Week 13 Summary

Day 93, Feast Day #52

I have been very bad at actually alternate day fasting these past couple of weeks and have ended up just 5:2ing. Birthday parties and the bachelorette party last week have been followed by my own Independence Day party and spending an evening at the Seattle International Beer Festival. All of my feasting and ludicrous amounts of refined grains and alcohol has set me back 2 lbs total. My net weight loss is down to 19 lbs over 13 weeks. This is still 19 lbs I am proud to not be carrying anymore, but gaining back weight is still irritating, especially since it is directly related to my recent pleasure eating and drinking.

Another set back this week is being on a 10-day course of antibiotics. I am one of those people that can get really nauseous when taking oral antibiotics, and the doctor said I should take these ones with a meal, twice a day, to avoid stomach irritation. (The doctor also confirmed I likely have a celery allergy based on the mouth numbing I noticed previously). For days now, I have been eating regardless of actual hunger in the morning to make sure my medicine stays down. Ugh. Just yesterday, I had intended to do a fast day, but ended up doing a medium calorie day. The awkward 953 calories is far too high to be a fast day, but too low to be a normal day of eating.

Here are the numbers for the past week including two days of the bachelorette party and my July 4th party:

Calories

Week 1: 1,437 kcal or 76% of baseline calories (-3,213 kcal/week)

Week 2: 1,938 kcal or 102% of baseline calories (+294 kcal/week)

Week 3: 1,680 kcal or 89% of baseline calories (-1,512 kcal/week)

Week 4: 2,196 kcal or 116% of baseline calories (+2,100 kcal/week)

Week 5: 1,829 kcal or 96% of baseline calories (-469 kcal/week)

Week 6: 1,531 kcal or 81% of baseline calories (-2,555 kcal/week)

Week 7: 1,954 kcal or 103% of baseline calories (+406 kcal/week)

Week 8: 1,196 kcal or 63% of baseline calories (-4,900 kcal/week)

Week 9: 1,638 kcal or 86% of baseline calories (-1,806 kcal/week)

Week 10: 1,637 kcal or 86% of baseline calories (-1,813 kcal/week)

Week 11: 1,681 kcal or 89% of baseline calories (-1,505 kcal/week)

Week 12*: 2,108 kcal or 111% of baseline calories (+1,484 kcal/week)

Week 13*: 2,649 kcal or 140% of baseline calories (+5,271 kcal/week)

While ADFing: 1,806 kcal or 95% of baseline calories

Baseline Days: 1,896 kcal

All Feast Days: 2,857 kcal or 151% of baseline calories

All Fast Days: 448 kcal or 24% of baseline calories

For reference

Week 1: 3 feast days, 4 fast days

Week 2: 4 feast days, 3 fast days

Week 3: 4 feast days, 1 medium day, 1 fast day (I re-categorized my "faux-fast" as a medium day)

Week 4: 4 feast days, 3 fast days

Week 5: 4 feast days, 3 fast days

Week 6: 3 feast days, 4 fast days

Week 7: 4 feast days, 3 fast days, 

Week 8: 3 feast days, 4 fast days

Week 9: 4 feast days, 3 fast days

Week 10: 4 feast days, 3 fast days

Week 11: 4 feast days, 3 fast days

Week 12: 5 feast days, 2 fast days*

Week 13: 5 feast days, 2 fast days*

*Includes days during my bachelorette party weekend.

As you can see, my 13th week was a record-breaker in calorie consumption. I also broke records in average carbohydrate consumption (224 grams/day) and sugar consumption (85 grams/day). It's no wonder I feel so gross in the aftermath of all this. My insides are probably coated in molasses and all of the good bacteria that were once living happily in my body are now dead. 

I have been partying in a land of carbs.

Check out the cool food landscapes by Carl Warner.

I will attempt to fast again tomorrow and just eat something light in the morning while avoiding my normal morning coffee (which can upset my stomach). Hopefully I don't end up going overboard when the need for my second meal kicks in. Eating two tiny meals is far more difficult for me than eating one filling meal. Getting back on the wagon is tough!

Celery Allergy?!?

Day 76, Feast Day #41

I obviously have been trying to eat more vegetables while alternate day fasting so I consume enough essential nutrients and stay full on the fiber and water on my fast days. I normally eat these veggies in a soup, salad, or sauteed. I found myself snacking on a couple plain stalks of celery, since I managed to forget to take salad dressing to work a couple days ago, when I noticed my mouth was going numb and my throat started to swell. Uh, do I have my first known food allergy?

This was not my first time eating celery or eating celery raw. In fact, I have eaten celery regularly since I started eating peanut butter on celery in elementary school. I have also eaten celery many times since I started ADF. Celery is even in my low-calorie tuna salad recipe.That is why I find this development/sudden realization really strange.

I didn't find any peer-reviewed research on why celery is giving me an oral analgesic effect. However, a Google search for this phenomenon assures me I am not the only person to experience this. There are many theories floating around on the Internet, mostly on online forums and on Yahoo! Answers (not reliable in the search for the truth), about why this happens. I have seen the eugenol in celery as a theory (I cannot verify that celery does contain this or in what amount) and other chemical reasonings. I don't believe this theory because the website most people cite as proof that celery contains the anesthetic eugenol, does not actually list celery as a notable source of the chemical in the section on eugenol. There is a reason dentists use clove oil for its eugenol. I have had eugenol used on me for a temporary filling, and the dental mixture smells and tastes like cloves. So, basically a lot of the information on the Internet about celery and this numbing sensation is less useful and less entertaining than the celery song:

From Weebl's Stuff

My theory is that I experienced oral allergy syndrome (OAS) or Pollen-Food Allergy. OAS is a common allergic reaction caused by certain uncooked produce and nuts that develops in adults that also suffer tree and weed allergic adults (I belong to this category of adults). A cross-reaction between pollen allergens and certain foods can cause allergic reactions. Celery is known to react with alder, birch, and mugwort pollens. Not only are red alders a common tree in the Pacific Northwest, there is one on my normal route to my bus stop. I also have had terrible allergies this year, which I have complained about previously on this blog. I haven't had this problem with celery before, but I also try to take an allergy medication daily. I might have forgot to take my allergy medication that day, but I honestly don't remember. 

So, I am pretty sure I have developed a new food allergy as an adult in addition to becoming lactose intolerant. My mother, the doctor, also thinks I had the symptoms of an allergic reaction, not a run in with eugenol. Getting old sucks.