Return of the Bride

Day 140, Fast Day #55 - First one since August 12

I am BACK after my blogging and fasting hiatus!!!

First off I want to thank all the people that wrote guest posts for this blog while I was away. So thanks again to Becky Clark, Brianna Prigge, Oleg, Sabine, and Sarah Berger.

Since I last blogged, I survived my wedding (and am a lot less stressed now), married Zach, honeymooned on the Oregon Coast, and vacationed in Kona, Hawai'i with the in-laws. The wedding was a lot of fun and it was wonderful to be surrounded by the love of friends and family from all around the country. We were both overwhelmed by emotions and happiness. On that note, it was a lot of fun, a lot of money, a lot of work, and I hope to never, ever *knock on wood* be a bride again.

Mandatory wedding picture.

I am now back home in Seattle to my small apartment that looks like a tornado swept through it, a daunting list of unopened emails, a mass of laundry that needs to be done, and a backlog of work. As one would expect after a month of basically zero rules, zero counting eating and drinking, I put a bit of weight back on. I initially thought I had gained 5 lbs, but it turns out some of that was likely just bloating from the plethora of carbohydrate rich, sugary, processed food I had been eating. It appears I actually gained 3 lbs (1.4 kg) back (6 lbs or 2.7 kg up from my lowest while alternate day fasting) since the wedding, which is not too bad considering what I ate (pie, cake, ice cream, Spam, chocolate-covered macadamia nuts, pizza, and lots of alcohol especially in beer form). To put things in perspective though, I am still 23 lbs lighter than I was this past April and I wore bikinis on the beach in Kona without feeling incredibly self-conscious.

The first day that we got back home there wasn't any food in the house and we ate out, so it was a feast day. Then one of Zach's friends from out-of-town was in town for the weekend, so we feasted again. After the weekend I came down with one of those 24-48 hour colds and had no motivation to resist an extra bowl of turkey chili or leftover gnocchi. It is really hard to get back on the fasting bandwagon (much less off of the wheatwagon) when excuses to eat and drink are everywhere.

Today I am attempting a 500 calorie fast after about a month of gluttony. So far I've had a cup of coffee, a lot of tea, low-calorie can of soup and some left over beef stir-fry for lunch (the recipe and how-to is in the works) and a glass of green juice (with kale, radishes, ginger, lemon, and a couple slices of apple) to get the rest of my calories. The day has been passing by at a snail's pace while my stomach is wondering what happened to the Times of Plenty. I am looking forward to breaking my fast soon!

Mission Accomplished

Day 138, Feast Day #81 - Nine in a Row

I decided to forgo fasting this week as weight gain was not happening even at 6:1 for me and at -27 lbs (-12.2 kg) my wedding dress was fitting just a bit loosely. I was in a bit of a panic yesterday morning when I dropped another 2 lbs (0.9 kg) seemingly overnight (probably hormonal), which put me at -29 lbs (13.2 kg) lost overall in almost 20 weeks, despite being in maintenance mode for the last couple of weeks. This would be great if I was not trying to gain weight so my wedding dress fits this Saturday.

So yesterday I decided I was going to eat all day and not eat healthy in a last ditch attempt to put on a few pounds. So yesterday I started off my day with a pile of nuts, cheese, and beef jerky, followed by fried chicken and potato wedges drenched in ranch dressing for lunch (which made me feel quite queasy), and then for dinner a large Greek salad with goat cheese, a McFlurry with M&Ms, soda, and a Whopper Jr. hamburger. So I clocked in at over a whopping 3,200 calories yesterday, like a boss. Note: I do not recommend this diet, nor is it a healthy way to gain weight. It is apparently very effective though.

650 McCalories of soft serve and candy.

My fast food and comfort food boot camp boosted me up 3 lbs in a day (so back to -26 lbs or -11.8 kg). I hit my regaining goal, which is excellent. So I just hope I can hold on to some of that bloat for a couple days. Wine and cheese will be consumed tonight, so that should keep my calories up.

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.

Week 14 Summary

Day 100, Feast Day #56

After doing further research on antibiotics and weight gain, it appears one of the less common side effects of taking the specific antibiotic I was prescribed, ciprofloxacin (aka Cipro), is unusual weight gain. I also searched and found several health and weight loss forum threads where other people wrote about their similar experience with crazy weight gain on Cipro, even as much as a pound per day. I don't want to think about how much weight I could have gained if I hadn't done any fast days.

Here's the recap of last week:

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)

While ADFing: 1,811 kcal or 96% of baseline calories
Baseline Days: 1,896 kcal 

All Feast Days: 2,856 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
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
*Includes days during my bachelorette party weekend.

This week wasn't a total failure considering I ended up only pulling a 953 calorie "medium day" at the start of the week instead of a fast day, ate out on what should have been a fast day because of a company lunch, and indulged myself at a friend's birthday party. On top of that I had heartburn and volatile weight gains and losses that suspiciously occurred while taking antibiotics. I did end up losing one of the pounds I had gained, so I am back down to where I was at two weeks ago. So I just need to drop a pound to get back to where I was before my bachelorette party.

I am about halfway through reading Wheat Belly right now, and I got to the part about wheat gluten being a cause of rashes, especially on the elbows, knees, and back. I have had rashes on my elbows, knees, wrists, and back almost constantly since I was a teenager and had just accepted the fact that I will be itchy and bumpy for my entire life. My mother diagnosed my rashes as eczema, which is theorized to be caused by genetics. Now I am worried that I am sensitive to gluten, as I noticed my latest elbow rash occurred shortly after a very wheat-filled meal with pasta and bread. So Zach and I got more serious about cutting out wheat this weekend and tossed out wheat-filled snacks we found in our apartment and didn't buy any new wheat products while going grocery shopping this weekend. I guess we will see if my rashes get better at all or if I am just paranoid after reading about rashes in the same spots I get them.

Antibiotics & Weight Gain

Day #98, Feast Day #55

I am on my last day taking antibiotics and am more than ready to be done with them. Despite trying to get back on track with alternate day fasting this week, my scale has been messing with my mind. I have been gaining and losing pounds like my scale is on a rollercoaster ride. I got on the scale yesterday before work, and I gained 2 lbs in the night. Sure, I had a small slice of cake and a cocktail when I broke my fast that evening, but 2 lbs?!? I also have averaged below my baseline calories this past week. I've also had a lot of heartburn the last couple of days. So, what the hell is going on with my body? Even on bad weeks I haven't seen this much volatility in my weight before. My first thought is that it has something to do with being on antibiotics.

I used to work for a pubic interest group, so I am generally suspicious of taking any medication for the most part because I am wary of the influence of profit-driven, pharmaceutical companies, drug manufacturers, and their lobbyists. These are the same companies that pay off rival companies to delay the production of generic medications, do "phantom" recalls of tainted products from retail stores, and literally have given people AIDS. Now that I have noted my paranoia/bias, can antibiotics cause weight gain?

This fat antibiotic fed laboratory mouse says, "Yes!"

My stepfather has worked in the animal slaughter industry basically his entire life. So I have known that some agribusinesses mix antibiotics into the regular animal feed, so they fatten up their animals quickly. Luckily his company does not use this practice. The agribusiness practice of feeding animals low levels of antibiotics has been repeated in controlled laboratory studies. Mice fed a low dose of antibiotics got fat in these studies. It turns out the mouse bodies were converting more carbohydrates into fatty acids and storing more fat while on antibiotics than the control mice.

I obviously was given a therapeutic level of antibiotics and not a low dosage. I am also not a mouse. So do antibiotic treatments cause human weight gain? A summary of research on this topic suggests they do. The types of gut bacteria and their populations are correlated to weight in people and may be an important factor in weight gain, loss, and maintenance. Children treated with antibiotics early in life also tended to be more overweight than children who had not been treated with antibiotics when they got older.

So that cake and cocktail may have magically turned themselves into fat overnight due to my compromised bacterial balance. Ugh. Now that I have a good theory as to why my weight has been all over the place this week, I am glad that I get to start repopulating my gut with good bacteria tomorrow.

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!

Week 12 Summary

Day 87, Fast Day #39

I survived my bachelorette party weekend intact and had a crazy amount of fun with some of the amazing women in my life. The weekend included what most women dream of for their hen weekend: time at the beach, a hot tub, rich food, lots of booze, and a crew of buff firemen (no not strippers, real ones). I would have thought it was all some amazing dream if I didn't have so many other witnesses to verify it all actually happened!

More proof that my amazing weekend was real is the 2 lbs I gained over the 2.5 days of fun. Don't act like you're not impressed. This is not really surprising given that I ate and drank like Monday was the second coming of Christ. From my best attempt at recollecting what I consumed, I estimated just shy of 12,000 calories over the whole weekend. Again, there are parts of my trip that are quite fuzzy, so this is a conservative estimate. 

Here is a look at the progress and numbers after 3 months of alternate day fasting:

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)

While ADFing: 1,735 kcal or 92% of baseline calories
Baseline Days: 1,896 kcal

All Feast Days: 2,786 kcal or 147% of baseline calories
All Fast Days**: 463 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, 3 fast days**
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
*Includes days during my bachelorette party weekend.
**Includes faux-fast day that was my mama's birthday dinner.

This past week's weight gain was due to an increased number of calories from alcohol, carbs (probably a half-sheet of Hawaiian bread rolls are included in this) and a lot more fat (84 grams/day versus my overall average of 58 grams/day). I also only fasted the two days because I cheated so much. I certainly enjoyed myself and all that champagne, and this week's numbers I suspect will be as bad or worse given two of this past weekend's calorie estimates land in Week 13 as well as my Independence Day party, which will involve a lot of day and evening drinking and eating.

Today I punished myself a bit with an all liquid fast. Despite my non-belief in overpriced juicing detox gimmicks, the thought of eating solids foods seemed unappealing since I was experiencing a delayed onset hangover, accompanied by soreness and a sunburn, Plus it was a record-breaking high today in Seattle, so I was getting dehydrated and staying sore. Thanks global warming! Or not. What I drank today was a low calorie and a higher calorie green juice, some multi-green kombucha which looked like I was drinking pond water due to the algae content (and didn't taste much different than pond scum), coffee, tea, and a multi-vitamin. I needed a high nutrient, low calorie day.

I am going to attempt to get more than 4-5 hours of sleep tonight. I always find it difficult to sleep when it is so hot in our little apartment that lacks air conditioning. Sigh.