2 inches from my waist, and an inch from my neck. My clothes have gotten noticeably baggy at this point and all of my shorts have become saggy ass sad girl shorts. If you haven't watched the sketch show Portlandia, this will enlighten you:

Saggy ass sad girl shorts are a part of my summer attire right now.

And now for my very real saggy ass sad girl shorts:

They are even orange. Was I that sad when I bought these?

I still have a few more hours to go until my breakfast time and I am already hungry. Ugh. Right now I have some hibiscus tea filling my tummy in the interim. One factor is that I have been sleep deprived over the last couple of days, which is not helping my urge to chow down. One poor eating decision I made today also triggered a cascade of events leading to my irritating hunger today.

I ate an unexpected amount of calories from part of a burger patty that was 73/27 (lean to fat ratio), unlike a normal 85/15, 80/20 or a 90/10 ground beef. The patty didn't even taste very good, as it was a frozen patty leftover from the July 4th party. Extra calories from the ground beef led to me not getting to eat the cucumber or bell pepper I desired for lunch. This in turn led to me eating less than 25% of my normal fast day fiber intake. I know fiber and protein are both supposed to be filling, but apparently the fiber part is more important for me. My lack of fiber will undoubtedly trigger further consequences. This is the brutal reality of eating part of a burger patty on a fast day. Learn from my fail.

Fast(ing) Food - I'm Sorry, Body Salad

Day 94, Fast Day #40

A successful fast day! I am getting back on track this week, I swear.

My body has gone through a lot of self-inflicted abuse over the last two weeks. So I decided to say I'm sorry to my organs by eating a nutritious salad. Eating a salad while dieting is obviously not some genius, original idea of mine. It is common sense if you are looking to consume a variety of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and other nutrients without a lot of calories. However, not every salad is low-calorie or nutritious. If you are trying to eat healthy by ordering a salad at a restaurant, you can end up with a plate containing over 1000 calories, a lot of sodium, or a bunch of saturated fat like in these 20 salads worse than a Whopper. This past week I ate a salad at a restaurant that ended up being over 700 calories when I looked up the nutrition facts later.

This salad I threw together is not worthy of an unhealthy salad list:

Those are flax seeds, not ants. In case you got nervous about eating insects.

I'm Sorry, Body Salad (Yields 1 large serving) ~133 kcal/serving

Takes 5-10 minutes

Feel better with 240% of the vitamin A, 128% of the vitamin C, 19% of the calcium, and 13% of the iron that is recommended daily in one big bowl. Plus some omega-3s, potassium, and fiber.

• 1/4 of a small onion, sliced (I used a yellow onion) ~7 kcal
• 3 big leaves of lettuce, chopped (I used romaine) ~14 kcal
• 1/2 medium apple, sliced (I used a Braeburn apple) ~36 kcal
• 1 small carrot, sliced (I used a purple one) ~20 kcal
• 1/2 large bell pepper (I used a green one) ~12 kcal
• 5 grape tomatoes ~10 kcal
• 1 tbsp fresh mint leaves, chopped ~3 kcal
• 1 tsp flax seeds ~17 kcal
• 1 tsp unsalted, shelled sunflower seeds ~14 kcal

Chop up all your fruit and veggies, mix in a bowl, sprinkle on seeds. You can add a dressing of your choice to toss in with the salad.

Why did I use a purple carrot? Purple carrots and other darker, smaller variants of fruits and vegetables that are more like their wild relatives, are more nutritious than common agricultural crops. Check out this lovely chart from the New York Times about nutrition in wild versus supermarket produce.

I like to make my own salad dressing when I have the time to whip one up. Here is the honey mustard vinaigrette I threw together for this salad:

Honey Mustard Vinaigrette Dressing (optional) ~264 kcal/serving

• 2 tbsp olive oil ~250 kcal
• 1 tbsp vinegar (I used red wine vinegar)
• 1/2 tsp honey ~10 kcal
• 1/4 tsp minced garlic
• 1/4 tsp Italian seasoning (or mix of marjoram, thyme, oregano, and basil)
• 1/4 tsp ground mustard powder ~3 kcal
• pepper, to taste ~1 kcal
• kosher salt to taste

Salad dressing is a very personal thing. I recommend experimenting with varying amounts and types of honey, vinegar, mustard, and spices depending on your tastes. Plus experimenting is fun.

Sure, salad does not require much by way of culinary skill and is quick. Sorry if this recipe didn't blow your mind. This is real food I prepare and eat on fast days. I need to spend less time cooking and more time wedding planning, so I see more salads in my future.

What I Wish I'd Known Before Starting ADF

Day 25, Fast Day #12

This morning I woke up hungry, so I had a feeling it would be a tougher fast day. Since eating a lunch of a reduced fat string cheese (50 calories), my low-calorie tuna salad (72 calories), a can of Progresso Light soup (120 calories), and a whole cucumber (45 calories) and celery stalk (9 calories) with Newman's Own Balsamic Vinaigrette Lite (45 calories), I feel quite full. I also have some calories left for an evening snack. 

Despite almost eating half of a pepperoni pizza for breakfast yesterday (haters gonna hate), I have somehow managed to defy physics and stay at a total of 12 lbs lost.

I am quickly approaching a month into this ADF adventure and we all know hindsight is 20/20. This is why I have some words of advice for my past self who was considering jumping into alternate day fasting, and anyone else thinking about radically changing their eating pattern through intermittent fasting:

1) Make sure fasting is appropriate for you - If you have diabetes, have an eating disorder, are pregnant, are underweight, or are under 21 you should not fast. If you have any other known medical issues or are on medications, you should also be cautious before doing any diet not prescribed by your doctor. If given the option, I probably would have done this first instead of deciding with Zach one day before running errands that today is now a "fast day."

2) Know what and how you are eating normally - I was not trying to eat healthy at all prior to starting ADF, so the transition was pretty rough for me. I would recommend prior to fasting to start tracking your caloric and nutrient intakes. Calorie tracking alone has been an eye-opening realization for me as to how I ate and what my diet was missing to begin with.

3) Make a plan - Come up with a plan on how you are going to get in as many nutritional requirements as you can on both fast days and feast days. If you can't reach them just through food alone, figure out supplements that are effective and safe that you can take. For me, the struggle is always calcium since I have issues with dairy. I also usually plan out and prepare (if necessary) my food for fast days in advance. I feel like if I have a plan and the food is ready, I can stick to the 500 calorie limit and avoid temptation and slip-ups easier.

4) Prepare your gut -  I also highly recommend getting your body used to a lot of fiber if you aren't already. You will be eating a lot of veggies alternate day fasting. A lot of people have bowel movement issues (too much or lack thereof) when starting alternate day fasting. I think this is largely due to the change in the amount of fiber, if you didn't eat enough before. I also take probiotics supplements regularly (which I did before ADF) since it helps me with dairy and consequent tummy troubles. Probiotics are awesome.

5) Accept the fact that hunger is uncomfortable and you will be hungry - Since fasting involves not eating for longer periods than a lot of people are used to, or not as much food as people are used to in a day, you will more than likely experience hunger. Hunger is not fun. Your body will become more accustomed to the eating schedule if you stick with it though. Start a hobby (for me, blogging) or catch up on to-dos on fast days. Staying busy keeps your mind off of being hungry. Drink lots of fluids and eat food with lots of fiber to stay fuller, longer. Remind yourself on fast days that in 24 hours you can eat bacon if you want.

6) Be prepared for side effects of hunger - Zach says he never experienced any side effects from ADF. However, I know I did early on. I had a nagging headache on my feast days for the first week. I have read that other people, when starting ADF, also have gotten these headaches on fast days. They are most likely a side effect of hunger. If you get migraines, you should probably have any medication you take for them handy, or maybe start fasting on non-work days so you can lay in the dark for awhile if you need to (or whatever else you need to for migraines). Hunger might also make you light-headed and irritable. I know I can feel "hangry" at times. You also might feel tired or fatigued from fasting. Some people even get nauseous. I felt a little dizzy my late in my first couple of fast days and was tired. But now I am usually more productive and usually at least as energetic on my fast days as my feast days, if not more so.

7) Be okay with a little failure - Failure is human. A lot of us are used to the feeling of failure since "lose weight" is often on the New Year's resolutions list (this has been on my list since college). I have already failed a lot. I have missed fast day and feast day calorie goals (eaten way too much on both). I have also eaten junk food, had to totally guesstimate portions to track calories, and have probably forgotten to include here and there to add to my food diary. This is okay. I have accepted I will fail, do fail, and am not getting disappointed about it. It is important to keep long-term health goals in mind and just keep working on them.