Week 18 Summary

Day 129, Fast Day #54

I finished my first fast today after 6 non-fasting day, since I am in maintenance mode. After the initial 2 lb (0.9 kg) jump up after beginning maintenance mode, I have been holding steady and am still at 25 lbs (11.3 kg) lost since I started ADF 18 weeks ago. I had planned to fast yesterday, but Zach and I needed to get our marriage vows written and doing that on an empty stomach seemed like a recipe for disaster. So I ended up having a medium day yesterday and actually fasted today.

Sometimes fish tacos happen instead of fasting.

This is how last week compared:
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)
Week 14: 1,882 kcal or 99% of baseline calories (-98 kcal/week)
Week 15: 1,280 kcal or 68% of baseline calories (-4,312 kcal/week)
Week 16: 1,861 kcal or 98% of baseline calories (-245 kcal/week)
Week 17: 1,684 kcal or 89% of baseline calories (-1,484 kcal/week)
Week 18: 1,598 kcal or 84% of baseline calories (-2,086 kcal/week)

While ADFing: 1,765 kcal or 93% of baseline calories
Baseline Days: 1,896 kcal

All Feast Days: 2,780 kcal or 147% of baseline calories
All Fast Days: 434 kcal or 23% 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
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*
Week 14: 4 feast days, 1 medium day, 2 fast days
Week 15: 3 feast days, 4 fast days
Week 16: 4 feast days, 3 fast days
Week 17: 4 feast days, 3 fast days
Week 18: 5 feast days, 2 fast days - maintenance mode
*Includes days during my bachelorette party weekend.

I'm pulling together the last little details and finishing tasks for my wedding. So no more blogging tonight!

A Little Weight Gain

Day 126, Feast Day #71 - Triple Feast Day

So I'm on my fourth day in maintenance mode and gained back 2 lbs (0.9 kg) in the last couple of days, which is fine in terms of my wedding dress fitting. This puts me squarely at a total of 25 pounds (11.3 kilograms) lost since early April. I had already fasted twice earlier in the week, so I have been "feasting" since. Switching back to a modern day normal person's eating pattern is proving difficult because I just don't get as hungry, I don't expect the food, and my new habit is not eating much every other day (just like three days a meals, plus snacks, plus lots of carbs and sugar was my habit prior to ADF).

Some of my ADF habits have remained intact over the last few days. For one, I don't eat breakfast. (Such a rebel, I know. But, a lot of that "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" propaganda "research" is funded by food manufacturers like General Mills through puppet organizations, surprise surprise. They sell breakfast cereal.) As long as I don't go crazy with the wheat and carbs at dinner the night before, I tend not to be hungry at all in the morning. In fact, I have never really liked eating in the mornings because I am not hungry until midday. I like my scrambled eggs, hash browns, and bacon, obviously. I just like them for brunch or dinner like a weirdo. I also have never had much interest in sweet breakfast foods like pancakes, waffles, french toast, oatmeal, jams, etc. I find that all to be too sweet and I don't like a morning sugar rush followed by a crash to set the tone for my day.

I am also still trying to cook and eat healthier. I ended up eating under the amount of calories that I would normally eat on a feast day this past Wednesday, thinking my homemade shrimp teriyaki would have brought me past the 1600 calorie mark for the day. It ended up being far fewer calories than I expected (I didn't use granulated sugar at ~720 kcal per cup in the teriyaki sauce, but instead substituted with crushed pineapple in pineapple juice at ~140 kcal per cup), so I had some Greek yogurt with a bit of honey for dessert to get up to 1433 calories that day. I am also still trying not to eat wheat products.

The plan is to fast again on Sunday for sure and probably Tuesday next week while continuing in maintenance mode (as of now, I am doing a 5:2 fast diet as maintenance). Zach and I are celebrating one of his colleagues surviving their PhD defense tomorrow plus running a ton of last minute wedding errands, so, fasting on Sunday makes more sense.

As you may know, I am getting married in 15 days (O-M-G) and then jetting off for a beach honeymoon followed by a family trip. I may blog a bit in those three weeks, as there will undoubtedly be a lot of down time on vacation and I honestly enjoy writing (and I go a little crazy if I don't feel like I am being productive). I don't like the idea of letting this blog go stale for 3 weeks after months of routine blogging, especially for regular readers. So, I have been spending time soliciting, editing  and scheduling original guest posts from folks that also practice alternate day fasting or are bloggers in the fields of health and wellness, weight loss, low-calorie cooking, etc. If you are personally interested in submitting a guest post that relates to these topics, hit me up with a proposal for your writing piece.

Maintenance Mode

Day 123, Feast Day #68

So I lost another pound for a total of 27 pounds lost in 17.5 weeks. Normally this would be a great accomplishment, especially losing weight after a feast day. However, if I lose much more weight my wedding dress is going to be too baggy and maybe fall off. I only have 18 days left until I walk down the aisle so that limits the time I could get the dress altered. More importantly, I do not want to spend more money on that dress! It's a great dress, it looks great on me, but I am wearing it once. My expensive outfit expires within 24 hours. I do not need to be spending more money on it.

My solution? It is much cheaper to fast less often to maintain my weight (or possibly gain back some weight in my case) compared to altering my dress again.

Fasting periodically to maintain one's weight is what is commonly referred to as "maintenance mode" by other fasters. Dr. Michael Mosley for instance fasts just 1 day a week (a 6:1 schedule) to maintain the weight he lost while doing a 5:2 diet and to get some of the other benefits of fasting. Other people go from ADF to 5:2 or 6:1. Some people who just fast for weight loss (not the biochemical changes) just go back to everyday calorie restriction.

So my goal until August 25th is maintenance, not weight loss, in the hopes my wedding dress will fit nicely. So more feasting will happen.I 

Hence, I will try my best to pig out on my feast days for a couple of weeks. I broke my fast with a gross amount of carbs and wheat yesterday in the form of beer, a soft pretzel, and a burger bun. I got home after that and passed out soon after. I swear all the wheat and carbs resulted in a food coma I couldn't fight off. I felt awful physically after that feast and later groggy and hungry the next morning. I think it might be better if I try to get fat on potatoes instead. Sorry body.

Week 17 Summary

Day 121, Feast Day #67

This morning I woke up a pound lighter. So that makes for 26 lbs (11.8 kg) lost in just over 17 weeks of alternate day fasting. This puts me at about 1.5 lbs (0.7 kg) lost per week so far. I am a little worried I will fast myself down too small for my wedding dress. So I tried the dress on again today. It fits right now without any shapewear and I can zip it up myself (unlike when I originally bought it and had to squeeze in with the help of a layer of strong Lycra compressing my belly and a second pair of hands). So I just have to work a bit more at eating all of my calories on fast days and possibly cutting back to a 6:1 or 5:2 schedule for maintenance if the dress gets too loose.

Yesterday I fasted 22 hours on just tea and water and then broke my fast with an African-style fish stew and a late night snack of nuts, plain Greek yogurt with a little honey, and some raspberries. I wasn't very hungry at all yesterday, maybe because I ate so much the day before. Any brief thoughts I had about food passed quickly and I got a ton of chores and wedding tasks done. I don't often experience the feelings of being light-headed or tired like I did when I first started intermittent fasting, which is nice.

Zach is off doing fieldwork, so I have been testing out new recipes while he is away and adding to my dinner tool belt. So far my favorite was this Paleo recipe for Asian-inspired pork meatballs. They were so yummy!

I added in some minced garlic and red chili flakes to them and substituted soy aminos, since I don't have any coconut ones. They are also only ~252 calories for five meatballs the way I made them, therefore perfect for an easy fast day meal.

This is how last week's numbers factored in:

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)
Week 14: 1,882 kcal or 99% of baseline calories (-98 kcal/week)
Week 15: 1,280 kcal or 68% of baseline calories (-4,312 kcal/week)
Week 16: 1,861 kcal or 98% of baseline calories (-245 kcal/week)
Week 17: 1,684 kcal or 89% of baseline calories (-1484 kcal/week)

While ADFing: 1,775 kcal or 94% of baseline calories
Baseline Days: 1,896 kcal

All Feast Days: 2,831 kcal or 149% of baseline calories
All Fast Days: 438 kcal or 23% 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
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*
Week 14: 4 feast days, 1 medium day, 2 fast days
Week 15: 3 feast days, 4 fast days
Week 16: 4 feast days, 3 fast days
Week 17: 4 feast days, 3 fast days
*Includes days during my bachelorette party weekend.

I feasted hardcore this past week with a fondue party and a couple happy hours with friends. It turns out what I was feasting on was notably different than past weeks. I ended up averaging just 119 grams of carbs a day, versus my average of 186 grams over the last 17 weeks, a 36% decrease. I've been trying to reduce the amount of grains I have been eating, since quitting wheat cold turkey didn't last longer than 72 hours for me. I have been feeling less tired recently despite no changes in how long I am sleeping. I wonder if my recent burst in productivity is from reducing the refined and total carbs in my diet or if I am just riding waves of wedding jitters and stress that is leading to more work getting done. Maybe it is just because I am trying to stay busy and not think about Zach being away.

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.

ADF Side Effect - Smaller Feet

Day 83, Fast Day #38

I completely forgot about the Mexican-themed lunch for a co-worker's birthday yesterday, so I officially failed at making this a 4:3 week. So now it is only going to be a 5:2. Womp womp. I guess I am also trying one week of the 5:2 diet. 

Oh well. I weighed in this morning and am down another pound. This makes for a total of 22 lbs lost in about 12 weeks without any changes in my physical activity. My weight loss is now averaging less than 2 lbs/week. Mind you, I have been throwing in extra feast days with all of the social events lately, so this isn't surprising. Lots of booze calories are on the books this week.

One weird weight loss-related change I noticed is that my feet are about a half-size smaller. I am not tracking shoe size as a weight loss measurement, but I tried on the shoes I bought for my wedding the other day and they are too big now in both width and length. This is a bit irritating because the shoes are well beyond the store return policy. So I guess if there is someone that wants brand new 7 1/2 W ivory heels, I would barter with you. I ordered a different pair of heels a half size down today, so hopefully those work out.

Back on the subject of shrinking feet, while I have seen this topic discussed by other women in online weight loss forums, I haven't found much research done on this topic. I can't think why anyone would fund such a study, so I'm not too surprised. Feet are boney, but they still contain fat tissue. So it seems logical that the 22 lbs of weight I lost could have been partially distributed in my feet. Those extra 22 lbs were also putting more pressure on my feet, which can could have created swelling. In fact, as obesity has risen, so have doctor visits for foot and ankle pain. I guess a tip I would have for future brides in light of my shrinking feet would be that if you plan on losing weight before your big day, to hold off on buying shoes until you need them for your dress fitting.

Today's fast is going well. I am at about 411 calories for the day, so I have a little bit of an allowance for a dinner-time snack. So far I've consumed a cup of black coffee, salt & pepper pistachios, a trail mix made with sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, almonds, dried papaya, dried cranberries, and dried apple bits (yum), some fresh cherries, a multi-vitamin, and some guava kombucha. I am going all vegetarian today because I feel like I really need to clean up my gut after the last two days of feasting. 

The margin of error for tracking calories, much less remembering food and beverages, might be high this weekend in light of my bachelorette party. On that note, I will post my 12th week summary a bit later than usual (Monday or Tuesday) because I will be busy being a woo girl this weekend with some of my favorite gal pals:

WOOOOOOO!!!!!

Fast(ing) Food - Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Day 81, Feast Day #44

I remembered to get on the scale today and I have had zero weight gain despite this past weekend. Amazing! So, I am still down 21 lbs after 11 weeks of alternate day fasting. I don't have any body composition data to work with, but I have got to think a good portion of my weight loss must be fat versus water, or I would have certainly gained back some of the pounds.

My achievement of the day was surviving wedding errands with my brother, despite almost killing him when he got lost in the rain with my wedding dress while his cellphone was dead. Bridezilla made a short appearance when he somehow walked past the store while I was paying for parking and could not be found at the dress fitting appointment we were already late for. Now that the dress has been fitted, I need to try not to lose too much weight, as she says everything in the bust and waist fits perfectly and suggested I keep a little extra space (since apparently stressed brides tend to retain water according to her, plus I should try to eat at my own wedding).

After running errands, I relaxed with Zach and my brother with some hard cider and enjoyed some beef stew I made in the slow cooker this morning. I am looking forward to the leftovers for tomorrow's fast day.

The remaining stew after Zach and my brother ate most of it and drank all the broth.
I should have taken an earlier photo, oops!

Slow Cooker Beef Stew (Yields 8 servings) ~303 kcal/serving
Takes 7-9 hours on low to cook, prep time is only 5-10 minutes

The slow cooker was the best joint purchase Zach and I have ever made. If you don't have one, I highly recommend getting one to improve your overall quality of life. Ours was $30 or $40 at Costco and we have never regretted the purchase.

• 1 large onion, chopped (I used a yellow onion) ~60 kcal
• 6 red potatoes, eyes taken out and quartered ~714 kcal
• 1 lb mushrooms, sliced (I used white mushrooms) ~107 kcal
• 3 medium carrots with their leafy tops, sliced and greens chopped ~116 kcal
• 2.5 lbs of cubed beef chunks for stew ~1,400 kcal
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce ~10 kcal
• 1 14 oz. can of beef broth ~10 kcal
• 1/2 tsp dried rosemary ~2 kcal
• 1 tsp dried parsley ~1 kcal
• 1/2 tsp paprika ~3 kcal
• pepper, to taste ~1 kcal
• salt to taste

In the slow cooker, add onions and carrots. Top with potatoes, mushrooms, beef, and carrot tops. Add Worcestershire sauce, spices, and beef broth.

Cover the crock pot and set to low and cook for 7-9 hours until the beef is cooked through and tender. Eat!

Feel free to add celery to this. I avoided it as I am newly allergic to it.

I Could Have Had Wine

Day 46, Fast Day #22

I have gotten into a mundane routine for fast days in the work week. I think is is because the time I would spend on meal planning has gone into wedding planning recently.

Morning:
Drink a cup of coffee or two
Drink water and herbal tea until the hunger becomes particularly irritating

Afternoon (around 1:30-2:30 pm):
Make and eat a salad with a lite dressing
Heat up and eat a can of low-calorie soup

Late Afternoon:
Snack on some raw fruit

Evening:
Eat a small snack with my remaining 60-100 calories at home

The salad varies with what fruits and veggies Zach and I bought that week. Today is was two cups of baby kale (35 kcal), a Roma tomato (35 kcal), 4 mini sweet peppers (53 kcal), and half of an English cucumber (22 kcal).

Today I ended up having less than my usual dinnertime balance of calories. I mindlessly snacked on a large bunch of red grapes and ended up eating around 40 of them (over 130 kcal), about twice as much as what I had planned. Whoops. What is more irritating is that I ate enough grapes that I could have had a glass of wine instead! So tonight's dinner was just some pickled vegetables.

I can't eat all of my calories in one lunchtime sitting like I had been earlier on, probably because my appetite has decreased from caloric restriction. I also have been eating a lot of water volume during my lunch meal, so the size of my lunch is large, but it is not dense in calories. I think I would like to get back to eating just one meal so I save time and so I have more continuous time fasting on down days. I need to come up with some more hearty lunches that will hold me over until the start of the next feast day and take the time to prep my fast day food the night before. 

This all goes back to me needing to spend more time meal planning.

Fast(ing) Food - Quick Shrimp With Snow Peas

Day 11, Fast Day #6

Weighed myself again this morning and thought I was hallucinating. So I weighed myself twice more. Turns out I am down another 3 lbs, putting me at a 7 lb loss after 11 days. Crazy.

I have been busy wedding planning today, so I did not have time to finish an epic blog post. But I will leave you with a fast day recipe instead.

I basically got tired of eating just cold, mostly raw food on my fast days. So I made a heartier shrimp stir-fry for lunch today instead, yum!

Ugh, more cold, boring vegetables.

Quick Shrimp With Snow Peas (Yields 3 servings) ~288 kcal/serving
Takes about 15-20 minutes

Stir-fry:

• 1 lb medium or large shrimp, frozen, no shell, cooked, and deveined (~427 kcal) - If you have time to devote to deveining and shelling your own shrimp and cooking them from a raw state, go for it. It will taste better. However I am cheap and impatient. Most shrimp sold in the US is previously frozen anyway.
• 1 cup snow peas (~42 kcal)
• 2 green onions stalks, chopped (~10 kcal) - I have been saving the bulbs and putting them in shot glasses full of water on our window sill and growing a second batch of green onions for free.
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (~8 kcal)
• 1 tsp ginger, minced (a root piece about half the size of your thumb) (~2 kcal)
• 2 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil (~309 kcal)
• pepper to taste
• salt to taste

Sauce:

• 1/3 cup vegetable broth (~5 kcal)
• 1 tsp white sugar (~15 kcal)
• 2 tsp rice wine (~17 kcal)
• 2 tsp soy sauce (I prefer low-sodium, but if you have a wheat/gluten issue, stick with regular strength) (~7 kcal)
• 2 tsp cornstarch for thickening (~20 kcal)

For Shrimp Thawing:

• 1 tbsp salt
• 2 1/2 cup cold water
• paper towels or a clean dish towel (for drying)

Add 1 tbsp salt to cold water in a large bowl. Stir until salt is dissolved. Add frozen shrimp and defrost. This takes about 10 minutes. So do any prep work now.

Add the broth, sugar, rice wine, soy sauce, and cornstarch into a small bowl or measuring cup and whisk until blended.

Pat dry shrimp on towel(s). Otherwise your shrimp are going to make the stir-fry watery and diluted coming straight out of the water bowl.

The key to stir-fry is not taking your eye off the pan and stirring continually to avoid burning things. Bring oil to medium-high to high heat in a wok, skillet, or large frying pan depending on how hot your burners get. 

Add garlic and ginger to the pan. Stir continually for one minute. 

Add shrimp, cook and stir for about a minute. If you bought precooked shrimp like me, these are already cooked so you are just heating them up basically. Otherwise cook raw shrimp until opaque and pink.

Throw in the snow peas and green onions. Cook and stir until snow peas start getting a little floppy.

Pour in the sauce mixture and stir until the sauce thickens up. Salt & pepper to taste and eat!